Dream Work

Animals: Basic instincts. Jungian analyst Murray Stein says we have five instincts: the instincts for sex, creativity, reflection, activity, and nurturance. Different animals can represent each of these instincts.

Birth: The birth of some new project or potential; entering a new phase of life.

Car: The way our egos are moving through life. Are we in the driver's seat? Must we always drive or can we allow someone else to do the driving? Are we driving slow and safe or are we dangerously driven by some unknown inner quality?

Death: The death of an old, outworn attitude, quality, or aspect of our personalities.

House: The home of our psyche, or soul. Upstairs: our higher thoughts. Basement: deep unconscious contents. Living room: where we are living our lives. Kitchen: a room of nurturance and transformation. Front of the house: external appearance.





				Carl Jung believed that the purpose of dreams is to bring us to wholeness and completion. Dreams carry important messages to us from the deepest, most unconscious recesses of our souls. Dreams are almost always about our own inner life. They compensate for our conscious knowledge of ourselves by showing us our basic instincts, our secret feelings and fears, our repressed attitudes and personality characteristics, and our unknown potential. The more we understand and accept the truth about our unconscious contents, the happier, more fulfilled, empowered, balanced, and creative we became. Using the language of symbol, emotion, allegory, and metaphor, dreams teach us about the five aspects of our souls: Dreams About the Ego: In our dreams, we, ourselves, represent our ego, which is the center of our consciousness. The way we act in our dreams shows us how we are consciously living our lives. Dreams About the Persona: The persona is our public personality. It is like a mask we wear that only shows others the things that we (our egos) are willing to reveal. There is always more behind our masks than we disclose. Dreams about clothes, makeup, or performing before others tell us about our persona. Dreams About the Shadow: The shadow is all of our personal characteristics and potentialities which we have repressed or disowned. In our dreams, our shadow appears as someone or something we do not like or are afraid of. Dreams About the Animus/Anima: The Animus is a woman's unconscious masculine side; the Anima is a man's unconscious feminine side. A woman's animus appears in her dreams as boys or men; a man's anima appears as girls or women. Dreams About the Self: The self is the sacred, organizing center of our souls. It is our God-image. In our dreams, the Self usually appears in subtle symbols that convey these concepts: unity, centrality, love, pattern, wholeness, or a life-giving force.








				Common Meanings of Common Dream Symbols Animals: Basic instincts. Jungian analyst Murray Stein says we have five instincts: the instincts for sex, creativity, reflection, activity, and nurturance. Different animals can represent each of these instincts. Birth: The birth of some new project or potential; entering a new phase of life. Car: The way our egos are moving through life. Are we in the driver's seat? Must we always drive or can we allow someone else to do the driving? Are we driving slow and safe or are we dangerously driven by some unknown inner quality? Death: The death of an old, outworn attitude, quality, or aspect of our personalities. House: The home of our psyche, or soul. Upstairs: our higher thoughts. Basement: deep unconscious contents. Living room: where we are living our lives. Kitchen: a room of nurturance and transformation. Front of the house: external appearance.

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