Carl Jung claimed that the dream symbol of a child is a metaphor for the forgotten things in childhood. For example, your dream may be telling you that you have forgotten how to play, or that you should take a more innocent, carefree attitude. The symbol of the child also represents possibilities and paves the way for future changes in the personality. In addition, it can also represent the part of you that needs security and reassurance.

See also FAMILY.

Gambler

The gambler is a risk-taker who plays the odds. In dreams of winning lotteries and gambling at casino tables it can suggest following hunches, and believing in your intuition, even in the face of universal doubt. To assess whether you are a gambler, review your ability to follow your intuition and what others might consider risky inner guidance. Ask yourself how many of your decisions are based on gut instinct, rather than facts and figures. Alternatively, gambling dreams may refer to the way you are focused on looking for lucky breaks, rather than doing the hard work needed to succeed.

God

The God archetype, whether represented as a deity or a worldly power in dreams, represents the ultimate in male dominance. On the positive side, a God can be benevolent and compassionate, willing to use his powers to help others out of love for humanity. The shadow God easily becomes a dictator or despot, oppressing others with those same powers, or using his physical attractiveness to get what he wants without ever returning the affection he elicits. Such dreams suggest that you have a life-long sense of great power. Are you using this power selfishly or selflessly?

Goddess

The oldest religious tradition on earth may well be Goddess worship, which some archaeologists trace back further than 30,000 years. It was certainly natural to worship the archetype of woman as the source of all life, especially in the age before male warriors replaced her with their combative sky gods. The Goddess archetype in dreams can be inspiring as it embodies wisdom, guidance, physical grace, athletic prowess, and sensuality. If a particular goddess appears in your dream, study the specific qualities of that goddess and evaluate how much of your sense of self is reflected in one of those patterns. For example, Venus/Aphrodite: love and fertility; Diana/Artemis: nature and hunting; Minerva/Athena: strength, clear thinking; Ceres/Demeter: motherhood; Juno/Hera: queenship and partnership; Proserpina/Persephone: mysticism and mediumship; Sophia: wisdom.

Gossip

The gossip archetype is associated with rumor-spreading, backbiting, and passing along information that is exaggerated, harmful, and intended to disempower. If a gossip or gossiping figures in your dreams, the archetype is connected to lessons of truth, integrity, and honoring the trust another has placed in you.

Guide

(DREAM IMAGES: CRONE, EVANGELIST, GURU, SAGE, SPIRITUAL MASTER, WISE WOMAN)

You do not have to be a professional preacher or guru to have this archetype, as we can all learn to lead others spiritually through developing our own intuitive spiritual awareness and passing on whatever we have learned with genuine humility. If a guide or spiritual master appears in your dreams, your unconscious is urging you to pass your wisdom on to others. Alternatively it can warn against controlling others rather than guiding them.

Healer

(DREAM IMAGES: ANALYST, CAREGIVER, COUNSELOR, NURSE, THERAPIST, WOUNDED HEALER, INTUITIVE HEALER)

The healer archetype in dreams is encouraging you to guide and support others in some way. Alternatively, it could be urging you to heal and transform your pain into a sense of direction and purpose. The shadow of the healer manifests through a desire to take advantage of those who need your help.

Hedonist

(DREAM IMAGE: BON VIVANT, CHEF, GOURMET)

This archetype has an ‘appetite’ for the pleasurable aspects of life, from good food and wine to sexuality and sensuality, and when it appears as a theme in your dreams, it could simply be urging you to enjoy yourself more. As scientific research has shown, pleasure can improve our health and extend our lives, and needs to be part of a balanced life. The shadow hedonist may manifest as pursuing pleasure without regard for other people or one’s own good health.

Hero/Heroine

The hero is a classic figure in ancient Greek and Roman literature, often portrayed as one who must confront an increasingly difficult path of obstacles in order to mature into adulthood. Today this archetype still holds a dominant position in the social mind, and can appear in dreams as a superhero, or similar icon of male and female power. Such dreams suggest that you have within you the courage and determination to face the challenges that lie ahead.

