Jung’s Theory of Dreams
Jung’s Theory of Dreams
By
Roland Matthews
Winter 2016
Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) is somewhat of a controversial character in the world of psychology, and his work is not widely appreciated or disseminated because it appears to be more akin to mystical, philosophical speculation rather than a quantifiable, scientific contribution to the study of psychology (McLeod 2014). This is an unfortunate view as it undermines one of the more profound, mysterious, and important parts of our lives that we all have in common: dreams.
Jung had shared interests in the unconscious with Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), but he split with Freud after criticizing his theory of the Oedipus complex in 1913. The main difference between the two men was that Freud related the unconscious to unacceptable repressed desires of the individual, while Jung on the other hand, thought that the unconscious was a storehouse of repressed memories specific to the individual along with a shared ancestral past. Both agreed that behavior was caused by past experiences, but Jung added future aspirations (McLeod 2014). According to Jung, the libido was a general source of psychic energy motivating a range of intellectual, spiritual, and creative behaviors; while Freud concluded it was only geared toward sexual gratification (McLeod 2014). Jung divided the unconscious into two parts: the personal and transpersonal, or collective. Jung credited Freud’s book Totem and Taboo (1913) as the source of the idea for the collective unconscious (Singer 1968). And out of this unconscious came patterns or concepts with universal cross-cultural meanings called archetypes (McLeod 2014). In addition to the archetypes, there are four functions of consciousness: Superior, Inferior, and two auxiliary ones. They are referred to as: Thinking, Feeling, Intuition, and Sensation (Jung / Hull 1978). Their positions in relation to the consciousness or unconscious, depends upon each individual and are related to the four classical elements and the four cardinal directions of a mandala.
There are four main kinds of archetype: the Persona, or mask, which is how we consciously present ourselves to others on a situational basis; the Anima / Animus, which represents the collective unconscious and is symbolized by the opposite gender of the individual; the Shadow, which represents the personal unconscious, the animal nature, or Id of the individual and is often symbolized as an enemy of the same gender; and ultimately, the Self (McLeod 2014). Jungian psychology is different from other forms because of its concept of two centers of personality: the Ego, which is the center of consciousness; and the Self, which is the center of the total personality including the Ego, the conscious, and the unconscious (Zweig 1991). The Self is present in all quaternity dreams involving four characters or emphasizing the number four; another symbol of the Self is the divine or royal couple: conjunction of masculine and feminine polarities (Johnson 1986). Dreams show us in symbolic form, all the different personalities that interact within us and make up our total self (Johnson 1986). Sometimes it appears in our dreams as a lover, a wise old person, a trickster, or even royalty as mentioned above.
The most important aspect of the androgynous psyche is the ‘soul-image’, which serves as psychopomp, the one who guides the ego to the inner world and serves as mediator, the anima (Johnson 1986). It is she who is called the Shekinah or ‘Bride’ and is highly revered by the Kabbalists of old (Daniel 2002). The anima (or animus) is our personal guide and connection to the sometimes dark and unfamiliar collective unconscious. She is often depicted in alchemical art as the soror mystica or female assistant in the great work (Von Franz 1978). She (or he, in the case of a female dreamer) is more than just our friend in the dreamlands, and it is in our best interest to get to know her (or him) very well indeed. In comparison, we have the shadow, which symbolizes the old adversary, commonly called the devil, better than any of the other archetypes. If one is trying to repress his shadow, it will usually appear as a hateful enemy, a brute or monster, which attacks him in his dreams (Johnson 1986). The Jungian Shadow can include everything outside the light of consciousness (wiki/Shadow_(psychology)). In fact, it can be seen as big as the Ego and in stark contrast, the brighter and greater the Ego, the darker and fiercer the Shadow can be. The Shadow may appear in dreams and visions in various forms, and typically appears as a person of the same sex as that of the dreamer (Von Franz 1978). Interactions with the Shadow in dreams may shed light on one’s state of mind and a conversation with the Shadow may indicate that one is concerned with conflicting desires or intentions (Von Franz 1978). As difficult and sometimes frightening encounters can be with this archetype, a person can only become individualized or actualized by confronting and / or finding a way to communicate openly with it. Much artwork from around the globe and many cultures relate this concept with such depictions as a European knight slaying a dragon, or a Buddhist monk riding a tiger for example. It is most likely the source of many of our nightmares.
Jung had much to say about the importance of dreams and about the archetypes that inhabit them. Dreams do not arise, like other conscious contents, from any clearly discernable, logical and emotional continuity of experience, but are remnants of a peculiar psychic activity taking place during sleep (Jung / Hull 1974). The dream is specifically the utterance of the unconscious; just as the psyche has a diurnal side, which we call consciousness, it also has a nocturnal side: the unconscious psychic activity, which we apprehend as dreamlike fantasy (Jung /Hull 1978). Archetypes are the unconscious raw material of myths (Segal 1998). This is why so many stories from so many different cultures have common elements that we can all relate to. To him they were the symbolic language of the unconscious mind attempting to communicate with the consciousness so that the self could achieve wholeness. He suggests that the unconscious manifests itself through a language of symbols (Johnson 1986). The unconscious contains within itself the references for every symbol it generates; therefore, the symbolic language of the unconscious can be decoded (Johnson 1986). No dream symbol can be separated from the individual who dreams it (Johnson 1986). In symbolic form, dreams picture the current situation in the psyche from the point of view of the unconscious (Sharp 2013).
