This week, let’s dip into a different way of interpreting dreams, the dream series. A series of related dreams can show our unconscious struggling with a specific question.

Each dream in the series has its own meaning. But taken as a whole, the dream series will be greater than the sum of its parts. It can help us interpret dreams in a richer, more substantial way.

Dream Interpretation with a Dream Series.

In her book, Boundaries of the Soul, June Singer, a Jungian analyst (therapist) talks about working with a series of dreams that showed up for a client. This dream series shows the different elements that can be found in our dreams and how dream interpretation might unfold as we pay attention to our dreams.  (If you are interested in learning about the Jungian approach to dreams, check out this post here.)

Singer tells us about Nicholas who started working with her soon after he had accepted an important position at work.

Nicholas was going to be in charge of a big project that involved a number of people. As director, he would have to bring all his creativity and talent to bear in order to complete it. Nicholas had been encouraged by his friends to apply for this position, but he, himself, had had a strong feeling that he wasn’t qualified enough for it. But as luck would have it, he had ended up getting the position. But instead of feeling elated,  he was starting to get depressed and feeling moments of panic.

But at first, as he started talking to Singer about his dreams, he did not let this on. On the outsider, Singer says, he appeared calm. But that turned out to be just his persona. This dream he had told her a different story:

  “I am climbing a rocky cliff made of shale and loose rocks. I have to put my foot into rough depressions and holes, and grab onto protuberances of rock. Sometimes, rocks break loose and go hurtling down into the valley. I am afraid of losing my balance, or of starting a huge landslide.” 

Singer tells us that this is a diagnostic dream, so to speak, which is describing the situation.

The dream seemed to be saying that Nicholas was aiming too high, that he was vulnerable and scared of falling. His precarious position was etched out clearly in the dream. The dream also showed that he was still soldiering on even though he was fearful that he could start a huge landslide.

When they discussed this dream, Singer could see that the dream was saying that Nicholas’ conscious attitude, where he was trying to ahead no matter the consequences to others, was unproductive. If he just kept on doing things in the same way, the dream seemed to be saying, the whole thing might easily collapse under him.

The second dream that they discussed was a little different. Nicholas described it so:

“I am standing alone at the foot of a huge mountain. It is of unimaginable size and I am so small. A footpath winds its way up on the lower slopes and disappears behind a rise in the distance. I do not know if I will live long enough to climb that mountain, but at least I will begin.” 

This is, Singer says, a sort of prognostic dream. It reflects the coming change in his attitude.

This dream is qualitatively different. From his precarious position in the first dream, in this dream, Nicholas has shifted to more solid ground. Because of the awareness brought on by his work with Singer, he was beginning to realize that he would have to change his approach to his work. He had to make sure that he wasn’t in too big a hurry, like he had been in the past. Instead, he needed to build slowly. It was an enormous challenge but he couldn’t focus on the end result. In this dream, we can see how he was beginning again in a surer way, with a better handle on how huge the difficulties in front of him were. He was aware of the challenge that lay in front of him. The dream also seemed to be saying that he had to pay attention to the process, instead of  trying to get ahead on rocky ground, like he had done in the beginning.

So, does this mean that dreams predict the future?  

Singer tells us that Carl Jung answered this question by telling us that dreams are no more prophetic than a meteorologist who predicts the weather. What the dream does is present a “reading” of the unconscious, so to speak. It tells us what’s happening inside us that we are not consciously aware of. Because the forces inside us are moving in a certain direction, there is a good chance that given the right conditions, certain things will come to pass. This is why dreams might feel very prophetic at times. They are telling us about changes happening in the unconscious.

The third dream that Nicholas had in this dream series, Singer tells us, added something more to their discussion. It actually indicated a method of treatment, so to speak. It went like this:

“I have reached a plateau high in the mountains. Before me stretches a calm, smooth mountain lake. Seated crosslegged with his back toward me is a man whom I do not know. He is facing the lake, immovable.” 

When Nicholas got up, he still had that peaceful feeling that he had in the dream. He was moved to draw the scene in the dream and tape it to his bedroom mirror as a reminder of this peaceful feeling.

This dream, Singer says, seemed to have two functions. One was to compensate for the one-sided conscious attitude that Nicholas still had, where he often got obsessed with his work and other problems in his day-to-day life. The second function was to suggest a course of treatment. The dream seemed to be saying that meditation of some kind would be helpful for Nicholas. He could find the balance he was looking for by including time for quiet reflection, instead of relentlessly climbing the mountain.

Once this dream came, Nicholas went on to have more dreams with this same message reiterated in different ways.

It happened so much that he started paying attention to them and recognizing the importance of having practices that would refuel him. They could give him that same different perspective of being on a plateau and access to that same peaceful feeling. As Nicholas started integrating the wisdom of his dreams, he gradually started building his capacity to shift to that reflective “plateau” state more easily. Of course, like any other process, he had times that were good and bad. But listening to his dreams changed him.

His dreams also changed as he started a conversation with them.

These different dreams show us how dreams can have different aspects. They can show us our own face in the mirror. They can indicate our changing attitudes. They can offer suggestions that can help us in our daily lives.

For me, I find that dream series are very common in my own dreams. Sometimes, it’s almost as if good suggestions are offered in dream after dream, till I start paying attention to them.

What about you? How might paying attention to your dream world help you? 

If you enjoyed this piece, you might like this post on how to get started working with your dreams.