Of all the millions of insects on the planet, praying mantises are among the most unique, fascinating, and full of strange symbolism. This makes it all the more interesting and puzzling when you start having praying mantis dreams, especially if they are fairly regular.
But what does a dream about a praying mantis mean? What are its connotations, is it something to be scared about or is there actually a hidden positive message you’ve been missing?
Well, the answer is that it depends on exactly what you dreamt about, what were the surrounding details, what are your personal associations with this type of insect, as well as what’s been going on in your personal life as of late. With all that in mind, there are some commonalities most people share, so, let’s go over the 10 most likely meanings of a dream about a praying mantis.
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What does a dream about a praying mantis mean?
This insect is said to be “praying” because of its frontal limbs sitting in a peculiar praying-like position while it’s stalking its prey. Because of that, some people draw associations with prayer, meditation, and other types of religious symbolism.
This is perfectly normal but here we’ll explore the broader psychological associations and symbolism we tend to make with the praying mantis and how those can manifest and inform the dreams we have. If you do have a specific religious association with the praying mantis, that may very well be what your dream signified too. Here are our 10 examples with some details:
1. You feel like you are being stalked and might be in danger
Praying mantises rely on their stealth, patience, and lightning-fast reflexes to hunt their prey which is an extra reason why we often perceive them as being creepy. That’s also why you’ll often find green praying mantis dreams meaning a fear of being stalked – like a warning from our subconscious mind that danger can hide behind every corner.
Some dreams also include a simple green leaf turning out to be a praying mantis attacking us out of the blue. Dreams of this sort indicate not just a mere feeling of anxiety but worryingly high levels of stress. That, or you really are in danger in your waking life and your subconscious mind is desperately trying to get you to be more careful.
2. You’ve been feeling empowered to take your destiny into your own hands
Interestingly enough, you can also find praying mantis meaning that’s empowering – so much so, that many people even view this insect as a totem animal. For example, the praying mantis can be seen to symbolize the wisdom of having patience, the importance of being self-reliant and capable, as well as the simplicity of leading a simple life.
If your dream of a praying mantis has mostly positive connotations and has you doing simple things such as just observing a praying mantis chill or hunt while you yourself are coming to terms with something that’s been bothering you, a likely interpretation is that your subconscious is getting ready to turn a new page in your life.
3. You often feel like you’re not allowed to touch anything in the house
A lot of people are incredibly afraid of stealthy insects such as praying mantises, stick insects, and others. The praying mantis is an especially strong trigger for most folks as it’s predatory and quite creepy to look at.
So, if your praying mantis dream showed you being afraid of your surroundings and literally paralyzed at the thought of touching something because it could turn out to be a stealthed predatory insect, this can indicate that you don’t feel all right with your real-life surroundings too.
4. You have intimacy issues with your partner
A famous true fact about praying mantises is that the female mantis eats its male partner after they copulate, usually starting from the head as the coupling is still ongoing. Needless to say, this is a powerful symbolism that easily gets stuck in the head of anyone that hears about it – especially if we hear it as kids and/or if we’re a bit too impressionable.
As such, this symbolism often appears in the dreams of people who don’t feel safe in their romantic relationship, and especially for those that have intimacy issues – be it physical intimacy in bed, or emotional intimacy such as sharing emotions, being open and honest, etc.
Such issues usually stem from past trauma and need to be dealt with if the relationship is to continue in a healthy and fulfilling manner. A mantis dream of this kind can be a good wake-up call for people who’ve been trying to postpone facing their trauma and moving forward without it.
5. You’ve been forced to be friendly with someone you’re aware isn’t really your friend
Another interesting praying mantis symbolism is that of someone who you can be around for a long time without an issue but who can strike you from behind at any moment.
In essence, such dreams can be a reminder that you can’t trust someone (or several someones) that you currently are in close proximity with. This can often point toward colleagues or business partners but it can also signify a romantic partner you don’t really trust anymore or a friend who has recently broken your trust but you haven’t confronted them about it yet.
6. You’ve recently reconciled with someone you used to be estranged with
An opposite mantis dream meaning to the above is also possible as these animals can also be seen as a symbol of peace. This symbolism of a peaceful praying mantis totem usually comes to people once they realize that the praying mantis isn’t actually dangerous to humans.
Granted, this realization needs to be internalized on a deep emotional level first but, if you used to be afraid of mantises before and you aren’t anymore, they can easily symbolize a sort of reconciliation with an old enemy. So, if you have such a dream all of a sudden, this is exactly what it could mean – you’ve turned a new chapter in your relationship with an old adversary.
7. You have – or you’re actively trying to – overcome a major fear you’ve had for a long time
The action of daring to touch or hold a harmless praying mantis can take a lot of courage but also brings a long of satisfaction. As such, the appearance of a praying mantis in your dream can be a symbol of good luck and good fortune if you dream of yourself overcoming your fears and interacting with the insect in a rewarding manner.
This is another reason why the mantis is often seen as a spirit animal and a spirit guide for people trying to overcome their fears.
8. You feel like you’ve been betrayed by someone close to you
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Sometimes we have a praying mantis dream because we feel that we are the stealthy predator ambushing an innocent grasshopper. Such a dream rarely portrays us as literally being in the body of a mantis, however, if the dream feels steeped with guilt, it’s likely that we’ve recently betrayed someone who trusted us and we feel lots of remorse because of that.
9. You’re aware of some major self-destructive habits you need to get rid of
There is another interesting meaning of a praying mantis dream in which the female mantis kills and devours the male – it’s that we associate ourselves with the male mantis and our subconscious mind is telling us that our current behavior and life’s trajectory is going to get us hurt.
This dream is especially common for people who have lots of self-destructive habits that we know are bad for us but we haven’t done anything about them yet.
10. You’ve realized that something you thought was a big problem is actually quite manageable and isn’t a big deal
Dreaming of a dead praying mantis or a mantis enclosed in a glass jar is usually a sign of good luck. That’s because such a dream usually means that there is something in our life we used to think was dangerous, risky, and harmful, that has ended up being no problem at all.
Do be careful with such a dream, however, as our subconscious mind could also fall victim to overconfidence and can be filling us with false peace of mind.
In conclusion
As we can see, a dream of a praying mantis will often have a relatively negative connotation as our intuition tends to view this creature as “creepy” and a source of stress and danger. Such mantis dream interpretations are usually pretty easy to make as the dream will have a memorable stressful feeling accompanying them as well as a topical scary scenario.
Some mantis dreams can also have positive or even empowering meanings which are noticeable by their positive and even upbeat tone. These usually happen if we don’t dislike this type of insect or if we’ve recently changed our opinions about it.
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