Lesson 3: Archetypes in Dreams
Samples of Negative and Positive Archetypal Figures
In our psyche, there exist some destructive characters that will show up in our dreams. There are also golden, divine figures which show the best of who we are.
Beautiful Woman without a Heart, Dark Man: Every human being has within the psyche a psychic predator. Regardless of whether you grew up in a loving, supportive household, or an abusive one, the predator is there. It is simply stronger in those who suffered abuse in childhood. In the dream of a man, a woman may occur who is very beautiful but who is a devourer. She lacerates him, castrates him, sucks him dry. In a woman’s dream, the predator appears as the Dark Man. The Dark Man is the saboteur who kills the creative force in woman and saps her of life force. The predator at its weakest sneers and says, “Who do you think you are?” At its strongest, it criticizes, judges, attacks the ego, and destroys self-esteem. Reading fairy tales and legends about these characters helps to lessen their energy and teaches you how to transform these destructive energies when possible.
Jung tells of a female client who dreamed of being chased by a vicious and violent male figure. She suddenly ran into a room in the center of which was a painting on an easel. When she commented on the painting, admiring it, she turned to find that her pursuer had become a civilized man who removed his glasses, polished them, and thanked her for admiring the painting. In this dream, the pursuer represented the woman’s own denied artistic talents and the dream was calling the woman to take responsibility for her own creativity.
However, often the psychic predator that appears in a dream cannot be redeemed. A woman may dream of a Bluebeard character that is simply destructive. To deal with this kind of energy, a woman needs to read the fairy tales, like Bluebeard, and experience the story on an emotional level, especially the part in which the brothers arrive and destroy the malevolent masculine. When these characters appear in a dream, enlist positive psychic forces to counter them. Use supportive self-talk, self-reinforcement, to counter these negative energies when they are particularly active.
The Golden Child: Many forms of the “child-self” exist within us and appear in our dreams. Sometimes the child is being destructive and we need to look at ways in which a part of us is still childish and is causing havoc in our outer life. Sometimes the child is our playful self and we are enjoying ourselves in the dream in a child-like way that is a very pure and natural. The child in a dream is a new form and represents a new way of thinking, seeing, feeling. It is a new idea or ideal and needs to be fed and nurtured in us and in the outer life. The Golden Child is also called the Divine Child. It represents a new spiritual self, a new spiritual way of being, and in both the inner and outer life this new self must be fed, nurtured, and protected.
In summary, archetypes are energy patterns within the psyche that are common to all humanity. The archetypal figures in dreams are the great healers and as you work with a theme in your dreams over a series of days, weeks, and years, you will find your dreams becoming more archetypal. Some archetypes that appear in your dreams will come from ancient mythology, legends and folktales, and fairy tales, and reading those tales can be an important part of exploring those dreams that are mythic.
