ymbols and ymbolism

Psychology and the Mind

 Symbolism and Psychology:   Psychology, almost from its formal beginnings, dealt with symbols.  Freud in analyzing dreams began seeking their meanings through their symbolism.  Another founder, an associate of Freud's for a few years, C. G. Jung, centered much of his work and his volumnous writings, as well as his personal understanding, on the meanings he interpreted from symbols. 

Dream Symbols & Interpretation:  Modern psychology began with the recognition that dreams were symbolic communications from the unconscious portions of the mind.  With this recognition, Freud, Jung, and their theoretical descendants found a scientific basis on which to found their theories and procedures.  Unfortunately, not all "dream interpretation" books are firmly based on theoretical psychology. 

Active Imagination:  A technique first mentioned by Carl Jung in 1935 at the Tavistock lectures in London, active imagination is a therapy whereby the counselor suggests to the client a setting and then the client imagines what he or she is doing there, with various encounters.  This provides the analyst or counsellor a situation to analyse similar to dreams but in a more formal context.  This technique has spawned several similar techniques such as "guided affective imagery" and "autogenic therapy."

  William Stewart, a retired counsellor, wrote a book which became two books.  In Imagery and Symbolism in Counselling (1996), he uses the image of "journeys" to introduce the reader to an extremely simplified version of analytical psychology, especially the technique called "active imagination."  Then the book takes more journeys into the applications of different symbols and levels of interpretation and meaning, as well as 3 stages of intricacy.  Along the way, so to speak, the various symbols are examined, explained, and demonstrated from counselling sessions.  Some of the symbols are dealt with by their concrete image, others by a concepts (such as pain).  Following 12 journeys through imagery, Stewart then deals with 15 persons from his practice and their symbols.  This book has few actual graphics, the best being the 3 mandalas in an appendix which he recommends for specific uses.  The bibliography appears to be the sources, including classics, novels, etc., which the author used in preparing this book, rather than a suggested reading list.  This can be a useful book for counsellors wishing to use this technique, and may even be useful for those wishing to explore their own fantasies and dreams.  It is written in easy to understand language, with principles stated and then demonstrated.  Stewart's companion book, which grew out of the writing of the first, has more graphics.  The Dictionary of Images and Symbols in Counselling (1998), is a literal dictionary, organized alphabetically, of images and their possible symbolic meanings and applications.  While most of the entries are concise and therefore brief, a few extend for pages, especially when the specifics may have different significances.  For instance, after "Flower Symbolism," there follows 5 pages of what specific flowers may mean.  His bibliography for the dictionary is small but but good.  There is an extensive index.  After the "Contents", there is a categorization of many symbols into 8 thematic groups. 

  In a work somewhat comparable to Stewart's pair, Anthony Stevens provides a guide to understanding the symbols we experience in life in Ariadne's Clue:  A Guide to the Symbols of Humankind (1999.)  Although Stevens does not provide a suggested means of eliciting symbols, he does specifically state that the book is for more than dream interpretation. 

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General:


