by Last Updated on September 2, 2022 by Avia
A look at the symbolic meaning of pests in the home: I just finished up doing a titanic renovation and cleanout of a home that had been abandoned and neglected for several years. There were loads of so-called “pests” riddled throughout the place. Mice, rats, and all manner of bugs. Oh my! Now, these critters don’t bother me. Mostly because I understand the magic of symbolism backing all of life and life events.
For me, these little babies held a lot of wisdom and provided many lessons. But not everybody looks at the symbolic meaning of pests in the home. Very often, many folks might freak out, or even rush to grab the insecticide or mouse traps or whatever. To each their own. However, I highly recommend digging into the deeper meaning of critters that freak us out when we find them in our homes.
Table of Contents
- A Question of Perception
- A Word About Interpreting Symbolic Encounters (of any kind)
- A Look At Symbolic Environments (The Home)
- Individual So-Called Pests and Potential Meanings
- Putting it all Together: Interpreting the Symbolic Meaning of Pests in the Home
- Frequently Asked Questions About Symbolism of Pests in the Home
- A Word About Terminating the Pests In Our Lives
- Conclusion About the Deeper Meaning of Finding Pests in the Home
A Question of Perception
As synchronicity would have it, I got an email this week from a reader who asked me about the symbolism of “creepy crawly” creatures in the home. She kept on encountering beasties that caused her unsettling sensations. Things like spiders, mice, snakes, etc. hanging in and around her house were really beginning to harsh her mellow.
Rather than dismiss the presence of insects and the occasional rodent (or worse, allow her distaste for these creatures to control her with fear), she started figuring out if there was a deeper message to the visitations. In essence, she was seeking out the symbolic meaning of pests in the home.
I applaud her for listening to that inner voice that said there was a deeper meaning to these visitations. When she asked for my perspectives, I was happy to respond. Not to mention, I’d had my own fair share of processing and contemplating symbolic meaning of pests in the home, so I was locked and loaded with suggestions.
A Word About Interpreting Symbolic Encounters (of any kind)
I make my symbolic interpretations from the standpoint that everything occurring in our external lives is a result, symptom, or reflection of our internal life. And so, we can effectively look at our external life situations as a mirror or reflection of what’s going on within our spirit, emotions, thoughts, etc. This is where symbolism (and the knowledge of it) becomes quite effective in determining solutions to our concerns.
Interpreting symbolic encounters is also about looking at all the moving parts. It’s important to contemplate the critter in question as well as the environment – in this case, the home. Once we mentally record the overarching meaning of the creature and the environment – then we can relate these symbolic aspects to what’s going on in our own lives. Again, because symbolic phenomenon is a reflection of our inner workings – we’ve got to analyze external events and relate them to what’s going on in our lives, emotions, thoughts, etc.
A Look At Symbolic Environments (The Home)
Because we’re exploring the symbolic meaning of pests in the home, it’s important to explore the symbolism of homes. Home is where we hang our hat. That is to say, it’s where we (usually) feel safe to relax, chill out, be ourselves. Our homes are where we should ideally feel secure, safe, and free to “let it all hang out.” It’s also where we eat, love, work, play, create, sleep, express ourselves, etc. In many ways, our homes are like vessels of our essence. That’s a pretty big deal. Houses in our external life are symbolic of internal concepts such as:
- Safety
- Security
- Belief
- Structure
- Organization
- Foundations
- Unification
- Protection
- Contentment
Individual So-Called Pests and Potential Meanings
Of course, when interpreting creatures that keep on showing up in our environment, it’s a good idea to assess the critters individually on a case-by-case basis. To help you do that, here are a few common so-called pests and their meanings.
Ants
These tiny critters are symbolic of things like: Teamwork, communication, connections, and industry. If you think about it, ants formulate a colony and they work together to build a fully-functional (and often impressive) community. When they show up in your home (even if irritating), they are a message to work on building your own community in your life.
Rats
These are resourceful creatures who can survive almost any calamity. As such, they are symbolic of strength and resourcefulness. When they show up in your home, they may be a sign that you might need to be more resilient. It may also indicate that more structure and organization needs to be employed within the home.
Mice
These are also resourceful creatures in that they live off of what other creatures in nature might pass up. They take advantage of convenient surpluses in the home because – let’s face it – they’d rather take the easy way to survive than work for it in fields or their natural environment. When mice show up in the home it might be a message that we might be taking the easy way out, and it’s not working for the stability of our home life. It might also mean that it’s time to get more active in cleaning up our messes (in physical and emotional/mental life).
