KS&L 337 The Snake Box

“I am in a room with an enormous, open box of snakes. Someone I know is helping me with these reptiles. Upon closer inspection these are huge Timber Rattlesnakes, each one almost six feet long with very big rattles at the ends of their tails.

My job, with the help of my friend, is to carefully take each snake out of the box. Then with my bare hands, gently put each snake into its own box and send it on its way. I have no idea where the snakes are being sent. I just know that I have to prepare them for their departure: I have to handle each one.

I am conscious that fear is not my friend, that using the power of peaceful reassurance and an aura of kindness and care will keep each snake calm while I handle it. As I pick one up rattlesnake after the other, I can feel the tremendous muscles in their tightly coiling bodies and the texture of their skin. The rattlers don’t know what is happening to them.

I become aware that not a single one of them is ‘rattling’ their tail. They seem curious but calm. Patiently, consistently, I stay the course of my task. Gently, kindly, I pick each one up, deliberately place it in the box and hand it off to an unseen person for shipment.

Finally, I have finished the task and then I feel that subtle tingle of fear go down my spine. Somehow one snake has been missed and is crawling up my body inside my clothes to be closer to me. The snake is not threatening, again, merely curious and possibly a bit cold. Again, I gently, deliberately pick up this snake and box it for transport to the correct location.

. . . . and then I wake up.

This dream not only begs the question of its meaning, it also offers us an opportunity to consider how our subconscious, super-conscious, and the Divine, communicate with us about what is to come and how we can respond to future events. If we look closely, we can also see how the dreamer’s karmic path becomes visible as well.

All dreams have potentially several interpretations. However, there are some dreams that seem to offer the dream traveler with some pretty straightforward opportunities for insight. If we are patient, deliberate and open, we may be able to deduce quite readily the larger meaning of many dreams. So let’s return to the example of the snake box dream.

The dreamer in this scenario is a spiritual worker in her waking [and probably sleep] state. She works very hard. Sometimes it feels that some difficult things are overwhelming and yet, as a person of faith, she believes that she is divinely guided and she is disciplined enough to listen for that guidance. She is surprised by the crisp clarity of this dream and the critically important fact that even weeks later, she can remember this dream in exquisite detail. Perhaps that element was deliberate. She was supposed to remember that dream for the critical lesson it offered if she was savvy enough to embrace it.

What does that dream mean for her? Perhaps, each snakes represents a difficult, potentially dangerous problem that is now facing her or will face her in the coming days and months. The message that comes through loud and clear in that dream is this: if she uses her power, and is courageous, patient, unemotional and deliberate in handling each problem/snake, she will be fine. She is made to understand that she is not alone in her tasks. There are those seen and unseen people/beings who are dependably there to help her. Truly, she is not alone with even the most dangerous or scary snake/problem, yet the karma is unmistakable: each snake is her karmic responsibility to handle.

In the days and weeks that came after this dream, that is what happened. She handled each problem with the lessons she found in the snake box and she was just fine. She stayed the course, successfully navigating through even the most challenging situation.

She noticed how frequently as she faced a difficulty, she recalled the dream. She was reminded to consider that this difficulty like the previous one before it and probably the next one coming was going to be handled well if she just remembered the lessons of the seemingly terrifying box of Timber Rattlers. She also accepted that these issues were her karma responsibility to work out and if done with the power of grace and courage, would have a positive and potentially elegant outcome.

God, our Guardian Angel, and our Higher Self work in truly mysterious and often, metaphoric ways. Ultimately what might have appeared to be a paralyzing nightmare became a precious dream of great insight and comfort. And for that aspect, she was and will always be truly grateful.