Mutual consent of the unconscious self and conscious mind. Often a sign you are travelling the right path. Successfully working to find a solution.

The beach is the meeting place of two worlds, land and sea, which may symbolize the conscious and unconscious realms of the human psyche. Perhaps there is something within your unconscious that the conscious mind needs to acknowledge. Dreaming that you are looking toward the beach, suggests that you are returning to what is familiar to you. Alternatively, you may be adapting or accepting to the changes and circumstances in your life.

Demons in dreams probably represent parts of your unconscious mind that have been repressed and neglected and are now threatening to disrupt or mutilate the psyche. They should be approached lovingly, given attention and integrated into your conscious life. This will bring about their "conversion": They will cease to threaten and will contribute their vital energies to the enhancement of the self.

Self-knowledge - knowing what we are carrying around with us in our unconscious - is the only sure defence against what in ancient times was called demonic possession, which in psychological terms means the conscious ego being taken over by unconscious forces {obsessive fear or anger, or whatever}.

Reference: Eric Ackroyd

May represent the unconscious as threatening to engulf the conscious ego. May represent the sweeping strength of some emotion.

to remove from your unconscious to your conscious self; intellectualizing or rationalizing

nutrition for personal growth. the power of life (what thing or person provides you with this power?). the food of the gods, thus a participation in the divine conscious self.

Sunlight is a symbol of your conscious self. Moonlight is the unconscious. Light at the end of a dark tunnel symbolizes hope.

{1} A head may be a symbol of intellect: rational as distinct from intuitive thought {see Personality Types}.

{2} It may symbolize the conscious ego as distinct from the unconscious {which might be represented by the abdomen or solar plexus}.

{3} It may be a symbol of masculinity.

{4} A monstrous, horrifying head probably represents negative - because repressed - drives or processes in your unconscious. Try to follow Perseus" example. The Gorgons" eyes turned to stone anyone they looked at; but when Perseus succeeded in cutting off Medusa's head, the winged horse Pegasus sprang from her body. This may be seen as symbolizing the psychic or spiritual development that results from facing up to whatever is fearsome in one's unconscious.

{5} A two-headed creature may symbolize either duality, antagonistic opposites in your psyche or the {needed} union, or bringing together, of opposing psychic qualities/functions/forces - for example, masculine and feminine; conscious and unconscious.

Reference: Eric Ackroyd

(1) A fight may represent conflict in a real-life domestic or work situation.

(2) The conflict may be within you, between opposing forces in the psyche. An obvious candidate is a clash between what you want to do and what you feel you ought to do. In this case, bear in mind that conscience is usually socially constructed and consists of the prohibitions and ideals that were imprinted in your psyche during your early years.

(3) The conflict may be between what we are in fact and what we are potentially. Jung sees conscience as the voice of inner wisdom that will lead us to our true selfhood.

(4) If the conflict is between conscious ego and unconscious, the aggressor in the dream fight will probably represent the part of you that is demanding release from the dungeons of the unconscious. It will not hurt you unless you deny it expression. Identify it, and then welcome it as a talent or energy that can contribute to your well being. Change the conflict into a dialogue, a respectful exchange between your conscious and unconscious. (Is this not the way to handle such situations in our waking lives, instead of aggression?).

Where there is unresolved inner conflict, there is a tendency to project the unconscious protagonist to other people, often with dire consequences in personal relationships.

(5) More specific inner conflicts are those between opposite psychic qualities or forces, such as masculinity and femininity, thinking and feeling.

Reference: Eric Ackroyd

Associate the feelings of pain in the abdomen with tension in your life. Can you 'stomach" some person or attitude you are having? May be the dream wanting to bring the dreamer's conscious attention to a part of the body that is diseased {use this possibility with caution}. May represent the unconscious directing you to pay more attention to your intuitive self. May represent sexual feelings. A physiological feeling of a full bladder or indigestion.

Perhaps it symbolizes some part of you that needs to be expressed. Soreness or tension in the throat may indicate conflict between head and heart, intellect and emotion or instinct, or between the conscious mind and the unconscious also see neck

Sun

(1) The sun may be a symbol of the self (i.e. your true and total self), or of the conscious ego.

(2) It may symbolize intelligence, as distinct from intuition.

Moon

From prehistoric times the moon has been regarded as the source of all fertility. It governs ocean tides and rainfall, menstruation and birth. (Even when seen as male, the moon has been associated with fertility: for example, in Australian aboriginal tradition, the moon makes women pregnant.) It therefore symbolizes (the possibility of) personal growth.

Reference: Eric Ackroyd

A desire to escape from your present situation: external constraints or conflict.

A journey to a sacred place may signify you are now aware of your true self, not yet achieved but awareness in your conscious mind.

