JUNG'S DREAM THEORY

The dream theory of Carl G . Jung (1875-1961)Is one of the most important and widely influen-tial dream theories in modern depth psychology(that branch of psychology that studies the un-conscious as its main object) . Jung, a Swiss medi-cal doctor, was at one time Freud's closest friendand leading student; however, Jung and Freud hada bitter falling out in 1914, in part because of

their different theories of the nature and functionof dreams (see FREUD'S DREAM THEORY) .

In Jung's view, dreams are the direct, naturalexpression of the current condition of thedreamer's mental world. Jung rejected Freud'sclaim that dreams intentionally disguise theirmeanings; rather, Jung believed that the natureof dreams is to present "a spontaneous self-portrayal, in symbolic form, of the actual situa-tion in the unconscious" (Jung, 1967, Vol . 8, par.505) . Jung claimed that dreams speak in a dis-tinctive language of symbols, images, and meta-phors, a language that is the unconscious mind'snatural means of expression . We have trouble un-derstanding dreams, Jung said, only because thissymbolic language Is so different from the Ian-*guage of our waking consciousness .

Dreams sometimes portray the dreamer's rela-tion with the external world, that Is, with thepeople, events, and activities of the dreamer'sdaily life. Jung called this the objective level of adream's meaning. At other times, dreams portraythe dreamer's inner world; the dream figures are'personifications of thoughts and feelings withinthe dreamer's own psyche . This, Jung said, is thesubjective level of a dream's meaning . Jung criti-cized Freud for acknowledging only the objectivelevel; the true nature of dreams, Jung believed, isto portray both these levels of the dreamer's life .Jung stated that dreams serve two functions .

One function Is to compensatefor imbalances inthe dreamer's psyche. Dreams bring forth uncon-scious contents that consciousness has either ig-nored, depreciated, or actively repressed . Forexample, if a person is overly intellectual, his orher dreams will work to balance this consciousexcess by bringing forth images of the psyche'smore emotion-oriented contents. According toJung, when the dreamer recognizes and acceptsthese unconscious contents, greater psychologi-cal balance is achieved . The second function ofdreams is to provideprospective images of the fu-ture. Jung agrees with Freud that dreams maylook backward to past experiences, but he arguesthat dreams also look forward to anticipate whatthe dreamer's future developments may be . Jungdid not mean that dreams predict the future, onlythat dreams can suggest what might happen, whatpossibilities the future might hold. Ultimately,Jung believed that dreams function to promotethe most important developmental . process ofhuman life, namely, the uniting of consciousnessand the unconscious in a healthy, harmonious

state of wholeness . Jung calls this process indi-viduation, the "complete actualization of thewhole human being" (Jung, 1967, Vol . 16, par.352) .

One of the most distinctive features of Jung'stheory of dreams is his claim that dreams expressnot just'personal contents, but also collective oruniversal contents. Jung believed that dreams fre-quently contain archetypes, universal psychicimages that underlie all human thought . (Com-mon archetypal figures described by Jung are thewise old man, the great mother, the trickster, thedivine child, and the shadow.) Archetypes reflecta natural wisdom deep within the human uncon-scious; archetypal images in dreams can providethe dreamer with special insights and guidancealong the path toward individuation . Jung be-lieved that the world's religious and mythologi-cal traditions contain a wealth of archetypalimages, and he refers to . these traditions in de-scribing the nature and function of dreams .Jung's dream theory has been criticized for

being perilously close to mysticism and the oc-cult. Jung insisted, however, that his theory ofdreams is based on strictly empirical obser-vations. He claimed to have interpreted over80,000 dreams during his almost 60 years ofclinical practice; Jung said his theory simply at-tempts to describe and classify the dream phe-nomena he had observed .

REFERENCES

Homans P. 1979 . Jung in context. Chicago: Univer-sity of Chicago Press . A study of Jung's relationshipwith Freud .

Jung CG. 1965. Memories, dreams, reflections . NewYork: Vintage . Jung's autobiography, filled withdream accounts ; esse:ttial to understanding his lifeand theories.

.1967. Man and his symbols . New York: Dell .Jung's last work, an explanation of his psychologyIn nontechnical terms .

. 1967. The collected works of C.G. Jung .Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, 1967.Jung discusses dreams throughout the 18 volumesof his writings . The key works on dreams are the fol-lowing: General Aspects of Dream Psychology, Vol .8; On the Nature of Dreams, Vol . 8; The PracticalUse of Dream Analysis, Vol . 16; Individual DreamSymbolism in Relation to Alchemy, Vol . 12 ; Two Es-says on Analytical Psychology, Vol. 7 .

Samuels A. 1985 . Jung and the postjunglans. Lon-don: Routledge & Kegan Paul . Describes post-Jungian dream theories .

Kelly Bulkley

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