Carl Gustav Jung on Dreams

8/11/2019 Carl Gustav Jung on Dreams

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Carl Gustav Jung On Dreams

Dreams are specific expressions of the unconscous which have a definite, purposefulstructure indicating an underlying idea or intention. The general function of dreams is torestore one's total psychic equlilibrium. They tend to play a complementary orcompensatory role in our psychic makeup.

The page references in our text are to the book Dreams by C. . !ung. "t was translated by #. $. C. %ull. &lso www.dreamloverinc.com anatomy.htm.

From Dreams to Self UnderstandingBy Silvana Ivin-Amar

&s " get deeper into the study of dreams, into C. !ung and into my own thoughts, " am

beginning to develop a better understanding of who " am as a total human being. The point of it all is really self identity and self understanding. $or a long time now, peoplehave been talking and writing about the ego, the conscious and the unconscious. Thespirit and the soul. "n order for any of this to make sense, all of these concepts mustsomehow fit together. "t is like having pieces of a pu((le in both hands and now needingto put it together. "f the )putting together) is successful you can see the beautiful picturethat is created from all the smaller parts.

The soul is the big picture. *e are soul. The soul has the ability to travel in the realm ofthe collective unconscious and it does so in our dreams. %owever, not in all dreams. Thesoul it is also accessible through other means ++ such as prayer, meditation andcontemplation. Thus, we are soul and we come from the realm of the collectiveunconscious, we return to it when we can and we ultimately return to it at the end ourown physical end-.

*e also have the ego. The ego is our personality and some manifestations of the soul inthis life time and in this body. The ego is responsible for our daily functioning it is our

psychology and rationality. The ego has its own unconscious component. *e call thisour private unconscious. These are things outside of our conscious awareness but fromthe realm of this physical reality and of this life.

The ego rules the day and this conscious life. /ut our lives are directed or effected byunseen forces within ourselves. "n order for a person to be very well developed,integrated and in balance ++ there needs to be an understanding of the various elementsthat create the total person. *e need to acknowledge and recogni(e the ego ++ itsconscious and unconscious components. *e also need to give, at the minimum, equaltime and respect to our soul. $irst to recogni(e the fact that we are more than a body andmore than our egos. Then, try to develop our understanding of soul ++ or try to becomeintimate with it.

0o many of us are completely out of balance. The world is a mess and individually weare a mess too. *e attempt to address our problems by taking care of the ego. *e go to

therapy and we analy(e and attempt to heal only the ego. This is helpful for only a short period of time and many of the symptoms and problems return to us full force. "n order


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to achieve any permanent, or long lasting contentment and peacefulness we need to look at ourselves in our beautiful and very complex totality.

*e need to heal not only our egos, which take care of our concrete problems, but alsoour souls, which are the source of any permanent feelings of love and health.

"n our dreams we have the wonderful ability to transcend the physical world and tofunction as soul. *e have the opportunity to tap into the collective unconscious and tohave experiences which are enlightening. &t times we remember these experiences andwe attempt to understand them through dream analysis. *hen dreams are from thecollective unconscious we say that they are archetypal in nature and decoding them maynot be all that difficult. This is time consuming but not impossible to do.

1nfortunately, those of us that are firmly stuck in the ego during the day rememberdreams that are from the ego during the night. The personal unconscious materials areremembered and analy(ed and the individual may be satisfied by a simplistic dreaminterpretation. To develop a model of the human psyche in its totality is very, verydifficult. To somehow diagram the four unequal components is something that " amthinking about and may have some insight about it in the future. "t may be spherical indesign and hopefully the diagram would be able to show interrelationship between allthe parts.

