I was a shy and timid child, with many fears--Farris wheels, people I didn't know well, strange dogs, and T-Rex dinosaurs. But my biggest fear of all came through dreams.
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| Michelle at about three years old |
When I was between two and four years old I had a terrifying recurring dream. The beginning of the dream varied. I might be walking along and the ground suddenly had a texture of rotting burlap. Or I might be asleep in bed and the bed would begin to whirl and fall. But whatever the beginning of the dream was, the ending was always the same. I was falling into a snake pit. The pit was always the same. It was a huge, very deep, cylinder. There was water in the bottom and the water was filled with huge snakes, all tangled and intertwined with one another. They were of variegated colors. As I fell, I was filled with terror and would wake up just before reaching the snakes.
The weird part of this is that at that age I had no knowledge of snakes such as giant anacondas or boas. I was a loved and cared for child, secure in my faith in my parents. I doubt that I had ever seen a real snake, and we did not have picture books with snakes in them.
So where did these dreams come from?
Hmmm....maybe another genetic mutation we share?
ReplyDeleteWho knows!? I had a recurring dream at that same age too. I think it is fairly common, though the snake thing is a mystery.
ReplyDeleteI remember holding your hand as we went to sleep to keep you from falling into the snake pit.
ReplyDeleteYes--that helped for falling asleep, but the snake pit still got me sometimes. In fact, in the whirling bed dream we were going into the pit together!
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother was deathly afraid of snakes. So is my mother. So am I. My mom swears she remembers reading somewhere that phobias can be genetic. Can that be true? :-)
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