Dreaming Toward Union
Jul 2
/
Ben Shoup
What if the line drawn between spiritual direction and psychology cuts us off from some fields of study whose aims align with ours and whose methods are often more refined, leading us to forego gifts God offers to our work with those we companion? One such aligned field is Jungian depth psychology, whose practice of dreamwork has become my primary prayer practice over the last eight years.
The aim of the Jungian school is individuation. Individuation is the process of integrating conscious and unconscious contents for the constellation of the Self, the authentic, whole person central within every individual.
Those who embark on the individuation process find that life increases in meaning, purpose, freedom, gratitude, and love, to name a few. They find a wider embrace of Life than was available to them before, albeit through sometimes painful terrain. This more abundant Self is what the individual then gifts to the world around them.
The Christian tradition describes a strikingly similar aim: union with God. This union is approached through a process called sanctification, whereby, through the work of the Spirit, the individual is set apart for God's purposes through ongoing transformation into Christ-likeness, by which the individual more and more fully bears the image of God at their center in daily life.
In Spiritual Direction, directors companion others in discerning how their experiential encounters with God guide them through the process of sanctification toward deeper union and image-bearing. What do directors watch for as signs of that movement? Increases in a sense of meaning, purpose, freedom, gratitude, and love, to name a few. This more abundant Image bearer is what the individual then gifts to the world around them.
Given these deeply aligned aims, it follows that Jungian paradigms and practices warrant our engagement—even though many of us are not licensed therapists. A particularly relevant practice is dreamwork, central to the Jungian process.
Dreams are unconscious material seeking conscious awareness and integration. This constellates a fuller expression of the God Image in the individual.
Our conscious perspectives tend to become narrow and one-sided, flattening us out. Dreams bring a new perspective to conscious awareness, re-relating us to the Image of God at our center. As our orientation toward the God Image expands and deepens, so does our posture toward exterior life, enabling us to relate differently to family, community, and work.
To begin exploring how we can listen to these enigmatic, guiding messengers, it helps to focus on a few essentials. While dream interpretation is a complex subject, three fundamentals will help you get started.
First, the vast majority of dreams are about the dreamer, even when they include events and people the dreamer knows and may be close with. First efforts at listening to dreams must resist the desire to make the dream about someone or something other than the dreamer.
Second, dreams speak through symbol and metaphor. This means every scene, character, and item in the dream brings to life an active process within the dreamer. For example, if your mother shows up in a dream and chastises you for playing before all your work is done, take heart. You don't need to go tell your mom what for; it's not her. It is a feeling you took on, perhaps fully unaware of it, that has mother-like authority over how you relate to play and work.
Third, dreams arise from an amoral (not immoral) standpoint. Meaning that within a dream, you may find yourself involved in predicaments that would scandalize you in waking life, but which are quite beautiful invitations in dream life. For example, in waking life, you love your spouse very much, but then you have a dream where you have an affair with your boss, whom you dislike very much on account of their overly aggressive attitude. You may feel quite guilty and worried when you awake from a dream like this, but remember, every character in the dream brings to life a process already within you. Your boss is not your boss, but the aggression you fear, dislike, and need in your conscious life, and you've just been invited to be more unified with that part of yourself, that aspect of God's image at your center.
It can be overwhelming to listen to a dream at first. I suggest a simple method I learned from Dr. Dana Houck, my spiritual director and Jungian psychoanalyst. Divide the dream into three sections:
Dreams often end very much like spiritual direction sessions, open-ended. They are multilayered and resist definition, so don't feel like your interpretation must be wrapped up in a neat bow when you’re done. The point is re-relating to the Image of God within; let the dream take you as far as you can go with it, and trust God to send another at the right time. May God bless you and those you companion in that most secret and sleepy place.
Live and Lead with Soul,
Ben Shoup
The aim of the Jungian school is individuation. Individuation is the process of integrating conscious and unconscious contents for the constellation of the Self, the authentic, whole person central within every individual.
Those who embark on the individuation process find that life increases in meaning, purpose, freedom, gratitude, and love, to name a few. They find a wider embrace of Life than was available to them before, albeit through sometimes painful terrain. This more abundant Self is what the individual then gifts to the world around them.
