Every month, Jungian analyst Stanislav Raevsky deciphers the pictures you saw in your dreams.
Dina’s dream, 23 years old
“In a dream, I see my grandmother alive, although at the same time I know that she has died (this is true). We are talking, drinking tea, and suddenly she says: “Nikita is good, you help him, he loves you.” I nod, agree with her, I even seem to promise. Only in reality I don’t know a single Nikita and I don’t understand what this dream is for.
Interpretation
“Such a dream intrigues and haunts us. What to do with dreams that cannot be unraveled immediately? Three methods can be used.
association chain. We highlight the main images of sleep. In our case, these are grandmother and Nikita. And then we write down all the associations that come to mind, even if they seem unimportant or strange. For example: Nikita – that was the name of the hero of the film … no, the heroine. “Her name was Nikita” – I want to be agile and decisive like her – and her mentor is like my boss, whom I am in love with – I also want to get out of his power, because he is married. Usually such a chain leads to a real person whom you love, hate, or both. According to Sigmund Freud, dreams make obvious desires, especially sexual and aggressive ones.
Read more:
- What does the dream mean: “I dream of my dead mother”
Image disclosure. Carl Gustav Jung suggested collecting associations, always returning to the image of sleep, which combines many meanings. You can take a piece of paper, place a symbol in the center, and write associations around. Around the grandmother, for example, such associations can be located: she was sociable, she had a conflict with my parents, she always cooked something tasty; I was there when she died; she loved to gossip… In addition to personal associations, there are also general associations enshrined in culture. For example, dead ancestors come to us at a difficult moment and try to protect us. Collective associations can also be picked up to the name: Nikita in Greek means “winner”. Perhaps it is not about the outer man, but the inner winner. Do you feel like a winner or a loser? Perhaps Grandma is trying to strengthen your connection to your inner winner. When you have collected all the associations, carefully reread your notes and give yourself time to comprehend them. Even if you don’t have insight, you will understand yourself much better. After all, our soul speaks to us in the language of dreams, as Jung believed.
active imagination. This method is used in work with interrupted dreams. Relax, close your eyes and try to be inside the dream again. And then resume the interrupted dialogue. In our case, ask your grandmother: what kind of Nikita are you talking about? Why should I treat him like this? It is likely that the grandmother in your imagination will answer completely unexpectedly. Perhaps not at all about Nikita. But this will be a continuation of an important conversation for you. The balance of consciousness and the unconscious and the dialogue between them is possible precisely in active imagination: we are in clear consciousness and at the same time we allow figures from the unconscious to manifest and speak out.
What does sleep mean? Have you had a dream that worries you, puzzles you, or recurs? Do you still remember what you dreamed about as a child? Write about it in the “My Story” section. Stanislav Raevsky will try to decipher your dream.