5: Recurring Dreams: Why is my Unconscious Stuck on Repeat?

About this Episode

Dreams from this episode:

• Dreams set back in high school, one of overwhelm, one of choosing a path to spirituality and learning
• Childhood dreams of three selves in the attic of a log cabin
• Dreams of a black horned creature that is first threatening, then becomes a friend
• Dreams of killing a neighbor

Themes from this episode:

• Recurring dreams are important:

  • They are sending repeated messages in the hopes that we will pay attention
  • If we do finally start listening to the dreams, they often begin to change, moving on to new topics
  • Watching how dreams change over time can give us clues about how our psyche is changing or growing

• People frequently dream of being back in high school, I think because it was a very formative time in our lives--a time of growing independence, developing more real relationships with other people, and having many new experiences. Because of all that, it provides the unconscious with many options for people and symbols to draw from to describe our inner dynamics to ourselves.

• If you dream of a specific person from high school, consider what they meant to you, what were their most important qualities. They are probably symbolizing a part of yourself.

• Because our unconscious exists from birth, along with the archetypes within it, even children’s dreams can be interpreted in a symbolic way.

• The setting is important in the log cabin dream. The cabin is set in the woods, so it feels remote, disconnected, lonely. The dreamer is located in the attic, representing the head, the brain, the conscious self, and there are 3 of her, 2 of which are keeping guard at the window and the stairs. She feels like she needs to be on her guard all the time, but she has the inner resources to do this.

• Nightmare figures aren’t meant to only be frightening. They also give information about what is scary to us and how we might be able to change that. For example, in the dream of the black horned creature, when the dreamer accepts it and allows it to play, it becomes a friend. So accepting its aggression as a useful attribute, rather than something threatening, takes away the nightmare energy. Likely the dreamer needs more aggression and boundary-setting in her life.

• If a dream figure seems dark or unpleasant or negative in some way, it might represent our shadow. The shadow is made up of unused parts of our personality, qualities that the ego has either failed to assimilate or has repressed. Sometimes these aspects of us seem embarrassing or primitive, but they can also be positive strengths that the ego doesn’t want to claim because it would mean too much responsibility or too much of a change to our self-image.

• “If we have the courage to look with open minds at some of the instincts and energy systems within that we have been so ashamed of, we almost always find that they can also be positive strengths—and that they are merely normal parts of a total human character. As with all our inner contents, they need to be acknowledged, honored, and lived on an appropriate and constructive level. It takes courage to go to the “bad” side of ourselves, to acknowledge it as part of ourselves, to consider that it could have a constructive role to play in our lives.” Robert Johnson, Inner Work

Important Links:

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