Spiders
Spiders are symbolic of the interconnectivity of life. When we find them in the home, it’s a sign to understand the connections we share under our roof. For instance, take deep observation of the ties that bind you and the other members of the household. See the patterns that are woven together, and work to make those webs within relationships more beneficial.
Snakes
These creatures are symbolic of renewal, healing, secrets, and stealth. In the home, they may be a sign that it’s time to uncover some unknown details or information you may have been avoiding or ignoring. Snakes showing up in the home are also a sign that it’s time to take a break to renew and refresh yourself, your mind and your life.
Putting it all Together: Interpreting the Symbolic Meaning of Pests in the Home
When our external lives serve up disturbances within and around the home it can be likened to disruptions in the above listed areas of thought/emotion. For example, upset in the home (such as so-called pests) may signal feelings of disorganization, or we feel our safety is being compromised, or we feel the foundation of our beliefs are becoming threatened.
“Creepy crawlies,” such as rats, spiders, snakes, insects are representative of the unseen side of things…the underbelly of our thoughts and feelings. Thus, encountering creatures we find undesirable usually symbolizes our unwillingness to face fears, or emotions and thoughts that are unsavory to us.
In essence, the symbolic meaning of pests in the home might be a message that it’s time to do a little internal cleansing. It might mean that we should clear out the cobwebs of our mind by purposefully choosing cleaner thoughts rather than crummy (negative) thoughts.
Pests in the home might also point to distractions in our lives. It might be a sign to “declutter” all the nonsense or excess stuff that doesn’t nurture our wellbeing. If you keep seeing nuisance-critters in the home it might be time to take inventory of your internal home (your thoughts, emotions, relationships, schedule, etc) and decide if it’s time to do a little spring cleaning in your life.
Once we do a little thought-research…mining out those thoughts/feelings that are scratching at our minds causing discomfort, we can begin to win control over our lives again. It does not require psychotherapy, or digging up painful memories. It just takes a solid decision to clean, clear, organize and/or replace behaviors and thoughts.
Frequently Asked Questions About Symbolism of Pests in the Home
Whatever kind of creature that pesters you would qualify as a pest. This includes ants, rats, mice, roaches, spiders, snakes, etc. These are commonly labeled “pests” because they are considered to be nuisances. However, from a symbolic perspective, these creatures have a lot of wisdom to share. Aside from whatever potential damage they may do to a physical house – these critters can provide a lot of messages and meaning to our philosophical life (if we take the time to observe and listen).
If you’re dreaming of so-called pests creeping through a dream-house, it might be a sign to clean out your metaphorical house. Meaning, tend to your mind garden and pull out the weeds so you won’t have to combat negative slugs in your lovely mental environment. It’s important to know that most so-called pests live upon refuse, decay, trash, left behind. So, if you’re dreaming of pests – that’s a good sign to get rid of trash left in your mind and energetic being.
A lot of that has to do with your perception. Part of living a symbolic life is about reflecting upon events and looking at deeper meanings for inspiration and enlightenment. When you begin to see that creatures that are typically frowned upon (like rats, spiders, etc) have a purpose in the great scheme of life – that gives you the power to appreciate rather than fear them. Seeing the potential beauty of so-called pests is half the battle of assuaging fear of them.
A Word About Terminating the Pests In Our Lives
Symbolic meaning of pests in the home can also educate us about how to deal with perceived negative or nagging thoughts/feelings in our lives. While some folks might want to run out and buy bug bombs or rat traps to eradicate these creatures from their home – that’s not something that can be done with lingering negative thoughts or emotions.
Solutions typically work better when we come from a standpoint of inclusion rather than exclusion. Meaning, when we incorporate and accept our inner facets (rather than chop them out or poison them out of our lives) we find success.
So, consider whatever it is that may be troubling you, and find something acceptable, or positive about it. Essentially, (and symbolically) you are setting out nice bits of cheese for the rats in your mind. Satisfied rats will romp and play out in the field (away from your proverbial hearth & home).
Don’t worry about them coming back to you, wanting more cheese, they won’t. Just know they’re so happy at the positive feeding, they’ll bliss out so far in their reverie – they’ll simply leave your energetic house in their excitement.
Conclusion About the Deeper Meaning of Finding Pests in the Home
When we take care to unearth the positive attributes from our inner landscape – very often our outer landscape will mimic and comply. Meaning, steps taken to comfort the inner you will lead to a comfortable outer life experience too.
It all boils down to that old computer programming adage, “garbage in, garbage out.” What we put in our minds and hearts will always manifest externally in some way, shape or form. Conversely, the things that really stand out in our external world is a sign or a message for us to investigate our inner worlds.
Mighty brightly,
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