A destination not reached is an indication you are aware of your true self (or conditions in your life) and have not let it be a part of your life.

A voyage of discovery to unknown - previously unvisited - lands probably means your unconscious is inviting you to make its aquaintance. The sea is a common symbol of the unconscious.

The journey in the dream may tell you what is actually happening in your life at present, or less often - how you ought to live.

(1) Contrasted with the sky, earth may symbolize a need to "keep your feet on the ground" or pay attention to "earthly" aspects of your being.

(2) It may be "Mother Earth", symbolizing your own mother. Bear in mind that earth, as well as giving birth to things, also swallows them up again (when they die). Similarly, your mother - or your attachment to her - may have a "devouring" aspect: one that hinders your individual development.

Mother Earth may also represent your unconscious. Life-giving energy comes up from the unconscious region. This is the "womb" that contains potential for further development. Again, this may present a negative effect: the unconscious may seem to be threatening the conscious ego's attempts to maintain order in your life. However, the menacing appearance of the unconscious is a sign that such "order" is precarious, having been achieved at the expense of neglecting important parts of your psyche. Wholeness is what counts.

(3) The planet earth seen as a sphere floating in space could be a symbol of your true self, as yet unrealized (i.e. not yet translated from idea or ideal into act and fact); wholeness, integration; or a weightless, relaxed "floating" with the life-giving currents that will carry you to fulfillment of your individual "destiny".

Reference: Eric Ackroyd

Right/left symbolizes consciousness/unconsciousness. Movement from left to right may signify an increase of conscious awareness. May also represent intellect/intuition or thought/feeling; masculine/feminine; activity and assertiveness/passivity and receptiveness. In mythology left symbolizes the path to adventure, the road of danger and trials. The hero/heroine always takes the left hand path to accomplish desired results.

See Also Rooms

Basic meaning: The self; your self image

(1) The house or other building may be a symbol of yourself. Going upstairs may mean going into the "head" - that is, the layer of the mind where rational thinking takes place. Cellars may represent the unconscious. Different parts of the house may be different ages, different emotions, different complexes, etc., the modern representing the conscious ego, the oldest the deepest layers of the unconscious - what Jung called the "collective unconscious").

If the house feels cramped, this might indicate frustration. Is some part of you not developed, not yet integrated into consciousness? What is keeping this or that instinct or emotion repressed?

(2) A house may represent your self-image: how you see yourself, or how you want to be seen by the world, or what you want from life.

(3) If the house is your parental home, what you feel in the dream may say a lot about your childhood feelings - about your parents, for instance.

(4) The different rooms of a house may symbolize the different emotions or complexes. Not being able to go into a particular room may indicate there is some aspect in your life that is not yet open to your conscious mind. When you acknowledge these emotions, you will be able to enter into the room in your dreams.

Reference: Eric Ackroyd

Devil

Basic Meaning - A fear of those repressed contents of the unconscious that are, when acknowledged the very forces that could bestow a harmonious and balanced life.

(1) The Satan of Jewish - Christian - Islamic tradition was originally a horned fertility god, a personification of the fertilizing power of Nature {the tradition of God is separate from Nature}. In psychological terms, a fertilizing agent is something within the psyche that can inaugurate a new phase in the individual's development.

(2) The evil connotations of the devil figure may reflect the dreamer's fear of those repressed contents of the unconscious that are, in fact, the very forces that - if mobilized and utilized - could bestow a new and fuller life. What we repress is invariably something that had great value for us but on some occasion in the past gave rise to guilt-feelings or a fear of punishment. It is our fears that invest the unconscious with the fearsome characteristics of a dark underworld inhabited by evil monsters. In reality, the unconscious contains all the energy and wisdom we need for healing and wholeness.

It might be said that our fundamental human task is the conversion of the devil within ourselves, that is, converting negatively charged {dissident, destructive} psychic forces into positively charged {life-enhancing and unifying} powers. But you won't convert the devil with brute force, only with love. The negatively charged psychic forces are the ones you neglect and despise or fear. They become positively charged when you acknowledge them and integrate them into your conscious life.

If we do not recognize the "devil" within ourselves, we shall project him onto others and thereby give more scope for hatred and destruction {the real devil!} in the world.

{3} In certain contexts - if, for example, he has horns or is sexually involved with naked women - the devil may be a sexual symbol. If sexuality is repressed in such a guise in a woman's dream, it is possibly because she has a fear of sexual relations. In a man's dreamthe indication might be that he has a guilt-ridden attitude towards his own sexuality {which Freud might trace back to anxiety arising out of the normal male infant's erotic feelings for his mother}.

Demons

Demons in dreams probably represent parts of your unconscious mind that have been repressed and neglected and are now threatening to disrupt or mutilate the psyche. They should be approached lovingly, given attention and integrated into your conscious life. This will bring about their "conversion": They will cease to threaten and will contribute their vital energies to the enhancement of the self.

