The meaning of dreams according to Jungian psychology

Carl Gustav Jung gives us his personal vision of the world of dreams.

From ancient times to the present day, various cultures have considered dreams as a gateway to a magical dimension that allows us to predict the future or to communicate with spirits or other immaterial entities. Many of these beliefs continue to be part of contemporary popular culture even in the West..

In 1900 the creator of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud published his book The Interpretation of Dreams, introducing the study of dreams into modern science no longer as a form of communication with metaphysical entities, but as the symbolic expression of the unconscious. as the symbolic expression of the unconscious of individuals..

From Freud's pioneering research on dreams, related methodologies and conceptualizations were developed within some psychological schools, such as Alfred Adler's individual psychology or Gestalt psychology; however, Carl Gustav Jung's Jungian analytical psychology is probably the perspective that has come to place greater emphasis on the interpretation of dreams as a fundamental part of the psychotherapeutic process. Let us see how the subject of dreams is approached from this school.

What is the origin of dreams?

In Jungian psychology, dreams are considered to be products of natureemanations of that creative force that is implicit in the conformation of cells, in the tissues of the leaves of trees, in our skin and in cultural and artistic expressions. They are therefore attributed an intrinsic wisdom that expresses itself through symbolic images.

For the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, creator of analytical psychology, this creative force makes use of the impressions of the eve, of the diurnal remains and of our vital experiences to construct the images and the stories of our dreams.

The matrix of dreams: the archetypes of the collective unconscious

According to Jung, the Freudian approach of the unconscious as a reservoir of repressed sexual desires was not sufficient to account for those contents that do not relate to the personal history of individuals.

Jung noticed that frequently in the delusions and hallucinations of his psychiatric patients, as well as in the dreams of people in general, themes, stories and characters emerged spontaneously that, once examined and interpreted, came to bear a striking similarity to the mythological narratives that have accompanied humanity in different times and places. Jung argued that such similarity cannot always be attributed to a direct or indirect contact between the individual and these ideas during his daily acts, and he inferred that these stories and symbols emerge from a common creative source, which he called the collective unconscious.

The typical motifs of mythological narratives, delusions and dreams are for Jung symbolic expressions of the collective unconscious. for Jung are symbolic expressions of universal patterns of behavior. and meaning inherited by human beings as a species, which he called archetypes.

Archetypes are considered the psychic correlates of Biological instincts and function as mechanisms of self-regulation, integration and promotion of psychic development. They are also seen as containers and transmitters of the wisdom common to all humanity.

Dreams as a representation of the archetype of the hero

The archetypal myth of the hero's journey (humble and miraculous birth, individual called to a mission, meeting with the master, interaction with allies and adversaries, trials, struggle against evil, descent into hell, finding the treasure, marriage with the princess etc.) found in the structure of many ancient and contemporary stories, is considered the symbolic manifestation of the process of psychic transformation that all individuals, both ancient and contemporary, undergo. are driven to achieve throughout their lives.

This transformation is directed towards the unfolding of the unique potentials of each individual, towards the experience of their most genuine personality, of their vocation, of their unique contribution to the world. The accompaniment of this transformation process, called the individuation process, is the objective of Jungian psychotherapy.

According to Jungian theory, variations and fragments of the mythical narration of the hero are represented every night in our dreams through the way archetypes are embodied in individuals, that is, affective complexes.

Dreams as embodiments of affective complexes

The complexes are a set of ideas and thoughts with a strong affective charge that are formed from personal experiences related to the theme of some archetype. The paternal complex, for example, is nourished by the personal and singular experiences we have had with our own father and with other paternal figures, always under the background of the archetype of the universal "father".

Still according to Jung, the complexes are the constitutive elements of our psyche and behave like sub-personalities that are activated in certain that are activated in certain circumstances of the external or internal world. Thus, an emotion disproportionate to the context (jealousy, lust for power, envy, infatuation, fear of failure or success) could be the indication that we are acting under the influence of a complex, and that our interaction with reality is mediated by it. The intensity in the activation of a complex conditions the degree of subjectivity that we project on people and external circumstances in a given situation.

The role of complexes

The complexes have the faculty to personify themselves in our dreams.According to Jung, they become the scriptwriters, directors, actors and stages of our dream world.

While dreaming, we can then converse with an old sage represented by a teacher we admire; we confront our shadow under the garb of an irritating acquaintance or neighbor; we receive miraculous help from a silent childhood companion. The archetype of the shaman or healer may be represented by a female physician or by our therapist.

We have erotic relationships with contemporary heroes or heroines. We cross obstacles, we flee from murderers, we are victims and victimizers; we fly, we climb sacred mountains; we get lost in labyrinths, our house is destroyed in an earthquake, we survive floods, we die and also sometimes we are reborn with another body; we return again and again to the university or school to take an exam of some subject that we have left pending. All experiences as real as those of waking life.

It is considered then that in most of the times the characters and situations of our dreams represent aspects of ourselves that need to be integrated and recognized. that need to be integrated and recognized.

A constant journey

From Jungian psychology, dreams are the dramatization of our journey into the depths, in search of our treasure, of our most genuine self. It is in a series of dreams, rather than in an isolated dream, that the different stages of this journey are shown.

In addition, Jung realized that the process of psychic transformation, besides being expressed in the myth of the hero, also had correspondences in the descriptions of alchemical transformation.The images of which sometimes also emerged spontaneously in dreams.

