What do spiders in dreams mean?

[drc712]

I have recently been having dreams of spiders crawling on my bed. I dream that I open my eyes and see the spider and then jump up screaming until my husband wakes me up. We recently moved to a new home and have both been seeing strange things moving in the house. Could the dreams be related to the "spirit?" How do I stop the dreams from happening. I've had 4-5 dreams in the past 3 weeks.

[sarah998]

ok, this is Medhelp.org and we're talking about the supernatural?!  Seriously!  Look, it is perfectly fine to believe in those types of things, but please keep them to non-medical sites so that people actually looking for answers to what are generally just normal anxiety based occurances don't have their condition made worse by talk of the supernatural, when it is far more likely a projection of the brain/mind caused by your specific condition/environment/situation/emotional state.  Even shared experiences can be shown to be simply a similar interpretation of a very normal/boring phenomenon.

I'm not saying that there is no possibility of the supernatural, but there are sites for that.  This one really should be more scientific and evidence based so that it can be helpful to people who have waded through about 100 dream-interpretation sites to try to find some real answers.

Saying this, I really agree with Dazon50's first comment.  Spiders can represent many things, but often anxiety because they are things we generally don't like in our private spaces (whether we fear them or not) that can get in no matter how tighly we secure that space.  He is right that you really do need to identify things in your life that might be making you anxious and see if dealing with those things makes the dreams go away.  Also, becoming anxious about the dreams themselves increases the problem (common component of insomnia). If you can, it may be a good idea to talk to a professional for a few sessions.  They can be good at identifying sources of anxiety and giving you tools to deal with either the problem or the anxiety.  Anxiety is very powerful and causes lots of mental and even physical outcomes. It can bring us into a state of hyper-alertness (which may already be common for a person with specific and very common emotional conditions) which causes us to see something we are trying to avoid in every shadow and corner.  

Just imagine how people felt when there was no electric light!  I currently live in a country where we lose electricity for about 5 hours each day/evening, and so I spend quite a lot of time living by candlelight.  I hate spiders and tend to see them absolutely everywhere simply because the lack of light, constant flickering shadows, and fact that there are quite a few spiders around (although not really in my apartment) makes me hyper-alert and a little anxious.  All done by my mind and even though I know this, I still see them simply because our brain/mind controls our senses and it is nearly impossible to fully control your mind.

So the best thing to do is not to worry about ghosts and simply deal with your anxiety in healthy ways.

[Dazon50]

Thank you for letting us know how it is going.  When the supernatural comes into our lives, there are so many ways to interpret it.  

I don't believe there is a one-size fits all manual for it...lol.

You seem to have a good attitude about it.  That is great to see :-)))

[drc712]

Thank you for your response. I have actually been to that website and read all the dream interpretations. None of them really fit my scenario. There are so many sites that give different information. It's really nice just to share my experience with others and to get some feedback. I thank you very much for responding.

[drc712]

I've seen, out of the corner of my eye, shadows moving in the hallway. About a month ago, something fell in the kitchen. I told my husband that it was the magnet on the fridge and he said "or it's the ghost." When I looked at him and said, "what do you mean?" he could tell I knew something. He started to tell me that he's been seeing a shadowy figure walking in the same part of the hallway that I do. Neither of us felt threatened by this being and we shared our stories and laughed about it. That night, the spider dreams started. I dream that I'm opening my eyes, in my bed, my blankets, everything is very real, and seeing a big, softball sized, spider crawling in my bed towards me. One night my husband woke me as I was using my blanket to try to smash the spider. It's not as if I'm dreaming of being somewhere else. It's happening in the very place that I wake up, making it hard to separate dream from reality. My husband has to tell me that there are no spiders. I often sleep with a mask over my eyes. My husband likes to watch tv and I need it dark to sleep. I stopped using that and haven't had the dream since. It's been a whole week now and I'm starting to feel comfortable again. We love the house and have no desire to move.

I have never had scary dreams like this before. I am a mortician and have NEVER been scared of ghosts, dead people, etc...

Thanks for responding. Always nice to talk to someone that has similar experiences.

[Cyncaid]

Hi,

I use the dream dictionary search at www.dreammoods.com to try and help decipher the meanings of my dreams, particularly recurrent one's. Sometimes the insight is useful and other times not so, like Dazon said it's mostly about personal interpretation and figuring out what the symbols mean to you.
I like using the online dream dictionary because it gets me thinking at times when i just don't have a clue what the meaning of my dreams might be, and hell, sometimes it's even correct.

Here's what the site throws back when you type in 'Spiders'
................
Spiders
To see a spider in your dream, indicates that you are feeling like an outsider in some situation. Or that you may want to keep your distance and stay away from an alluring and tempting situation. The spider is also symbolic of feminine power. Alternatively, a spider may refer to a powerful force protecting you against your self-destructive behavior. If you kill a spider, it symbolizes misfortune and general bad luck.

To see a spider spinning a web in your dream, signifies that you will be rewarded for your hard work. You will soon find yourself promoted in your job or recognized for your achievement in a difficult task. Spiders are a symbol of creativity due to the intricate webs they spin. On a negative note, spiders may indicate a feeling of being entangled or trapped in a sticky or clingy relationship.�It represents some ensnaring and controlling force. You may feel that someone or some situation is sucking the life right out of you. Alternatively, if a spider is spinning a web in your dream, then it could be a metaphor for the world wide web and global communication.

To see a spider climbing up a wall in your dream, denotes that your desires will be soon be realized.

To dream that you are bitten by a spider, represents a conflict with your mother or some dominant female figure in your life. The dream may be a metaphor for a devouring mother or the feminine power to possess and entrap. Perhaps you are feeling trapped by some relationship.
......

Well, as much as i doubt that you found the above interpretation useful i hope it as least got you thinking and that you resolve the spider dreams soon,

Kind regards

[Dazon50]

Thank you for posting this.  Without googling the meaning of "spiders in dreams", I am going to write from my experience.  I have a lot of dreams with spiders.  Many years ago I was into reading some dream interpretation books but realized quickly that they didn't all agree...lol!


The big thing is ....what do they mean to you?  If you were to think about your experiences with them, what do they make you think of?  In other words, what connotations do you associate with them?  Do you like your new home?

There are many possibilities....oh what tangled webs we weave, when we practice to deceive, feeling trapped or fear of being trapped, feeling overwhelmed by the fears/anxiety's in one's life......there are so many ways to go with this.  On the other hand, someone else may like spiders and the way they make such intricate webs...therefore symbolizing creativity.

What kinds of strange things have you been seeing?  The dreams may be a way of getting your attention for some reason which it is up to you to figure out.  

Have you had dreams before in the past that scared you?  Is the spider a big one, black/brown, a specific type?  Sometimes dreams run a course and then ease up.  Example....I have frequent tornados are coming dreams where I am on the run.  I might have a few week period where I have a number of  variations then not have any for months.

I think bringing it out into the open is a good way to cope with it.  Dreams can bring warnings and by bringing some awareness to the surface re-direct you to think about things you might have blown off before....therefore facing it to do something needing to be done.