new dream symbol

A large, black scorpion in a creepy dream.

There was a box that I was supposed to handle, but I knew something was amiss. I also had a strong feeling that I'd "be next" which was sort of terrifying. I asked a man to open the box because I had my suspicions. I was correct! The alien inside the box was not dead. Not only was he still alive, but his flesh had been eaten off by bugs and critters--he was writhing terribly. It was not too late to save him. He had been put in that box by another alien, but since we just exposed the activities of this 2nd evil alien, he would be dealt with and I no longer had to worry about being put in a similar flesh eating box. BUT, when the man opened the box he released all the flesh eating bugs and critters (in my bedroom!), one was a large, black scorpion. I knew I was going to have to get some bug spray to take care of this problem. Then I gave a poetry reading, then I tried to find matching knee high stockings and then I came back to the house and found Chris asleep in the bathtub. I woke and told him about the bugs, he already knew, they were in the living room. I told him about the scorpion, although at first I said "scarab," we both corrected my mistake at the same time. It was not a scarab, it was a scorpion and yes, Chris was aware of that too.

* * *

I use bug spray a lot in my dreams. In January, I tried to kill the Red Clay Snake Queen with some, but she had her own can and used it on me. In December 2009, I sprayed some on someone I love, immediately regretted it and tried to nurse the person back, hoping no one would know what I had done. In April 2009, I sprayed a large bug and it turned into a cat. I wasn't sure if I should continue or not. In Sept. 2008. I only succeeded in agitating some "hybid flies" by spraying them. In February of 2008, I frantically tried to find some formula to feed a baby I found outside of a grocery store. I asked a store employee for help, but she gave me flea spray. Eventually I found some formula in my grandmother's attic, went back to where I left the baby, but there was a hole in the ground and the baby became a white cat.

Yeah, I know. Bug spray is a tricky solution.


My first association to a scorpion is Scorpio. I have a Scorpio family member who is a rather bent on vengeance, striking out, always on the attack.

My next association is from just a couple weeks ago. Gideon got one of those animal learning toys for his birthday and asked me what was a scorpion. I did what I always do when he asks me questions like that. I go to YouTube to find examples. First we watched two scorpion dance and I explained that when the dance was over, the boy scorpion needed to hightail it out of there if he didn't want to get eaten. Dancing makes lady scorpions very hungry. Then we watched the lady scorpion give birth to her babies and carry them on her back.

The next video was called Mice vs Scorpion. I said, hey, watch this scorpion totally kill these mice with his badass stinger. Then we watched two mice kill and eat the scorpion. This exposed me as the James Bond-watching dumbass that I am. I thought scorpions were deadly. WTF?


So a scorpion, to me, is a venom-filled, loner wussie?

Maybe.

After I go through my own associations, I check the books.

According to the Dictionary of Symbols (Penguin):

Many Africans use a euphemism for the scorption since, like the hyena, the insect is evil and to use its true name would be to release its powers against oneself.

According to a Malian legend, the scorpion said:

I am neither an elemental spirit nor a demon. I am a creature which brings death to whoever touches me. I have two horns and a tail which I brandish. My horns are called savagery and hate and the dagger in my tail is called the avenging stabber. I give birth only once. Pregnancy, a sign of increase among all other creatures is for me the signal of forthcoming death.

. . .

The scorpion was a Mayan god of hunting and was used in their hieroglyphics as a symbol of repentance and also of surgical blood-letting (THOH). The Dogon, too, associated it with surgical operations, the removal of the clitoris in fact. The poison-sac and sting symbolize the organ, the poison being the blood and liquid released by the operation (GRIE). In this context, the scorpion stands for a woman's second (male) soul, but elsewhere the scorpion, having eight legs is the guardian of twins, with eight limbs in all. 'Nobody can touch them without risking being stung' (GRIE). These two symbolic meanings given to the scorpion are not contradictory, but complementary, for, as Griaule explains, 'the birth of twins is an occasion of considerable importance. It repeats the occasion when the first woman gave birth and her clitoris was changed into a scorpion.' (In those days circumsision was not practised until after a woman had given birth).

In Ancient Egypt, this dangerous insect's shape was used for one of the oldest hieroglyphics and its name was born by one of the pre-dynastic kings, 'King Scorpion.' . . . In this context, the scorpion possesses all the symbolic ambivalence of the serpent.

In Ancient Greek tradition, the scorpion avenged Artemis, the eternally youthful virgin huntress, archetypal man-hater. Offended when Orion offered violence to her, the goddess had a scorpion sting him in the heel. . . The scorpion in this context was regarded as the instrument of divine vengeance.

Ok, I got some divine vengeance running loose in my psyche, consider yourself warned.

Unless you're a mouse with a buddy, in that case you two can totally school me in your rodent ways, you rat bastards.