Dream Psychology

[Sir]

I just finished reading Carl Jung's book, "Psychology and Religion".

In it, he takes an empiricist stance on the phenomenon of dreams, which leads him to write about the connection of symbols in dreams to religious concepts such as the trinity and quaternity. But I'm not going to go into that part of the book, but his conclusions based on these connections.

He believes that dreams are the subconscious's way of manifesting the repressed and unacknowledged traits within ourselves. In other words, he believes that dreams are a first person perspective our "shadow".

I must say that I have to agree with him, both from my own experience and accounts of my friends.

Examples:
While conscious: I can be overconfident while driving because I've never been in an accident, have avoided every close call I've come across, and have never gotten a ticket. I also accelerate (not the same as driving velocity) faster as a result.
In dreams: I have had several dreams where I back up out of a parking spot without accelerating (constant speed) very slowly but keep crashing into a car behind me. Strangely, there are no dents.

My friend: He's a huge guy, very muscular and tall, so obviously he must have a lot of testosterone in his body. Testosterone has been known to play a role in aggression (hence the concept of "roid rage") but he is the nicest guy on the planet and wouldn't hurt a fly.
What he's told me about his dreams: He constantly dreams about being in fights.

Carl Jung also expressed the idea at the end of the book that by confronting our shadow and assimilating it into ourselves, we achieve a state of balance and can become well-rounded. I believe this idea has merit.

Example: After being betrayed by a female that I had been friends with for a long time and came to love, I "attempted" to hate her. This gradual buildup of 'hate' began to repress my "love" for her into my subconscious. She had apologized several times, but I didn't feel that they were sincere apologies and never replied. The person I used to be so fond of became the target of all my criticisms and negative energy.

Then one night I had an incredibly bizarre dream that involved an incredibly romantic and intimate event between her and me. It seemed so realistic sensually and emotionally that I almost believed it was real and woke up in a state of confusion and disappointment as a result. As the perspective in the dream was very unlike me, I confronted and assimilated it and found myself with a neutral stance towards her instead of negative one.

She sent me a message a few days later, apologizing once again but it was different from her previous apologies because she had appended something to it. She stated that she thought that I didn't believe that she was truly sorry, which was true. Eventually, we became friends again and I got over her act of betrayal.

So, what do you think about the concept of dreams being the perspective of the shadow?
Do you find yourself in dreams acting in ways that you would never do in real life?
Are the feelings and principles associated with these acts a result of you repressing them and/or never have acknowledging them in the first place?

I'm not sure if this belongs in the Magic and Mysticism section, but as dream psychology is often looked down upon scientists not of the empiricist tendency (they are rationalists, idealists, or constructivists), it has been considered too subjective in a field that relies on physical observations, which we can not do with dreams.

 

[Stu]

Bravo!

I just finished reading Carl Jung's book, "Psychology and Religion".

..I'm not sure if this belongs in the Magic and Mysticism section, but as dream psychology is often looked down upon scientists not of the empiricist tendency (they are rationalists, idealists, or constructivists), it has been considered too subjective in a field that relies on physical observations, which we can not do with dreams.

nicely done

Even in here dreams are relegated to the corners of all the forums. We should boldly set up a sub forum for dream logs and their amplifications and interpretations.

 

[Sir]

Carl Jung's writing just has a sense of familiarity to me, somehow I feel like I can understand whatever concept he is trying to convey. I'm convinced that he's an INFJ.

I'm reading "Symbols of Transformation" now, which explores his other works and the concept of 'libido'. Should be interesting.

Even in here dreams are relegated to the corners of all the forums. We should boldly set up a sub forum for dream logs and their amplifications and interpretations.

I agree. It would be interesting to see how our interpretations of people's dream logs correlate with our perception of their personalities.

 

[Quiet]

Its a very interesting concept and I wont disregard it but I dont think that its normally the case for me.
I do act in ways that are different from real life but most of the time the behaviour is still congruent with what I think, albeit exaggerated.

I often dream as other people, people I know or strangers, and sometimes I am all the people in my dream at the same time.

I have four kinds of dreams:
-boring and non consenuential ones where I relive parts of my experiences
-vision/insight dreams where I am more an observer or actor rather than a creator
-lucid dreams where I can create and experience anything, even things I normally know nothing about
-nightmares where I have limited control

Dreaming is one of my favourite things to do and the majority of my dreams are lucid. I look foward to it everyday and even take naps if possible. Its like going into this exciting realm with infinte possibilities.

I think most dreams are memories being created and affirmed while you are unconsious. I think while you dream, neurons in your brain are physically changing, synapses are firing and your brain is creating and storing your memories into the physical hardwear of your body (neurons).

Most dreams are meaningful to me and reveal what is available in the subconsious

 

[Oros Ull]

I am like Asarya in that I love dreaming, and most of mine are Lucid. But I see what he is saying. I have experienced in my dreams an active urge to recognize dualities to offset extremes in my waking life.

I think most dreams are memories being created and affirmed while you are unconsious. I think while you dream, neurons in your brain are physically changing, synapses are firing and your brain is creating and storing your memories into the physical hardwear of your body (neurons).

I Agree with this. Sometimes I will have a normal dream that will take place in some bizarre setting. Then when I go back to sleep later and have a lucid dream, that new dreamscape remains available to me. I’ve created whole worlds in my head doing that.