Paul in the book of Acts was doing missionary work and establishing the church in various places. He was in what we know now as Turkey, and we read, “During the night he had a vision: there was a man of Macedonia (now Greece) pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we (including Luke the physician) immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.” (Acts 16: 9-10)
It is interesting that Paul the Apostle and leader of a missionary team has a dream, and it becomes the way God directs them. They immediately respond to follow a new direction in ministry.
It is interesting that:
- One of the ways God speaks is through a dream.
- God speaks to the leader, in this instance the Apostle Paul.
- It is expected that God will direct followers in their work of mission.
- They discuss, conclude that God had spoken, and change their plans to go to Macedonia.
Do we expect God to do this in GUC? When was the last time council asked Jenelle if she had a dream to direct the mission here? Now I am not suggesting a change in policy but simply observing the way early Christians valued dreams and sought divine guidance by this means.
There is nothing more personal than a dream. The dream is my creation, your creation, on rare occasions our creation. Is there any value in the self-analysis of dreams?
Johnson’s Four Steps in Dream Interpretation
When you read Inner Work, there are a raft of Jungian concepts such as archetypes, individuation and myths. You may find these helpful, or not; I find them interesting but generally not persuasive. Hence, my approach is to use the practical outline of Jung’s approach, and to not get distracted by theory generally whether Jung or Freud.
- Associations. Every symbol in the dream is the unconscious providing an opportunity for association that explain the symbols meaning. So, we begin by recording the dream, underlining the key symbols and then writing out every association you have with the dream image. A dream may contain persons, objects, situations, colours, sounds or speech each of these is a distinct image which needs to be looked at in its own right. Look at each and make your associations. An association is any word, idea, mental picture, feeling or memory that pops into your head as you examine the image in the dream. It is literally anything that you spontaneously connect with the image. Usually, an image will have a number of associations. Once you’ve written down all the associations, then go to the next image and begin the same process. Often the first connection, one that seems obvious, is not the one that will work best for you later in the process. Be patient and be prepared to do the work. Remember that it is your association, since the dream comes from your unconscious.
It may help to think about the image as the hub of the wheel with spokes going out to various associations. Now which association is the most significant? You have the idea that an association will “click” as this will have the most energy for you. There is a feeling that it fits. Johnson also talks about archetypal amplification but this is not a technique that I have used.
- Dynamics. In this step we connect each dream image to a specific dynamic in our inner lives. We identify parts of our inner self that appear as images in the dream. This involves going to each image, one at a time and for each image to ask what part of me is that? Where have I seen it functioning in my life lately? Where do I see the same trait in my personality? The scope of this is large because it can include an emotional vent such as a surge of anger, and in a conflict or an inner personality which appears to be acting through you, feeling, an attitude or a mood. Essentially, we are asking ourselves: what is going on inside me that this dream speaks of?
- Interpretation In this step we ask questions such as, “What is the central most important message in this dream is trying to communicate to me? What is it advising me to do? What is the meaning of the dream for my life?” Johnson gives some principles for choosing an interpretation: (i) Choose an interpretation that shows you something you didn’t know. (ii) Avoid an interpretation that inflates your ego or congratulates you. Dreams are aimed at the unfinished business and your life, showing what you need to face next, what you need to learn. (iii) Avoid interpretations that shift responsibility away from yourself. Your dreams are not concerned with pointing out faults of others. (iv) Learn to live with the dreams over time, fit them into the flow of your life. On occasion everyone has a big dream which gives a panoramic view of your life. It is a good thing to learn to live with dreams like this and to return to them regularly. As time goes by our understanding increases. Johnson said, “Such dreams come from the frontiers of your consciousness. They are joined in some way to the future, the seeds which are contained already and you now. Give yourself time and experience, keep interacting with the symbols, return to the dream from time to time and all will become clear.” (Page 96)
- Rituals A ritual is a physical act which enables the dream cross from the psyche to the physical. This is a way of honouring the dream and its message to you. Small things work best, for example picking a flower, hugging your dog or sending a card. Think about something that seems appropriate. Johnson gave an example of a man who had a dream about junk-food so he bought a cheeseburger and buried it in his backyard. The best rituals are physical, solitary and silent. If you can’t think of anything to do, Johnson recommends lighting a candle.
Word of Advice
Remember that the language of dreams is symbolic. Sometimes a dream will try to get our attention in a dramatic way. So it may use the symbol such as the death of the personally love. Or committing a crime such as breaking into a house, or even worse committing a crime such as murder. Or having sexual activity with a taboo person. Do not let this put you off looking at your dreams or trying to interpret them. For example, a death may symbolize a need for change.
I will challenge myself this week to think about a repetitive dream I have had (and tell you next time I preach if I had any new insights). As I write this 12 Dec 2022, I dreamed again last night about my father. He died in 1976, but my dream is that he left the family without any reason given, went back to USA for a number of decades. He then returned to Australia and our family, and resumed his place in the family without any explanation for why he left. I have had this dream many times over the years. It is puzzling!
Home work: Take a dream fragment and apply these steps to it. Reflect on the experience, has God got a message for you?
Dr Bruce Stevens is an endorsed clinical psychologist and the supply minister at GUC.