A Theory About Dreams Being An Expression Of Our Soul
I don't know very much about the psychology behind our dreams but the simplest, most logical explanation I can relate to is that our dreams are a window into our soul.
By soul I mean our 'collective unconscious' as Carl Jung described it, our intuition.
I found this amazing quote from Jung while reading a fascinating book about human nature written by Australian biologist Jeremy Griffith"The dream is a little hidden door in the innermost and most secret recesses of the psyche [soul], opening into that cosmic night which was psyche long before there was any ego consciousness" (Civilization in Transition, from The Collected Works of C.
G.
Jung, Vol.
10, 1945).
Griffith talks a lot about our psyche and how we have repressed it in order to fulfil a need to understand our conscious thinking selves.
He says that our instinctive self and our intellect were at odds, in deep conflict and that we have been on a two million year journey of estrangement from our original, soulful state.
So it would make sense that our soul would be there at night, trying to reach us.
He says in his book Freedom, "While an upset human's conscious overlying self normally represses their hurtfully exposing and condemning instinctive self or soul, when they are asleep and the conscious self is resting the instinctive self or soul comes to the surface and expresses its immense anxieties about the horror of the world it has found itself in.
This is why so many dreams are in fact nightmares-it is that innocent child within us, our instinctive self or soul being shocked by the horrific imperfections of the world in which it lives.
" It's an area fraught with uncertainty and fear for me as I try to interpret my own dreaming cycles.
The idea that we block out a whole array of feelings is difficult to fathom when in a conscious or 'awake' state.
One could take the view that dreams are dreams-expressions of the mind that must be exorcized, but not deeply thought about.
Once you've had a dream, it is no longer, so forget about it.
Some mornings (or in the middle of the night) I wake up so consumed by my dream that it's hard to let it go and move on.
It's hard not to think that my soul, my inner self is trying desperately to tell me something, to communicate to me a message that will help me deal with life in a more complete way.
You know when you have one of those really emotionally intense dreams and you wake up suddenly but can't shake the dream? Still in a trance-like state I wander around in my mind trying to objectify the sensations, clutching at the feelings that seem so real although just out of my reach, like a word that's on the 'tip of your tongue' but wants to stay hiding in the back of your brain.
I wish against all logic that I can stay connected to the feelings.
It's just a very interesting concept, that in a dream state you are more alive and connected to your soul than in a conscious state.
How much emotion are we are blocking out of our daily lives, emotions that have to find their way out of our minds in the form of dreams when our defences are down, when we don't have control and our soul is given free reign.
I find that these affecting dreams can express not only shock and anxiety (nightmares) but positive feelings as well.
Either way I feel as if a little soulful person is knocking on the inside of my skull trying to communicate some very important information.
During a rather traumatic dream I imagine she is saying, "Excuse me, I don't mean to alarm you but there's something really scary happening that I'm not coping very well with and you don't seem to have even noticed.
So I'm just kindly letting you know.
" If it's an ethereal-like, peaceful or indescribably calm-soaked dream I believe she's saying "Yes, my friend, you can rest.
Everything is going to be alright.
In fact it's going to be better than alright and this is just a taste!" These dreams are the best but try as I might they won't come with me into my conscious world.
Maybe as Griffith says, they are the expression of a soulful past and we might come full circle with understanding and find that state again some time in the future.
I hope so.
By soul I mean our 'collective unconscious' as Carl Jung described it, our intuition.
I found this amazing quote from Jung while reading a fascinating book about human nature written by Australian biologist Jeremy Griffith"The dream is a little hidden door in the innermost and most secret recesses of the psyche [soul], opening into that cosmic night which was psyche long before there was any ego consciousness" (Civilization in Transition, from The Collected Works of C.
G.
Jung, Vol.
10, 1945).
Griffith talks a lot about our psyche and how we have repressed it in order to fulfil a need to understand our conscious thinking selves.
He says that our instinctive self and our intellect were at odds, in deep conflict and that we have been on a two million year journey of estrangement from our original, soulful state.
So it would make sense that our soul would be there at night, trying to reach us.
He says in his book Freedom, "While an upset human's conscious overlying self normally represses their hurtfully exposing and condemning instinctive self or soul, when they are asleep and the conscious self is resting the instinctive self or soul comes to the surface and expresses its immense anxieties about the horror of the world it has found itself in.
This is why so many dreams are in fact nightmares-it is that innocent child within us, our instinctive self or soul being shocked by the horrific imperfections of the world in which it lives.
" It's an area fraught with uncertainty and fear for me as I try to interpret my own dreaming cycles.
The idea that we block out a whole array of feelings is difficult to fathom when in a conscious or 'awake' state.
One could take the view that dreams are dreams-expressions of the mind that must be exorcized, but not deeply thought about.
Once you've had a dream, it is no longer, so forget about it.
Some mornings (or in the middle of the night) I wake up so consumed by my dream that it's hard to let it go and move on.
It's hard not to think that my soul, my inner self is trying desperately to tell me something, to communicate to me a message that will help me deal with life in a more complete way.
You know when you have one of those really emotionally intense dreams and you wake up suddenly but can't shake the dream? Still in a trance-like state I wander around in my mind trying to objectify the sensations, clutching at the feelings that seem so real although just out of my reach, like a word that's on the 'tip of your tongue' but wants to stay hiding in the back of your brain.
I wish against all logic that I can stay connected to the feelings.
It's just a very interesting concept, that in a dream state you are more alive and connected to your soul than in a conscious state.
How much emotion are we are blocking out of our daily lives, emotions that have to find their way out of our minds in the form of dreams when our defences are down, when we don't have control and our soul is given free reign.
I find that these affecting dreams can express not only shock and anxiety (nightmares) but positive feelings as well.
Either way I feel as if a little soulful person is knocking on the inside of my skull trying to communicate some very important information.
During a rather traumatic dream I imagine she is saying, "Excuse me, I don't mean to alarm you but there's something really scary happening that I'm not coping very well with and you don't seem to have even noticed.
So I'm just kindly letting you know.
" If it's an ethereal-like, peaceful or indescribably calm-soaked dream I believe she's saying "Yes, my friend, you can rest.
Everything is going to be alright.
In fact it's going to be better than alright and this is just a taste!" These dreams are the best but try as I might they won't come with me into my conscious world.
Maybe as Griffith says, they are the expression of a soulful past and we might come full circle with understanding and find that state again some time in the future.
I hope so.
Source...