Dream: Someone handed me an alligator in one hand and a big black snake in the other. I pushed both away because I didn’t want either but the snake jumped on my right hand and bit me between my thumb and pointing finger and wrapped itself around my hand and wouldn’t budge. I was screaming for help from my mum I couldn’t get it off until my sister (whom I’m not speaking to) came and cut it off with a knife. When I looked at my arm, it was visible that it had drained me. I was so hurt and crying uncontrollably that my mum didn’t help me when I needed her.
DreamsMaster: This dream has very strong symbolism. Dreams are personal to the dreamer and only the dreamer can truly determine their meaning, but here are my impressions, see what fits for you.
Intense feelings are evoked in the dream: Fear, powerlessness, pain, abandonment. Can you associate these feelings to what has been going on in your life recently?
The two people in the dream are your sister and your mum (interesting that the dream starts with you being handed an alligator and a snake). Although it’s your sister you’re not speaking to in the waking world, the dream suggests she is in fact an ally, and that your mum may actually be contributing to this distressful situation. In the dream she’s unavailable to you, abandoning you in your time of need. Is there some truth to this in the waking world, which you’ve been trying to deny?
Alligators and snakes are both cold-blooded reptiles. Cold-blooded is often a metaphor for lacking sensitivity. Snakes in particular often represent betrayal, and this one is black, sinister. In your dream it’s the snake that’s the aggressor, the object that drains you physically. Perhaps in the waking world your sister has been that aggressor to you, draining you emotionally, yet your inner eye still sees her as a source of strength and support. In the dream your mum is the one causing you the most grief, being distant and unsupportive.
Is this dynamic playing out for you in your waking life? In other words, do you sense that your mum in some covert way is contributing to the problem between you and your sister? If what I’m saying seems to fit for you, perhaps it’s time to bring this family conflict out in the open to find resolution. If that’s not possible at this time, find something else in your life to replenish the life energy that the conflict is draining.