Dreams & the Subconscious
By Nara WoodLesson 3: Archetypes in Dreams
Introduction: Archetypes are basic energy patterns common to all humanity and of course these patterns occur frequently in dreams. Marion Woodman tells us that it is the archetypes, those archaic motifs in our dreams that are the healers and that as we move further along into a dream sequence that addresses one of our fundamental energy patterns or recurring challenges, our dreams may become more and more archetypal in form.
Animals in Dreams
Animals in dreams refer to our instinctual nature. Healthy animals in dreams indicate helpful instinctive guidance while wounded animals indicate wounded instincts, intuition, or natural impulses. In ancient myths, legends, fairy tales, and folk tales, helpful animals appeared as guides to the heroic characters. The animal would tell the hero how to deal with an inimical creature or how to avoid life-threatening danger or how to find the way to rescue a princess or gain a treasure. In later mythologies, the energies turned and the hero began to conquer animals which were themselves hostile to him. This showed that a shift had occurred in cultural consciousness and that shift is why many people today dream of wounded animals. The dreams reveal how cut off from instinctual energy modern human beings are and the price that is paid for that split.
When an animal appears in your dream, the habitat of the animal will tell you what kind of instinctual energy you are dealing with. A land animal will deal with instincts that have to do with pragmatic reality, being grounded and down-to-earth; a water animal will represent instincts dealing with the emotional world or the realm of the unconscious; and an air animal will deal with matters of spirit and freedom. When exploring an animal in a dream, begin with your own associations to that animal. If the meaning continues to elude you, consult a source – a dictionary of animal symbols or myths, legends, or fairy tales. The following are some common animal symbols that will appear in dreams.
Horse: The horse can represent physical power in the outer world. In women, it often represents the sexual nature. If a horse is wounded in your dream, ask yourself in what way your drive to move forward in life has been hampered or crippled. Is someone riding the horse or holding it reined in? What aspect of that person is like some part of you that holds you back in a situation in which you want to move forward? After working with the dream, work with the horse in imagination. See it running wild, healthy, and free. If your ability to move forward in some aspect of your life has been hampered, work on that. As you work with this image, you will find that it evolves in future dreams by healing or by changing form.
Dog: A dog was often used by hunters to find downed prey. So the dog can be a helper who assists you in finding what you need to sustain and nurture yourself. It is also a symbol of trust, loyalty, and fealty. If a dog is in your dream and is wounded, it means that your instinctual nature is wounded in the area represented by a dog. Ask yourself in what ways you have not been loyal to yourself. Have you betrayed yourself on some deep level and rationalized away your intuitional insights?
If you have a wounded animal in your dreams, read tales that include that animal prominently, especially if it is a mythic creature like a griffin or unicorn or a dragon. One good source for the way various animal energies express themselves is Animal Speak by Ted Andrews [Llewellyn Publications, ISBN 0-87542-028-1].
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