The Dream Sourcebook: A Guide to the Theory and Interpretation of Dreams (16 page)

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Authors: Phyllis R. Koch-Sheras

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BOOK: The Dream Sourcebook: A Guide to the Theory and Interpretation of Dreams
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Chapter 6 offers some techniques you can use to develop lucid dreaming ability.) Jayne Gackenbach's surveys led her to conclude that "about 58 percent of the population [has] experienced a lucid dream at least once in their lifetime, while about 21 percent report it with some frequency (one or more per month)."
A Symbol Sampler
There are several different types of dreams and countless ways to portray them through various symbolic representations. Dream symbols have a number of possible meanings, and depend on you as the source to provide the interpretation that makes these meanings clear. It's as though you are the director of your own dream movie, responsible for how your nightly dream story is presented on screen. And as the sole creator of your dreams, you are also the writer, the producer, and the actor, playing all the parts yourself.
Many dream theorists today follow the lead of Fritz Perls and others in believing that all the elements in a dream are parts of the dreamer him- or herself. For example, a dream in which you meet up with your high school rival and take a trip in a convertible to visit a mountain range has all the elements of a story for stage, screen, or television: plot (meeting up with the rival, taking a trip), characters (yourself, the rival), setting (the car, the open road, the mountain range). If you think about what each of these elements represents to you, and how it fits into the context of your life over the previous few days as well as the long term, you can begin to see what part of you this rival representsyour competitive nature, your feeling of not measuring up, the social pressure you may still feel. The overall mood of the dreamthe main emotion you feel as you remember italso gives you some important clues to work with.
 
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As you become your own dream expert, continue to look closely at all the symbolic elements in your dreamthe characters, animals, objects, places, and even colors and numbers. As writer-director, you are the one infusing these symbols with meaning that relates to the many parts of yourself. These symbols not only tell you something about your perception of others, but also may ultimately reveal important information about how you perceive yourself. A male character may represent your masculine energies (whether you are a man or a woman), a female character your feminine traits. A child may symbolize the part of you that still feels like a child, your inner child, to use a popular psychological term. And an older person may represent the aging or experienced part of you, no matter what age you are when you dream about him or her.
Examine dream objects in the same way. A house may represent your own body structure, giving you messages about its strong or weak points, its spiritual (attic) or hidden (basement) aspects. A vehicle such as a car may represent your own (often sexual) energy and how you express it in your waking life: Are you in the driver's seat? Or are you in the parking lot stranded with a flat tire? You can learn to ask similar questions about all your dream symbols, with this chapter as a guide.
Identifying the parts of you that connect with the various symbols in your dreams is a key step toward grasping the meaning of your dream. But it's not the only step. Factoring in the context of your own life is necessary to give you the uniquely accurate interpretation you're looking for. You have the final word on what your dream symbols mean to you. The only dictionary of correct meanings for your dream symbols is the one you devise over time as you look again and again for patterns of symbols and meanings in your dreams. Later chapters offer many techniques for working with your dreams in ways that make
 
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About Jungian Archetypes
In
Man and His Symbols
, pioneering dream theorist Carl Jung writes: "A symbol always stands for something more than its obvious and immediate meaning. Symbols, moreover, are natural and spontaneous products . . . . Dreams are the main source of all our knowledge about symbolism."
Although we can suggest some Jungian interpretations for certain symbols, it is important to keep in mind that Jung himself said that "it is impossible to give an arbitrary (or universal) interpretation of any archetype. It must be explained in the manner indicated by the whole life-situation of the particular individual to whom it relates."
So, what you make of symbolseven the archetypal symbols said to have universal meaning or resonanceis entirely up to you. Some Jungian food for thought:
Trickster
Uninhibited and often childish side of yourself, "cruel, cynical, and unfeeling."
Marriage ceremony
Am important developmental transition.
Rainbow
A message from the unconscious originator of creativity, a symbol of the goddess Isis.
Water
Life-giving force and the flow of feeling.
Bowl, pot, cave, or womb
Container of creativity.
Cat
Contemplative wisdom, independent spirit.
Dog
Loyal companion who guards the threshold to death and helps us across.
 
