Images

Art is a wonderful way to amplify and document our dream images and visions. Federico Fellini Book of Dreams is one such example of how someone has worked with dreams and art in a spontaneous manner. Not only does art visually acknowledge the unconscious and the “gifts” that have been given through our nighttime dreaming, but using art materials continues the conversation into the daytime. The engaging process allows for a “conversation” to take place between our conscious state and the unconscious realms, or the ego and the unconscious. Art is a way to dream the dream forward as Jung continually encouraged his analysands to using various art materials.

Keeping a dream journal documents and expands the relationship with the unconscious; art naturally documents, amplifies, illuminates, and transforms our relationship to what has become known to us through dream images. The images speak to us and we are touched or impacted by the unadulterated information. Sometimes we may choose to first do active imagination, which moves the dream images deeper or carries the dream forward, shifting and transforming what was presented in the dream into something else. Staying fluid with the creative process and material from the unconscious is what facilitates a sense of wholeness. You may find you are interested in drawing or painting your dreams while also recording the dreams in the same journal or you may decide to have a traditional written journal or record of your dreams on the computer while the image making process takes place in a sketchbook, journal or other format. I always recommend that people buy journals without lines so that the journal can hold both writing and image should this creative process suddenly begin to happen. It is also fun to take photos of your images and have them on your phone, or print them for your visual journaling process.