It is a hot autumn night in Savannah, Georgia. You are there visiting your childhood friend who recently graduated college. The air is thick with humidity even with sundown. The cobble-stoned streets are teeming with people who are out enjoying a Saturday night.
You and your friend grab a slice of pizza and find a spot to sit at one of the fountains. The magnolia trees while not in bloom in September, are covered in Spanish moss. As you sit there eating your pizza from a local joint, waiting for the ghost tour to start, you realize just how creepy the trees and moss look.
The historic feel of the city starts to sink in and you can feel yourself start to get on edge. A sudden movement next to you catches your attention. As you start to turn your head you notice something else moving on the other side of you.
Just then the mystery movement is felt crawling up your arm. You look down and there making its way up your arm is a cockroach. Out of instinct you flick it off and jump up only to realize the movements were all cockroaches.
As a believer in signs, you ask yourself what does this mean? Is the ghost tour more than I can handle? Is my trip doomed? What is the spiritual meaning of cockroaches?
Spiritual Meaning of Cockroaches
Spiritually a cockroach has several different meanings. One is that they are a sign of rebirth. This is said to be because they are oval in body shape and thus represent a cycle. This could be as simple as the cycle of life or as complex as transforming your life into something new. A second spiritual meaning is perseverance.
Cockroaches live in a wide variety of habitats and are said to be the only creatures that can survive a nuclear blast. Their ability to adapt and thrive in several environments is a testament to perseverance. There are 4,000 different species of cockroaches and as humans, we usually can meet about 30 of these species.
The German Cockroach is one species that is most closely tied to human populations. This species is spread all over the world by catching rides in boxes, grocery bags, or the shipping of used appliances.
They can survive on almost any food source including glue or soap. It’s no wonder the cockroach is associated with perseverance. Another meaning that most may not think to link to a cockroach is embracing ourselves. Cockroaches are not typically a favorite insect of anybody and are usually met with attempts of death or actual succession of death.
As one of the most despised insects, they continue to live and thrive and embrace who they are. They are symbolic to us to remind ourselves to embrace fully who we are and to love ourselves. We should work to shut out negative thoughts of our own and others and focus on the positive things in our lives and accomplishing our goals.
Expert Tip: Cockroaches symbolize community, specifically love, friendship, and trust. They are a reminder to always take care of the relationships we value in our lives. This could be with family, friends, that special someone, or even professionally.
Positive Omens of Cockroaches
For an insect that has many negative connotations tied to it, it is hard to believe that there could be a positive. Omens are signs found in the natural world that are indicators of good or bad events that are in store for us. These can come in the form of weather patterns, plants, animals, or insects.
If you come across cockroaches in your home, then this is an omen that it is time to change your life. This could mean that it is time to purge your home of the clutter that you keep meaning to organize. Perhaps you should take that chance on a new relationship or new job.
It could also mean that you have veered off course in your life and it is time to change it back. Whatever the change you feel it is time to make ensure that the change will better your life. Returning to that night in Savannah, rather than flinging the cockroach away, one should embrace its presence.
Finding a cockroach crawling somewhere on your body can be an omen of pushing through. Life can quickly stack up the hardships to the point we feel that we are going to break. What creature can relate better to this feeling than the cockroach? The cockroach is an omen that when you feel like giving up it is time to keep pushing forward.
Becoming spiritually aware is another omen of the cockroach. A cockroach crossing your path is meant to convey that it is time to become aware of the signs you may have been ignoring in your life.
Examine the people in your life and the choices you have been making to ensure they have been positive influences on your life.
Negative Omens of Cockroaches
There are two sides to every coin and the omens of the cockroach are no different. While some believe they are a sign of good luck to come, other cultures believe they are a sign of bad times ahead, mysticism, or magic (and not the good kind). The belief is that cockroaches are to be seen as caution lights.
A warning system to notify us to prepare for either rough or dangerous times ahead. Multiple cockroaches in your home can be a sign of an infestation, literally. Cockroaches can carry and transmit a multitude of diseases. Should you suspect you have an infestation please seek the help of professional exterminators.
Cockroaches found crawling on you can be a sign of illness or physical injury to come. If it has been a while since you have had a physical or if you have been feeling under the weather but putting off that visit to the doctor reconsider making that appointment.
Essentially it is important that you prioritize your physical health should a cockroach crawl on you. Coming across a dead cockroach is an omen of defeat. This could mean that you have given up on a dream or relationship in your life before it was time.
It could also be an omen of failure. Perhaps you failed a test at school or a project at work. You may have failed a loved one by not upholding your word or not showing up when they needed you.
Although failure may not be as negative as we feel in the moment, it is important to remember that the cockroach does mean rebirth. We may have failed at the moment which is negative, but we can always come back from that failure.
Dream Meanings of Cockroaches
Dream interpretation is not an exact science as there are many variables that must be considered. These variables include personal beliefs, the status of one’s life, cultural beliefs, and the type of cockroach dream.
Dreaming of cockroaches crawling you? This could mean that you are harboring negative thoughts about yourself or believe others have negative thoughts about you. It could also mean that you have had a negative impact on someone’s life.
Ask yourself if you have made a promise lately that you have not kept. Or if you have been turning away from those who need your help. Dreams in which cockroaches crawl across your head could mean memory loss is coming to you. This could be from an illness or injury.
