If you will notice I have added the Dream Dictionaries to the heading above. The HyperDictionary can often be of great help {sometimes not}. Sometimes the definition of the word itself can provide clues to what the dream symbol may be addressing.
The second dictionary is the MDS Dream Dictionary. This is something I constructed years ago and have not had the time to further it or update it. But it does provide good possibilities. It is based on Jungian possibilities.

Let me know if these dictionaries are useful since that do take up space.

On the HyperDictionary. When the results appear in the new window you will need to scroll to the bottom of the page where it reads Dream Dictionary. Some symbols are not provided in either dictionary but the HyperDictionary is very complete and useful.

Also, recently when updating my Joseph Campbell page I came across a new video series on YouTube about George Lucas on Joseph Campbell. Campbell's influence on Lucas is not that well known and these videos provide great insights to that relationship. I have yet to view all of them but I am sure anything that comes from the mouth of George Lucas is well worth the time. Especially when it comes to Joseph Campbell.

Here is the link to those videos George Lucas on Joseph Campbell.
Enjoy.

Jerry

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Jerry,

I personally have the Hyperdictionary bookmarked in my browser and can just as easily go to it in a new tab from my favorites. Though I personally use them less, I do still refer to both these dictionaries (and others), on occasion. The MDS dictionary is unique from others, IMO, and would be missed were it not available. I feel it more clearly points to the Jungian aspect of psyche than do many others. I wonder if searches to the MDS dictionary are a (maybe) goodly sized piece of what makes MDS 4th on the web for dreams... I know IT is the one you refer to as taking up space, so I do wish others will also see and respond to your request for input. I know that when I first started with my dreams several years ago, I practically kept the MDS dictionary open in my browser. An exaggeration, but it truly was invaluable to me and was practically the only one I referred to. It helped me tremendously.

Kristi

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Thanks Kristi. Although most dream dictionaries are 'junk' some do offer good possibilities. I often use them to 'jump start' my brain, which comes often when I have to change molds from thinking about my work/job to focusing on my intuitive senses and interpreting dream. Of course a possibility offered by a dictionary may fit with one dream and not the next. When I do pick up a new dream dictionary I look for the 'Jungian' influence. I also do the same when visiting other dream sites {with more and more having that influence}.

As for the MDS dictionary and HyperDictionary. The MDS versions is mostly a summary {if not more} of Eric Ackroyd's A Dictionary of Dream Symbols pictured on the left. It has that Jungian influence but also a great introductory to Freud and Jung. If I were to rely on just one dictionary it would be my choice. The Hyper Dictionary is more complete with an entry for just about any symbol {word} you will see within a dream. And it does often provide good choices. Other times it is more in the line of the junk books that insist a symbol means fame, fortune, disaster, or some other fixed position. Never, never can that be the case since we all are different.

A word about the 'archetypes' or more precise archetypal symbols in dreams. In Jungian psychology it is described as an inherited pattern of thought or symbolic imagery derived from the past collective experience and present in the individual unconscious {Answers.com}.
But I want to offer up a new perspective to this definition. A house or car, would they be considered as archetypes? A house, or dwelling would probably fit within this definition, no doubt. A house in a dream is almost always a symbol for the dreamer or some immediate aspect. That would make a dwelling, or in modern times, a house an archetype. It fits with the collective psyche, everyone understands its use in life, from the earliest cave people {where archetypes were first born} to this very day. We all must have an abode to protect us {even a tent would qualify as an abode if you are an Alaskan Native Indian tribe}. It would be the symbol for the body/self in our dreams, a static symbol we can always look to as fixed {as archetypes often can be}.

But what about a car? Nethanderals did not have any mode of transportation. It was much later in the evolution of man that such devices {horse, camels} were used as transportation. Today the dream symbol of a horse would rarely represent an aspect of the dreamer as a car would do in our present day dreams. Can we say that archetypes are also EVOLUTIONARY? It was the late 17th century when the first 'car' was invented and not until the early 20th century that cars were massed produced. When in our dreams did cars become that symbol we look upon today as a representation of the person {like a house it is almost fixed as a symbol for the dreamer}. Should we call automobiles 'MODERN ARCHETYPES'? We do not use a horse as an interpreted symbol as the same as we would a car, it would most likely have a complete different interpretation. Cars were not an 'original' collective experience yet we can call them 'collective' in the sense that the human psyche does use them in dreams as a 'fixed' symbol for the dreamer. Is this a competent assessment of this symbol or am I missing the point of what an archetype is {in dreams}? As the psyche progresses, do the archetypes do also?

An inherited pattern of thought or symbolic imagery derived from the past collective experience and present in the individual unconscious

An automobile can qualify as a 'past' collective image. But it is a recent past. A house can qualify as an abode or dwelling and not lose its archetypal place in our dreams {although I am not sure Jung would consider it an archetypal image}. I always looked at archetypes as inherent in the earliest psyche of man, coming from man's earliest experiences on earth. Perhaps there is, or should be, an expanded definition that better fits the term archetypal image in dreams in this time and space we live today.
Inquiring minds need to know!

