Field of Dreams, Page 1, 2

Signs versus Symbols
Bear with me for a moment, because the distinction is rather difficult to explain. And after reading my explanation - you may want to momentarily sit back and chew on it real, real good before swallowing...

Signs
Signs are images that point to something else. They have little or no intrinsic meaning. They are images which are as-'sign'-ed agreed upon meanings.

Take for example the old traditional road signs such as "Speed Limit 65" or "Nashville 25 miles." These are signs which have no meaning in themselves. Years ago, they were as-'sign'-ed agreed upon meanings - and over time we all come to learn what they mean.

My example of using road signs has gotten even better over the years with the advent of using picture images on signs.

This is a sign with, for example, the picture of a deer. It treats the image as a sign, because we've as-'sign'-ed the picture of a deer with the specific meaning of "Danger A Deer Crossing."

It's an image treated as a sign. If you happened upon the picture of a deer when skimming through a magazine - you (most likely) wouldn't immediately think "Danger A Deer Crossing."

Symbols
Images, when treated as symbols, are images which have meaning in and of themselves. When you see the image or picture of a deer - what qualities do you "naturally" attribute to a deer? Gentle, loving, free-spirited, large doe-eyed innocence, graceful, beautiful, Bambi?…

The image of a deer, looked at as a symbol, is pregnant with meaning and associations for each one of us. And no one has to tell you what the image of a deer means to you... For most of us, the answers we'd give regarding the qualities (and our various mental associations with the image) of a deer are rather similar and typical.

Of course, the personal amplifications for someone who once had the misfortune to hit a deer with their car - their personal associations with a deer would probably be quite different than most of us. These folks might associate a deer with death, blood, destruction... Yep! A deer might have any of a whole host of unpleasant meanings for them...

Freud / Jung
Freud generally treated dream images as signs. Signs are images that point to something else. They have little or no intrinsic meaning. They are images which are as-'sign'-ed agreed upon meanings.

Freud believed the unconscious was purposely hiding the meaning of the images from our conscious minds. He believed that dreams contained a secret, hidden key  - and the lock had to be broken into by force.

For Freud - almost everything ultimately had a connection with sex, death, taboo and incest. Further, Freud obviously didn't much like or trust the unconscious. He saw the unconscious as primarily being a dark, forbidden wasteland and trash dump...

Jung, on the other hand, treated dream images as symbols intent on bringing healing to the psyche. Images, when treated as symbols, are images which have meaning in and of themselves. He believed the unconscious was purposely trying to speak to us, in order to bring forth a sense of wholeness and added meaning to our lives.

For Jung, our nightly dreams weren't trying to hide anything from us.

Jung believed our dreams were trying to communicate with us. Jung believed the language of images and symbols, that our dreams utilize in communicating with us, is actually the very best possible method our unconscious has of imparting (getting across) the vast, myriad of their meanings to our conscious, waking minds.

Dream Symbols - A Sacred Open Secret
According to the mythologist Karl Kerenyi ("Papers From Eranos: The Mysteries;" ed. by Joseph Campbell) the ancient Greek mysteries were originally a "sacred open secret." The mysteries were an "open secret," because there was no serious intent to literally keep them a secret and hidden behind the various stories, symbols, and images. Like our dreams, the Greek mysteries were "unutterable." They defied rational, logical description. It wasn't that the stories, symbols, and images were hiding the Greek mysteries, but that they [the mysteries] couldn't be spoken. The symbols or imagery of the Greek mysteries were in fact the best way of expressing what was otherwise impossible to express.

Problem is, though, that the right-brained mode of communication that our dreams utilize - images and symbols -  is archaic, primitive, and generally unfamiliar territory to our modern, left-brained mode of thinking.

And that's why their meaning often seems so hidden and mysterious...

The Top Ten Rules of Thumb to use
in the interpretation of dreams

Click The Thumb To See The Top Ten Rules

Dream Dictionaries?
Many of the so-called "Dream Dictionaries" one sees on the shelves of a book store treat dream images as signs. Sure... they might even use the word "symbols." But pay close attention to the way that they treat the dream images...

Does the dictionary treat dream images as signs or as symbols?

• If the dictionary treats dream images as a sign -- then nix it.
  
• If the dictionary treats dreams images as symbols and full of possible meaning and associations -- then use it as a help source.

But never, ever embody a dream dictionary with the authority of being the "final answer" to the meaning of a dream symbol.

Suggested Reading:
The following books treat dreams and dream content as a language of living symbols and images. They can assist you in the beginning steps of learning how to interpret dreams for growth of the soul. If you're looking for a simplistic "cookie-cutter" approach to dream interpretation, then I'm afraid you're probably in the wrong place.

Dictionaries

1. A Dictionary of Symbols by J.E. Cirlot -- This is an excellent reference book for providing possible meanings, amplifications, and associations for universal symbols. The best news, if you can find a copy, is that it's usually very cheap.
   
2. There's another extremely excellent dictionary of symbols called Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery by Ad de Vries and published by Elsevier Science Publishers in Holland. It's on the book shelves of every self-respecting Jungian therapist. Problem is that it's a wee bit expensive (about $150) and can be a wee bit difficult to locate. If you finally do find it? When you first see it, then you'll probably glumly think to yourself (as I did): "I paid 150 bucks for this?" Later on you'll discover it was worth every penny you paid for it.
   
3. Dictionary of Symbolism: Cultural Icons and the Meanings Behind Them by Hans Biedermann is also pretty sharp and reasonably priced.

Learning How To Interpret Jungian Style
Remember... if you're looking for a simplistic "cookie-cutter" approach to dream interpretation, then I'm afraid you will not be happy with these books.

Dreams and Healing -- A succinct and lively interpretation of dreams  by John Sanford

Understanding Dreams by Mary Mattoon

Symbols of Transformation by Jean and Wallace Clift (This is currently out of print, but Amazon.com can probably locate it for you.)

Dreams and the Underworld by James Hillman

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