If the wholeness to which the Spirit of God is leading us is the integration of the conscious ego with the shadow, and if the potential for this maturation is in-built, that is, is incipiently present, in bud, within us, then we should expect, if we are to freely and consciously participate in it, that we would be given some indication of when and how this can happen.

The Unconscious Taking the Initiative

If, as Paul suggested to the church at Philippi, we are to work out our salvation in fear and trembling, knowing that it is God who works in us, inspiring both the will and the deed,¹ then one would suspect that the conscious ego would need to make contact with the more elusive shadow self and that a dialogue would be engaged in by these two aspects of the personality before integration could begin. As the conscious ego finds it difficult, almost impossible, to take the initiative in accessing the shadow, the shadow aspect of the personality must begin the conversation.

This it does by symbolizing its distress, and its intuitive knowledge of appropriate integrative strategies, and releasing these insights, like balloons, into the individual's dreaming consciousness. Expressed theologically, we could say that the grace of God, experienced unthematically in the depths of our subjectivity, in effecting our maturation through the integration of ego and shadow, works through the unconscious, and particularly through our dreams, to identify issues to be worked with and to indicate a way ahead.

Self-Acceptance a Pre-requisite

To face and begin working on integrating the conscious part of the self and the shadow, we need to feel accepted in our totality. The unconditional acceptance of our shadow side is also a work of this ubiquitous, constitutive Grace, whose essence is love.

Working With God

Working on the interpretation of our dreams is a way of co-operating with God in our maturation. As the language of our dreams is a symbolic language, it is important that we become acquainted with the dynamics of this language. We need to attend to our dreams, to have some understanding of what is happening and to interpret the rich symbolism of the dreaming mind. [111]

Attending to Our Dreams

First, we need to attend to our dreams. We need to listen and write down what we hear. For some people, this does not pose a great difficulty. They remember their dreams, or many of them. Others argue that they never dream. They do dream, but they do not remember dreaming. In order to remember a dream, we need to wake up almost immediately the dream concludes. Sometimes, we wake up in the midst of dreams, cutting them short.²

If you have difficulty remembering a dream, you may find it helpful to programme yourself to wake when the dream concludes. Tell yourself to do this when you go to bed. We can programme ourselves to do many things. If I am tired, I will often lay on the floor and tell myself to sleep for ten minutes. Unless I am overly agitated, my body will obey the instruction and after ten minutes I will wake refreshed.

Recording Our Dreams

There are different ways of recording your dreams. You can place a pencil and paper beside your bed and make jottings in the night. Alternatively you can use a small recorder or dictaphone. I used the first method for many years. However, I found that I needed to transcribe my jottings as soon as possible, otherwise I could neither decipher my scrawl or recollect the substance of the dream. I also tried setting up a small Powerbook computer in an adjacent room. I turned it on before going to bed and then put it to sleep, reactivating it when I needed it. I have since returned to pen and paper. When I wake, I slip into semi-conscious mode to achieve a measure of alertness without waking myself so completely that it is difficult to return to sleep. On occasions, I have woken four times in an evening, though this is rare.

It is important that you do not become compulsive about recording and interpreting your dreams, because this can be self defeating. I have periods when my concentration is deliberately focussed on the task. These are usually followed by periods when I give myself a rest. Sometimes, it takes considerable time to process the changes that dream interpretation initiates. Furthermore, the maturation, that is the focus of our attention, necessitates learning to surrender to the gentle flow of an inner grace. This involves a relinquishing of the sort of control that is a symptom of insecurity and that manifests in compulsiveness.

Why Do We Dream?

We have dealt briefly with how we can attend to our dreams. We next need to understand what is happening when we dream.