"t is possible to come to a greater level of understanding without dreams. %owever, it isnot wise. Dreams are an irreplaceable source of information, inspiration andenlightenment. "t is each persons responsibility to become familiar with their dreams. Tothink about them, to write them down, and to regularly attempt to understand themessages from their dreams. &s you do this, your lives will become fuller and you willgain insight, not only into your daily life, but also into your soul2

)The olle tive un ons ious is ommon to all! it is the foundation of "hat the an ients alled the #sym$athy of all things%# -- CG Jung

Carl ustav !ung lived from 3456 to 3783 and was a 0wiss psychiatrist. "n the earlyyears, he worked in an asylum and was motivated by a desire to understand the human

psyche. $reud and !ung were contemporaries. !ung was fascinated by $reud's ideasabout the unconscious and by his theories on dreams. !ung did not agree with $reud onmany accounts and he independently research and developed an extensive theoretical

framework regarding the structure of the human psyche and the nature of dreams. Thefoundation of &nalytical psychology is the life's work of Carl !ung. %e was a prolificwriter and was tenacious in his pursuit to understand the human condition. !ung's workincludes conventional and unconventional areas of study such as religion, alchemy andastrology.

"n order to appreciate the theories and thoughts of C. . !ung an individual must firsthave a general understanding, appreciation, and belief in the unconscious. "t is difficultto explain the unconscious because it is not a concrete ob9ect. :ne can not hold it, lookat it or examine it directly. "t is something like wind. *e can see its effects and can feelit, but we can not grab it in our hands and examine it. 0cience can not study the

unconscious directly. The only proof of its existence can be found in the complexworkings of the human mind and spirit.


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To give the un ons ious validity and $o"er is a lea$ of faith% To &elieve in its e'isten e is somethingli(e &elieving in a )igher *o"er% I don+t mean to suggest that the un ons ious is li(eGod% In my understanding, it is not% The un ons ious is a very $rivate and individualthing% Our dream material may ome from this "onderful $la e that "e have no a essto during the day% The un ons ious mind may have the $o"er to onne t us to otherlevels, or dimensions, of ourselves and eventually to everyone and everything else,

in luding Divinity% C% G% Jung said that the un ons ious is not ne essarily smarter, &utthat it holds different information than our ons ious mind% It ena&les us to see thingsthat are at times diffi ult to understand and admit% The un ons ious e'$erien es thatare revealed to us in dreams also allo" freedom and mo&ility that "ould &e im$ossi&leto o&tain through the ons ious mind% In a dream "e an fly and there are virtually nolimits to the $ossi&ilities in our dream e'$erien es

In the dream state "e have an o$$ortunity to a ess the *.I/AT0 and the CO110CTI/0un ons ious% A ording to Carl Jung, the $rimary fun tions of dreams are2

3% Dreams are a om$ensation for "hat is going on in daily life% They an serve as a $ositiveor negative om$ensation% In this "ay, they attem$t to &alan e the $sy he% For e'am$le2 Ifyou e'$erien e unha$$iness in daily life, you may have a &lissful dream% If you are verysu essful in a s$e ifi area of l ife, you may have a dream a&out failure or disaster%

4% Dreams $rovide a rea tion to a traumati e'$erien e% For e'am$le2 If you "ere in a ara ident, you may dream of it and the dream may &e a re$eat of this negative e'$erien e%*eo$le "ho suffered great trauma, su h as ra$e vi tims or "ar veterans, may havenightmares that are e'a tly li(e or very similar to a tual life events% As the individualassimilates these traumati e'$erien es, su h dreams should &e ome less and less fre5uentand may ta(e another form%

6% Dreams may &e $ro$heti % Some dreams may $rovide the dreamer "ith glim$ses into thefuture a&out small matters, "hile other dreams may reveal im$ortant events% )o"ever,(ee$ in mind that most dreams are sym&oli and not literal% *ro$heti dreams may have anemotional or $sy hi harge that is different from other ty$es of dreams%

7% Dreams may &e tele$athi % In the Ameri an )eritage Di tionary, tele$athy is defined as# ommuni ation through means other than the senses%# Tele$athi dreams may &e a meansof ommuni ating "ith others, as "ell as a $ath for one $art of the dreamer+s $sy he toommuni ate "ith another%

8% Dreams may &e mimeti of events o urring in the $hysi al system or &ody% Thus, dreamsmay attem$t to &ring to ons iousness an un(no"n illness or &e a refle tion of a urrent$hysi al hallenge%

Inter$reting dreams an and should &e $ra ti ed "ithout mu h dogmati ertainty- Disturbances are due to lack of harmony between conscious and unconscious ;5ethods of treatment based onsuggestion are deceptive makeshifts they are incompatible with the principles ofanalytical therapy and should be avoided if at all possible ;76=.

