Snails hold powerful spiritual meanings as they are found all over the world. People in every time and place have studied snails to apply their teachings of rebirth, mystery, and patience. Snails even find their way into our dreams, where they invite us to rest and recover before heading back out into the world to create a new life.
Snail Medicine and Food
Snails are potent spiritual symbols but they also have uses as food and medicine. The French are famous for their love of snails as escargot. Cooked in garlic and butter, snails melt in your mouth.
But snail eating was done in the days of Rome and Greece as well. Here, snails had a dual use: eating snails was said to be curative. If you had stomach pains, were coughing up blood, or were prone to fainting, a doctor might suggest you eat more snails. In later centuries, European doctors would prescribe broth made from snail mucus. It was thought to be good for smoothing skin, reducing redness, and healing open wounds.
Snails were also symbols of wealth in ancient and modern cultures. Tyrian purple is a dye that is extracted from snails in the family Muricidae. Today we use synthetic blends to replicate the color range, which was dark maroon to purple, depending on the species of snail.
In the past, it took thousands of snails and a lot of labor to produce the dye. So the color purple was associated with royalty in cultures as far flung as Greece and Indonesia.
What Do Snails Symbolize?
The spiritual meaning of a snail includes several core values.
Patience
Patience is a key snail spiritual meaning. Anyone who has observed a snail will see how a snail follows a path to its conclusion. And even if a dry patch of land requires it to change its path, the snail does so without deliberation or discouragement. Snails are patient yet always in motion. In the time other beings would spend thinking or being depressed, the snail reaches its goal. Snails also embody persistence and tenacity.
Rebirth
When a snail enters its shell it may remain there for hours or even days at a time. Snails do so to wait for higher moisture levels or to regenerate if attacked by a predator. Rebirth is a potent snail spiritual meaning. Many cultures also see the swirling shell as a symbol for life and death. The snail, which enters and exits at will, is a metaphor for rebirth.
Mystery
As creatures of darkness and damp places, snails hide from the blinding, searing light. The snail totem meaning of mystery invites us to remember that there is life and purpose even where our understanding fails us. And that by becoming a walker in the world of mystery, we may find more to life than we thought possible.
Spiritual Meaning of Snails in Christianity
In Christianity, snail symbolism extends to laziness since they move so slow.
Psalms 58:8 – “Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.” Here, the snail is a symbol of divine punishment, the sinners melting away into their own slime when the sunlight (God’s radiance) reveals them.
Medieval art added to the significance of snails in the 13th and 14th centuries. Knights on horses fighting with giant snails became commonplace, though the exact reason is still debated. One website notes that it could be seen as a visual joke: “We’re supposed to laugh at the idea of a knight being afraid of attacking such a ‘heavily armored’ opponent. Silly knight, it’s just a snail!”
It’s also possible that a spiritual meaning was being hinted at. Referencing the above Bible verse, the knights may have been battling with the inevitability of death, which the slow but persistent snail symbolizes.
Symbolism of Snails in Mesoamerican Culture
Unlike many cultures the ancient Aztecs saw the symbolism of snails in positive terms. The snail was a sacred animal to them because the spiral of its shell symbolized the dance of life and death. Snails and worms were the province of the god Tecciztecatl, who wore a giant shell on his back.
The Aztecs believed that the entire universe was lit by the sun, which was a burning god. In each cycle, a god would volunteer to become the new sun. Two gods wanted to become the sun this cycle: the snail god Tecciztecatl and Nanahuatzin.
Tecciztecatl was proud and rich while Nanahuatzin was poor yet bold. Nanahuatzin leapt first into the bonfire to become the sun, with Tecciztecatl finding his courage and leaping afterwards. For a brief time there were two suns. But the other gods didn’t like that rich and proud Tecciztecatl had to follow the humble Nanahuatzin.
So they threw a rabbit at him, dimming his radiance into that of the moon. And leaving an imprint that Western cultures see as the man in the moon. Making Tecciztecatl the god of the moon as well as snails. And as the moon retreats over the ocean the snail retreats into its shell. The process of a snail entering its shell also symbolized rebirth to the Aztecs.
The ancient Mayans took a different view; the snail spirit animal is represented by the god Wayeb. Wayeb is unlucky and often to blame for bad things occurring in your life. He was a drunk and a sex maniac, but he spent most of the year inside of a snail shell. Wayeb only comes out of his shell during five unlucky days at the end of each year. Snail meaning included sexual desire year-round, however.
Mayan veneration for the snail also extended to their buildings. Chichen Itza is a complex of Mayan structures in what is now Yucatan, Mexico. There is an observatory there called El Caracol (the Snail), built to observe Venus. The structure was named so by the Spanish due to the spiral staircase leading to the top.
Native American Snail Spiritual Meaning
The snail holds special meaning to the Navajo people of the Southwestern United States. In their creation story, a flood forced the People out of their home in the Fourth World, which was the Underworld. They had to come to the surface, where everyone now lives.
While their new home had a great ocean and plenty of space, there was no fresh water to be found. So the People came together and debated on what was to be done. First Woman said that they had to send someone back to the Underworld, to fetch fresh water. They sent several animals to find water but none succeeded.
One little girl, known as Snail Girl, volunteered. Even though she was slow, she felt that she could succeed. First Woman attached a bottle to her back and sent her forth. Snail Girl managed to find water and filled the bottle on her back.
But on the way back, the bottle of water cracked, leaving a glistening trail of moisture. The trail of water widened into a river along the way, though. Snail Girl was thanked when she returned and given a place of honor among the People. Snail spirit animals serve as reminders to the Navajo not to waste water in their dry desert home.
Significance of Snails in East Asian Culture
Nuwa is the mother goddess of Chinese mythology. One of her titles is “the Mythological Snail” as her name can also be made to be a play on words for several other words, including snail. Nuwa made humans with yellow clay as well as the heavens themselves.
In Japan, snails held a more sinister meaning. The Sazae-oni were demons that took the form of snails. One way they troubled humans was by taking the form of beautiful women in danger of drowning at sea. When sailors would try to rescue them the Sazae-oni would then devour them. The demons could also walk on land. Here they would enter inns disguised as women traveling alone. And during the night they would devour the hapless innkeeper.
What Do Snails Represent in Dreams?
Dreaming of snails or snail symbols is an important event. If the snail is staying inside of its shell, one interpretation is that you are in need of protection and rest. Rather than hurrying along you would be best served with a period of introspection and recovery. As a potent symbol of rebirth, the snail in your dreams invites you to wait for a sign.
The sign that it’s time to progress into life is often a snail on the move. Persistence and patience will serve you on the course you’ve now set.
Conclusion
Snail symbolism includes meanings of laziness and death. Yet they are also symbols of rebirth, mystery, and patience. If a snail visits your dreams or your garden, paying attention to them will tell you a lot about how to proceed in life.
FAQs
An empty snail shell in your garden may represent an unfulfilled dream or desire since live snails are a symbol of rebirth. Empty snail shells also represent sickness and even spiritual blindness. You are being encouraged to reconsider your priorities in life and take care of both body and mind.
Slugs are a symbol of transition and growth. They are on the move and active despite not having a home on their back like a snail does. Since slugs evolved from snails they also represent change and new opportunities. A slug is a positive spiritual omen.
