Carl Jung on Dreams
Jung studied under the tutelage of Sigmund Freud.
Their differing views on dreams and dream interpretations
led to a permanent rift that led them to go their separate
ways.
Like Freud, Jung believed in the existence of the
unconscious. However, he didn't see the unconscious as
animalistic, instinctual, and sexual; he saw it as
more spiritual. Dreams were a way of communicating and
acquainting ourselves with the unconscious. Dreams were
not attempts to conceal our true feelings from the waking
mind, but rather they were a window to our unconscious.
They served to guide the waking self to achieve
wholeness. Dreams offered a solution to a problem we are
facing in our waking life.
Jung viewed the ego as one's sense of self and how we
portray ourselves to the world. Part of Jung's theory was
that all things can be viewed as paired opposites (i.e.
good/evil, male/female, or love/hate). And thus working in
opposition to the ego, is the "counter-ego" or what he
referred to as the shadow. The shadow represents
rejected aspects of yourself that you do not wish to
acknowledge. It is considered an aspect of yourself which
is somewhat more primitive, uncultured, and awkward.”
He said, “Dreams are the main source of all of our
knowledge about symbolism." This means that the messages
you receive from your dreams are expressed symbolically
and must be interpreted to find their true meanings.
Jung says that rarely do the symbols in dreams have
just one meaning. And when interpreting the messages in
your dreams, he suggests going with your first hunch,
relying on your intuitive abilities, before applying more
rational methods of dream interpretation.
Perhaps one of the most fascinating dream theorists
might be Edgar Cayce. Today, we would call him a psychic.
When he was alive, he was a fascinating individual who, it
appeared, could speak with the dead, make predictions
about the future, and provide insight into areas where the
normal person couldn’t go. atj
No comments:
Post a Comment