Dream analysis has been around since man became aware and invented language. Most of the dream analysis before the 19th century was by shamans and priests. These people had agendas for controlling their ‘clients’. They involved either political power for the analyst or controlling a person so he didn’t hurt himself or the tribe.

In the late 19th century Freud started doing serious analysis of dreams and their impact on our mental states. Freud felt that dreams were an indication of deep neuroses or psychoses in a patient and hence not a good thing.

Jung looked at dreams as indications (both positive and negative) of conflicts that existed in a client. He felt that the symbols the dreams reflected were strong indicators of places where one should be careful in your daily life.

For example, at one point Jung had a patient who was a gangster. He did mountain climbing as a hobby. At one point he had very strong dreams of him stepping off a mountain while climbing. Jung encouraged him to take this dream seriously, as a conflict about his life. He said in very strong terms that he should stop mountain climbing until this internal conflict was resolved. The man refused this advice. Very shortly thereafter while climbing a mountain he stepped off the mountain fell on his partner and they both plunged to their death.

For Jung clarity about your life and who you are can be advanced by listening to your dreams and trying to understand what they are trying to tell you.

I don’t always have memories of my dreams. Yesterday I was sleeping quite strongly and in my dreaming state I heard a very strong knock at the door. It was a loud, strong knock that went on for a while. I awoke from this deep sleep and looked at the clock. 1:43 A.M. I put on my robe and went downstairs. No one was at any of the doors and the automatic outside lights weren’t on.

Clearly the knock was in my dream. What wanted into my conscious mind? What am I holding at arms length or refusing entry that would help me? These are simple questions that I am meditating on.

So what does a blog about clarity have to do with dream analysis? Insight and clarity come from many different directions. When something comes from left field it may be to your advantage to strive to figure out why your unconscious believes you should pay attention.

I’ll be working on the knocking dream and its meaning for me. When I come to some resolution or insight I’ll let you know.