A Simpler CORE Approach to Dreams and Nightmares
 

I thank James Hillman - a post-Jungian psychologist - for the following core approach to dreams and nightmares, based on his book: The Dream and the Underworld. The approach assumes one knows how to interpret dreams but lacks recognition that only the core minimal of the dream needs attention and interpretation.

Key Points

• A dream/nightmare is an eternal ongoing spiritual problem and conflict in the psyche.
• You only need to identify the eternal/core/essential element of the dream/nightmare.
• The rest of the dream/nightmare can usually be treated as superfluous and this often consists of 2 parts:
  a. A falsely lived and confused past
  b. A falsely ego driven projected future solution
• Only the core and essential element in the dream/nightmare provides a context for defining the problem/conflict.

How to identify the Core and Essential Element

The core/essential conflict of a dream, after some practice, identifies itself - expressing in itself the very intense and charged element in the spiritual conflict. The theme of the dream may itself provide the core.

It is a great relief to discover that instead of being dispersed by a myriad of scenarios in a dream that only one core and essential element needs attention. This is, indeed, dream interpretation made simple.

Example of a Dream Identifying the Core/Essential element of Conflict

The dream in full:
1. A sequence of images of being bullied at school
2. A following scene of looking at ones injured twisted foot which is in agony
3. Then a scene of seeing one’s current boss at a distance and quickly taking a turning into a corridor to avoid him

Identifying the core:
Scene 2 stands out for me because of strong impacts of agony and inner pain.

Personal interpretation of this core element:
All dream interpretation is personal implying the use of symbols known to oneself and the context of one’s life in the present. So below, I suggest only one possible approach and interpretation.

Feet, to me, are symbolic of what one stands for in one’s life. The foot is twisted in agony because it cannot stand for what it represents. That it is being pointed wrongly in life is causing great distress.

I may well surmise that the current life path my feet are being asked to take is wrong - and I need to face up to this.

Notes:
a. The eternal conflict and block - maybe generational - has been confronted, identified and acknowledged. Progress in life is now possible.
b. Dreams do not contain solutions. They simply and powerfully identify the block preventing the perception of available change - now available to the dreamer once the context of his/her life is reviewed. The recognition of the block restores the flow of life in its quest.


Any comments/suggestions are welcome?