So he [Jung] used to tell his dreams to his pupils, and even if they said something stupid, it might give him another slant on his dream and make him more objective.
That’s why, in general, one should not interpret one’s own dreams.
Dreams generally point to our blind spot.
They never tell us what we already know.
They tell us what we don’t know.
But when people interpret their own dreams they tend to say, “Yes, I know what that means.”
And then they project what they already know into the dream.
“Oh, that’s my problem such-and-such,” and so on and so on.
I have often seen patients who do that.
They come in and say, “I had a dream, but I know what it means,” and then they give a completely banal explanation of something they’ve known for years about themselves.
And then I say, “Wait, wait, wait, let’s take the dream as it is, slowly, from beginning to end.”
And it comes out quite differently and surprisingly.
So to interpret one’s own dreams is very, very difficult.
That’s why Jung advised Jungian analysts to go to colleagues from time to time and exchange their views of dreams.
He himself often complained bitterly, “I have no Jung to interpret my dreams.”
So he [Jung] used to tell his dreams to his pupils, and even if they said something stupid, it might give him another slant on his dream and make him more objective.
The trouble with interpreting your own dreams is that you can’t see your own back.
If you show it to another person, he can see it, but you can’t.
And dreams point to your back, to what you don’t see, and you have to stand on your head, so to speak, to understand your own dreams.
That’s the great difficulty.
And that causes so many errors.
I remember a schizophrenic patient who used to come with readymade interpretations which she took out of kitchen dream looks.
“Oh, it means that I’ll get some money,” or “It means I’ll get that job,” or “I won’t get that job,” and so on.
Naturally, they were utter nonsense. ― Marie-Louise von Franz, The Way of the Dream, Page 16