There is a sense in which dreams have to do with the circuitry and chemistry of the brain. To argue that they are nothing more than this, however, is to be wedded to a mechanistic view of human experience. While [112] it is true that eating a large slice of fruitcake before going to bed can result in vivid dreams, which you will remember because your body's agitation will keep you in a state of semi-wakefulness, the dreams cannot be explained wholly on the basis of the fruitcake. The fruitcake will fast-forward the dream, intensify the colours and turn up the sound, but it will not produce the dream. You still have to ask the question, why did I dream what I dreamed and not something else?³

Freud, in his epoch-making Interpretation of Dreams,⁴ suggested that dreaming allowed repressed material to escape the unconscious by providing it with a symbolic disguise that could hoodwink the censor, which stood guard at the transition point between the conscious and the unconscious.

Jung, on the other hand, argued that our body/selves are self-healing. This self-healing involves our total being. He contended that there is a balancing mechanism within the self, such that, if the whole is out of balance because of the repression of some part of this whole, then the self will begin healing itself by finding an alternative means of expression for that which is rejected. It will also begin the more difficult task of establishing a basis for the reintegration into the conscious self of that which has been rejected. The first will relieve the pressure, the second will promote healing and maturation.

On the basis of Jung's understanding of our selfhood, it can be argued that our dreaming, which alerts us to psychic dysfunction, allows for the expression of what is repressed, and, at the same time, promotes healing by suggesting a path to integration.

Interpreting Our Dreams

We have now arrived at the third, and critical, question. How are we to interpret our dreams? How do we master the language of our dreaming?

Dream History has a long history in a variety of cultures.⁵ In the past, those best acquainted with dream analysis were individuals who had gained a measure of self knowledge, acquired sometimes through self-discipline, but almost invariably through suffering. These adepts possessed what was considered an intuitive wisdom.

This raises an issue for us. If interpreting the language of our dreams requires us to possess self-knowledge and an intuitive wisdom, which we are seeking as a result of learning to interpret our dreams, then we face a dilemma. That which we seek, we need to possess before we begin.

The way out of this dilemma is for us to become apprentice dream-interpreters and to learn slowly from those who are masters, or, at least, from those who are a little further along the way than we are. [113]

We can do this in a number of ways. We can work with a therapist skilled in dream interpretation. The disadvantage of this method is that it can be expensive, though the learning and maturational dividends may be great. We may be fortunate enough to find a spiritual director with competence in the area, or we may be invited to be part of a dream interpretation group under the guidance of a skilled interpreter. If none of these approaches is an option, then you may be left to discover the art of dream interpretation through reading the many helpful volumes that have been written by those who have spent time mastering the process. Among those you will find helpful are Carl Jung's, Dreams⁶ and Dream Analysis,⁷ Robert Johnson's Inner Work,⁸ Francis Wickes The Inner World of Man,⁹ Jean and Wallace Clift's Symbols of Transformation in Dreams¹⁰ and The Hero Journey in Dreams,¹¹ Peter O'Connor's Dreams and the Search for Meaning¹² and The Inner Man: Men, Myths and Dreams,¹³ Robert Van de Castle's Our Dreaming Mind,¹⁴ and Anthony Stevens' Private Myths: Dreams and Dreaming.¹⁵

Our Many Selves

It is important to understand that the symbols and characters that surface in our dreams are part of our inner geography, rather than being part of the external world. People we know may be part of the cast of characters we encounter in our dreams, but this does not mean that our dreams have reference to those we dream about. Only on rare occasions, when we are picking up feelings and intuitions from the external environment, such as in pre-cognitive dreams, is there a patently external referent. In the majority of instances, the personalities that inhabit our dreams are parts of ourselves.

There are many parts to us, many individuals that live inside us. When we are significantly influenced by someone, part of us is moulded into their likeness. We can act out of that personality. When it surfaces in our dreams it will appear in the guise of that person. Alternatively, an aspect of the inner self may seize upon the remembered image of someone we have encountered, whose felt reality best approximates that aspect of our personality that is seeking expression.

My Anima,¹⁶ or feminine side, has manifest in a range of images that reflect the characteristics of women who have influenced me.

