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| Woman, unknown woman |
Unknown females in woman's dreams are symbol of the dreamer's alter ego or shadow, as Jung called it their activates serve the purpose of making the consciousness aware of unconscious attributes or modes of behavior. If unknown female figures appear in men's dreams, they symbolize the female elements discernible in every male personality. Jung's name for this psychic aspect of the male personality is the Anima. To a certain extent, the figure of the Anima embodies the man's female spiritual characteristics -- his moods, his feelings, his misgivings -- as well as the nature of his relationship with women in reality. The development of this side of his personality is decided naturally by his mother. The ideal image of women which a man carries in his psyche is illustrated by the figures of unknown women in his dreams. Their actions show the dreamer which expectations he is projecting onto his partner in real life. Experience has shown that most conflicts arise when this image does not correspond with the real-life woman. If the figure of an older woman appears, who bears the characteristics of one's own mother or grandmother, the relationship of the dreamer t these women should be taken into account when interpreting the dream. If, however, the figure of the older woman is unfamiliar, then (according to Jung) we have the archetypal symbol of the Great Mother. |
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