Man and his Symbols

Whereas Freud was a reductionist - breaking things down into their constituent elements - Jung was more of a connectivist - joining elements together to produce a larger picture. Jungian dream analysis involves more synthesis.

Like Freud, Jung divided the human psyche into three parts, however his categories differed. For Jung the human mind consisted of the ego, the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious.

The Collective Unconscious & Jungian Archetypes

A central element of Jung's psychoanalytic work was the idea of the archetype. This was a fundamental, powerful symbol that we all share through the collective unconscious. One example is the "mother" archetype. We all share this, yet how we experience it depends on our personal psychology - good mother, earth mother, motherland, etc. Other archetypes include hero, trickster and - most important of all - self.

Jung was especially interested in studying the archetypes related to mythology and old religions. For example, the Dragon (or serpent) was an archetype representing the unconsious mind that had to be slain by the Hero.

Jungian Dream Interpretation

Whereas Freud believed that dreams were frequently distorted in a subconscious attempt at repression, Jung believed that any such distortion was usually unintentional. The dream was a direct message from the personal unconscious.

Freudian analysis was based on free association, a technique that led ever further from the original dream. Jung preferred to stay with the dream symbols themselves and analyse each one in detail - a process of amplification. The dreamer was encouraged to "brainstorm" all the different symbolic associations for each aspect of the dream. These would include personal, cultural and archetypal associations.

As an example, say a dream included birds. Possible associations with this symbol would be flight, freedom, cage, etc.

Another stage of Jungian dream analysis is active imagination. Here, the dreamer mentally evokes a character from the dream and asks it questions. Through this approach the unconscious can be questioned directly.

The various symbolic associations would then be examined and the most important ones combined to give a holistic view of the dream's meaning as related to the individual's personality.

IMPORTANT: Dream analysis and free association can be traumatic. This is not a medical site. If you suspect you have a medical problem or serious emotional disturbance you should consult your doctor.