The subject of symbols fascinated him and he devoted more work to this than any other psychologist. He saw dream symbols, not as an attempt to veil or hide inner content, but an attempt to elucidate and express it.
It is a way of transformation where what was formless, non-verbal and unconscious moves towards form and becoming known. In this way dreams ‘show us the unvarnished natural truth’. By giving attention to our dreams we are throwing light/upon who and what we really are—not simply who we ait/as a personality, but who we are as a phenomenon of cosmic interactions.
Jung recommended looking at a series of one’s dreams in order to develop a fuller insight into self. In this way one would see cenain themes arising again and again. Out of these we can begin to see where we are not balancing the different aspects of ourself.
See abreaction; active imagination; amplification; archetypes; black person; collective unconscious; compensatory theory; creativity and problem solving in dreams; dream analysis; Fromm, Erich; identity and dreams; individuation; lucidity; mandala; dream as spiritual guide; unconscious.