Any thoughts?

Jerry

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In humorous response:

Recently I memorized a little quote of Carl Jung's and have wanted to use it humorously in response to a question someone would pose to me, it runs, "A serious answer would require a far reaching dissertation about the antique symbolism of the dying god, and its relation to the Cult of the Great Mother, and her symbol, the tree"

Seriously, to me, (maybe I'm just of average intellect), but to unwind an intelligent and tolerably thorough concept directly relating to the psyche, is a very unnatural and akward. So much of the psyche is counter-intuitive to the ego consciousness.

Relating to your post on the archetypes, a quote I recently read and highlighted by Jung was this,
"The immensely old psyche forms the basis of our mind, just as much as the structure of our body is based on the general anatomical pattern of the mammal."
I think I agree with you, that the house is a kind of all-encompassing symbol of the dreamer's psyche. The house contains in its symbol, all the numerous smaller symbols that make up the totality of the individual's personal and collective psyche, as one. I would venture to say that the car, is archetypal insomuch as it is a very universal and appropriate symbol for expressing the original primordial archetype.
If I remember correctly, I thought Jung said something about the original nature of archetypes not necessarily having any concrete forms, but having a way of expressing themselves through these forms and imagery.
I know Campbell discussed this issue with Moyers in The Power of Myth. He mentioned that a motherboard looked like a community structured around a central temple.
With whatever amount of perspective I can summon, I would probably grant the car status as a serious candidate for archetypal status. To me because it is so universal and seemingly indispensible to our very survival. I don't know if I've ever heard of the House being described as an archetype, although it may even be a kind of super archetype, in which all the contents of a psyche are encompassed within it, as it represents the dreamers totality. (Although Jung dreamed of SEVERAL floors, which distinguished his conscious, personal unconscious, and collective unconscious). Was it Nut, the Egyptian sky goddess who covered the world with her arms and body as a kind of refuge or House?

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Thanks Sam your insightful response. And welcome to the club of 'just of average intellect'. But intelligence is a subjective thing. I much rather possess a common sense attitude than one of 'intellectual' superiority. It let's me participate in the best of two worlds, as a carpenter {my business trade} and as a capable mind that is able to understand Jungian psyche and dreams{my bliss}.

In the world of academia I am a lost soul but because I do possess that 'intuitive' mind I truly believe my average intellect sees as much as those who have years of formal education in Jungian psyche. I also have that education but it is self taught {as is my education in web design}. And as for dreams and their interpretation, any insights I do possess are readily available for inspection at the Dream Forum. I can refer to three most recent dream posts that verify this; Mexican Prayer Room and Farming and Aliens and Train Ride. No doubt my 18+ years of self education in Jungian psyche provides the greatest assets to understanding these dreams but if not for that intuitive mind I don't believe I would be able to provide as a precise interpretation as I often do. We all possess an intuitive mind to some degree and those who do possess an advanced ability are able to improve these natural senses {this is my belief}. Not only with the mental senses associated with psyche aspects but also with physical senses {a subject having to do with physical abilities I never knew I possessed until I added basketball to my workout routine}. But that is another subject to be discussed at another time.

I agree with your assessment of the car. It has become such an important emotional aspect of our everyday lives I believe it does fit with a 'modern' role of the individual and universal mind. It is who we are in so many ways. In dreams it always points to an aspect of the dreamer just as a house would.

Perhaps the best analogue of its use in a dream would be the common dream where the mother is driving the car and the dreamer is in the back seat. This would point to the mother in some aspect controlling the dreamer's life, or 'driving' the dreamer's life. The car, even though driven by the mother is indeed the dreamer.

I like your analysis of Jung's different floors in a house. That may provide clues to his thoughts as a house being a universal symbol, indeed an archetype of his own mind. As for the evolution of archetypes, of which Jung is the architect in psychological references, we are able to see his philosophies evolve in modern times with the works of so many modern Jungian teachers. And a great many are women, with the best being Marion Woodman. And Elaine Pagels even though she may not be thought of as a Jungian. Her studies of Gnosticism are widely known {I often see her as a guest on the History Channel}. She helped provide my 'average' intellect with a greater understanding of 'gnosis' which was instrumental in putting my spiritual perspective in its proper place. Once again it is left to the Great feminine to provide those needed insights that frees the soul of its bondage.

Sam, the more I read from your posts the more I believe we are of the same blood. Men with advanced intuitive minds {a definite feminine quality}. Do you have a lot of personal skills when it comes to people? I sincerely believe my 13 years of working with the general public, on all levels {I was engaged in work as an environmentalist with the Nashville Health Department in codes enforcement throughout the 70s and early 80s} plus the years of being a contractor working with people has added greatly to my intuitive senses. Do you have any such experiences?

Jerry

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