A Dream with a Mystic Content

Psychoanalysis > Dream Interpretation

A Dream with a Mystic Content?

By J Jones

Many dreams are believed to have a mystic content, to come from supernatural entities if not even from god. These dreams should thus be interpreted in a religious context, by decoding the spiritual message that they deliver.(1) On the other hand, Freud determinedly claims there are no such dreams; at least he did not come across anything like this in a ceaseless ten years activity.

Mr. Dylan, a supporter of dreams with mystical content, brings such a dream to our attention. We will reproduce bellow his dream - a very interesting one - the only association that belongs to him and our draft of interpretation. (The original dream and the association are published in italics).

I was with my mother and noticed she had dark black eyes as the possessed faces in horror movies. I suddenly become angry and I say some curses and then I make the sign of the cross as if I want to exorcise her.

A single association - I have seen the same eyes at my cat (who obviously is not possessed) in the night, when her eye balls dilate and you have the impression that the eye itself is an eye ball. I love very much cats since I discovered their intelligence - initially I believed they are some stupid animals.

The idea that the mother has the eyes of the cat can only lead us to one conclusion: nothing escapes her attention, she sees everything, and she has much better eyes than the common human being. The saying "as the possessed faces" obliges us to think to the primal scene when it is said the child assisted to the sexual intercourse of the parents. It is not mandatory that the scene actually took place - it can be imagined without this causing the traumatic effect to diminish. About this scene we must also consider the rest of the dream: "I make her the sign of the cross", says Dylan. In other words, I am done with her; I do not want to have anything to do with her.(2)

So a very old scene that put a mark on the reader, and which, we do not know why, comes back so striking today. We must not be confused by the fact that the sharp eyes which nothing can escape from belong to the mother. It is obvious that the one who sees everything is actually the child. The dream-work mingled mother and child's sharp eyes in one and the same person (this is called condensation).

One more detail: the exorcism implies the taking out of the demon. This motive can be connected to the hostile feelings of the child who assists the scene towards the mother's partner (actually the demon) who doesn't appear in the dream.

Notes:
1. Many Jungian disciples will strongly support such an idea.

2. In my country language to put a cross on someone means to finish with him/her (to leave a dear one etc.).

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