Judge

(DREAM IMAGES: ARBITRATOR, CRITIC, EXAMINER, MEDIATOR)

One need not be an attorney, judge, or critic by profession to identify with this archetype; it can appear in your dreams if you are, or need to be, a natural mediator or are involved in interventions between people. It can also appear if your unconscious requires you to learn justice and compassion. The shadow judge manifests as consistently destructive criticism, judging without compassion or with a hidden agenda. Legal manipulation, misuse of legal authority, and threatening others through an association with the law are other expressions of the shadow.

King

(DREAM IMAGES: CHIEF, EMPEROR, LEADER, RULER)

The king is an archetype that represents the height of temporal male power and authority. He represents the father figure in your life, or the dominant ruling power – the part of you that is in control. Both benevolence and cruelty in their extreme expressions are associated with this archetype. Whether your kingdom is a corporation, community, family, or your own life, such dreams suggest the need to rule compassionately.

Knight

Loyalty and self-sacrifice are the knight’s great virtues, along with a natural ability to get things done. The black knight donning dark armor and riding a black horse represents the shadow characteristics of this archetype, especially the absence of honor and chivalry, or loyalty to a questionable cause. In its negative aspect, the knight can fall into a pattern of saving others but ignoring his own needs. Such dreams may be urging you to find a balance between self-sacrifice and self-neglect.

Lover

This archetype appears not only in the dreams of those who are romantically inclined, but also in anyone who exhibits great passion and devotion. One can be a lover of art, music, gardening, dogs, cats, nature, or needlepoint. Such dreams are related to a sense of affection and appreciation of someone or something, and the need to find or express that passion. The shadow lover figure in dreams of a lover who doesn’t turn up or lets us down in some way suggests an obsessive passion that has a destructive effect on your physical or mental health and self-esteem.

Mentor

(DREAM IMAGES: JEDI, MASTER, TUTOR)

Mentors do more than just teach; they pass on wisdom and refine their students’ character. In dreams, they represent aspects of yourself you can trust, or people you can rely on. In its shadow aspect, however, the mentor can take on an overbearing attitude that is more about imposing control than imparting wisdom. They can appear, for example, in dreams about people who undermine you or refuse to help you for no good reason.

Midas/Miser

Midas turned everything he touched into gold, including, tragically, his beloved daughter. The archetype is associated with entrepreneurial or creative ability, and appears in dreams where wealth and luxury figures strongly. That Midas was a king symbolically implies that the Midas figure has the power to generate wealth for an entire kingdom, yet is interested only in his personal aggrandizement. Greed is his downfall. For that reason, lessons of generosity are a large part of the characteristics of this archetype. The shadow Midas or miser creates wealth by hoarding money and emotions at the expense of others, and refusing to share them.

Monk/Nun

If a monk or nun appears in your dreams, the positive aspects of this archetype are fairly obvious: spiritual intensity, devotion, dedication, persistence, and perhaps wisdom. Are these qualities you need to develop within yourself? The monk archetype can also suggest the ability to be single-minded, assiduous, devoted to a spiritual path or to any great achievement that requires intense focus. On the shadow side, the role of a religious recluse could be seen as being removed from the real world, overly pious, even privileged in the sense of not having to be concerned about earning a living, or raising a family.

Monster

Your innermost fears or negative attitudes that are seen as larger than you can handle.

See also FAMILY.

Networker

(DREAM IMAGES: COMMUNICATOR, COURIER, HERALD, JOURNALIST, MESSENGER)

Although networking seems like a very modern skill tied to career advancement in the media age, it is actually quite ancient. Networking would also have been an integral part of any military alliance as well as all social and clan confederations in prehistory. If a messenger or journalist appears in your dreams, this suggests that you have the skills to bring information – or power – and inspiration to others. The question is, will you use these skills for the good of the group, or for personal gain?

