I wanted to research dream theory, particularly what I thought was a Freudiian theory, that the characters in our dreams are all parts of ourselves. It tuns out that this theory is not Freudian, yet a contemporary theory. This is hours of research and processing that information, breaking it down to what is relevant I wanted to the investigation of my dreams.
The article by Wei Zhang and Benyu Guo, Freud's Dream Interpretation: A Different Perspective Based on the Self-Organization Theory of Dreaming, 23 August 2018, Research Institute of Moral Education/School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01553/full
explains how Freud regarded dreams as a ‘royal road’ to the unconscious and therefore dream interpretation has an important role in psychoanalytic technique. His theory of dreams mainly refers to two key points: (a) what are the materials of a dream? and (b) how do these materials work together? The answers to these questions are closely related to an understanding of dream interpretation.
Freud believed that dream content is derived from, but not identical to, real life and thus “a dream is the fulfillment of a wish” He also found that “disagreeable” dreams seem more widespread than “pleasant” dreams hence his hypothesis that dreams can disguise their true purpose (i.e., indirectly fulfilling wishes). You have to remember that Freud was working largely with patients whose current mental health was considered problematic.
Freud identified two types of dreams: manifest dream and latent dream. He stated that the latent (or underlying) dream is the real dream, and the goal of dream interpretation is to reveal it. He said the latent dream can be obscured, causing a dream to appear meaningful, but the presented dream is in fact quite different from its actual implication.
The self-organisation theory of dreaming proposes that the sleeping brain is a self-organising system that can combine discontinuous and incongruous neuronal signals (i.e., different elements of dreams) into a relatively continuous narrative during sleep. It disagrees with Freuds theory, pointing out that dream symbols are too far-fetched. Therefore dreams are not riddles to be translated and the manifest dream is the actual dream.
So this doesn’t help me at all. I did find that emotion is a pivotal factor during sleep. Emotions in sleep are activated and combine to form different emotional scripts, which then serve as templates and replicate a series of images to finally construct a dream narrative. Combinations of dream elements are not random but rather guided by emotion. So dreams are helpful for constructing your emotional memory system and can therefore be the first port of call in comprehending dreams.
Characters as parts of ourselves in dreams, Journey into Dreams - Dream meanings and Interpretation, https://journeyintodreams.com/characters-as-ourselves/
This source talked about how we ‘displace’ or transform the person or object we are really concerned about in our dreams to someone else.
There are 4 aspects of selves; physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. When we dream about someone, often times there will be clues in the dream to tell us what part of ourselves the dream might apply to.
Co-workers appearing as characters in my dreams are my mental self. They are generally helping me and friendly. People I like.
Family members, friends and past relationship characters are my emotional self.
Emotional Self in Dreams
Some further broken down examples of this is:
Your Professional Self: A boss, coworker or employee
Your Maternal/Paternal Self: Represented by a parental figure or family member/friend who is a parent in the dream
Your Romantic Self: Significant other or lover
Yourself as a Friend: Friendly character or friend
Yourself as a Family Member: Daughter/Son, Brother/Sister, Grandparent, Cousin, Friend in a Family Role, etc.
Your Creative Self: Artist, poet, writer or muse.
Yet I still have to unpack each dream as it appears in regards to the various thoughts and emotions to further realise the inner struggles I am facing.
Yet sometimes the character in my dream is not part of myself but a release dream. In a release dream, you are often processing your own feelings and emotions. Or it may be that you are simply remembering the good things about a person, or our subconscious way of expressing our love/sorrow for a person.
When you dream of a dead person it is important to look at the context of the dream and identify whether you felt a real connection or whether you were simply exploring your own emotions and feelings.
If you have a very vivid dream where you remember fine details or even experience sensations of touch, smell, or sound it is very likely that it is a visitation dream.
Most often the message and feeling in the dream is one of love and peace. During a visitation dream, our loved ones most often simply want to communicate they love you.
If you dream of a deceased person who is angry or yelling at you, this is more likely a symbol for your own feelings while you process the stages of grief. It’s important to remember this if the dream is not a pleasant one.
Release and visitation dreams, Journey into Dreams - Dream meanings and Interpretation, https://journeyintodreams.com/visitation-dreams/