Jung was the first psychologist to believe that dreams were created and related to things in real life (film: C.G. Jung: the Wisdom of the Dream). He said that archetypes are projected not only onto inanimate objects like the sun but also onto plants, animals, and even human beings who, while already personified, become heroes or demons (Segal 1998). Marie-Louise von Franz said that Dr. Jung is inclined to think that the unconscious has a material aspect, which would be why it knows about matter, because it is matter; it is matter that knows itself (1980). She continues, saying: “If this were so, then there would be a dim or vague phenomenon of consciousness even in inorganic matter” (Von Franz 1980). This could explain why he was fond of comparing the form of the archetype to the axial system of a crystal (wiki/Jungian_archetypes). He also drew an analogy between the psyche and the electromagnetic spectrum where visible light is related to consciousness; the infrared end is related to the biological instincts, and the ultra-violet end is spiritual and archetypal (wiki/Jungian_archetypes). He said that the archetype was not merely a psychic entity, but a bridge to matter or unus mundus; they not only organize ideas in the psyche but also the fundamental principles of matter and energy in the physical world. (wiki/Jungian_archetypes). An interesting idea is that if you dream of an archetype in a human form, you could to some extent incarnate it (Von Franz 1980). Or when an archetype appears in a dream, in a fantasy, or in life, it always brings with it a certain influence or power by virtue of which it either exercises a numinous or a fascinating effect, or impels the dreamer to action (Segal 1998). This not only reveals the hidden mechanism behind his theory of synchronicity, but also his interest in alchemy. Jung discovered a connection between certain themes in the dreams of his patients and images in old alchemy books (Von Franz 1980). He has suggested that we may also look to alchemy and astrology as sources of information about archetypes (Johnson 1986). One of the goals of the alchemists was to obtain the philosopher’s stone because it was said to be a miraculous panacea that could cure all illnesses. So it is of interest to note that Jung thought it would be interesting to examine dreams exclusively from a medical standpoint as a way to “regard the diagnosis and prognosis of pathological conditions” (Jung / Hull 1974). In fact, the Greeks built temples in honor of Aesclepios, the god of healing, for this very purpose and were called Aesclepions.
Another way that Jung is important is because he shows us that human consciousness has a role to play in the world at large. It is through the observation and understanding of our dreams that we can achieve actualization or individuation, which was later defined by Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) as being the fullest development of the self. Jung showed that the unconscious is the creative source of all that evolves into the conscious mind and into the total personality of each individual (Johnson 1986). Actualizing oneself and revealing one’s special individual structure is individuation (Johnson 1986). Archetypes seek actualization within the context of an individual’s environment and determine the degree of individuation (wiki/Jungian_archetypes). The symbols of the process of individuation that appear in dreams are images of an archetypal nature that depict the centralizing process or the production of a new center of personality (Jung / Hull 1978). Jung was as concerned with the balance and complete whole of nature as the alchemists. He showed us that the conscious and unconscious minds both have critical roles to play in the equilibrium of the total self. When they are out of correct balance with one another, neurosis or other disturbances result (Johnson 1986). Since the total psyche is much larger and more complex than the ego can grasp, unexpected things always feel as though they come from outside us rather than from within us (Johnson 1986). All the archetypal energies in us appear to the conscious mind as complementary pairs such as yin and yang, light and dark, friend or foe, etc. (Johnson 1986). Every dream is a portrait of the dreamer. You may think of your dream as a mirror that reflects your inner character; the aspects of your personality of which you are not fully aware (Johnson 1986). A concept that Jung used to explain the drama of nature that also plays out within us is Enantiodroma. Enantiodromia, coined by Stobaeus (5th century C.E.), is a principle introduced by Jung where any superabundance of any force inevitably produces its opposite. Similar to the principle of equilibrium in the natural world, in that any extreme is opposed by the system in order to restore balance or achieve homeostasis (wiki/Enantiodromia).
In conclusion, the significance of our dreams should not be underestimated, nor should our interest in delving deeply into their healing mysteries be neglected. For if we do, we do so at our own risk by not only missing an opportunity to improve ourselves, but a chance to connect with something greater than us. Isolation from the unconscious is synonymous with isolation from our souls, and from the life of the spirit (Johnson 1986). So let us no longer be isolated from our souls, each other, or the world.
Reference:
1. Golden, C. (date unknown). Retrieved from: www.soulcraft.co/essays/the_12_common_archetypes.html
2. Johnson, R. (1986). Inner work. New York, NY; Harper Collins Inc.
3. Jung, C. (1974). Dreams (Hull, R. Trans.). Princeton, NJ; Princeton University Press.
4. McLeod, S. A. (2014). Carl Jung. Retrieved from: www.simplypsychology.org/carl-jung.html
5. Segal, R. (1998). Jung on mythology. Princeton, NJ; Princeton University Press.
6. Sharp, D. (2013). Retrieved from: www.cgjungpage.org/learn/jung-lexicon#dreams
7. Singer, J. (1968). Culture and the collective unconscious (Doctoral dissertation). Available from http://search.proquest.com/docview/302315443
8. Von Franz, M-L. (1980). Alchemy: An introduction to the symbolism and the psychology. Toronto, Canada; Inner City Books.
9. Wikipedia (2016, January 12). Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/collective_unconscious#cite_note-10
10. Wikipedia (2016, January 11). Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungian_archetypes
11. Wikipedia (2015, November 1). Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_(psychology)
12. Wikipedia (2016, January 23). Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enantiodromia
13. Wikipedia (2015, December 2). Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_in_jungian_psychology
14. Zweig, C. (1991). Meeting the shadow. Los Angeles, CA; J.P. Tarcher, p. 24.
