Association vs. Amplification

by Richard Reeve on February 24, 2009

in AziMuth

Daisy, Daisy....
Image by law_keven via Flickr

Quick, what does the word daisy make you think of?

Great.  That’s your association.  And you can run with that if you’d like until you create another Finnegan’s Wake, that literary masterpiece of free association (Ever see the index cards Joyce used?)

The idea I’d like to introduce here is that which Jung propounded as away of understanding dream images and symbols.  It is the idea of amplification.  Whereas one association can lead to another and yet another ad infinitum in free association, amplification is a method that purposely prevents the train of free association from leaving the station.  It always cycles back to the point of origin in an attempt to shed some insight on the original image or symbol.

Let’s break it down.  The process of amplification starts with an image or symbol, perhaps one that confounds you, leaves you wondering what it could mean.  The first step is to reach for an association.  Then ask, what does that association say about the original symbol?  Once we have answered that question, we start the process over again.  Returning to the original image we develop a second association and again it is linked back to the original image.  The process continues until it is exhausted, creating a daisy petal like pattern of meaningful amplifications of the original image.

(Digression:  If dream and symbol dictionaries are to be useful it is in this process, not in providing the interpretation of the dream.)

The value of amplification of any given image is that it can develop a broadened sense of context to the image which in turn can clarify and lead to an effective interpretation of the dream.

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  • I relate to this from not a Jungian perception, but instead through Zen. When I think any thought, remember something from a dream, or an idea bursts into consciousness--it is immediately intertwined as a spiral or perplexion of ideas--compared, contrasted, differentiated and related to many other ideas. Thoughts self-link together and spiral into many sub-layers; often times in great numbers, where I must take an overview position to see chunks of relationships from a macro perspective. This post is useful as it is already spinning ideas! I'll definitely keep his in mind, especially when I dream a little later. Thanks! It's good to meet you Richard.

    <abbr>Bobby Revell´s last blog post..Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite</abbr>

  • Great to meet you as well Bobby,
    Very interesting how this relates to your Zen practice and I look forward to learning more about how that unfolds with you.

  • Thanks for the insight. Now that I think about it, the landlord could definitely have been me (my animus). In the dream the landlord was sitting down and had not stopped the brute from harming Sable (the dog was collapsed and barely breathing). I was too late. I came running in to witness. The brute/animal ran off. I think this is about allowing a certain bully at work to attack me (I'm a nice person/don't deserve it). He has insulted me several times, trying to goad me, and I keep ignoring him. My inner meanie (mature protective strong self) needs to come forward and have at it. It actually happened today...I snapped at him. He backed off.

    Wow...I feel much better! Thanks!

    <abbr>Deborah´s last blog post..ALL CLEAR: FeedMedic Alert for http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/ujUL</abbr>

  • Would so love your thoughts on this dream: (I'm from Twitter, you may have seen it) Dreamed BigFoot manish-ape attacked my beautiful, loyal dog (her name is Sable) at my old landlord's house in the woods (she was a mid-age meanie...dangerous, actually). I remember focusing on deep claw marks in earth.

  • Hello Deborah,
    I didn't see it on twitter, but certainly it's an interesting dream. The figure of the ape man attacking the female dog seems to draw from a rather common mythological motif, which gets even more emphasis by the fairy tale setting at the witch's house in the woods. As this post suggests, it is possible to consider through amplification which each of these elements means to you, to go on the quest of discovery.

    It's not my place to interpret your dream, but perhaps I can share some things that might aid your journey. In Jungian psychology, woman like men have a shadow figure, an unconscious personage of the same sex that carries all the attributes the ego is not aware of or represses. Then for women, there is the soul figure, the animus. The soul figure in Jungian psychology is of the opposite sex. To understand how these figures are interacting and why they might be experiencing conflict, it is very helpful to write out the entire dream for yourself in as much detail as you can remember. The brief description above leaves many questions as to where you were when this was happening, what was the result of the attack, etc.

    Finally, I'd like to finish by encouraging you not to get to hung up on any one dream but to continue looking forward to the next dream. Keep an open mind that what you do not yet understand can and will be clarified in future dreams. And also I'd add that interpretations that the unconscious did not intend often get clarified by successive dreams. This introduces the importance of the dream series, which collected and worked with, offers a great deal more insight than any one dream.

    Thanks for your visit.

  • Graeme Franks

    Thanks for your very thought provoking post! Loved it! Will try your idea out on my next dream :)

    Keep them coming

    Graeme

  • Thanks for visiting and saying hello Graeme. It's great to have you...

  • Zoe

    This is a very interesting distinction. Do you find it difficult to keep returning to the original image and drum up another association, or does that actually happen quite naturally?

    <abbr>Zoe´s last blog post..How to Meditate, or Why I’m Not a Complete Procrastinator</abbr>

  • Hi Zoe,
    Oh certainly, which is why I introduce, albeit cautiously, the idea of looking to texts to aid in the journey. Our personal associations can be greatly aided by the collective knowledge which awaits our exploration. For instance, learning that the opossum was a mythological trickster figure in Mexico can broaden the inherent sense of my own personal association that the opossum plays dead.

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