What do you think of spiders ? Are they scary ? Furry legged vermin to be squished on sight ? Or if you are a wildlife lover like yours truly, perhaps you’d look at them as beautiful creatures, very efficient predators and successful survivors in the race of life.
Dreaming of spiders might mean that you are harbouring feelings of anxiety, fear or that you are feeling trapped. Dream analysts say that spiders appear in dreams to represent complex situations or feelings that a person is attempting to understand clearly in their lives.
Spiders have a symbolic value in spirituality as well.
Spiders have come to occupy a prominent place in our collective imaginations, getting into folklore, poetry and myths and legends. There is a variation in beliefs about spiders across cultures and religions. The Eastern and other indigenous cultures have a generally positive view of spiders while Western cultures and Christianity have a negative view.
Dreaming about spiders has different interpretations across various cultures. It can also depend on the personal experiences and beliefs of the person. Many indigenous cultures thought of spiders as creators of life, weavers of life as they weave intricate webs out of secretions from their own bodies.
The spiritual meanings of seeing spiders in dreams can be –
- Fate or Destiny– Spiders, through their act of weaving webs, are seen as weavers of fate or destiny.
- Destroyers– Spiders build their webs essentially to ensnare prey to kill and eat them. The act of trapping and killing prey is seen as representing a destructive force.
- Creators– Spiders are also seen as representative of creators or creation as they weave webs.
Actually they represent both creation and destruction as they weave webs and also trap and kill prey continuously, which is the process that sustains life and the entire universe itself .
- Maya or Illusion – Spiders play the role of illusion itself in many eastern cultures. In the traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism, spiders are associated with ‘illusion’ or ‘Maya’, as in ‘web of illusion’ or ‘Mayajaal’. The spider’s web is thought of as representing the web of illusion, the complex creations obscuring the basic truths of life.
- In Christianity, spiders in dreams are seen very negatively. At com, they have mentioned that spiders in dreams weave webs, spider symbolizes web of lies, deceit, or a person struggling with a challenge.
Spiders appearing in dreams could represent hypocrisy, sin and deception and other negative things in life and symbols of attack through poverty, struggle and death.
The spider webs could mean a person could extort something from you, that you are unable to implement your plans or something that is blocking you from fulfilling your purpose. They have given a lot of negative connotations of seeing a spider in your dreams and prayers to overcome the negatives. Please find the complete article here.
In a blog on dreamapp, Denys Chumak talks about some different spiritual meanings that people associate with spiders in dreams:
- Getting inspired and expressing yourself– Seeing spiders in dreams can represent being creative and bringing things to reality. This is in many cultures.
Spiders weave complex webs to catch prey and live on. Making a web represents creativity.
Dreaming about spiders may mean that you have to initiate your own ideas and take action to accomplish them. You can find the whole article here.
- Being determined and patient – Spiders are seen as being patient and persistent. Spiders spend a lot of time building their webs and waiting for insects to get trapped so that they can have their food. Dreaming about spiders usually means that you should try to emulate their qualities in your daily life, perhaps that you need to have more patience and persistently work towards your goals.
- Things that you are scared of and worried about – Many people fear spiders and get worried when they see spiders. Dreaming about spiders may mean that you have not dealt with certain worries or fears in life. Perhaps there is something that is stressing and worrying you and your dreams are a manifestation of these events or situations.
- Feelings of betrayal and deception– At times, dreams of spiders may mean that you feel that you have been betrayed or deceived by someone. Spiders are thought of as tricky and deceitful because they weave webs to capture unsuspecting prey. Being bitten by a spider in a dream may mean that someone is trying to deceive you or dreams in which you are stuck in a spider’s web may mean that you feel stuck or trapped in a situation.
- Need for Introspection and personal growth – If you dream about spiders, it may mean that you need to think about yourself and what and how you are thinking. Spiders are often thought of as thinking and finding out more about themselves because they spend a lot of time alone, constructing their intricate webs.
If you are getting dreams about spiders continuously or they are upsetting you, you should consult a therapist or counsellor who can help you understand the dreams and take required actions.
Conclusion
Dreaming of spiders has different meanings for the individual and can be positive or negative. Dreaming about spiders can arouse varied feelings and have different connotations based on the individual’s personal experiences and beliefs. While in native and Eastern cultures dreaming about spiders is seen positively, in Western culture and Christianity it is seen negatively. Even if dream spiders scare you at first, they can have messages about change, expression and personal growth. The dreams about spiders can help you on your path of self discovery and grow stronger.
