„The Labyrinth of Dreams“

With the “Cartesian cut” science became restricted to the study of phenomena in the materialistic world by natural scientific and mathematical methods. The psyche with all its “inner” movements and meanings of life was excluded and no longer was the object of scientific research. This was put into question by psychiatric medicine. When in psychiatry the meaning of symptoms was addressed a new scientific revolution began. Symptoms, psychic illnesses and dreams became a matter of intensive studies.
When Sigmund Freud published his Traumdeutung in 1900 he thought that he had found the missing thread which could help prevent his getting lost in the “Labyrinth of Dreams”. For him sexuality was the “Ariadne thread” he used to find his way out. He even thought that with his reduction to symbols of sexuality he had solved the riddle of mythology, as if he had killed the Minotaur sitting in the centre of the labyrinth. C. G. Jung realized that these ideas followed mythological patterns themselves. He said that dreams and fantasies provide information from inside the psyche, as by analogy any scientific experiment provides data from the outside. His approach then was strictly empirical and lacked reductionist dream interpretation. In cooperation with natural scientists like W. Pauli and A. Portmann he described patterns of the living process of self-structuring of the psyche. He compared these patterns to structures from his own dreams as well as mythology, alchemy and dreams of his patients, some of whom were natural scientists. Step by step he created the concept of the “Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious”.
Today we say that dreams are products of the autonomous process of integration and structuring of the psyche. Most of this happens without our consciousness and knowledge. The images and stories we remember after awakening are those parts or elements which our unconscious brain cannot integrate completely – strange complexes containing experiences, emotions and fantasies which need more conscious attention. Therefore, it is helpful to remember dreams and to view and contemplate their images, even without completely understanding their possible meaning.
This is what we want to do in the workshop: talk about our dreams and consider their images while trying to understand their meaning for the process of integration and structuring of the psyche. This may be helpful for everybody, especially in times of challenge and change …
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Beate Kortendieck-Rasche (Berlin) is a Gynecologist and couple therapist. She worked for years with pregnant woman about their dreams.

Dr.med. Jörg Rasche (Berlin) is a Jungian Psychoanalyst, Psychotherapist and Sandplay Therapist. Currently he is vice president of the International Association for Analytical Psychology IAAP.