The dream begins with a 0T&T?>?@T :$ AB&C? . . . ;4 =. @ext comes a statement about the A#:T& :@"0T0 . . . 0tatements of time are rarer. "call this phase of the dream the ? A:0"T":@. "t indicates the scene of action, the

people involved, and often the initial situation of the dreamer. . . . ;4 =."n the second phase comes the D?E?B:A>?@T of the plot . . . The situation issomehow becoming complicated and a definite tension develops because one does not


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know what will happen ;4 +43=.The third phase brings the C1B>"@&T":@ or peripeteia. %ere something decisivehappens or something changes completely ;43=.The fourth and last phase is the lysis, the 0:B1T":@ or #?01BT produced by thedream+work. There are certain dreams in which the fourth phase is lacking, and this can

present a special problem, not to be discussed here- ;43=.

$or dream contents to be assimilated, it is of overriding importance that no real valuesof the conscious personality should be damaged, much less destroyed, otherwise there isno one left to do the assimilating ;3 F+


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One should reali9e that dreams often have many meanings and an ontainsignifi ant hints%

;Certain= reflections are unavoidable if one wants to understand the meaning of )big)dreams. They employ numerous mythological motifs that characteri(e the life of the

hero, of that greater man who is semi+divine by nature. %ere we find the dangerousadventures and ordeals such as occur in initiations. *e meet dragons, helpful animals,and demons also the *ise old >an, the animal+man, the wishing tree, the hiddentreasure, the well, the cave, the walled garden, the transformative processes andsubstances of alchemy, and so forth+all things which in no way touch the banalities ofeveryday. . . . they have to do with the reali(ation of a part of the personality which . . .is still in the process of becoming ;57=. "t frequently happens at the very beginning ofthe treatment that a dream will reveal to the doctor, in broad perspective, the whole

program of the unconscious. /ut for practical reasons it may be quite impossible tomake clear to the patient the deeper meaning of the dream. "n this respect, too, we arelimited by practical considerations ;3 8=.

1nderstanding is clearly a very sub9ective process. "t can be extremely one+sided, in thatthe doctor understands but not the patient. "n such a case the doctor conceives it to behis duty to convince the patient, and if the latter will not allow himself to be convinced,the doctor accuses him of resistance. . . . it makes very little difference whether thedoctor understands or not, but it makes all the difference whether the patientunderstands. 1nderstanding should therefore be understanding in the sense of anagreement which is the fruit of 9oint reflection ;7


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" . . . urge my patients to keep a careful record of their dreams and of the interpretationsgiven. " also show them how to work out their dreams . . . they can bring the dream andits context with them in writing to the consultation. &t a later stage " get them to workout the interpretation as well. "n this way the patient learns how to deal correctly withhis unconscious ;74=.

;Carl ustav= Carus ;3547+3487= formulated the concept of the unconscious ;in the34 s= ;45=.

"f . . . someone dreams of a table, we are still far from knowing what the )table) of thedreamer signifies, although the word )table) sounds unambiguous enough. $or the thingwe do not know is that this )table) is the very one at which his father sat when herefused the dreamer all further financial help and threw him out of the house as a good+for+nothing. The polished surface of this table stares at him as a symbol of hislamentable worthlessness in his daytime consciousness as well as in his dreams at night.This is what our dreamer understands by )table.) Therefore we need the dreamer's helpin order to limit the multiple meanings of words to those that are essential andconvincing. That the )table) stands as a mortifying landmark in the dreamer's life may

be doubted by anyone who was not present. /ut the dreamer does not doubt it, nor do". . . . "f, therefore, we establish that the )table) in the dream means 9ust that fatal table,with all that this implies, then, although we have not explained the dream, we have atleast interpreted one important motif of it that is, we have recogni(ed the sub9ectivecontext in which the word )table) is embedded. *e arrived at this conclusion by amethodical questioning of the dreamer's own associations. The further procedures towhich $reud sub9ects the dream+contents " have had to re9ect, for they are too muchinfluenced by the preconceived opinion that dreams are the fulfillment of )repressedwishes.) ;5 +53=.

