MEMOIR LOGO CONCEPT: The aleph and a Sufi mystic inspired my creation and design of the syzygy logo, which I initially based on the symbolism of the yin and yang.
But the concept expanded when I first saw the aleph in Judith Cornell’s
Mandala Healing Kit, My inexplicable attraction to it led me to incorporate it into my logo before I knew what it meant.
I later read that the “Aleph (the first letter of the sacred Hebrew alphabet) embodies the primordial, divine potential of the universe. ... Aleph contains all the universe’s potential and all of its emptiness simultaneously. Aleph represents a dynamic process of movement from unity to diversity and back to unity,” Jennifer Judelsohn, Songs of Creation.
And the mystic poet Rumi inspired me to use the fire and water concept after I read The Question. Here is an excerpt:
“The presence is there in front of me. A fire on the left, a lovely stream on the right.
One group walks toward the fire, into the fire. Another toward the sweet flowing water.
No one knows which are blessed and which are not.
Whoever walks into the fire appears suddenly in the stream.
A head goes under water, and that head pokes out of the fire.”
LOGO ART: Cropped fire and water images from Free Images.
LOTUS LOGO: In spiritual and religious literature, “the lotus is a symbol for the macrocosm and the microcosm, the universe and man. The lotus represents the divinity of the cosmos as well as the divinity of man.
The lotus is the center of the infinite, omnipresent consciousness which connects with the consciousness of the universe. Through the intuition, one of man’s divine gifts, the spiritual student can see the infinite, omnipresent consciousness as the lotus flower within himself.”
LOTUS ART: Courtesy
Homestead, my website service provider. (Temporary art while I design of my own lotus logo.)
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- Pay special attention to the first sentence of the dream as it sets the stage. What associations do you make to the location, such as a childhood home or a doctor’s office or on an airplane?
- Ask yourself, based your activity in the dream, what part of you, for example, is “running away from” or “hiding from” or “wrestling with” or “breaking into.”
- Think of what happened inwardly or outwardly in the day or two leading up to your dream that may have a connection to it.
- Name the problem in your dream.
- Pay special attention to sudden changes or unexpected reversals in your dream.
- Compare your dream to a drama. What story is it trying to tell you?
- Pay special attention to the last sentence of your dream. Is it a solution or a catastrophe? If the dream just peters out, the unconscious apparently doesn’t have a solution yet.
The foregoing are just a few tips von Franz offers in volume 1 of The Way of the Dream. Her 4-part, 12-hour discussion with Fraser Boa (one of her patients, a Jungian analyst himself), is available on YouTube. Another wonderful resource on dreams is Marion Woodman, also a prominent Jungian analyst. Her collection of lectures in Sitting by the Well is my favorite.
With practice, practice, and more practice, you might one day liken yourself to a four-year-old who lost a tooth the day before, as you excitedly look under your pillow when you awaken for a gift from your psyche, an analogy inspired by Jungian analyst Tracey Cleantis in an article she wrote for Psychology Today, “Psychological gifts delivered to your door daily, for free.” ♂ ♀
Jungian analysts experts at cracking codes to dreams
“Jung said to forget all the psychological theories when you meet the patient. Just meet him with your heart and your mind as a unique human being, and then it doesn’t become boring. Every encounter is an adventure...Among the over 60,000 dreams I’ve interpreted” von Franz said, “I’ve never met two same dreams. The dream is always unique and uniquely comes at a certain moment, at the right time” [1].
(Above: Jacob’s Ladder by William Blake, 1800.) Referring to the ladder in Jacob’s dream, as recorded in the Book of Genesis 28:11–19, von Franz said, “The ladder symbolized a continuous, constant connection with the divine powers of the unconscious. You could say the dream itself was such a ladder. It connects us with the unknown depth of our psyche. Every dream is a rung on a ladder, so to speak” [2].
SOURCES
[1] The Way of the Dream: Marie-Louise von Franz in Conversation with Fraser Boa. Directed by Fraser Boa and Mike Feheley. (See the full discussion on YouTube.)
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[2] Ibid.
Marie-Louise von Franz, The Way of the Dream
My mother took me to a “shrink” when I was 13, right after she threw a pot of spaghetti sauce on the floor and declared to my father that his daughter was a dope addict. I remember something about inkblots and word associations and then, a year later, my mother got the good news: I was cured (though I think I was still cleaning spaghetti sauce off the kitchen walls).
Since then, about every ten years or so, I find it in my best interest, that is, if I want to go on living, to see another analyst. The last time, I sought out a Jungian analyst in particular, but unfortunately the situation only allowed us a few sessions. However, as soon as circumstances permit, I would like very much to find a compatible Jungian analyst, who I can persuade to take my case for the long-term, to help me to analyze my dreams, and to serve as a kind of beacon as I continue my lifelong process of individuation.
In the meantime, however, the documentary, The Way of the Dream, offers some valuable guidance on how to approach and interpret your dreams. Jungian analyst Marie-Louise von Franz, whose analyst was none other than Carl Jung himself, is featured in the documentary, in which she says she uses only dream interpretation in patient analysis. To her, it is prejudicial to evaluate a patient based on your opinions about what he says or does, for who is to say what is normal or not normal.
But rather, with the help of patients themselves, the therapist can help interpret their dreams. Then the analyst, as merely the translator, can suggest, for example, that their dream says they are acting juvenile and that their behavior is harmful to their health. She had had such a patient and when it clicked for him, he blushed. He was also more likely to listen, she said, because the opinion was not that of his therapist or his wife or his friend, but of his own psyche.
Von Franz also said it is very difficult for anyone to interpret their own dreams because you unwittingly project onto your dreams what you think you already know, not realizing that your dreams usually point to your blind spot: “They never tell us what we know; they always tell us what we don’t know.” She said it is like trying to see your own backside without a mirror. Other people can see it, she said, but you can stand on your head and still not see it.
Of her own sessions with Jung, she said, “Every dream interpretation was a revelation. ... I always remember going there in a tense, nervous, often depressed mood, and always coming back after the hour with a feeling of, ‘Ah, now I know. Now I see where the whole thing is going.’”
Although von Franz stresses the importance of seeking out the skill of an expert, she said Jung identified several general techniques that may help us to at least begin to decipher our dreams, but to be patient, as with any skill, it takes years of practice to excel at it:
• Write your dreams on the left side of a page, draw a line down the middle, and then write spontaneous associations to each element on the right side of the page, like in a word association test. Then review your responses and try to make connections.
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If you would like to consult a Jungian analyst but cannot find one in your area, try ePsychotherapy or use a search engine to find Jungian analysts who Skype or who offer other online services.