•   The Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism; Moon, Beverly, ed.  An Encyclopedia of Archetypal Symbolism, vol 1.  Boston: Shambhala, 1991.    BL603.A72 1991.
•   The Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism, and Elder, George R.  An Encyclopedia of Archetypal Symbolism, vol 2.  Boston: Shambhala, 1996.    BL603.A72 1991.
•   Cashdan, Sheldon.  The Witch Must Die:  How Fairy Tales Shape Our Lives.  New York:  Basic Books, 1999.  283pp., 0-465-09148-2.  GR550.C39 1999. 
•   Clift, Jean Dalby, and Clift, Wallace B.  The Archetype of Pilgrimage:  Outer Action with Inner Meaning.  Mahwah, N.J.:  Paulist Press, 1996.  182pp., 0-8091-3599-X.    BL619.P5C57 1996.
•   Dyer, Donald R.  Cross-Currents of Jungian Thought:  An Annotated Bibliography.  Boston: Shambhala, 1991.  491pp.; 0-87773-904-8.  BF109.J8D93 1991.
•   Fontana, David.  The Secret Language of Symbols:  A Visual Key to Symbols and Their Meanings.  San Francisco:  Chronicle Books, 1993.  192pp.; 0-8118-0462-3.    [PO201] BF458.F56 1994.
•   Franz, Marie Louise von.  Individuation in Fairy Tales, rev. ed.  Boston:  Shambhala, 1990.  230pp., 0-87773-525-5.  GR550.F7 1990. 
•   Franz, Marie Louise von.  Time:  Rhythm and Repose.  London:  Thames & Hudson, 1978.  96pp., 0-500-81016-8.    [PJ128]. 
•   James, William.  The Varieties of Religious Experience.   London:  Longmans Green, 1908. 
•   Jung, C. G., ed.  Man and His Symbols.   London:  Aldus Books, 1964.    [PK310] BF173 .J735 1964b
•     ____________.  Alchemical Studies, translated by R.F.C. Hull.  Princeton, N.J.:  Princeton University Press, 1967.  Vol. 13 of The Collected Works of C. G. Jung; 444 pp.    BF23 .J763 1953 v.13
•     ____________.  Mandala Symbolism, extracted from The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, vol. 9, pt. 1, of the Collected Works of C. G. Jung.  Princeton, N.J.:  Princeton University Press/Bollingen, 1972.  121pp.; 0-691-01781-6    [PJ288]
•     ____________.  Symbols of Transformation::  An Analysis of the Prelude to a Case of Schizophrenia, translated by R.F.C. Hull.  Princeton, N.J.:  Princeton University Press, 1967.  Vol. 5 of The Collected Works of C. G. Jung; 557 pp.    BF23 .J763 1953 v.5 1967.

  Dream interpretation:

  
•   Campbell, Joseph, assisted by Abadie, M. J..  The Mythic Image.  Princeton, NJ:  Princeton University Press, 1974.  552pp., 0-691-09869-7.   BL311.C274. 
•   Fontana, David.  The Secret Language of Dreams:  A Visual Key to Dreams and Their Meanings.  San Francisco:  Chronicle Books, 1994.  176 pp.; 0-8118-0791-6.    [PP261] BF175.5.D74F66 1994.
•   Franz, Marie-Louise von.  Dreams.  Boston:  Shambhala, 1991.  197 pp., 0-87773-901-3.  BF1078.F6514 1990.
•   Franz, Marie-Louise von.  On Dreams and Death:  A Jungian Interpretation, translation of Traum and Tod by Emmanuel Xipolitas Kennedy and Vernon Brooks.  Boston:  Shambhala, 1987.  193 pp., 0-87773-405-4.  BF1099.D4F7313 1987.
•   Freud, Sigmund.  The Interpretation of Dreams, .  Die Traumdeutung, originally published 1899; revised translated by Joyce Crick.  Originally published   Oxford:  Oxford University Press, 1999.  458 pp., 0-19-210049-1.  BF1078.F72 1999.
•   Freud, Sigmund and Oppenheim, D. E.  Dreams in Folklore. New York, International Universities Press, 1958.  Tranlated from the German by J. Strachey.  111 pp.  BF1079.F693.
•   Guiley, Rosemary Ellen.  The Encyclopedia of Dreams:  Symbols and Interpretations.  New York:  Crossroad, 1993.  206pp., 0-8245-1240-5.  BF1091.G84 1993. 
•   Hall, James A.  Clinical Uses of Dreams:  Jungian Interpretations and Enactments.  New York:  Grune & Stratton, 1977.  367pp., 0-8089-1053-1.  BF1078. H26. 
•     Jung, C. G..  Flying Saucers:  A Modern Myth, translated by R.F.C. Hull.  New York:  MJF Books, 1978.  138pp.    [HP093] 1-5673-121-0.

  Active Imagination:

  
•   Hall, James A.  Clinical Uses of Dreams:  Jungian Interpretations and Enactments.  New York:  Grune & Stratton, 1977.  367pp., 0-8089-1053-1.  BF1078. H26. 
•   Stevens, Anthony.  Ariadne's Clue:  A Guide to the Symbols of Humankind.  Princeton, NJ:  Princeton University Press, 1998.  465pp., 0-691-00459-5.  BF458.S74 1999. 
•   Stewart, William.  Dictionary of Images and Symbols in Counselling.  (London:  Jessica Kingsley, 1998)  430pp; 1-85302-412-0..     BF637.C6S7675
• Stewart, William.  Imagery and Symbolism in Counselling.  (London:  Jessica Kingsley, 1996), 293 pp, 1-85302-350-7.  BF458.S78 1996.

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