In his presentation titled “The Eagle’s Flight,” Jungian psychotherapist John Sanford says: “If we follow our dreams, we find that our dreams will correct us, encourage us, let us know when we’ve gotten off the path. Sometimes they will be beautiful dreams out of which we can derive faith and encouragement, and sometimes they will make us very uncomfortable. But they will always tell us the truth. They tell us how it is with us right now.” Sanford bases his comments both on his own dreams and on the dreams his clients shared with him during his many years working as a therapist. My experience since I began paying attention to my dreams many years ago attests to what he says.
I have shared several of my dreams in other posts to show how dreams have been valuable to me, with the hope that readers of my blog will see how their dreams can be valuable to them. A dream that stands out as an example of one that helped me to see I had gotten off my path had the image of a political figure who is bombastic and for whom I have no respect. By using the image of that person, my dream helped me to see that I was making some wrong decisions. Because I, like Sanford, believe dreams always tell us the truth, that dream helped me to take corrective action. An example of an encouraging dream was one that had many cats in it. Cats can symbolize health, and my dream came at a time when it helped me to be reassured that there were positive things occurring at an unconscious level.
Dreams are our primary link to what is happening in our unconscious. When Sanford says “they tell us how it is with us right now,” he is referring to what is happening right now in our unconscious and how that is related to what is happening at a conscious level. By honoring our dreams and trying to be open to what they might be telling us, we can use that information as we endeavor to live in a more genuine and grounded way.