“Fish frequently occur as symbols of the unconscious contents.” Carl Jung, CW VIII, par. 827
“The ambivalent attitude towards the fish is an indication of its double nature. It is unclean on the one hand, but on the other it is an object of veneration. It seems to have been regarded as a symbol for the soul…” Carl Jung, CW IXii, Par. 187.
Fish find themselves swimming through the Gospels and if you pay attention, you might notice them in your dreams as well. Or perhaps you’ll find yourself with fish like qualities, speeding through the depths while mysteriously siphoning oxygen out of the water. And then there’s the whole posture and process that goes with hooking and netting what dwells beneath the surface.
When I’m asked “how do you remember your dreams?” I often respond with the analogy of fishing. Remembering dreams is a bit like catching a fish. You certainly do not catch a fish on every cast, nor on every fishing excursion for that matter. And you’ll never catch a fish if you do not cast a line into the water.
So find a good fishing hole, bring a boat load of patience with some unwavering intent. Then see what happens…the dreams will come, I promise.
What about lures or bait for dreams?
With our attention turned (tropos) toward the dreams there opens a beautiful space of reverie, we again have time to ponder, just as one does while fishing. Question the waters. What’s going on down there? What do the waters have for me tonight? What will my nets drag up?
Indeed, each dream that manages come over the rail of my small boat (crossing the threshold of consciousness) is piece of the soul mystery unfolding through my life. And as the dreams pile up like sardines in my dream journals, it dawns on me that I’m actually the bait.
“Before the Great War all intelligent people said: ” We shall not have any more war, we are far too reasonable to let it happen, and our commerce and finance are so interlaced internationally that war is absolutely out of the question.” And then produced the most gorgeous war ever seen. And now they begin to talk that foolish kind of talk about reason and peace plans and such things; they blindfold themselves by clinging to a childish optimism – and now look at reality! Sure enough, the archetypal images decide the fate of man. Man’s unconscious psychology decides, and not what we think and talk in the brain-chamber up in the attic.” Carl Jung, The Tavistock Lectures, Lecture V, CW XVIII, par. 371
These words of Jung were from 1935. While I tend not to weigh in on political issues very often, I was struck by how appropriate they are to the climate change puppet theater unfolding across the pond these last two weeks.
“But who can withstand fear when the divine intoxication and madness comes to him? Love, soul, and God are beautiful and terrible. The ancients brought over some of the beautiful that it appeared to the spirit of the time to be fulfillment, and better than the bosom of the Godhead. The frightfulness and cruelty of the world lay under wraps and in the depth of our hearts. If the spirit of the depths seizes you, you will feel the cruelty and cry out in torment. The spirit of the depths is pregnant with ice. You are right to fear the spirit of the depths, as he is full of horror.” Carl Jung, The Red Book, pg. 238.
Evocative is the language that Jung uses to render his trepidation as his experiment embarks. Clearly the threat of madness is not taken lightly with the figure of Nietzsche’s demise such an intimate story to Jung.
The theme that emerges is that of the murdered hero, but with an interesting twist in that the voice of the depths contends that all the murdering of one’s brother that forms the basis of history is an evasive maneuver so that the individual does not have to face the challenge of the murder of the hero within, a challenge that humanity is still developing toward.
Dreadful the malice and rage that issues from the hearts of men. Peculiar it is to consider the fantasy that projection dictates we are always our own intended target.
As a matter of approach, it’s helpful to consider The Red Book as an account of an extended active imagination, that technique that Jung at times hints at, at times elucidates, whereby the conscious mind loosens it’s grip enough to allow the unfolding of a waken dream.
“Although previously he had made some attempts to fathom his own unconscious processes it was on December 12, 1913, that Jung began in earnest to undertake this task in a systematic way. As he actively stimulated the upsurge of imagery by writing down his dreams every morning and by telling stories to himself, he found that he began to converse with ’sub-personalities.’ In Jung’s terms, the complexes can ‘personate,’ i.e. they can be encountered as if they are people in a dialectic akin to a personal relationship.” R. Hobson, Imagination and amplification in psychotherapy, JAP, 16:1, pg.90.
As Jung continues to introduce his task in the Red Book, he questions his soul asking where it has been? Who it is? How can he attain the knowledge of the heart?
The spirit of the depths even taught me to consider my action and my decision as dependent on dreams. Dreams pave the way for life, and they determine you without you understanding their language. One would like to learn this language, but who can teach and learn it? Scholarliness alone is not enough; there is a knowledge of the heart that gives deeper insight. the knowledge of the heart is in no book and is not to be found in the mouth of any teacher, but grows out of you like the green seed from the dark earth.” Carl Jung, The Red Book, pg. 233.
All that unfolds across the many pages of the Red Book is in some way the answer framed in these simple questions.
“Fish frequently occur as symbols of the unconscious contents.” Carl Jung, CW VIII, par. 827
Lifestream Digest for December 14th
Playfulness
All Hallow's Eve
Memorable Teachers