# What does it mean to dream about spiders? > Spiders in dreams may point to patience, craft or feeling caught. Psychological, Jungian and cross-cultural readings, plus why spider dreams can return. Source: https://lunariapp.com/dream-dictionary/dream-about-spiders/ Written by [Deniz Bedirhan Öksüz](https://lunariapp.com/about/) · Updated: 2026-11-08 ## Short answer Dreaming about spiders often reflects something in waking life that feels patient, intricate or quietly close: a plan being built, a situation you feel caught in, or a person whose presence you cannot ignore. Across traditions the spider is both a weaver and something to keep an eye on, so your feeling in the dream usually matters most. ## The psychological lens Dreams often reflect what is on your mind while awake, though not one-to-one, so a spider rarely needs to be about spiders. Many people find these dreams arrive when something feels tangled or slow to resolve: a project with many threads, a commitment that has grown stickier than expected, a worry that keeps spinning. If you feel uneasy around spiders by day, the dream may simply borrow that feeling to stage a different concern. Noticing whether you watched, stepped away or calmly moved the spider aside can say more than the spider itself. ## The Jungian lens Jungian readers often treat a spider as an image of the patient, building side of the psyche, and sometimes of a figure who holds things together, or holds on too tightly. In Jung's approach, figures in a dream are read first as parts of the dreamer, so a spider at the centre of a web may reflect your own wish to keep every thread in place. A broken web can point to a structure you are outgrowing. The useful question is whether the web felt like shelter or like a net. ## The cross-cultural lens Some traditions see the spider as a weaver of stories and a teacher of patience. In West African stories, Anansi the spider is a clever trickster who wins the world's tales through wit rather than strength. Greek myth tells of Arachne, a weaver so skilled she challenged a goddess and was turned into a spider. In some classical Islamic dream texts, a spider's web is read against the dreamer's state rather than given one fixed meaning, one tradition among several. Across these readings, the spider is tied to craft, time and the things we build. ## Questions people ask ### Why do I keep dreaming about spiders? Recurring symbols tend to track something ongoing rather than fate. If spiders keep returning, note what was happening in the days around each dream, such as a decision left hanging or a situation that feels hard to leave. Small studies found people with ongoing recurring dreams reported lower well-being, and people whose recurring dreams had stopped reported better well-being, so a returning dream is worth gentle attention. Patterns become visible once several dated entries sit side by side. ### What does it mean to dream about a spider web? A web is often read as a structure: something carefully built, a network of people, or a situation you feel caught in. How the web looked can shift the reading. A bright, intact web in morning light is often read as patience or craft, while a dusty, abandoned one may reflect something left untended. If you were tangled in it, many people find the dream lines up with a commitment that feels harder to step out of than expected. ### What does it mean to dream about a spider crawling on you? A spider on your skin usually carries the closest feeling in the dream: something getting too near, or a worry you cannot easily brush off. Where it crawled can matter, since a hand may point to work or control and your face to how you feel seen by others. If you stayed calm, the dream may reflect growing ease with something that once unsettled you. If you felt uneasy, notice what in your week felt similarly close. ## A reflection Write the spider down while the details are still sharp: its size, the web and what you did. A few entries later, the threads between them often start to show. If you would like to keep dreams like this one, start with [how to keep a dream journal](https://lunariapp.com/dream-dictionary/how-to-keep-a-dream-journal/). ## How Lunaria reads this dream In Lunaria you write the dream down or say it aloud, pick up to three feelings and choose one of 23 approaches, such as Jungian, Islamic or neuroscientific. The reading looks at the symbols and the feeling together and offers what they may mean as possibilities. Over time, your journal shows which symbols keep coming back. [Download on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id6791570357?ct=site) ## Sources 1. Schredl & Hofmann (2003). *Consciousness and Cognition 12(2)*. [doi:10.1016/S1053-8100(02)00072-7](https://doi.org/10.1016/S1053-8100(02)00072-7) 2. Brown & Donderi (1986). *Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 50(3)*. [doi:10.1037/0022-3514.50.3.612](https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.50.3.612) 3. Zadra, O'Brien & Donderi (1998). *Imagination, Cognition and Personality 17(4)*. [doi:10.2190/LLXL-D4DB-9CP5-BRGT](https://doi.org/10.2190/LLXL-D4DB-9CP5-BRGT) ## Related dreams - [What does it mean to dream about snakes?](https://lunariapp.com/dream-dictionary/dream-about-snakes/) · [markdown](https://lunariapp.com/dream-dictionary/dream-about-snakes.md) - [What does it mean to dream about being chased?](https://lunariapp.com/dream-dictionary/dream-about-being-chased/) · [markdown](https://lunariapp.com/dream-dictionary/dream-about-being-chased.md) - [Why do I keep having the same dream?](https://lunariapp.com/dream-dictionary/recurring-dreams/) · [markdown](https://lunariapp.com/dream-dictionary/recurring-dreams.md) [Dream dictionary](https://lunariapp.com/dream-dictionary/) · [markdown](https://lunariapp.com/dream-dictionary.md)