[Shaahayda Rizvi]

Thank you Stephen and James. Yes, charged emotions and feeling in dreams as a separate topic will make for a rich subject.

Quoting Stephen, who quotes Jung,

You are on to something about Jung’s stress on the emotional charge of a dream image. In Man and His Symbols, a work unfinished at the time of his death. Jung describes how

… archetypes appear in practical experience: They are, at the same time, both images and emotions. One can speak of an archetype only when these two aspects are simultaneous. When there is merely the image, then there is simply a word-picture of little consequence. But by being charged with emotion, the image gains numinosity (or psychic energy); it becomes dynamic, and consequences of some sort must flow from it.” (p. 87)

This is such a powerful message Stephen. Whenever Joe Campbell comes in my dreams, his image has been charged with emotion or passion, never as if just silently there. In one recent dream, I found myself at Esalen, and we were going in opposite directions. I was exiting Esalen grounds, and he was just entering. I said, “Good Morning Joe”. Joe looked at me, as if hurt, surprised, or a fusion of hurt and surprise. And so when I awoke, that dream stayed with me all day, and of course to this day. Now I recognize why. I had been doubting one specific area of my life, viewed from  Joe Campbell’s lens.

Quoting James: “Symbols and images and feelings charged with emotion are a language sending us a signal a dialogue is taking place in the unconscious we should be paying attention to because there is something going on that may need addressing we don’t realize or are not looking at.”

Indeed so James, there was a dialogue going on, consciously and unconsciously. Recently, I had been dwelling more on the “Grand Egress” instead of enjoying my time on earth —-or simply put  “Joyfully participating in the sorrows of the world” was fading with each passing day. And, lo and behold, here comes Joe Campbell in my dream, annoyed, unwilling to engage with my silly questions. (Of course, in real life, he would never have done so, Stephen).

Shaheda: Quoting Dreams: A Study of the Dreams of Jung, Descartes, Socrates, and Other Historical Figures (C. G. Jung Foundation Books Series Book 9) Marie-Luise von Franz

Mari-Luise von Franz writes,

1)    A dream represents an unconscious reaction to conscious situation.
2)    Describes a situation that has come about as a result of a conflict between the conscious and the unconscious.(My very recent Joe Campbell dream)
3)    It represents a tendency in the unconscious whose purpose is to affect a change in the conscious.
4)    Represents unconscious processes that have no recognizable   relation to the conscious.

Robert Moss: In his book, “the Three “ONLY” Things”, Moss describes the power of emotions, desires, and passion in our lives and in our dreams, and the impact of our emotions and dreams on the energy field around us.
Quoting Moss:

1.    “The stronger the emotion, the stronger its effect on our psychic and physical environment. And the effects of our emotions may reach much further than we can initially understand.” The Three “Only” Things: Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence, and Imagination (p. 145).
2.    Dreams in which we go back to a scene from our earlier lives, especially when this happens over and over, may indicate that a vital part of our energy and identity is still in that old place. We may find ourselves returning in dreams, again and again, to a childhood home (p.67)

I have found myself many times, in my dreams, in Esalen, feeling strongly about an issue or issues, as in my dream where I was exiting Esalen, and Joe was entering and I said, “Good Morning Joe”.

Quoting Dreams: A Study of the Dreams of Jung, Descartes, Socrates, and Other Historical Figures (C. G. Jung Foundation Books Series Book 9) Marie-Luise von Franz

Commenting on Jung’s ‘compensatory and complementary’ function of the dream, Marie Luise writes, ” dreams almost never represent something that is already conscious.”
Hence the surprise when one encounters a situation, an emotion, or a play that was never imagined.

Yes  “We are all a “work-in-progress” as the saying goes; and we can all benefit. One other thing worth thinking about is “emotion” as a separate subject might be something to consider as this topic concerning “dreams” evolves..” Sometimes, we are pleasantly surprised by our dreams, and sometimes confused, and many times left wondering. My personal view is that the real function of dreams is to get us to wonder, to dream of the magical, and  per chance to see one’s dream world coincide with the real world.

Again, so many thanks Stephen and James.

Shaahayda (wondering and dreaming)