Thread: Understanding Dream Characters

I was coming in to say that the end of the explanatory posts is here toward the bottom of page 9: Dealing with Neuroses and Complexes - so if you wanted to just read the ones with the bold titles between those two posts that would cover it.

Very cool that you've already looked into Jung. Most people have a lot of misconceptions about what he really said based on popular misunderstandings. I honestly think I've put together a very comprehensive collection of posts that relay his theories as they pertain to dreams very clearly, from a person who has always been deeply interested in dreams and has also studied brain science as it relates to sleep and dreams. But enough horn-tooting!!

All that said, I agree that you don't need to study Jungian theory to get meaning from your dreams. The unconscious seems to be very adaptable and can communicate with you in whatever way it needs to as long as you're paying attention and are open-minded about it. Of course as you wander in the depths of the dream realm, you will encounter figures that conform to Jung's descriptions of the Shadow, the Anima, and the Self. You may call them by other names, such as devils, demons, tricksters or just scary dark characters (Shadow figures) or maybe Venus, Isis, or Circe, or possibly old girlfriends or female characters who convey some kind of wisdom or needed lessons (Anima figures) or you may see mysterious figures who seem to hold great power and wisdom, but to speak in riddles (the Self). For me I found it extremely helpful to tap into not only Jung's theories, but also the great ancient wisdom of all the world that was what led him there to begin with and which he studied at great length. In the past people looked inside themselves a lot more than our shallow materialistic society does, and understood far more about these inner figures.

But I'm doing it again, aren't I? Alright, I'll let it go at that! No more sales pitch I promise. People in here can tell you a lot about what dream characters are and what they convey, without delving into this stuff. I'll try to do that as well, but occasionally I may lean a bit toward the Jungian (I can't always ignore it ).