Thirst

The Dream: This dream builds on and resolves the two previous. I'm at a banquet with Clark and others. I keep refilling my wine glass. I don't know why I'm drinking so much. At one point I take a nearly empty bottle and attempt to drain it into my already full glass. Clark gently admonishes me with a comment on how much I'm drinking. I know it's too much, yet it seems a sort of compulsion. To try to justify my behavior I say, “The bottle was almost empty. I was just trying to finish it off.” I show him that there is very little wine left in the bottle. Nevertheless, there is more than can make it into my glass.

Interpretation: In Hunger there is not enough to satisfy basic needs. In Thirst  there is too much, more than I can consume even though I greedily attempt it. The night before this dream I had watched one of Jung's clips on Death, in which he says we must live life as though it continues. To think so makes us feel better and live better, so it is the natural thing to do. Hearing his thoughts between the two dreams changed something in my thinking. From a place of no satisfaction I go to a place of excess, more than I can safely indulge in, or take in.

A Disappointing Holiday

The Dream: I'm not hosting the holiday this year; I'm at someone else's house. I wonder about the friend who has celebrated with us for so many years. Where has she gone this year? The food at this feast is perfunctory: a bare bones meal with grocery-store preparations. It's not the way I would have done it.

Interpretation: This might be an example of Freud's concept of wish fulfillment gone wrong. I might wish to be relieved of the responsibility for the holiday, but once that wish is fulfilled, as in the dream, the result is an unfulfilling event—with the play on the word “full” duly noted. The food is inadequate, and the friend who represents my inner wounded child has been neglected. To mother my wounded child I must be a mother, in other words, take on the responsibility of hosting the event. Only then will I be happy with the outcome.

Bogart or Redford: Fruition

Continued from yesterday:
Dream Scene 5: Raspberries and blueberries are growing in places where I hadn’t planted them. I say they are growing “in the house,” but clearly they are outside, in the garden. I spot a giant blueberry and eat it. It is amazingly delicious. I am surprised and delighted at how good it is and call out to Clark: “This is the best blueberry I’ve ever tasted!” I notice a raspberry bush laden with berries and think they’ve come in early and unexpectedly, and we won’t be able to eat them fast enough.

Interpretation: The psychic work has come to fruition. Jung identifies the soul with a man’s inner woman (anima) or a woman’s inner man (animus). My animus represents the more forceful aspects of my character. In this long dream I can see my unconscious’ successful struggle to create the animus I need. My dissenting parts (the 2 other women) have been replaced by Clark, my husband (my other half), who is ready to join in the feast.