The Meaning of Dreams

According to my research, dreams are either experiences of astral travel to other times and places or dimensions (with messages from ones spirit guides, Light Beings, etc) or they are messages from the unconscious whether from the personal unconscious or the collective unconscious. he personal unconscious constitutes memories which have !een forgotten, repressed or suppressed. "epressed memories (thoughts, feelings and actions) are those which are #automatically$ or unconsciously hidden !y a person, as a defense mechanism to help the individual preserve her%his sense of wholeness. &uppressed memories are those which a person consciously or purposely ignores or tuc's away%hides, in order not to have to face the pain or pro!lems they otherwise !ring a!out. he collective unconscious is a!out the archetypes of humanity inherited from the (ne)All) hat) *s or the original source of Life (call it +od if you li'e). An archetype is a primordial instinctual drive or pattern. Archetypes arise, not from #genes$, !ut from a collective pool of !ehaviours, impulses, feelings and !eliefs, held !y human !eings and sentient life since Life !egan. he commonly occurring archetypes in dreams, related to how a person functions or operates in the #real$ i.e. ,)- world, are the ) . /ersona . 0go . Anima%Animus . &hadow . &elf (thers are the 1ise (ld 2an%1oman, the 3ero%3eroine, +reat 2other, the -ivine 4hild, the 2other, the 5ather, the 3erald, the 2aiden, and the (riginal 2an. 6ou 'now when these archetypes appear in your dreams !ecause the messages or actions of the characters in your dreams, representing any of these archetypes, cannot !e correlated to any person or incident in your wa'ing conscious life. he Persona sym!olises the mas' or appearance and image which we are comforta!le with portraying to others. Anything private or personal that we only wish to share with close friends is carefully guarded and hidden from the pu!lic eye, leaving only the persona or mas'. he /ersona appears in dreams in the form of yourself as you appear to others in everyday life. he Ego represents the active emotional responses on a day to day !asis, which are often or

usually !uilt%founded upon what feels good for the person. his is o'ay, as long as the ego does not !ecome inflated, i.e. the person feels more important than what she%he really is, as we all have e7ual potential in the #eyes of +od.$ he 0go is usually represented in dreams via situations or happenings, than !y people or animals, when you experience uplifted or 8oyous feelings. he 0go is related to the psychological functions of conscious sensation, feeling, and thin'ing, and a healthy ego exists when a person !alances ones wants with others. he Anima represents the feminine principle or 7ualities in a man, and the Animus the masculine principles%7ualities in a woman. 1hat they loo' li'e, or are experienced as, is !ased upon the primordial image or meaning of the feminine %masculine, upon the individuals relationships with the real feminine%masculine 7ualities in her%his Life, and upon the persons latent (hidden%!uried) feminine characteristics (regarding the experience of the Anima in a man, or the latent masculine characteristics (regarding the experience of the Animus in a woman). he Anima and Animus usually appear as people of the opposite gender to you in dreams, e.g. mother or father, !ut sometimes can !e portrayed !y animals. he Shadow sym!olises the repressed and suppressed aspects 7ualities%characteristics of the dreamer. *t is usually those parts of oneself that one does not li'e, !ut sees in other people. 6ou see them in other people !ecause you pro8ect your awareness of them onto other people. his means if someone else !ehaves in a manner that you dont li'e, which strongly annoys or upsets you, then it could !e a character trait of your own, which you occasionally engage in, if not often engage in, !ut dont li'e or recognise. 3owever, you should recognise and em!race your shadow, i.e. understand it, accept it as part of yourself, and transform it if necessary. he &hadow can show up in dreams as a si!ling (!rother or sister) or as a shadowy figure. he Self sym!olises the whole integrated self, which is energised exclusively !y the collective unconscious, also called the super)conscious. he &elf is often descri!ed as the sum of the other archetypes. he /ersona, 0go, Anima%Animus and &hadow must !e consciously integrated in order to realise or activate the &elf. he Self is a #sum which is greater than the whole.$ *n +estalt theory, each part of a system !ehaves in its own right, and in some sense, you can predict how the whole or complete system will !ehave when you add all of its constituent parts together. But according to +estalt theory, when the pieces or components of a #whole$ or a unit are pieced together, the whole will act differently to what is expected. his is !ecause the &elf is an organic (animated) unit with properties different to any of the properties of any one of its components. he Self contains all archetypes and is the stage of #enlightenment$ where the individual is !rought into a!solute communion with the world and the cosmos at large. 1hat this means for each individual cannot !e easily arrived at or deduced. he &elf archetype should not !e confused with the 2entor or the 1ise (ld 2an or 1ise (ld 1oman archetypes, which have particular 7ualities of power and wisdom which serve to guide a person toward right action or

spiritual growth. A house often represents the &elf, and the rooms represent various parts or components of the &elf, e.g. the 'itchen could represent the dreamers way of nurturing (feeding) others. he &elf can also !e represented in dreams as a tree or a circular or s7uare shape, an ethereal !eing%Light Being or an or! (sphere of light) or an angelic loo'ing figure, or an animal which in wa'ing life you regard as !eing a sym!ol of the 9niverse. ARCHETYPA DREAMS

he phrase #archetypal dream$ generally refers to significant and important collective dreams, which reveal very powerful messages, which not only ma'e an impression upon the dreamer, !ut also stri'e a note with people whom the dreamer shares the message with. Archetypal dreams can !e overwhelming, life)transforming, often horri!le and are always unexpected or appear #out of the !lue$. Archetypal dreams are most li'ely to occur at important transitional points in life, such as adolescence, middle age, the menopause, and old age. (ne will 'now that a dream is an archetypal dream if the dream confronts us with scenarios and elements that are not possi!le in ,)- life, and lead us to :the realm of myth and magic:. Archetypal dreams have a!out them what ;ung calls a :cosmic 7uality: such as< movements of tremendous speed over vast distances, comet)li'e flight through space, and cosmic 7ualities which can appear as astrological or alchemical sym!ols. hese form of dreams are important !ecause they can sym!oli=e a 8ourney into the unconscious, where the dreamer see's to find and assimilate fragmented parts of the psyche in order o achieve a psychological wholeness that can differentiate her or him from collective society as an organic%unified !eing. *n other words, one see's to !e individual within the whole unity, and archetypal dreams can help a person to un) ravel the experiences or growth which she%he needs to underta'e in order to achieve individuation or the integration of scattered aspects of oneself to form ones true inner &elf. RES!"RCES "ather than rely on dream dictionaries to interpret the meaning of dreams, try to first of all, thin' yourself a!out the possi!le meanings or associations with the sym!olic images and happenings in your dreams. *t is o'ay to loo' in dream dictionaries and read !oo's a!out the meaning of animals etc. in your dreams, as long as you remain open)minded to further information turning up, and to reviewing your dreams. 6ou must always choose the information which completely resonates with you when deciphering your own dreams. 5or guidelines on how to 'eep a dream 8ournal see !elow. www.trys'elion.com%drdiary.htm

5or some information a!out the meaning of animals in dreams, please see the lin's !elow. http>%%www.dreamhaw'.com%animald.htm 5or information on individuation see the following we! page. http>%%www.soul)guidance.com%houseof...ionprocess.htm