The structure of the dream
Can you identify the structure in your dreams? Do they have a clear beginning and end? Share in a comment below.
“A story told by the conscious mind has a beginning, a development, and an end, but the same is not true of a dream. Its dimensions in time and space are quite different: to understand it you must examine it from every aspect - just as you may take an unknown object in your hands and turn it over and over until you are familiar with every detail of its shape.” - Carl Jung, Man and His Symbols
When approaching dreams, it's often helpful to think of them as inner dramas where all objects and figures appear as symbols that represent unknown aspects of yourself. And, similar to Greek tragedies, dreams tend to follow a four-fold structure. Let's explore them:
1. Exposition
This is the who, what, where of dreams. The opening of any dream establishes where the action is taking place, who is participating in the dream, and what's the problem they're confronting. This is key; and it's what we keep coming back to as we look at the dream.
It's important to pay attention to the exposition, as it's your clue to what current problem or conflict the dream is addressing.
The location is also important, as it can indicate the age where this issue began (in Jungian terms, the origin of the complex)–like dreams that take place in childhood homes, at school/high school, or in an old workplace. This is our clue to what unconscious pattern is currently causing us trouble or even a trauma.
It's also important to make not of the characters, how old the dream ego is, emotions, and anything significant around.
Questions to consider:
What in the present moment feels like the situation in the dream?
When did I feel like this before?
What was happening for me when I was in [place in dream]?
2. Plot
Beginning with the problem, this is the action of the dream. Usually, we notice how the dream ego tries to solve the problem in different ways. This can reveal how we're unconsciously dealing with the issue without actually resolving it: like avoiding it, blaming others, distracting ourselves, and so on.
Questions to consider:
How is this plot reflecting how I'm unconsciously dealing with the current situation or conflict?
What am I consciously doing about this?
What's difficult to face about this situation? What am I avoiding?
3. Crisis
The plot develops until a high point: the crisis. Here, the tension of our inner conflict reaches its peak and is often an exaggeration. The image may present very intensely, even nightmarish.
Questions to consider:
How can I look at this crisis in the dream symbolically?
What could happen with my current situation that's similar to this crisis?
4. Lysis
While some dreams might end at the crisis point, most do reach a natural conclusion or solution. Therefore, the end of the dream, the lysis, presents us with either: a way to resolve the crisis; or the inevitability of a catastrophe.
It's important to note that a dream ending in a catastrophe is rarely a premonition. Most often, dreams show us in exaggerated ways what our current situation could lead to if we don't change our attitude. You can think of it as a wake-up call to motivate you to change.
Remember, solving a problem in a dream doesn't mean it's solved entirely. You still need to do something about in your waking life.
Questions to consider:
What is the dream suggesting I need to do? (ask for help, leave, express myself, be assertive, give up etc)
What can I change about how I'm dealing with this situation now?
What does the part of me that's acting out an old trauma in the dream need?