Reflecting on my family of origin, I have become increasingly convinced that I was placed in the position, within the family, of fulfilling a feminine role--cushioning tension, caretaking and providing emotional warmth. I carried out some of these functions, but pulled back from others. As a result, the feminine side I developed had more in common with a woman's femininity than with the feminine side of the male. [114]

Over time, working with my dreams, I witnessed the birth of the latter, of a more appropriate male Anima This Anima was born as twins, who, in the dreams that followed, grew from small infants into women of wisdom and strength. I recall getting on a train with the two of them, who were by then young children. I was especially protective of them, encompassing them in my arms as the crowd pressed upon us and as the train hurtled along. As my dreaming progressed, the Anima grew into a young woman, who I found to be sensually seductive. In later dreams, this anima manifest in the faces of mature women whose balanced perspectives on life, whose humour and whose personal maturity I admired.

Because I had initially developed a womanly femininity, rather than a male femininity, my masculinity was constricted. However, with the development of the new Anima, I discovered that I had also developed a male masculinity, which emerged in my dreams as a young man. This new masculinity, is in the process of replacing the older masculinity, which, because of the dominant influence of my mother on my development, had more in common with the male side of women than with the predominant masculinity of the male.

There is a sense, in which, the self that is us is never a given, though its broad range of potentialities is. The self is constituted out of a diverse range of roles, or personae, and learnings, at the conscious level and is reflected in a multitude of characters in the unconscious. It is always fluid. However, in spite of this fluidity, we can develop a groundedness, a centredness, as the conscious and unconscious become better acquainted and more accepting of each other, as they become more integrated. This integration is facilitated by our dreaming and by the attention we pay to our dreams.

Take Time

It is important, in working with a dream, to allow the symbols to speak for themselves. The temptation is to rush to endorse what appears to be the most obvious interpretation. To penetrate the essence of symbolic discourse, we need to allow the symbols time to speak to us. We should avoid crowding them with our compulsive need to master the mysterious. Symbols generate many levels of meaning.

Levels of Interpretation

In working with dreams, it is important to realize that there is no one correct interpretation. Interpretation is multi-layered. Jung argued that there were at least three levels of interpretation. The first reflects states of mind and events in our waking lives. The second is concerned with dramas that take place between the cast of characters that live within us. The third reveals significant changes that are occurring at the deep, archetypal level of the personality, or of the cultural milieu in which we are situated. [115]

Rules of Thumb

There are at least three factors that will help you interpret the symbolism of your dreams.

Symbols Have a Personal Reference

The first is recognition of the fact that symbols have a unique personal reference. It is our unconscious that produces them in order to address us. It is what the symbols mean for us that counts. These symbols are part of our remembered past and have a distinctive feeling tone. Books that offer a general interpretation of symbols confuse rather than enlighten. The same symbol will often convey different messages to different people.

This is not to say that we are so different from each other that there are no common symbols. Archetypal symbols, that are part of the collective unconscious, like those of the nurturing Mother, or wise Father, and which we share in common, are likely to manifest in 'big' dreams. Big dreams, as distinct from ordinary dreams, are generated when we face significant challenges or life transitions. Big dreams may also reflect mythological themes, sediment from an archaic past or the hero mythology of the spiritual adventurer that Joseph Campbell has written so much about.

Other common, archetypal symbols we share are the Anima, the Animus, the Shadow, together with symbols associated with the unconscious and with our instincts. The male Anima often manifests as a young woman¹⁷ and the female Animus as a young man. Shadow personalities, constellated out of the unconscious, will normally find expression as same-sex figures. Their features will often be blurred. The unconscious is often symbolized by water. Instincts, or strong emotions, may appear in our dreams as animals. These are just a few of the common symbols that appear in dreams.

Studying Developments

The second understanding, that will assist with interpretation, is an appreciation of the fact that there is a sequencing to our dreams. If we are reasonably consistent with our journaling, without being imprisoned by it, we will notice the development of themes. We will discern transitions. We will be able to trace our journeying. Any single dream, while it needs to be interpreted as a unique cameo, should also be viewed as part of a revelatory and developmental sequence. An awareness of the sequence may help us with interpretation.

The Intuitive Advantage

A third factor, that can help us with interpretation, is the possession of a developed intuitive capacity. A feel for subtle nuance, competency in the birthing of open, multi-layered symbols, a feel for the poetic and an [116] openness to the giftedness of life, are of inestimable advantage in interpreting the language of our dreaming.

