John D Manwell's Blog

Some time ago I had a detailed, vivid, and dramatic dream.

I have been reflecting on it and have come to a conclusion that it was a God given insight into some of the changes that we are experiencing across the world.

The dream:

I was walking along a very ordinary road in clear daylight  when I came up to a strange and grotesque sight: On the pavement I was walking along there was a medium size snake, about 4 or 5 feet long, and it was trying to swallow a lizard. The snake struggled and the lizard was wriggling like crazy – fighting for it’s life.

I leaned down to look closely and found myself looking right into the eyes of the snake. Its eyes were frantic and yet looked defiantly right back at me. I was very close up and saw the lizard struggling less, as if losing strength. With a last big effort, the snake seemed to swallow the lizard – and it went out of sight down the throat of the snake. It seemed like the snake was victorious.

I watched the snake writhe, as if the fighting lizard was not properly going down. Suddenly, the snake vomited out the lizard, which was now inside a transparent membrane – and still fighting for freedom. I knew as I watched, that the transparent membrane was an ‘amniotic sac’ – a fluid filled membrane that holds a fetus in a womb. As the lizard was thrown up on the roadway, the snake expired from the effort and collapsed dead.

The lizard then tore open the amniotic sac and got itself free – and ran away.

That next morning I had a fairly clear conviction about the meaning of the dream, and I have pondered on this for some time. I feel it most strongly relates to political and governmental change.

I believe that the snake is a picture of the leadership that has been in place in many situations for a long time – governmental, business and media organisations, as well as perhaps charities and religious groups. This unhealthy leadership has been attempting to devour the new leaders who are emerging across the earth. The lizard represents a new type of leader, and this new generation of leadership has been in the birth process. What appeared to be the old attempting to devour the new, has been turned on its head, and become the birth of the new, and death of the old.

The birth of the new

We have observed a renewed political openness to what has been called ‘populism’ – which seems to be the hunger of people around the world for a new type of leadership. What has emerged so far might be simply the early manifestations of the yearning that is in the people.

I also wonder if the amniotic sac hints at the refreshed challenge to the global and grotesque practice of infant abortion.

I’m convinced that the snake powerfully typifies secular and godless controlling authority, and the lizard represents leadership that is spiritually awake and sympathetic to God’s agenda.

I discern that there are a variety of actual out workings of this dream around us already. I believe that God has been compelling me this past week to write and publish the dream and this part of the interpretation.

The new is emerging and we are in it!