| Should
Everyone Study Their Dreams? |
|
We receive messages from our unconscious through dreams. This information
is the indispensable link between the rational world of consciousness
and the world of instinct. When our egos become too one-sided, dreams
try to reestablish the equilibrium by restoring to consciousness the images
and emotions needed to achieve a more balanced consciousness. |
When considering mental health and physical health in general, it is better
for the conscious and unconscious to be connected and to move on parallel lines
than for them to be disconnected. In this respect, the production
of symbols in dreams can be considered a very valuable function of good
health.
When studying your
dreams you need to keep a journal in which you write your dream and what
is happening in your life at the time of the dream. Then, you should choose
those words and images which seem important to you and make associations
to them. Next, you may choose to go to a good dream/symbol dictionary and
do amplifications. Taking all this information, the events in your life,
the images and your associations, and our knowledge of mythology and symbolism,
we are able to interpret the dream. However, one dream in isolation will
not give us the entire picture. When we study a series of dreams, what at
first seems very obscure can become clear and understandable.
|
|
I need to give you two words of caution. Jung (1966) reminds us that a dream
never says “you ought” or “this is the truth.” It
presents an image in just the same way as nature allows a plant to grow,
and it is up to us to draw our own conclusions. If a person has a nightmare,
it could mean he is either too much given to fear or too exempt from it.
If he dreams of a wise old man, it could mean he is either a person who
displays his knowledge in a tiresome way or else is in need of a teacher.
In a subtle way both meanings do the same thing. Though Jung believes dreams
are very important and we should not underestimate the significance of dreams,
there is danger to anyone who is so preoccupied with dream-analysis that
the individual overestimates the significance of the unconscious for real
life. In other words, study your dreams but don’t substitute them
for living. |
| Second,
if you go to someone for help in interpreting your dreams, be sure that
the person does not give you an interpretation without asking you many in-depth
questions. Anyone who is knowledgeable about dream interpretation will ask
you what your associations are to the various dream images. You will also
be asked, “What is happening in your life at the time of the dream?”
Without this information, all the interpreter is doing is projecting his/her
hang-ups onto your dream. As in every other field, there are both qualified
and unqualified people. Happy Dreaming! |
|