Self-knowledge - knowing what we are carrying around with us in our unconscious - is the only sure defence against what in ancient times was called demonic possession, which in psychological terms means the conscious ego being taken over by unconscious forces {obsessive fear or anger, or whatever}.

Reference: Eric Ackroyd

From Dragonorama

Dragons have a deeply rooted connotation in Western culture associating them with evil, whereas in Eastern stories they can also be kind and are considered very wise

The Western Dragon Tradition

Western dragons aren't necessarily evil - but they often are. At the very least they tend to be solitary and bad-tempered.

The typical Western dragon - or Wyrm - is a large, scaly creature resembling a dinosaur or a large lizard. It usually has wings and can fly, often it will breathe fire.

Western dragons tend to live in caves in mountains or hidden away in the forests. They often guard a stash of gold. Western dragons are often used to symbolise greed.

Note: Caves symbolize the unconscious. In dreams a dragon in a cave would often symbolize unconscious fears, or a need to confront {and slay} unconscious fears.

Dragons vary as much as people do. Although many Western dragons are brutal, ignorant creatures who kill and eat humans others are ancient, wise creatures more akin to those found in the East.

The Oriental Dragon Tradition

Whereas Western dragons are usually found in mountains or forests, Oriental dragons are more likely to be found in the sea. Many oriental dragons resemble water snakes.

Oriental dragons rarely breath fire, instead if a mortal annoys one then it is likely to result in great floods.

Note: When confronting the unconscious there is often a reluctance by the conscious mind to accept what is there. Often the conscious ego will throw annoying barriers so one will continue to repress or ignore unconscious contents.

The traditional Western dragon is often seen as a brutish creature to be feared. Oriental dragons tended to be wise and benevolent - as long as they were given the respect they deserved. Their chief flaw was their vanity and if insulted could cause dreadful natural disasters.

Oriental dragons fly to and from heaven in clouds but do not usually have wings. Some sources say that they gain wings after living for a thousand years.

Famous Dragons, Serpents & Wryms

Abraxas

The dragon Abraxas originated in Persian mythology however the name has been taken up elsewhere. As such descriptions of Abraxas vary considerably.

Abraxas is usually described as having either a man or a serpent's body with the head of a cockerel (sometimes two such heads). He has two dragon's feet and carries a whip in his human hands.

The name and image of Abraxas were of importance in Gnosticism and other esoteric teachings. Some identified Abraxas with a supreme deity.

There is much numerological interest in the name Abraxas. The number of letters - seven - is considered important by some. There is also interest in the fact that the letters of the name can be made to sum to 365 in some systems. Abraxas is thus considered the Lord of the 365 Virtues, one of which represents each day of the year.

Some people have sugested that the name "Abraxas" could itself be derived from "Abracadaba".

The name is considered to have great power and is inscribed on stone talismans called Abraxas Stones.

Basic meaning: Unconscious fears that are repressed and need to be acknowledged

Symbolism in Dreams

The Jung/Freud Approach

Dragon

(1) Is the dragon guarding a treasure, or a cave which might contain treasure? If so, the cave probably represents your unconscious, the treasure represents yourself, the dragon that stands between you and your true self represents the fearsomeness of the unconscious, for one who is still afraid of what may be lurking there. This is a repression of the unconscious contents

(2) For Jung, the first stage of the individuation process is the conscious ego's heroic struggle {the hero/heroine journey of mythology} to lift itself out of the orginal all-encompassing unconsciousness and to establish control of unconscious forces. This finds symbolic representation in the legendary dragon-slayer, St George (St George = the ego; the dragon = the unconscious).

(3) The dragon may represent the devouring aspect of (your relationship with) your mother. 'slaying the dragon" may therefore mean putting an end to whatever in your attachment to your mother is detrimental to the process of finding your own psychic individuality. Once the individual has achieved liberation from the "dragon", the feminine side of the manspsyche and the masculine side of the womanspsyche will no longer appear in threatening form, but as an indispensable companion and guide in further stages of self-development.

(4) A dragon may represent the generative power of (Mother) Nature; the unconscious, felt as womb pregnant with new possibilities of life.

(5) A winged dragon may symbolize some kind of transcendence, some passing from "lower" to "higher" level of personal maturity.

(6) A dragon may be a symbol for your sexuality, particularily if it - your sexuality - frightens you. Is your fear irrationsal; or does sexuality threaten to rule your life? In either case, don't kill the "dragon"; if necessary tame it.

(In China, "chi" is good, life-giving energy and the channels it runs along are called "dragon-lines", which are said to follow underground water and underground magnetic fields).

Source: Eric Ackroyd