Hi Jerry, I was thinking on the night after my last reply that I should refine what I meant by being conscious in the dream. I think what I meant more clearly, is first, one needs the discipline in order to bring the contents into waking life. And after that regular communication, archetypes begin to move, or personal personifications (projections) of those archetypes. Would you agree that when in a dream, light or lightning, or some flash occurs, it can be associated with that urge for the unconscious things (forgotten, repressed, etc.) to be re-known or discovered or acknowledged by the ego? I wonder if it can be said of a light related experience, which I can think of having a handfull of dreams of these, that they represent more or less the upward surge of the unconscious and it's personifications toward conscious recognition, and that recognition can even be acceptance of something painfull to the ego, not always an ethereal revelation, but a necessary step toward further spiritual development.

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Sam,
A flash of lightning can represent awareness or insights. But unconscious awareness is not always the same as conscious awareness. That would depend on the other symbols and how they fit within the dream. I do agree that so many dreams with lighting would suggest a good possibility of conscious awareness. Do you have a dream where lightning was a part?

As for archetypes. I think it important to distinguish between what I see as the 'lesser' and the deeper archetypes Jung spoke about. Here is the definition of Jung's archetypes which appear in dreams during major life changes or realizations.

Jung's Archetypes Self-portraits of the instincts. The instinctive forces and instinctive strategies or ways of behaving. 'Archetypal images' are the symbols through which these instinctive things show themselves in dreams. Archetypal images include symbols that occur in mythology, fairytales and religions. They are older than mankind and belong to the collective unconscious. Archetypal images are symbols that represent contents within the psyche that were never conscious experiences. They are the 'universal' symbols that are available to us all even though we have no knowledge of them in our waking lives.

Lesser Archetypes Then there are those images which partially fit the description of major archetypes but not completely. They fit with the 'inherited patterns, or forms of thought and experience' but not the mythological images as in Jung's description. Recurring images that are constant representations such as a house or a car. These do not often represent a major life change or realization but do depict a universal representation. Of course if there is an image of the 'President's house' or a 'royal auto' you may be entering into the world of major archetypes. There are many images that may be thought of as major archetypes but are not. To discern if they are one only need to look at the waking life and see if there are major changes taking place or if there have been recent major realizations in ones life. A dragon may or may not be archetypal. For someone like myself who uses the dragon as a term representing social obligations, dreaming of a dragon may simply be an emotional response to my conflict with social duty. But when I had my dream in the late 90s of the large black woman whom I determined as Kali it was at a time of realizations that led to my greater interest in interpreting dreams as well as a prelude top my creating Myths-Dreams-Symbols. It was a major change to my life. Dreaming of a large black woman that is ordinary would represent a recent experience that may be an unconscious conflict or even an encounter in my waking life with such a woman {but with a deeper aspect also}.

Major archetypes are not usual for most people. Because a person dreams about the President or even a mythological character does not mean it is a 'Jungian' archetype. Again it must fit with major aspects within the dreamer's life of changes or realizations. The age of the dreamer is always important since an older person is more likely to have major changes happening in life thus producing
a dream with an archetypal image. Most dreams are ordinary on the surface. But when you go into the depths of any dream, especially of an older person who has accumulated the baggage of experiences from life, you will discover aspects of personality, foundations of personality and behavior and most important a discovery of the true self as opposed to the mask we wear in our ego life.

All experiences in life are psychological. A physical experience is always a psychological experience as well. But a psychological experience need not be a physical experience. Dreams address all psychological experiences that have great psyche energies that affect the emotions. Major archetypes represent the psychological imagery in dreams that depict 'numinous' psyche energies. Simple archetypes {my termnology} are universal imagery that represent the characteristics in the dream that represent the dreamer. One is usual, simple, the other unusual, major.
Jerry

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A new study out showing that a 'wandering' mind is an unhappy mind. In other words when a person is not focused on what they are doing at that very moment they are most likely dwelling on something negative in life. If one spends so much time on the negatives when they should be paying attention to what is at hand they are not only putting oneself at risk due to inattention but are also affecting the stress levels. As we all know stress is a 'killer', leading to many physical and psychological ailments that can be avoided.

"Just what sorts of places does the mind wander?
Reminiscing (and ruing) past events, looking forward to (or fearing) things that might happen in the future."

"Mind-wandering is an excellent predictor of people's happiness," Killingsworth said in the statement. "In fact, how often our minds leave the present and where they tend to go is a better predictor of our happiness than the activities in which we are engaged."

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You may ask, if I am looking at the past and rueing past events how am I suppose to reconcile those emotional conflicts that are often an unconscious force in how I live life? Jung's theory of balance and harmony 'is' to reconcile the past. When is this to be done and how?

The answer is to focus on such experiences in a constructive way, giving time to properly consider what those past experiences hold. Not just giving attention to it in a passing moment but actual time and effort concentrating on the past. By doing that you are not only 'living in the moment' but also making that moment worth while. Truly living in the moment and by doing so participating in the Individuation of self, self analyzing those foundations of your life.

Joseph Campbell tells us if we are depressed or thinking about things that are depressing we should merely change what we are thinking about. Of course that is easier said than done. It requires discipline, the same discipline the 'hero/heroine' of myth possesses in their journey to wholeness. And let there be no mistake about it, the ultimate quest of the hero journey is psychological. And the the Holy Grail is a metaphor for a balanced and harmonious soul.

What is even greater than being in the moment, putting your focus and thoughts on what is before you? Not thinking at all. The method for doing that is yoga. To reach that place where you can 'not think' requires a lot of effort and concentration, or should I say lack of concentration on not to think, letting the senses take over and the mind stand still. Very much like the dream state but without the actions of effort and experiences. You just are, in the body and nothing else. I have been there although I have not practiced yoga in a long time. I tend to use dreams as a type of meditation, dwelling on the inner life and reaching the soul through a different path. Both are soulful, wonderful experiences. If you are able to put yourself in a position to 'be in the moment'.

Jerry

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