Are dreams mostly compensatory?

[BrightEye]

That's what I read today. Would you agree?

 

[Alta]

Could you elaborate a little? Compensatory for what? Just anything?

Just a little confused here.

 

[GryffinSong]

I'm pretty sure I disagree, but could use some more detail before I'm sure.

 

[aceofhearts]

I think they are reffering to Carl Jung and Compensating dreams/contrary dreams. The idea of having a balance anger vs being timid. so if you timid you would have a dream about being violent and it would be a balance.
contrary dreams ok say you are going through a loss and you dream of something funny. that is seen as a compensating dream but contrary at the same time. its a counterbalance needs vs feelings.


I dont think all dreams are compensatory. I have found when going through pain I will have dreams that represent that. I dont think there is always a balance. anger/timid sad/happy. I dont always have dreams that are opposities to my current emotions.

so to me no not all dreams are compensating. then again I probably dont care one way or another.lol

 

[blackroseivy]

I really think that trying to hang labels on things like dreams is a waste of time, myself!!

 

[aceofhearts]

I must admit blackivory im not that bothered either. I find I either accept the dream or I dont. Sometimes they are insightful for me and not just dreams. Im not a Jung fan but just remember him from some of my studies. Not very exciting.

 

[blackroseivy]

Actually, I am a VERY big Jung fan (looking deeper into his theories can be very enlightening) but that doesn't mean he was always right, by any means!!

 

[lilangel09]

...The idea of having a balance anger vs being timid. so if you timid you would have a dream about being violent and it would be a balance...

I find this to be true for me in most cases, but they also reflect how you're feeling. I do not think dreams seek to balance. There are people that get nightmares when they're experiencing a nightmare in their waking life. They are merely reflections of thoughts and feelings. And occasionally... you get that one dream (or dream sequence) where you feel you've been visited by a spirit.

While I was taking martial arts, I never lost a fight in a dream. After I quit, I started losing in my dreams. It was loss of confidence in myself to win.

 

[BrightEye]

Yes, I meant compensatory in the Jungian sense:

By far the most common type of dream is the compensatory dream. This refers to its function, which is compensation by the unconscious for the conscious state - showing you ‘the other side of the coin.’ An example would be looking down on someone at work, and then seeing them elevated, literally or figuratively, in a dream.
More rare are the other types of dreams, such as the archetypal. These are the "big dreams" of indigenous cultures, they represent not a personal situation, but a transpersonal one from the collective unconscious. These can be both overwhelming and transformative, and it would be wise to write, draw, and bring as far into consciousness as possible.

It's interesting to read everyone's opinions. Being able to tell the difference between compensatory or archetypal dreams or 'ordinary' dreams and ones where we are visited by spirits (if these exist at all, how do you tell?) does matter to me. I suppose I wouldn't have bothered with the thread otherwise.

I agree that not all dreams, not even most dreams, are compensatory. I often find they mirror what I'm afraid of, like loss of confidence, certain types of insects, the prospect of losing a loved one etc.

Dreams, they say, do a lot of psychological work. They help you work through things. They also say that everything in a dream is an aspect of yourself. I had one dream recently, where I could feel this, like I felt myself in all the main characters, but is it really true of all dreams?

 

[WishingWell]

I think that I almost never have compensatory dreams, but rather I have dreams that amplify my conscious feelings and fears, or reveal subconscious attachments and associations to what I already know. For example, if I experience a twinge of anxiety over taking a boat ride, I'll dream that the boat sinks and everyone drowns. While I may have been nervous to step onto the boat (conscious), I didn't necessarily understand that a fear of drowning was at the root of my anxiety.

That's my dream life, at any rate. I rarely (if ever) dream that I'm behaving uncharacteristically to my waking self.