When Dreams Speak: A Journey from Symbols to Soul

When Dreams Speak

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” – Carl Jung

Recently, I had a dream that stirred something deep within me. At first glance, it seemed simple: a therapeutic classroom, children, mentors, coloured objects. But as I stayed with it, listened, and reflected, I realised it was a profound mirror of my inner life. A dream that invited me – and now perhaps you – to pause and wonder: What if every image in our dream is a fragment of our whole self, waiting to be seen, integrated, honoured?

 The Dream: A Fragment of a Greater Whole

In the dream, I found myself in a therapeutic room. Not a school as such, but a space where mentors, trainees, and children were engaged in a shared experience. One of the mentors began handing out cards or objects based on shapes and colours. I received an orange triangle.

I placed it gently on a low table designed for children, among other colourful objects. Soon after, a trainee crouched beside a child. I asked the mentor whether I, too, should engage with a child using the object I was given. She answered: yes. I turned to pick up my object – but this time, I took a purple one instead. I’m not sure if I noticed the difference immediately. The dream ended there.

And yet... it didn't end. It began something.

 The Dream as Mirror: An Analytic Reflection

From a Jungian perspective, every element in the dream is part of me – the mentor, the child, the colours, even the table. The therapeutic setting echoes my own path in counselling and the journey of becoming a guide for others. The mentor is the inner Wise Woman. The children – aspects of my own inner child, and perhaps also the tender, vulnerable parts of my clients.

The orange triangle, given by the mentor, felt like a task or a role – creativity, action, perhaps even duty. But the purple object I picked myself speaks to a different layer: spiritual intuition, inner knowing, connection to something higher.

The tension between the two – what I’m given and what I choose – invites reflection:

Am I ready to step beyond the frameworks I’ve been taught and follow the quiet voice of my soul?

This dream was not just about therapeutic work. It was about alignment. Integration. Listening.

 Dreams as Gateways to the Self

Dreams are not random. They are not meaningless leftovers of the day. In my experience, and in many therapeutic traditions, dreams are sacred messages from the unconscious, trying to help us become whole.

Jung called this the process of individuation – the lifelong journey of becoming your true self by integrating all aspects of the psyche: light and shadow, child and adult, masculine and feminine, earthly and spiritual.

In dreams, symbols bypass our rational mind and speak directly to the soul. Colours, shapes, actions – they are not arbitrary. They hold energy. They guide us.

 A Practice: Meeting the Symbols Within

If you’ve had a dream that stayed with you – even just a fragment – try this practice.

 Symbol Reflection Ritual

1. Recall a Dream Fragment

   
   

   Close your eyes. Let your body relax. Bring to mind a recent dream – or one that never left you.

2. Identify a Key Symbol

   
   

   What stood out? A colour, object, figure, or feeling?

3. Dialogue with the Symbol

   
   

   Write in your journal:

   • What do you want me to know?

   • What part of me do you represent?

   • What would happen if I embraced you fully?

4. Notice the Emotional Tone

   
   

   Was there anxiety, wonder, confusion, joy? The emotion is often the key to integration.

5. Anchor it into Conscious Life

6. Draw it. Dance it. Create an altar with colours or objects. Use it in meditation. Make it real.

   
   

   

   Energy and i Transformation Symbols / What I’m given and what I choose 

 Resources to Deepen Your Journey

If you're drawn to understanding your dreams and inner world more deeply, I recommend:

• Books

  • “Man and His Symbols” – Carl G. Jung

  • “Inner Work: Using Dreams and Active Imagination for Personal Growth” – Robert A. Johnson

  • “The Wisdom of Your Dreams” – Jeremy Taylor

• Practices

  • Dream journaling upon waking

  • Working with a therapist trained in Jungian or depth psychology

  • Active imagination (guided visualisations to engage dream symbols)

• Online Resources

  • Jung Platform – courses and talks on dreams & the psyche

  • The Centre for Applied Jungian Studies

  • Podcasts: This Jungian Life (explores dreams and archetypes weekly)

 Final Words: Trusting the Inner Language

This dream reminded me – and perhaps it’s a reminder for you too – that everything we seek is already speaking through us. The soul does not shout; it whispers through images, metaphors, and quiet nudges. Whether you're a therapist, a seeker, or simply someone curious about your inner world, I invite you to treat your dreams as sacred ground.

You don’t need to “analyse” every dream. But you can listen. You can ask:

What part of me wants to be heard right now?

Because in the end, to dream is to remember: you are already whole – you’re just learning to meet yourself again.

With warmth and soul,

Ela (Elżbieta Kardas)

Heart and Mind Therapy for You