The Witch

Symbolism in dreams Carl Jung was a Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist would conducted a a lot of work on the collective unconscious. He proposed among other things that we are all connected through our minds. He restated what mystics and gurus had been saying for an eternity. He said that archetypal imagery or symbols occurred in dreams that were universally understood. While this can be said to be true symbols in dreams are often unique to the dreamer. There are images such as a witch or a monster which can represent wicked mother or father but to interpret a dream strictly within the confines of these "by the book" meanings is not sufficient. Let's say for example that the dreamer had perfectly harmonious relationships with both parents. Now the dream doesn't make sense, doesn't fit the guidelines. To gain a proper understanding of the true meaning of the dream the dream itself needs to be dissected. Let's stay with the witch dream. Suppose the dream was about the dreamer being chased, caught and held captive by a witch. Dissecting the dream as follows: What's happening? Dreamer being chased by a witch. Why? Dreamer afraid of the witch. First piece of information: dreamer is afraid. Why is it a witch? Why not a dog? Or an elephant or anything else? Witches are female and have some sort of power. So the dreamer needs to identify a female in their life who has power over them and that they are afraid of. This could be a sister, a neighbour or a teacher perhaps. (It might also be an aspect of self, but I'll talk about that in another blog) Next the dreamer is caught. Why is it caught and not killed, eaten, chopped up etc? Caught implies stopped, somebody taking control over. And then held captive? Imprisoned unable to get out. So in what situation or circumstance do you feel that some female is intimidating you,where you are in fear of this person and that she has control over you. The answer might even be your boss! At this stage the dreamer herself will know. But on the other hand if you relied solely on a witch being a mother figure you might go away thinking that you had a problem with your own mother. www.paulgill.ie