Black Snake Moan

I went for a run yesterday morning in the park behind my house. There is a really nice trail there that goes through a meadow and wetlands, under grand, spreading trees and by the river. It is also nice because one lap around the trail is pretty close to a mile...makes it easy to measure your distance (okay, okay...it's under a mile and I have a tendency to round up...so shoot me). It was a beautiful morning for a run and I was thoroughly enjoying myself. I had made several laps around and was feeling 'in the zone', which may explain why, when I came around one of the turns, I almost trod right on a great, big, black snake. He was laying stretched out across the trail and seemed to just be sunning himself, as he wasn't moving. I have been running this trail a lot in the last couple years and I had never seen a snake out there. This was quite a snake too...had to be more than 3 feet long and had quite a girth. He was a very shiny black color and looked very intimidating. But, since he was a black snake and I have always heard that they are harmless, I just side stepped around him and continued on my way. As I passed him, he didn't even seem to take notice of me. When I came around on my next lap, I was surprised to see that he was gone. I just chalked it up as one of those 'interesting things that happened on my run' stories.

Then, around six last night, I went up to the office at my apartment complex to pick up some packages that had been delivered there. Usually I drive up, but decided that I could use a walk. When I turned down the path that leads to the side door of the office, I noticed that there was a group of people just inside the door. The gym is right there, so I just figured that they knew each other, maybe had just finished at the gym, and were standing there talking. When I got to just a few steps from the door, I realized they were looking out...and down. I glanced down and, right where I was about to step, there was another very large, black snake. This one also was just laying there calmly, so I stepped around it and went in the door. When I left, a few minutes later, he was gone with no sign he had been there. Two big, black snakes trying to get me to step on them in one day seemed a bit odd, so I told myself that I should try to look up the spiritual meaning of snakes...but, when I got home, I opened my packages and got absorbed in them so I forgot about the snakes.

I don't usually dream...at least I don't usually remember my dreams. However, last night I had a dream of a big, black snake. I don't remember the details, but when I woke up I had the feeling that it was significant. I realize that seeing two snakes in one day could just be a coincidence and, after seeing them, dreaming of a snake may not be all that surprising. But, I was left with the feeling that there was some kind of message for me or some meaning behind it and that I should at least see what google had to say about it. Here is what the first hit had to say:

In writing about Snake Symbolism, Gillian Holloway, Ph.D. wrote, "People who are dying or who have lost a loved one often dream of snakes, at or near the time of death. For whatever reason, these dreams seem involved with the psychic awareness of the transition from this life to the next...."

Hmm...and this all happened just about a week away from the one year anniversary of my mom's death...interesting, no?