There are three possibilities. "f the conscious attitude to the life situation is in largedegree one+sided, then the dream takes the opposite side. "f the conscious has a positionfairly near the )middle,) the dream is satisfied with variations. "f the conscious attitudeis )correct) adequate-, then the dream coincides with and emphasi(es this tendency,though without forfeiting its peculiar autonomy ;5


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&bove all, he recogni(ed that no interpretation can be undertaken without the dreamer.The words composing a dream+narrative have not 9ust one meaning, but many meanings;5 =.

"t is not for psychology, as a science, to demand a hypostati(ation of the od+image.

/ut, the facts being what they are, it does have to reckon with the existence of a od+image. "n the same way it reckons with instinct but does not deem itself competent tosay what )instinct) really is ;8


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frequently happens that the ob9ect offers a hook to the pro9ection ;67=.

In Jungian mind analysis, some dreams are studied% The ritualisti and oddthera$y - shun it Dreams contain something more than practical helps for the doctor,dream+analysis deserves very special attention. 0ometimes, indeed, it is a matter of life

and death ;74=. Through the assimilation of unconscious contents, the momentary life of consciousness can once more be brought into harmony with the law of nature fromwhich it all too easily departs, and the patient can be led back to the natural law of hisown being ;3 7=.

The correct dream interpretation can strike home ;cf. 3 F=.

&s is the way of all dreams, my little dream example gives us rather more than weexpected ;73=.

The patient has falsified the situation. "t suits his fancy to come to me in the guise of a philosopher and psychologist . . . /ut the dream reminds him of it . . . and forces him totell the truth. . . . %is recollection of the fortune+teller shows us very clearly 9ust how hehad imagined my activities . . . The dream rectifies the situation. "t contributes thematerial that was lacking and thereby improves the patient's attitude. That is ;a= reasonwe need dream+analysis in our therapy ;F8=.

?very process that goes too far immediately and inevitably calls forth compensations,and without these there would be neither a normal metabolism nor a normal psyche;3 3=.

" leave theory aside as much as possible when analy(ing dreams+not entirely, of course,for we always need some theory to make things intelligible. "t is on the basis of theory,for instance, that " expect dreams to have a meaning. " cannot prove in every case thatthis is so, for there are dreams which the doctor and the patient simply do notunderstand ;78=.

The patient, that is to say, does not need to have a truth inculcated into him+if we dothat, we only reach his head he needs far more to grow up to this truth, and in that waywe reach his heart, and the appeal goes deeper and works more powerfully ;7


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own tail, is traced back to ?gyptian mythology. C.*. Eol. 3< para.


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teachings about the )infantile+perverse+criminal) unconscious have led people to make adangerous ogre out of something perfectly natural. &s if all that is good, reasonable,worth while, and beautiful had taken up its abode in the conscious mind2 ;3 =.

This division into four ;dream= phases can be applied without much difficulty to the

ma9ority of dreams met with in practice+an indication that dreams generally have a)dramatic) structure ;43=.

Dreams are the very fabric of the analytical process, whether it is called psychoanalysisin $reud's system or analytical psychology in !ung's, and the writings of both of thegreat pioneers are thronged with accounts and analyses of dreams and expositions ofdream theory ;v=.

*e should have a less confused idea of the processes mediated to the conscious mind bydreams and a clearer recognition of what the symbols point to ;3 7=.

In a hanging "orld, the un ons ious too stands in need of sound edu ativemeasures% $ree association will bring out all my complexes, but hardly ever themeaning of a dream ;74=. "n the treatment of neurosis, the task before us is to reestablishan approximate harmony between conscious and unconscious ;56=.

