Dreams: God’s Forgotten Language

Imagine a scene in which you are standing on a platform in front of a very large audience. Suddenly you look down and discover to your horror that you have no clothes on. Sound familiar? Well hopefully none of us has experienced this in real life, but how many of us have dreamt it? Or perhaps we are being chased by a menacing figure, confronted by a wild animal or falling from a great height. Not all dreams are scary, of course. Some can be very creative – any number of composers, writers, artists, scientists, etc have credited some of their ideas to their dreams. On the other hand, many of our dreams are downright bizarre, making no apparent sense whatever.

Regardless of whether we remember them, we all dream,* so why do we have these nocturnal visitations? Are they simply to keep us entertained while we sleep or do they have a deeper purpose? John Sanford is an Episcopal priest and Jungian analyst with a particular interest in dream analysis. In this book he makes a strong connection between dreams, religious experience and spiritual growth. Very little has been written on the subject between Biblical times and the works of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung in the 20th Century, hence the “forgotten language” of the title. Sanford’s book appears to be one of the earlier works written within a specifically Christian context. It is not a text book on dream analysis or psychology, although there are a number of references to Jungian psychology. Rather, it is a simply written look at the relevance of dreamwork to the Christian experience.

Part One is liberally sprinkled with case histories from Sanford’s own counseling experience and he uses these to illustrate dream symbols and their significance. These can be recognized on three levels : symbols which have personal meaning for us, those which are culturally relevant and those which relate to universally recognized archetypes. In order to have a clearer understanding of the last of these, it is also helpful to have some knowledge of the recurring themes that appear in the myths and legends of all cultures.

Sanford gives considerable space to the role of the shadow, or menacing adversary in our dreams, explaining how this is the repressed part of ourselves, the part which we often see as being unacceptable. Learning to face our shadow rather than running away from it, or denying its existence is an essential part of our spiritual growth and integration into wholeness. Not recognizing and owning our shadow can lead to the projection of our shortcomings and problems onto others. When practised on a national scale it gives rise to intolerance of those who are different. Horrendous human rights abuses frequently result from this behaviour.

This theme is further developed in Part Two, which looks at the meanings and purposes of significant dreams in Biblical literature as well as dealing with the theological significance of dreams today. Here Sanford considers what he refers to as “the Christian problem” of good and evil. Dreams have their own autonomy and anything we repress in conscious life is bound to surface in our sleep, often over and over again, until it is dealt with. This problem is the unresolved conflict of opposites and he asks, “How can good and evil, egoism and altruism, instinct and disciplined morality be brought into accord?” (p.187) Through our dreams we become aware of the paradoxes in our personality. This can lead to healing – both physical and psychological. God is creatively present in our very depths, which is why our psyches are continuously calling us to wholeness through the language of our dreams.

I found this book to be a very helpful and hopeful introduction to the subject of dreamwork. Sanford’s liberal use of case histories to illustrate his points in Part One had me totally absorbed, and more than compensated for a slight tendency to wordiness and repetition in Part Two. One small quibble – I found the lack of inclusive language irritating, but this book was originally published in 1968.

In conclusion, it’s worth mentioning that the best results of dreamwork are gained through persistence and dedication to the task. Ultimately we are the best interpreters of our own dreams, but the guidance of a skilled mentor, and the regular use of a notebook for recording and working with current dreams, as well as referring back to former dreams are invaluable aids, as I can attest from my own experience.

*It’s worth mentioning here that some medications can suppress our ability to dream.

For further reading:

Sanford, John A. Dreams and Healing: A Succinct and Lively Interpretation of Dreams. Paulist Press: New York 1978.

Savary, Louis M., Berne, Patricia H.,& Williams, Strephon Kaplan. Dreams and Spiritual Growth: A Judeo-Christian Way of Dreamwork. Paulist Press, Mahwah 1984.

© Lynne Roberts 2006