Dreams: Theater of the Unconscious

The dream is a theater in which the dreamer is himself the scene, the player, the promoter, the producer, the author, the public, and the critic.

-       C.G. Jung, CW8, par. 509

1. G. Jung considered the psyche and dreams as expressions of unconscious processes.According to Jung, difficulties arise in the interpretation of dreams and images because of their unconscious nature.  He determined that dreams are often structured like dramas and that the theater motif and the dramatic presentation of the unconscious story can assist in understanding a dream.  

The dramatic structure of the dream, like that of a Greek drama, consisting of a setting, theme, characters, development, crisis, and outcome, all contribute to grasping the unconscious language being spoken by the psyche.

The unconscious language of dreams speaks through image and symbol.  So, in addition to learning to interpret the dramatic structure of a dream, one will learn the language of images and symbols.  In dream interpretation, Jung also gave prominence to symbol amplification and personal association to dream images, and he stressed the objective nature of the psyche.  All these elements of dream analysis will be woven together and will expose the participants to dream interpretation through a Jungian lens.  The class will be didactic and experiential.  Please bring a short dream that can be shared in the group.

Objectives:

1. To begin to interpret a dream through a Jungian analytic lens
2. To learn to identify the dramatic structure of a dream
3. To understand the significance of the unconscious language of images and symbols in dreams
4. To learn different approaches to dream interpretation, such as:

•  Active imagination
• Jung’s map of the psyche
• Amplification
• Associations
• Appearance of music, fairy tales or stories in dreams 
• Creative methodologies