:ur mentality is distinguished by the shameless naivetK with which we 9udge ourenemy, and in the 9udgment we pronounce upon him we unwittingly reveal our owndefectsG we simply accuse our enemy of our own unadmitted faults. *e see everythingin the other, we critici(e and condemn the other, we even want to improve and educatethe other ;68=.

$or prognosis, . . . certain dreams are important ;84=

A slight (no"ledge is a &eginning, moderation in life omes in handy! dreams seemto suggest that fre5uently% "f one believes that the unconscious always knows best, onecan easily be betrayed into leaving the dreams to take the necessary decisions, and isthen disappointed when the dreams be come more and more trivial and meaningless.?xperience has shown me that a slight knowledge of dream psychology is apt to lead toan overrating of the unconscious which impairs the power of conscious decision. Theunconscious functions satisfactorily only when the conscious mind fulfils its tasks to thevery limit ;4I=.

Summary

3. 0ignificant dream themes develop and culminate, and in some cases solutions arestrongly suggested in them. "nterpreting dreams can and should be practiced withscrutiny and candour, without much dogmatic certainty. &nd we should reali(e thatdreams often have many meanings and can contain significant hints.

I. ood interpretations seem to be more readily accepted. "n !ungian mind analysis,some dreams are studied. &s for the ritualistic, odd therapy + shun it2 The ouroborossnake could need to be mastered too, and some dreams are essentially visions.

F. :ne task before us is harmony and another is self+help through dreams. 0trife is a


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part of life too, and dreams tend to offer suggestions on solving that sort of stuff +maybe not full well. "n a changing world, the unconscious too stands in need of soundeducative measures. 0light knowledge marks the beginning of any study + there is noneed to play down a fair beginner, therefore, as moderation is a cue.

Dream themes tend to require tactful interpretations, or dreams may become elusive tounderstand. 0elf+help dream interpretations can work well. & little study to go alongwith it is called for. >any dreams strive for organismic balancing, and thereby hint atmoderation ways or countermeasures.

Sear h Carl Jung+s Colle ted :or(s

Carl Gustav Jung Biogra$hy

Carl ustav !ung was born !uly I8, 3456, in the small 0wiss village of Lessewil. %isfather was Aaul !ung, a country parson, and his mother was ?milie Areiswerk !ung. %ewas surrounded by a fairly well educated extended family, including quite a fewclergymen and some eccentrics as well.

The elder !ung started Carl on Batin when he was six years old, beginning a longinterest in language and literature ++ especially ancient literature. /esides most modernwestern ?uropean languages, !ung could read several ancient ones, including 0anskrit,the language of the original %indu holy books.

Carl was a rather solitary adolescent, who didn't care much for school, and especiallycouldn't take competition. %e went to boarding school in /asel, 0wit(erland, where hefound himself the ob9ect of a lot of 9ealous harassment. %e began to use sickness as anexcuse, developing an embarrassing tendency to faint under pressure.

&lthough his first career choice was archeology, he went on to study medicine at the1niversity of /asel. *hile working under the famous neurologist Lrafft+?bing, hesettled on psychiatry as his career.

&fter graduating, he took a position at the /urghoelt(li >ental %ospital in Murich under?ugene /leuler, an expert on and the namer of- schi(ophrenia. "n 37 F, he married

?mma #auschenbach. %e also taught classes at the 1niversity of Murich, had a private practice, and invented word association at this time2

Bong an admirer of $reud, he met him in Eienna in 37 5. The story goes that after theymet, $reud canceled all his appointments for the day, and they talked for 3F hoursstraight, such was the impact of the meeting of these two great minds2 $reud eventuallycame to see !ung as the crown prince of psychoanalysis and his heir apparent.

/ut !ung had never been entirely sold on $reud's theory. Their relationship began tocool in 37 7, during a trip to &merica. They were entertaining themselves by analy(ingeach others' dreams more fun, apparently, than shuffleboard-, when $reud seemed to

show an excess of resistance to !ung's efforts at analysis. $reud finally said that they'dhave to stop because he was afraid he would lose his authority2 !ung felt rather insulted.
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*orld *ar " was a painful period of self+examination for !ung. "t was, however, also the beginning of one of the most interesting theories of personality the world has ever seen.&fter the war, !ung traveled widely, visiting, for example, tribal people in &frica,

&merica, and "ndia. %e retired in 37


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Collective unconsciousG That aspect of the unconscious which manifests inherited,universal themes which run through all human life. "nwardly, the whole history of thehuman race, back to the most primitive times, lives on in us.

