What does compensatory mean anyways?

by Richard Reeve on February 25, 2009

in AziMuth

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One of Jung’s guiding principals when attempting to understand how the unconscious functions in relationship to our conscious attitudes is this: he teaches that the unconscious acts in a compensatory manner.   Say what?

For me a useful image is that of a sailor leaning way out over the side of the boat to keep it on course in a strong wind, but perhaps with the inverse relationship.  The dreams are like a huge cinema images projected on the sail attempting to compensate or pull the conscious attitude of the sailor to align with the goals of the objective psyche.

Once we understand this aspect of balance, we can approach dream images in a manner that does not always jump to the literal interpretation but instead  asks where is this image pulling me, how does it redirect my current understanding.    This opens the aspect of dialogue which is fundamental to the transcendent function (that was discussed here).

That being said, sometimes the unconscious does speak directly.  So how does one know the difference?  Practice, practice, practice…How do know the difference when a friend is dead serious or simply talking in hyperbole?  My sense is that your knowledge of the person based on your relationship guides your understanding.  The subtlety of the “art” is similar.

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  • I like the image of balance as a way to think of dreams.
    You write with a kind of short hand, Richard, but I think I follow your drift. Long as you sense balance, no worries. But if the feeling is one of imbalance, dialogging with it becomes necessary.

  • Hello Mary,
    You nailed it calling me on my shorthand. It's intentional. I try to write in a way that leaves room for the reader, that engenders a desire in the reader to begin the journey for them self, and that is modeled a bit on the writing style of the alchemists, with a modern twist.

  • Hi Richard...
    For me it is study, study, study before I can practice, practice, practice. :~)
    Question:

    How often are you able to tap into your subconscious during the course of a day or is the subconscious strictly for the dream state?

    As a new student to this, the only thing that is beginning to evolve my understanding is that there are two types of dreams...the favorable which shows us how to constructively solve a problem and the unfavorable which warns us of something negative...how does one meld the unconscoius to the conscious? Not even sure I am making sense here...

    I may not fully comprehend your post, Richard, but it definitely intrigues my consciousness! :~) Thank you!

    <abbr>Henie´s last blog post..The Magic of a Paper Napkin</abbr>

  • Hi Henie,
    The unconscious is always with us just outside the margins of our awareness. Its a bit of a paradox really, but it operates in all sorts of emotional, instinctual and irrational ways throughout our days. The question of how often we are aware of this depends on the relationship we have established, the level of integration that has developed.

    Those certainly are two types of dream. There are also regressive dreams and mythological motives or journeys that seem quite disconnected from present life problems or situations, to think of two more types. And there are more I'm sure, but I'm kinda drawing a blank at the moment. Thanks for the great questions.

  • Auto-analysis didn't work for me. For years I tried to drag me out of the swamp by my own hairs. My problem lay where I never would have looked, would have wanted to look. It took another person with great professional experience to make me gently turn my head.

    <abbr>Detlef Cordes´s last blog post..Hamburg Where I Like It Best</abbr>

  • Hey Detlef,
    I do not in any way recommend auto analysis, and I'm so glad you raised this point. My "mission" with this blog is to raise certain issues and open the dialogue and provide some basic teaching so that folks might get an interest in seeking a deeper relationship with the psyche. Even in the description of my "dream unfolding" I try to make clear that the amplifications I do are only the preliminary work that an analysand would do in preparation of meeting with an analyst. The value of entering into such a therapeutic relationship is not to be underestimated if one really wants to gain traction in the journey. Of course there are non-psychological equivalents to the relationship in all spiritual disciplines: confessor, yogi, shaman, etc. Thanks so much for raising this important issue.

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