Thread: What are Dream Characters?

Dream characters can be interpreted in any number of ways. The subconscious mind is associative in nature. It compares things within our awareness with things within our schema order to make judgments about whatever situation we are in. It is able to associate dream characters with anything, even things that are not consciously expected. Since the dream is constructed from our schema, these associations show up into the dream.

I haven't tried to introduce dream characters into my non-lucid dreams, and I'm not sure how I would do that.

At its core, the unconscious creates images to symbolize things about ourselves about which we’re mostly unconscious so that we’ll become more aware of these inner factors over time and through this, we can learn to act in a more balanced, well-rounded way.

So most dreams that contain people (some of whom we recognize from outer life) are images of parts of ourselves as based on analogies with outer people and how they act. A few dreams which contain people we know are about the actual people and our relationships with them. Some dreams are a combination of both.

The psyche wants a balance to be maintained between our conscious ego life and unconscious functions, just like the body is always automatically balancing out physical states like temperature, water content, hunger etc. etc.

For example, blind spots about attitude, character and the personality in general are pictured by how the Dream Characters act in order to make the dreamer conscious of such traits which could potentially slow self-development of the overall personality too much.

The dream-ego also reveals the state of certain parts of the unconscious, and it’s important to notice if the dream-ego is the dreamer as a child, youth or as being older than the dreamer’s current age.

Dream Characters also can include monsters, giants, dwarfs, half human/half animals, angels etc., usually indicating that what the dream is describing tends to be very unconscious in the individual.

More specifically, a Dream Character can symbolize the opposite side of the conscious ego of the dreamer. For example, if the dreamer is too extroverted, the dream image of a person could represent the mostly ignored introverted side which needs to be paid more attention to. Or if the dreamer is too intellectual in his or her approach, then a Dream Character which represents the state of his/her probably undeveloped values and emotional side would appear in order to compensate a too narrow outlook. Similarly, faults and failings of the dreamer can appear in the form of “disreputable” people who can act in a “disgusting” or “disruptive” way. Often if clothes and appearance are noticeably unusual or emphasized in some way, this could represent how the dreamer looks to other people, probably meant to suggest that some kind of adjustment is needed in how the person presents himself or herself to others.

Being a self-regulating system beyond the ego’s actual control, the unconscious has various types of Dream Characters appear and disappear as often as required, based on the urgency related to the ego’s need to re-balance something which might be tending to get out of control.

Getting in touch with these inner figures is described in such books as Robert Johnson’s “Inner Work”, as well as in Mary Watkins’s “Invisible Guests” and “Waking Dreams”. Another book, “Imaginal Figures in Everyday Life: Stories from The World between Matter and Mind” by Mary Harrell, is also very good.

Originally Posted by pontozero

Just had one of those dreams that makes me think when I wake up: "Damn, I'm never meeting that person ever again...nor will I ever meet whoever I was".

Focusing on this I decided to create this topic concerning not only Dream Characters but also what you are personifying inside a dream, because sometimes what you are inside a dream is so different from your awake self that can't help but wonder where that person came from.

I get some comfort thinking DCs and my multiple dream selfs are just aspects of my Conscience multiplying into different personalities who shape themselves into the dream scenario and that somehow, be it through Lucid Dreams or Meditation for example, I can access those traits again.

So now I ask you fellow dreamers, what is your interpretation about dream characters and your multiple dream self in non Lucid episodes and do you do any type of exercise to make them appear again?

I see it as being similar to when a person goes through trauma and develops multiple personalities as a result. A similar thing is happening in dreams when the self splits and takes on different, sometimes multiple entities. I've had it a few times where it felt like I was 10 different people at once, all were a sub-self of mine. Some characters however feel like their own entities, separate from me. Like they were part of some other dreaming person's mind, and our consciousnesses somehow became fused, and our dream selves were interacting with each other. They seemed so conscious and full of life compared to ordinary dream characters, and always left a lasting impression after I woke up.