Today I am going to explore how we can gain understanding of the images in our lives from dreams, fantasies, and art. They reveal personal meaning and reduce existential stress.
Misconceptions about Symbolism
One of the misconceptions is that symbolism is not plug and play. The language of flowers may be a beautiful source of inspiration for floral arrangements and gift giving. However, symbolism, as explored by psychological theories such as Jean Piaget and especially Carl Jung, can mean so much more.
The Problems with the Internet
Google searches and Reddit only get us so far. Even dream and symbol dictionaries are limited. Jungian analysis whether dream analysis, shadow work, or Jungian Art Therapy can help us gain invaluable understanding the images in our lives from dream, fantasies, and art.
Looking for Deeper Meaning in Our Lives
For those of us interested in personal development, and striving deeper meaning in our lives, we often overlook the potential of the images that appear in our dreams, fantasies, and imaginations. These images are symbols that carry patterns of meaning from our unconscious mind. The symbolic nature of images can provide psychological and spiritual insight. Even if they seem random, there may be deeper themes waiting to be analyzed, digested, and provide broader perspective in your life.
Thoughts from Carl Jung
As most of my associates know, I’m a Carl Jung nerd, an aficionado. He was one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century, and one of my favorite quotes of his is, “I must learn that the dregs of my thought, my dreams, are the speech of my soul. I must carry them in my heart and go back and forth over them in my mind, like the words of a person dearest to me. Dreams are the guiding words of the soul.” Jung’s perspective underscores how important it is to view our dreams and recurring images not as random or trivial but as profound messengers from the unconscious.
Where Do Dreams and Images Come From?
How we process images is connected to how our brains process information. Developmentally, we understand images before we process language. From early childhood, the brain relies on visual imagery to make sense of the world before we even learn to speak. Trauma is stored in the brain’s visual centers, particularly the amygdala, which processes emotions and sensory information. Thus, our unconscious mind communicates with us primarily through images.
For this reason, dreams and recurring visual symbols are not just fleeting thoughts or memories. Images contain vital meaning—messages from the unconscious seeking to be understood and integrated.
Archetypes: The Unconscious Language of the Mind
Jung described archetypes as “the feeling-toned images of the instincts.” He said, “Archetypes are the unconscious images of the instincts themselves. In other words, they are patterns of instinctual behavior”(Jung, 1970). In simpler terms, archetypes are deep, primal symbols embedded in our unconscious minds. They are the building blocks of our psyche and reflect universal patterns that have emerged across cultures, societies, and individuals throughout time.
These archetypes are more than just intellectual ideas. Images are symbolic carriers of meaning from the unconscious, much like a hologram that contains all the information of the whole. Archetypal images offer not just one interpretation but multiple layers of meaning that can be applied differently depending on real-world life context and personal relevance.
Imagination and the Unconscious: Connecting the Two
Carl Jung worked with a client who came to him for several sessions, claiming to make up dreams on his carriage ride to see Jung. When the man admitted he was fabricating his dreams, Jung responded that the meaning of the dreams was still valid. Why? Because imagination is simply a direct connection to the unconscious. Jung saw no distinction between dreams and imagination because both are creative processes where the unconscious mind expresses itself through imagery.
As Jung put it, “The collective unconscious – so far as we can say anything about it – appears to consist of mythological motifs or primordial images, for which reason the myths of all nations are its real exponents.” (Jung, CW 8, para 325). These primordial images, or archetypes, form the foundation of myth, art, and culture across humanity. The collective unconscious stores common cultural images and ideas as archetypal fields of information. The more we learn about quantum entanglement and epigenetics, the more concrete sense this theory makes. It manifests in the images we encounter in our dreams, fantasies, and creative processes.
Understanding Images: The Depths of the Soul
Jung once said, “My speech is imperfect. Not because I want to shine with words, but out of the impossibility of finding those words, I speak in images. With nothing else to express the words from the depths.” (Jung, The Red Book). This quote expresses that images directly express our deeper, unconscious selves. Our rational minds often struggle to find words for these profound, instinctual experiences. Still, the images communicate in ways that words cannot fully capture.
Archetypal Art Therapy’s mandate is to honor the symbolic image because it represents something far more profound than a mere picture. A living symbol carries both conscious meaning and a connection to an unknowable unconscious meaning. These symbols are not simple or superficial; they hold a dynamic, fluid energy that can be explored and understood through careful reflection and analysis.
Archetypes as Energy: Releasing Transformative Potential
Jungian analyst Yoram Kaufmann once explained that an archetype is “a quanta of energy organized around a theme.” He suggests that this energy manifests in biology, physics, mathematics, and human behavior. Archetypes are not just abstract concepts but energetic patterns with real-world implications.
When we understand the context of archetypes in our lives—whether through dream analysis, art, or imagination—we can release the energy stored within them. This energy can remain stuck in a complex or be released when we understand its symbolic meaning. Kaufmann emphasized that when we understand the mandate of the image, the energy it holds is released. This process is how to stop being stuck. Dream analysis can be uncomfortable. It can sometimes feel like a sysiphean task, but I can say from personal experience, the end results are priceless.
Understanding the Images in our Lives – In the Context of the Individual
For anyone seeking more significant meaning and self-actualization, images from your mind, art-making and/or dreams can be like exhuming buried treasure.
Symbols can give you insight on where you are stuck in life, help you resolve fears and regrets. Understanding the images in your life can help you find greater purpose, maybe even especially when things feel existentially hopeless.
If any of this article resonates with you, then, let’s chat. You can explore how dream analysis and archetypal imagery can inform your process and perspective.