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Horse
Vitality and energy that is free and natural.
White Mare
Associated with the spirit and creativity.
Centaur
Destructive primitive drives not yet integrated.
Pyramid
Essence of the self.
Circle
Wholeness, all-encompassing nature.
recall and interpretation easier, but whether or not you try some of these techniques, you will be able to interpret your dreams with a new level of clarity as you come to understand dream symbolism and what it means for your personal dreamworld.
Simply put, it's up to you. Don't let anybody else decide for you what your dream symbols meannot even Sigmund Freud himself, who would say that every dream is a repressed sexual or aggressive wish, with a veiled meaning that only a professional can understand. And not even Jung, who himself pointed out that archetypal symbols are not always present in a dream.
The Dream Sourcebook
offers some suggested meanings for a number of common dream symbols, but we can't encourage you strongly enough to move beyond these suggested meanings to consider your dream symbols in the larger context of your own life and culture. Use our suggestions to ask new questions of yourself, with the goal of a deeper understanding of yourself as a whole.
Think of yourself as the production team responsible for your own dream moviesthe producer, director, writer, actor, set designer, lighting designer, sound director, and prop manager. What elements have you put together to create the movie playing in your dream cinema? As with every good film, each of these elements serves a purposeenriching the meaning, strengthening
 
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the impact, and deepening the total effect. The same is true with all aspects of your dream movies, as you'll see each time you examine one of your own dreams. The guidelines in the following sections can help you understand the symbolism behind the various components your dream theater presents each night.
Characters
The first step a director takes is casting the characters. And the interesting point about dream characters is, even if they look like people you know aboutyour father, your local nightly news anchor, your grade school bus driverthey have identities in the dream aside from their surface identities: They all represent some part of you also. Your father might represent the part of you that has the qualities you consider to be like your father or fatherly in general, whether you are a father, or even a man, or not. Your news anchor brings you messages, and might represent the part of you that seeks and reveals information. Your grade school bus driver may have made each trip to and from school a joy, with joking and singing along the way, symbolizing for you that the journey of life is joyful, whatever the destination; if that bus driver was strict and unfriendly, a dream that includes this character may indicate that you see the journey of life as tedious and limiting. It all depends on you, your own personal attitudes, and your life experience. So let's look at some of the more common characters making appearances in dreams. Explore all the associations you have to each character, and always consider how the symbol represents some part of you.
"Dreams Are The Touchstones Of Our Characters."
Jean Cocteau, French film director and author
Yourself: As the director, you are almost invariably going to cast yourself as the star. The dream is viewed through your eyes,
 
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whether you are a participant, an observer, or both. How fully you are involved in the dream may reflect how active or passive you are in your waking life. Some people are able to experience a dream as both themselves and as another character, perhaps because they are more comfortable accepting the many different roles they play in their waking lives.
Familiar people: These are people you encounter in daily life: family members, acquaintances, co-workers, friends. The appearance of familiar faces in dreams is especially common for women, but both men and women dream of people they know. Why do these people get cast in your dream? As director, you may wish to bring them in to represent some unfinished communication with that character. The person may appear in your dreams again and again until the conflict is resolved in waking life. In dreaming about the character, you may gain insight as to how to deal with the person in waking life. Or, this person might represent some aspect of yourself: A shy co-worker who never takes a stand may appear in your dream to reflect the part of you that shrinks away from self-expression. The neighborhood newsboy may appear to suggest the part of you that has new information to share. Play with the idea, and see what possibilities arise. Here are some of the more commonly occurring familiar characters that appear in dreams:
Mother:
Generally the primary nurturer, the mother as a dream symbol can reflect your own caregiving instincts. You no doubt have particular feelings about your own mother, and if she appears in your dream, you should take those into account as you make your interpretation: Do you see your mother as loving? Critical? Controlling? Is there a part of yourself that exhibits those qualities? Because mothers are givers of birth, the mother in your dream may represent a creator or giver of life. Even if you are a man, you have a part of yourself that is nurturing and that gives life.

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