0J>/:B. & name, term, picture which is familiar in daily life, yet has other

connotations besides its conventional and obvious meaning. "mplies something vagueand partially unknown or hidden, and is never precisely defined. Dream symbols carrymessages from the unconscious to the rational mind.

C%?TJA?0. These primordial images reflect basic patterns or universal themescommon to us all which are present in the unconscious. These symbolic images existoutside space and time. ?xamplesG 0hadow, animus, anima, the old wise person, theinnocent child. There also seem to be nature archetypes, like fire, ocean, river,mountain.

A?#0:@&. The )mask) or image we present to the world. Designed to make a particular impression on others, while concealing our true nature.

0%&D:*. The side of our personality which we do not conscousnly display in public.>ay have positive or negative qualities. "f it remains unconscious, the shadow is often

pro9ected onto other individuals or groups.

&@">&. &rchetype symboli(ing the unconscious female component of the male psyche. Tendencies or qualities often thought of as )feminine.)

&@">10. &rchetype symboli(ing the unconscious male component of the female psyche. Tendencies or qualities often thought of as )masculine.)

D#?&>0. 0pecific expressions of the unconscous which have a definite, purposefulstructure indicating an underlying idea or intention. The general function of dreams is torestore one's total psychic equlilibrium. They tend to play a complementary orcompensatory role in our psychic makeup.

C:>AB? ?0G 1sually unconscious and repressed emotionally+toned symbolicmaterial that is incompatible with consciousness. )0tuck+together) agglomerations ofthoughts, feelings, behavior patterns, and somatic forms of expression. Can causeconstant psychological disturbances and symptoms of neurosis. *ith intervention, can

become conscious and greatly reduced in their impact.

*:#D &00:C"&T":@ T?0T. & research technique !ung used to explore thecomplexes in the personal unconscious. Consisted of reading 3 words one at a timeand having the person respond quickly with a word of his or her own. Delays inresponding can indicate a complex.

0J@C%#:@"C"TJ. The meaningful coincidence of a psychic and a physical state orevent which have no causal relationship to each other.

0?B$. &rchetype symboli(ing the totality of the personality. "t represents the striving for

unity, wholeness, and integration.


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>&@D&B&. The 0anskrit word for circle. $or !ung, the mandala was a symbol ofwholeness, completness, and perfection. 0ymboli(ed the self.

&>AB"$"C&T":@. To get a larger sense of a dream, a kind of spreading+out ofassociations by referring to mythology, art, literature, music. )*here have we heard

this before.)

&CT"E? ">& "@&T":@. & concept embracing a variety of techniques for activatingour imaginal processes in waking life in order to tap into the unconscious meanings ofour symbols.

A0JC%:B: "C&B TJA?0. Aeople differ in certain basic ways, even though theinstincts which drive us are the same. %e distinguished two general attitudes++introversion and extraversion and four functions++thinking, feeling, sensing, andintuiting.

?xtravertG :uter+directed, need for sociability, chooses people as a source ofenergy, often action+oriented.

"ntrovertG "nner+directed, need for privacy and space chooses solitude to recover energy, often reflective.

Thinking functionG Bogical, sees cause N effect relations, cool, distant, frank,questioning.

$eeling functionG Creative, warm, intimate, a sense of valuing positively ornegatively. @ote that this is not the same as emotion-

0ensing functionG 0ensory, oriented toward the body and senses, detailed,concrete, present.

"ntuitive. 0ees many possibilities in situations, goes with hunches, impatientwith earthy details, impractical, sometimes not present.

&lso 0ee "ntroduction to Dream "nterpretation by #obert *iner, >.D.

Carl Gustav Jung on Dreams

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