What are dreams for?

According to Jung's ideas, dreams allow us to access the symbolic and profound meaning of our life experiences.. They would be a symbol, in the sense of re-union, of bridge, with the singular needs of the psyche, and for that reason Jung believed that they transmit possible ways of action before the questionings that have accompanied humanity since its beginnings.

In Jungian psychology, therapeutic work with dreams is seen as a tool that helps in the identification of our complexes and their gradual awareness. It is believed that working with dreams helps to recognize behavioral and relationship patterns that may be problematic.

How do dreams work?

For Jungian psychology, the psyche functions as a self-regulating system with a tendency toward balancing opposing elements (conscious-unconscious, light-dark, feminine-masculine) in increasingly complex and integrated states. Dreams, like any other expression of the unconscious, such as symptoms, would possess a purpose and function, would have a purpose and a function within this process of psychic integration and evolution..

In view of the above, Jungian psychology does not focus its attention on the origin of dreams, for example some repressed desire, but on their purpose. That is to say, it questions what a given dream seeks to influence in relation to the psychic development of people.

Archetypal dreams

Dreams whose archetypal images are more evident and to which it is difficult to find personal associations were denominated by Jung as big dreams. According to his ideas, big dreams or archetypal dreams usually precede life circumstances involving major qualitative transformations such as adolescence, maturity, marriage, serious illness or death.

Archetypal dreams can sometimes be related more to collective phenomena than to subjective life. rather than to the subjective life of individuals.

How are dreams interpreted?

A characteristic of dreams is that they are confusing and irrational.. However, for Jungian psychology, dreams do not disguise, veil or censor the contents they transmit, as Freudian psychoanalysis considers, but rather they express deep, complex and paradoxical knowledge that is elusive to the rational approach through metaphors, analogies and correspondences of their images.

Because they are expressed through a symbolic language, their translation or interpretation is necessary. Jung considered that dreams fulfill their function even if we do not remember or understand them, but that their study and interpretation increases and accelerates their effectiveness.

Beyond the literal

The interpretation of dreams implies an opening to the symbolic conscience, also called poetics, which makes possibleThe interpretation of dreams implies an opening to the symbolic consciousness, also called poetics, which makes it possible to access the deep dimension of events, both in the internal and external world, beyond their literalness. This idea is maintained throughout the phases of dream interpretation described below.

Contextualization

Bearing in mind that the unconscious is considered a compensating factor for our conscious attitudes, the first step in interpreting a dream from Jungian psychology is contextualization, the first step to interpret a dream from the Jungian psychology is the contextualization, which consists of inquiring about the dreams.which consists of inquiring about the dreamer's conscious thoughts, values and feelings with respect to the themes related to the dream.

The associations

Subsequently then we proceed to identify the personal meanings and associations that evoke the dreamer's evoked by the dreamer by the images of his dream.

The fact that the images of a dream have an individual significance according to the personal history of each person, is a reason for the following from the Jungian perspective, the use of dictionaries of dream meanings is discouraged..

Although there are typical motifs in dreams, they must be approached from the particular context of each individual. The schematized meanings, instead of broadening the comprehensive view, tend to limit and literalize it, which is quite toxic.

Amplification

Contextualization and identification of personal meanings provides the basis for choosing symbolic material from mythology, folklore and art that can be conducive to amplifying the meaning of the dream.

The amplification consists of to resort to images of the universal symbology related to the dream, providing meanings that amplify the meaning of the dream.The amplification consists of turning to images of universal symbolism related to the dream, providing meanings that broaden the comprehensive framework of our personal dramas and that offer possible paths of action based on the human experience accumulated over thousands of years.

A synthesis

Subsequently, an attempt is made to make a synthesis of the multiple meanings that have emerged during the process. Given the polysemic character of dreams, interpretations are given as tentative hypotheses that can be are provided as tentative hypotheses that can be more or less confirmed through a series of dreams..

The role of the therapist

In addition to employing knowledge of mythology, folklore, comparative religions and the psychology of peoples, Jung considered that in order to interpret dreams adequately, analysts had to submit themselves to a series of tests, analysts should undergo a didactic analysis so that their own complexes would not interfere with the interpretations of their patients' dreams. their patients' dream interpretations. Dream interpretation is an activity that takes place jointly between analyst and patient and only makes sense within the framework of such interaction.

In the early stages of a Jungian analysis, the therapist usually plays a more active role in this activity, but it is expected that openness and permeability towards the contents of the unconscious will be one of the learning processes that patients will deploy throughout the analysis. The symbolic perspective that allows us to understand the messages of our dreams is then considered a resource that patients can count on once the psychotherapeutic process has been completed.

Bibliographical references:

• Franz, M-L (1984). On dreams and death. Barcelona: Editorial Kairós.
• Franz, M.-L., & Boa, F. (1997). El camino de los sueños: Dr. Marie-Louise von Franz in conversations with Fraser Boa. Santiago de Chile: Cuatro Vientos Editorial.
• Jung, C. G. (1982). Energética psíquica y esencia del sueño. Barcelona: Paidós.
• Jung, C. G. (1990a). The relations between the Ego and the Unconscious. Barcelona: Editorial Paidós.
• Jung, C. G. (1991a). Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Barcelona: Editorial Paidós
• Jung, C. G. (2001). Complexes and the unconscious. Barcelona: Alianza Editorial