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Symbols of Transformation in Dreams

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Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion

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Everybody dreams. We may not remember our dreams, but the psychologists tell us that everyone dreams. The sleep laboratories have described for us the phenomenon of REM sleep. There have been many theories throughout the ages about the purpose of dreams. Postmodern depth psychologists emphasize that dreams are an important way to carry on the dialogue with the unconscious.

Yet there is still the mystery of understanding what the unconscious side of the dialogue is saying. Those little books at the grocery checkout counter tell you this image means so-and-so and “no question about it” – this is not helpful. Dreams use a symbolic language that has many meanings. So to explore what the symbols in dreams mean may give us a picture of ourselves of which we are unaware. Thus, dreams give us data. That may help us to decide on a different course of action, or we may still choose to continue the way we have been – the dreams do not dictate what action, if any, we take in response to their...

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Bibliography

  • Clift, J. D., & Clift, W. B. (1984). Symbols of transformation in dreams. New York: Crossroad.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Denver and Iliff School of Theology, Denver, CO, USA

    Wallace Clift

  2. American Association of Pastoral Counselors, Denver, CO, USA

    Jean Dalby Clift

Authors
  1. Wallace Clift
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  2. Jean Dalby Clift
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Correspondence to Wallace Clift .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

    David A. Leeming (Emeritus Professor) (Emeritus Professor)

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Clift, W., Clift, J.D. (2014). Symbols of Transformation in Dreams. In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_9021

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_9021

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6085-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6086-2

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science

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