Pioneer

(DREAM IMAGES: EXPLORER, PILGRIM, SETTLER)

The pioneer discovers and explores new lands, whether that territory is external or internal. The passion to explore the South Pole is as much a pioneering endeavor as the passion to explore medicine or spiritual practice. Even initiating new fashions, art, music, or literature may qualify as expressions of this archetype. The core ingredient is innovation – doing and creating what has not been done before. In dreams, this archetype suggests a need to step on fresh and undiscovered territory in at least one realm. The shadow pioneer manifests as restlessness and a compulsive need to abandon one’s past and move on.

Poet

The poet combines lyricism with sharp insight, finding the essence of beauty and truth not only in the great epic affairs of humanity, but also in everyday acts and objects. Great poetry extols momentous events and great deeds, and also expresses wonder at the hidden joys and sorrows that most of us might overlook. If you dream you are a poet, or a poet figures in your dream, this suggests the need and the ability to discover beauty in the people and things around you, and to express it in a way that helps others, too, see that beauty. The shadow poet turns his gift for lyricism to negative or destructive effect, as in songs or poems written in support of military aggression or genocide.

Priest

(DREAM IMAGES: EVANGELIST, MINISTER, RABBI, VICAR)

A priest may represent traditional religion with its spiritual rules and regulations. Are you making moral judgments? Alternatively, the priest could represent your own spiritual wisdom. The shadow side of this archetype manifests in lapses of personal morality.

Prince

The true prince is a ruler-in-training who is in service to the people over whom he will rule, whether that is a literal kingdom or a figurative or spiritual one. The shadow prince can manifest as a young man with great feelings of entitlement, or an heir apparent who uses his position solely for self-aggrandizement. Are you dedicated to service, or do you feel that the world owes you a living?

Prostitute

This archetype activates the aspects of the unconscious that are related to seduction and control. Prostitution should also be understood as the selling of your talents, ideas, and any other expression of the self – or the selling-out of them. This archetype is universal, and in dreams it relates to the need to birth and refine self-esteem and self-respect.

Queen/Empress

Freud believed that the king and queen represent the dreamer’s parents, while a prince or princess represents the dreamer. The queen is a symbol of power and authority in all women. She may also stand for the unconscious, intuition, nature, and the instincts. Jung saw royal figures as representations of the animus and anima – the male and female principle – and the queen personifies the feminine forces within the psyche, the unconscious feeling for life. The shadow queen can slip into aggressive and destructive patterns of behavior, particularly when she perceives that her authority or capacity to maintain control over the court is being challenged. The ice queen rules with a cold indifference to the genuine needs of others – whether material or emotional. The queen bee is a mixed image – the astonishing ability to power the entire hive without leaving her ‘chamber’, yet at the cost of enslaving the rest of her community.

Rebel

(DREAM IMAGES: ANARCHIST, NONCONFORMIST, PIRATE, POLITICAL PROTESTER, REVOLUTIONARY)

The rebel in a support group can be a powerful aid in helping the group break out of old tribal patterns. In dreams, it can also help you see past tired preconceptions in your field of professional or creative endeavor. The rebel can also lead you to reject spiritual systems that do not serve your inner need for direct union with the divine and to seek out more appropriate paths. The shadow rebel, conversely, may compel you to rebel out of peer pressure, or for the sake of fashion, and so become mired in another manifestation of conformity.

Seeker

(DREAM IMAGES: NOMAD, VAGABOND, WANDERER)

This dream archetype refers to the search for wisdom and truth wherever it can be found. The shadow side of the archetype is the ‘lost soul’, someone on an aimless journey, without direction, ungrounded, disconnected from goals and others.

Servant

(DREAM IMAGES: INDENTURED SERVANT, SLAVE)

To dream that you are a slave suggests that you are not taking charge of your own life. Have you become so consumed by the needs of those around you that you have lost all focus on the value of your own life?

Student

(DREAM IMAGES: APPRENTICE, DEVOTEE, DISCIPLE, FOLLOWER, PUPIL)

The student archetype suggests an open mind and the ability to absorb new information as an essential part of one’s well-being. The shadow student usually manifests in learning all the tools of the wrong trade or misusing the knowledge learned. The shadow can also show up as the eternal student who never embarks on the sea of life in earnest, but manages to find ever new reasons to continue being schooled without ever putting that knowledge to the test.