Cockroach dreams can also be a sign of good things to come such as a promotion at work. They can mean that you are about to receive the strength you need to make it through whatever current hardship you have been facing. If the dream was of eating cockroaches, this is usually a sign of needed improvement in hygiene.
This could mean that your physical environment needs a deep clean. It could also mean that it is a sign to look at the hygiene of your body, specifically your diet. Dreams of eating cockroaches could mean that it is time to take serious steps in changing your diet for the better.
Maybe it is time to replace that donut with an apple or that pizza with a salad. Another type of cockroach dream is one in which you encounter a giant cockroach. In this case, there are a few different interpretations.
First, the giant cockroach could mean that you are about to encounter an obstacle in your life. If this is the case, then it is important to remember that the cockroach also symbolizes an instinct to survive. This means that no matter what the obstacle might be that is coming your way if you harness your inner cockroach you can push through it and survive it.
The second and third interpretations depend on the color of the cockroach. If the cockroach is a red color, then this is interpreted as harmony and balance coming into your life. This could be an indication that you are at the end of a tunnel of hardship, or you are about to find balance in a personal relationship that has been rocky.
If the cockroach is black, then this is interpreted as turmoil ahead in your relationships. Again, this may seem negative it should not be seen as a sign to cut and run. It could be as simple as preparing yourself or as a sign to take inventory of your relationships.
Animal Totem Meaning
There is a belief in many different cultures that there are spirit guides that are meant to guide a person from the day of their birth until the day of their death. Those guides that take the shape of animals are known as animal totems. Totems are considered sacred entities.
The cockroach totem is undoubtedly not one that many would hope for. It reminds a person of the Disney movie Brother Bear. In this movie, three brothers are receiving their animal totems from the tribe elder and the two oldest receive “cool ones” such as a hawk and wolf, while the youngest receives a bear.
He is angry as he views bears and big and dumb creatures, and he rejects his totem. These feelings are probably like the ones felt by anyone who receives the cockroach as their animal totem.
In the movie, the youngest brother is transformed into an actual bear and eventually learns to appreciate and embrace his animal totem. While we do not live in an animated movie the lesson is just as important.
Just as the youngest brother walked in the paws of a bear, one should scurry in the life of a cockroach to gain a true appreciation of their animal totem. Those with the cockroach totem can be described as determined, grounded, and strong-willed.
First and foremost, the cockroach totem symbolizes survival. Cockroaches are living representations of the saying “where there is a will there is a way.” The cockroach totem will serve as a reminder to keep putting one foot in front of the other no matter how hard your journey in life might be.
Expert Tip: They are also a symbol of community. Some species of cockroaches such as the German Cockroach are social creatures just as humans are. They rely on others in their community to not only survive but to thrive.
Taking care of the community is an important part of life for them and for those who are following the guidance of their totem. This is mirrored in the lives of humans by taking care of our families or becoming involved in a charity to help those in our communities.
The cockroach totem is meant to be followed at the moment. This means that if your totem is the cockroach, you should be taking daily inventory of the choices being made in your life. Ask yourself if you are pushing forward or giving up?
Are you taking care of your community or turning your back on them? The cockroach can roll with the punches in life, hence their amazing adaptability. Those with this totem are thought to have the same ability. Adapting to change whenever it comes their way and finding harmony in it.
Let’s not forget that cockroaches symbolize rebirth, and the totem is no different. This means that if your life is not in balance or harmony then it is time to turn your life new.
Biblical Meaning
Biblically cockroaches are regarded closely to their current reputation, as unwelcome pests. Cockroaches are often used as symbols of uncleanliness. This is usually in reference to a person’s spirit and the way they are living their lives. The choices they are making are contributing to living a life of sin in the eyes of the Lord.
Cockroaches are also used as a symbol for demons. They sneak in in the dead of the night and bring in diseases. Demons sneak in when our guard is down and lead us down a path of destructive decisions. Demons are sneaky and hide much like the cockroach. There are those who will use cockroaches as means to “clean house”.
The message is that there are those within the church that have been deemed unwelcome or unworthy and need to be cleaned from the premises. It would seem that by and large it has been forgotten that the cockroach is God’s creature, and it was created for a reason.
Fortunately, there are those who have not forgotten. Those who remember to use cockroaches to speak to resilience and rebirth. They tell us that all is actually not lost when it seems that our lives have been lost to sin or demons. Cockroaches are welcomed almost nowhere and yet they continue to survive.
This is the message that needs to be heard. When it feels that one is no longer worthy of hope, love, or life, one must harness their inner cockroach. They must renew their lives and be reborn into a new life achieved by casting away their sins.
It is important to remember that it is in God’s basic nature to forgive and therefore it should be in ours as well. People are not a pest to be rid of. but to be embraced in whatever state we find them and come together as a community, much like the German Cockroach, and take care of one another.
Cockroaches can symbolize a myriad of things many of which are not nearly as bad as their reputation. Resilience, rebirth, and prosperity are three things most everyone would welcome into their lives. As a totem, they force us to take stock of the happenings in our lives and encourage us to take charge and always keep going.
They can act as warning signs for our physical and mental health as well as a reminder to keep our physical environments manageable. Cockroaches are not the pests that their reputations make them out to be. In fact, we could all benefit from a little more cockroaches in our lives. Please comment if you have any questions.
