Approaching Our Dreams – Part I

Approaching Our Dreams – Part I

  

Carl Jung wrote:

“The dream is a little hidden door in the innermost and most secret recesses of the soul, opening into that cosmic night which was psyche long before there was any ego consciousness, and which will remain psyche no matter how far our ego consciousness extends… All consciousness separates; but in dreams we put on the likeness of that more universal, truer, more eternal [essence] dwelling in the darkness of primordial night. There [one] is still the whole, and the whole is in [us], indistinguishable from nature and bare of all egohood. It is from these all-uniting depths that the dream arises…” (from Jung and the Story of Our Time by Laurens van der Post, p. 214)

As we look at how to approach our dreams, here are a few general guidelines to get as much from the dream as possible…

·         Record the dream in the present tense as if you are living it now. “I am driving an old car”…. “I am with a stranger”...etc… The one exception may be if you are recalling what has been labeled as a “nightmare” that was frightening to you. Then, unless working with someone, you might try recording it in the past tense to provide some distance as you look at it…

·         Actor, Observer, or both?
Are you in the dream actively participating in it? Are you observing the action? Perhaps you are switching back and forth… At times we may have dreams in which we are aware we are dreaming. This is called “lucid dreaming.” We may also experience traveling to a different location, referred to as astral projection in which we experience having 2 bodies, one the physical and one the astral or spiritual body.

·         Dream Setting?
Where does the dream take place? Is there a particular time period that is obvious? How familiar are you with the scene and the other participants? Is it night or day? Do you notice anything about the weather or lighting if inside a building? Often as you begin to record a dream, even a snippet of a dream scene, you may remember more of what occurred…

·         General Tone or Feeling?
Make note of any feeling you had in the dream or, if you do not remember the feelings, what is the general tone? … such as: “All seemed OK”… “I felt a discomfort about being there” …or “it seemed like an overall happy dream”…

·         Dream Title?
After finished recording the dream, go back to the beginning and give the dream a title… if this were a movie, what would you title it? This can help to easily identify the contents at a later time and also provide a quick snapshot summary of the dream…

·         Anything Else?
Make a note of anything else you noticed during the dream… even if it wasn’t crystal clear. I would also suggest that you write down the smallest fragments of the dreamscape that you recall… or even if it is “ I know I had a dream and all I recall is that I was feeling very overwhelmed.

·         Real Life Associations?
After recording the dream, pause to reflect if there are similar dynamics or feelings happening in your life right now.

Jung’s biographer, Laurens van der Post, shares a dream of his own:

“…I was not surprised, therefore, when one of the first men of life, a Stone Age hunter in a wasteland greater, I believe, than even the waste-land in which Jacob dreamt his dream, informed me, ‘You know, there is a dream dreaming us.’ To this day I do not know anything to equal this feeling for what the dreaming process is to life and its implication that it is enough for the moment for creation to appear to us as the dreaming of a great dream and the unraveling and living of its meaning.” (Jung and the Story of Our Time”, p. 13.)

As always, feel free to submit your comments, dreams, or questions to john@sunhutch.com … Your privacy will be respected.