It is a commonly acknowledged understanding that, for a man, the Anima is his surest guide to the unconscious, either through his dreaming or as a conscious companion. I have frequently dialogued with my Anima as I have been out walking. In confessing to this, I would also need to point out that my Anima, like other of the archetypes, is not a single identity. There are many personalities that make up my Anima, or my feminine side. These have been formed through my interaction with significant women in my life.

While men should be careful they are not taken over by their Animas, or kept captive by the shadow side of an anima figure that feels it is losing control, a figure that may be experienced as deeply seductive, they should nevertheless realize that, without the help of the Anima, they could get lost in their unconscious and not be able to find their way out. Mythology endorses the invaluable role of the young woman as guide to the underworld. I am not a woman, but I suspect, from reading the dream diaries of women analysts/analysands¹⁸ and from working with women on their dreams, that the female Animus fulfils a similar role for women.

Active Imagination

When I cannot fathom the meaning of a symbol, a conjunction of symbols or the overall meaning of a dream, I sometimes use active imagination to take me further. Sometimes, active imagination takes the form of a dialogue with a character or characters that surface in our dreams.

I began this process after I had a dream in which a cat, standing upright on its hind legs, which were encased with boots, on the side of the road, beckoned me to return to the place from whence I had journeyed. This puss-in-boots was suggesting, to an unsuspecting Dick Whittington, that he return to London, where he would become Lord Mayor. Because there was much in the dream I didn't understand, I addressed Puss, asking for her help. Therefore, whenever I wanted to explore the meaning of a symbol, or dream, that I found elusive, I would take time out to contact Puss and ask for her help.

To do this, I isolate myself in a room, where I am free from distractions and where I have set up my Powerbook. After naming the document, I begin the dialogue, with introductions and then an initial question. I rest back in the chair and await a response. Receptivity, relinquishment and an intuitive perceptiveness are pre-requisites for discerning responses. The conversation goes gently ahead, as the skein of meaning is gradually unravelled. Questions and responses are typed, as dialogue, into the Powerbook, where "G" and "P" represent 'Graeme" and "Puss". If you are wanting to explore this possibility further, Robert Johnson's Inner Work, has an excellent and very practical section dealing with active imagination. [117]

Lucid Dreaming

Another way of working with our dreams involves lucid dreaming. Lucid dreams are dreams in which we consciously participate in controlling the direction of our dreams. Robert Van de Castle has an excellent chapter in his Our Dreaming Mind, if you are interested in exploring this phenomenon.¹⁹

Ritual

Johnson also points up the importance of ritualizing our insights, or structuring some form of creative, vocal, tactile or physical response that will embed the insight or the commitment into the texture and rhythms of our bodies. Our problem, in the West, in that we are disconnected from our bodies. Merely thinking about an insight is not nearly as powerful as embodying it and committing ourselves to it with our bodies.

Two simple illustrations will suffice.

I was working some years ago with a woman whose dreams were indicating that her personal boundaries, which were constantly being violated, needed to be re-established. We talked about ways in which this could happen. We then set out four boundary markers on the floor. We marched around those markers and claimed that space for her. She then went and stood in the centre of her inviolate, sacred space.

On another occasion I was working with someone who had been victimised and emotionally crippled by messages about her non-acceptability, related to her inability to ever measure up to others' expectations. Her dreams were suggesting that it was imperative to deal with these messages. After exploring the tapes, which had been recorded in her youth and which were constantly being replayed in her head, I asked her to write them down on paper. We then ceremoniously burned them, consigning them to oblivion.

The Voice of the Spirit

I have argued, in this chapter, that God speaks to us through our unconscious, alerting us to emotional pain and personal distortions and suggesting responses that will enable us to actively participate in our healing. One of the ways in which the Spirit speaks to us through the unconscious, is in the symbolic language of our dreams. This is a language we need to attend to and master. When we do so it will accelerate our spiritual development. [118]

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