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Since compensatory
dreams help balance a dreamer's mentality, then it is crucial to understand the subtle
meaning of these dreams. According to Mattoon's description of Carl Jung’s theory,
there are two ways in which one can evaluate compensatory dreams: the negative evaluation,
which is also called the "reductive interpretation", and the positive
evaluation, which is also called the "constructive interpretation." negative evaluation:
Negative evaluation involves rediscovering a rejected or
unwanted part of the past and/or behavior that may be mentally unbalancing the dreamer.
These dreams can reflect a tendency to be destructive to one's confidence, and ego. The
following example can demonstrate this:
[He] finds himself in a small village in Switzerland. He is a
very solemn black figure in a long coat; under his arm he carries several thick books.
There is a group of young boys whom he recognizes as having been his classmates. They are
looking at him and they say: "That fellow does not often make his appearance
here." (Mattoon, 126)
This dream showed the dreamer that he had been ignoring his
poor peasant origins while trying to achieve a higher social standing. It also hints that
he must recognize his limitations, thus this dream can also pertain to his career.
positive evaluation:
Unlike negative evaluation, positive evaluation "...adds
something to the dreamer's conscious attitude, strengthening and protecting what is
healthy and worth preserving in the dream." In other words, positive evaluation or
"constructive interpretation" helps to "strengthen" the dreamer's
"neglected" qualities, thus balancing his or her psyche. The following dream
noted by Carl Jung can be used to demonstrate this fact:
I was on parade with a number of young officers, and our
commander-in-chief was inspecting us. Eventually he came to me, but instead of asking a
technical question he demanded a definition of the beautiful. I tried in vain to find a
satisfactory answer, and felt most dreadfully ashamed when he passed on to the next man, a
very young major, and asked him the same question. This fellow came out with a damned good
answer, just the one I would have given if only I could have found it. This gave me such a
shock that I woke up. (Mattoon, 127)
This dream signifies the need to reinvent a neglected
aesthetic talent of the dreamer. Thus the dream is "positively compensatory in
encouraging the development of an underemphasized side of the dreamer's personality."
These two forms of evaluation are the main ways in which an
individual can better understand their dreams, as well as, use them to better develop his
or her psyche and understanding of his or her self.
As previously stated, non-compensatory dreams are generally
foretelling and reflective in nature. These dreams do not have great meaning, but are
considered prophetic by some people. Precognitive dreams are a type of non-compensatory
dream because they don't connect to conscious situations in the same way that compensatory
dreams do. This means that they do not have hidden meanings in which one can draw from to
better understand his or her self. Precognitive dreams are dreams that foretell future
events. They are "prophetic" in nature, in that they reveal future events or
desired outcomes of an event in detail to the dreamer. For example, a woman had dreamt
about the Kennedy assassination in detail prior to the assassination. She couldn't
possibly have known about it, because, she had no affiliation with either the Kennedys or
the assassin.
Reflective dreams are a type of dream that simply recurs
based on traumatic experiences. They hold little meaning in nature, they only dissipate
after the traumatic experiences of the dreamer diminish over time. These dreams can range
from battle scenes that one may have fought, to pains that one has endured over time. |