The Christian tradition describes a strikingly similar aim: union with God. This union is approached through a process called sanctification, whereby, through the work of the Spirit, the individual is set apart for God's purposes through ongoing transformation into Christ-likeness, by which the individual more and more fully bears the image of God at their center in daily life.
In Spiritual Direction, directors companion others in discerning how their experiential encounters with God guide them through the process of sanctification toward deeper union and image-bearing. What do directors watch for as signs of that movement? Increases in a sense of meaning, purpose, freedom, gratitude, and love, to name a few. This more abundant Image bearer is what the individual then gifts to the world around them.
Given these deeply aligned aims, it follows that Jungian paradigms and practices warrant our engagement—even though many of us are not licensed therapists. A particularly relevant practice is dreamwork, central to the Jungian process.
Dreams are unconscious material seeking conscious awareness and integration. This constellates a fuller expression of the God Image in the individual.
Our conscious perspectives tend to become narrow and one-sided, flattening us out. Dreams bring a new perspective to conscious awareness, re-relating us to the Image of God at our center. As our orientation toward the God Image expands and deepens, so does our posture toward exterior life, enabling us to relate differently to family, community, and work.
To begin exploring how we can listen to these enigmatic, guiding messengers, it helps to focus on a few essentials. While dream interpretation is a complex subject, three fundamentals will help you get started.
First, the vast majority of dreams are about the dreamer, even when they include events and people the dreamer knows and may be close with. First efforts at listening to dreams must resist the desire to make the dream about someone or something other than the dreamer.
Second, dreams speak through symbol and metaphor. This means every scene, character, and item in the dream brings to life an active process within the dreamer. For example, if your mother shows up in a dream and chastises you for playing before all your work is done, take heart. You don't need to go tell your mom what for; it's not her. It is a feeling you took on, perhaps fully unaware of it, that has mother-like authority over how you relate to play and work.
Third, dreams arise from an amoral (not immoral) standpoint. Meaning that within a dream, you may find yourself involved in predicaments that would scandalize you in waking life, but which are quite beautiful invitations in dream life. For example, in waking life, you love your spouse very much, but then you have a dream where you have an affair with your boss, whom you dislike very much on account of their overly aggressive attitude. You may feel quite guilty and worried when you awake from a dream like this, but remember, every character in the dream brings to life a process already within you. Your boss is not your boss, but the aggression you fear, dislike, and need in your conscious life, and you've just been invited to be more unified with that part of yourself, that aspect of God's image at your center.
It can be overwhelming to listen to a dream at first. I suggest a simple method I learned from Dr. Dana Houck, my spiritual director and Jungian psychoanalyst. Divide the dream into three sections:
- For section one, the first one to two sentences you write down about the dream will generally set the current state of affairs through the scene. You'll notice things like whether you are observing or participating, whether you are inside or outside, and whether you are alone or with a group.
- For section two, you will see action. You will have expectations about what should happen. Characters will speak or take action with you and each other. Your expectations and emotional responses here reflect your current relationship, your posture towards this aspect of the God Image within you.
- For the final section, usually the last one to two sentences that you write about the dream, your expectations will generally be subverted in some way, suggesting a new possible posture for you to take toward that aspect of God's image presented in the dream. This is your invitation to a new way forward, and you will get to be creative with how you incorporate it in waking life.
Dreams often end very much like spiritual direction sessions, open-ended. They are multilayered and resist definition, so don't feel like your interpretation must be wrapped up in a neat bow when you’re done. The point is re-relating to the Image of God within; let the dream take you as far as you can go with it, and trust God to send another at the right time. May God bless you and those you companion in that most secret and sleepy place.
Live and Lead with Soul,
Ben Shoup
Ben Shoup
Ben is a partner at Ash Tree Center for Transformation, Connection, and Hope and the founder of Essence House LLC, combining his sense of purpose with his over a decade of ministry experience. During his career in organized ministry, Ben was a professional minister and executive consultant to twenty-one denominational organizations across the state of Minnesota.Now, he is a Spiritual Director, Development Coach, and Listening Trainer, combining his love for the spiritual journey and Jungian analytic principles to help people live meaning-rich lives, both personally and professionally. Ben and Megan married in 2012 and are Dad and Mom to three wild and wonderful children, ages 1, 4, and 7. Ben loves to draw, paint, and explore dreams.
