Scorpions are one of those animals that are equal parts enthralling and terrifying. This makes it even more puzzling when you happen to dream about a scorpion.
So, what does it mean when you dream about a scorpion? Here we’ll go over the 12 most likely explanations and we’ll detail which of them is more likely to apply to you based on the context and specifics of your dream and waking life circumstances.
What does it mean when you dream about a scorpion?
A dream of scorpions will often have negative symbolism and meaning as these creatures tend to provoke fear and other negative emotions in people. This is to be expected given the terrifying visage these arthropod predators have.
Yet, you may be surprised by some of the positive dream interpretations a dream about a scorpion can have. As with all other dreams, the devil is in the details when it comes to dream interpretation so we’ve listed 12 likely interpretations below based on what exactly your dream included and how it may refer to your waking life and emotional state.
1. You don’t feel safe in your home and your surroundings
If you live in a rural or suburban area in many parts of the US and other countries, you know that there is a risk of finding a scorpion in your backyard or property’s grass at some point. This knowledge has transformed into a pretty intense fear for a lot of people, so much so that a dream of finding a scorpion near your home has become a common nightmare for people who don’t feel safe in their environment.
As such, a dream of this type tends to reflect our real-life worries and anxieties, and realizing that should serve to help you change what needs changing in the real world so that you don’t feel as bad anymore.
2. You may not feel appreciated by the people in your life
Dreams of scorpions also indicate feelings of peer pressure, criticism, and underappreciation from the people around you. Such a dream will usually include lots of scorpions circling around you or frequently appearing in your day-to-day environment. This dream will rarely have the jump-scary feel of a nightmare but instead feels full of negative energy and dull unpleasantness.
3. You find it difficult to be satisfied with the things in your life
A life without passion is never a fun thing to experience and dreams often serve as warning signs that you’re approaching or have gotten yourself in such a situation. A dream about living with scorpions around you can symbolize just that, especially if said “living” is characterized by a sort of resigned emotion and lack of either fear or excitement about the arthropods around you.
4. You fear you may have accidentally hurt people around you with your words or actions
A scorpion’s paralyzing venom is a scary thing and it often pops up in dreams too. What’s curious, however, is that, in many dreams, we see people close to us suffer from a scorpion’s sting, sometimes because of a mistake we’ve made in the dream too.
Naturally, a dream like that usually symbolizes guilt we have over accidentally hurting people around us we care about. Whether we actually have or not is another matter but if the guilt exists to the point of you having bad dreams, it likely needs to be addressed.
5. You’ve experienced or fear you may experience betrayal by someone close to you
A common nightmare is that of finding a scorpion in your bed. The dream will sometimes include a sting from the arthropod but usually doesn’t. In either way, however, the obvious symbolism is that of a fear of harm in your household, one of your relatives, and often a fear of your partner too.
That fear doesn’t need to be related to physical harm – it can be a fear that there are some hidden secrets or betrayal too. And, of course, the dream doesn’t mean that the fear is justified – it may very well be simply due to a lack of communication or something similar – that’s for you and your partner to determine.
6. You are about to go out of your comfort zone if you dream of eating a scorpion
Sometimes, people dream of eating scorpions, either cooked or raw. This can sound insane to certain audiences but scorpions are indeed edible and are even seen as a delicacy by certain cultures. If you come from a culture that doesn’t see these arthropods that way, however, a dream of eating a scorpion can indicate that you are about to, are in the process of, or need to get out of your comfort zone a bit.
7. There’s a lot of turmoil in your financial affairs – possibly for the better, possibly for the worse
Dreaming of a yellow scorpion is often said to symbolize an incoming betrayal and that tends to indeed be true, especially in the circumstances outlined in #5. What’s often missed, however, is that yellow scorpions also symbolize financial gains, big investments, and profits, as well as financial risks.
As such, dreaming of a yellow scorpion can mean that your financial situation is very turbulent and can either go very well very quickly if you make the right decisions, or you can suffer setbacks due to greed or malice, as well as betrayal in your business affairs if you’re not careful.
8. There may be tough times ahead of you
Dreaming of a black scorpion almost always symbolizes an incoming evil, struggles, and aggression. The dreams involving black scorpions are usually quite troublesome and depressive too which should serve as a further warning that you need to prepare for some tough times ahead.
Of course, the color of the scorpion alone doesn’t indicate what the nature of those “tough times” is going to be – that’s for you to determine based on the rest of the details of your dream and the context of your current real-life situation.
9. You feel you’ve been – or will be – helped by those around you if you dream of a dead scorpion
Dreaming of a dead scorpion tends to leave the dreamer with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the sight of a dead scorpion is a bit distressing, especially if it doesn’t appear dead initially. What’s more, the mere knowledge that there are scorpions around you to be killed is uncomfortable in and of itself.
On the other hand, the fact that the scorpion is dead is comforting and symbolizes a danger that has been present in the past but is no longer relevant. Especially if the scorpion appears to have been killed by a person – or if you witness the scorpion getting killed in your dream – that indicates that you feel protected by the people around you and you should be relatively safe in the near future.
10. You have or fear you might have health issues if you’re stung by a scorpion in your dream
Scorpion venom is rarely fatal for people but can still be dangerous for our health in certain situations. So, dreaming of getting stung by a scorpion and getting sick tends to either be a bad luck omen for your future health situation, or it, at the very least, signifies fear of getting sick – either due to deteriorating health or due to simple hypochondria.
11. You are ready to take control of your life if you kill a scorpion in your dream
If you dream of yourself killing a scorpion, that indicates a good or at least improving self-esteem. That can be an indication that you feel you’ve started making the right decisions recently and you are happy with how your behaviors and life choices are turning out.
12. You have low self-esteem and feel incapable of doing what’s necessary in your waking life
On the other hand, if you dream of yourself trying and not succeeding to kill a scorpion – or not trying at all and running away instead – that’s a clear sign that your self-esteem isn’t where it’s supposed to be.
The scorpion symbolism in this case should be one of your main warning signs that your perception of yourself needs work as is in a relatively self-destructive and unproductive state. If you dream of yourself being especially terrified and running away for far too long, that can even indicate severe depression.
In conclusion – what does it mean when you dream about a scorpion?
When our subconscious mind conjures up a dream or a nightmare, it almost always reflects the positive and negative emotions we’re experiencing in our real life. The proper interpretation of the dream is vital, however, if you want to get the right insight and conclusions from it to further better your waking life.
In the case of dreams about scorpions, a lot of the common interpretations revolve around our fears, our feelings about our environment and the people around us, as well as our self-perception. All in all, accurately interpreting such a dream or nightmare can be a great boon for your growth as a person and your real life circumstances.
