The Dream in Terminal Illness: A Jungian Formulation

One of the most important distinguishing precepts of analytical psychology is expressed in the idea that ‘the great problems in life … are always related to the primordial images of the collective unconscious’ (Jung 1921, p. 373). The present article addresses the ramifications of this with specific reference to the role and therapeutic potential of dreams manifesting during the dying process. An attempt is made to relate the subjective experiences and nocturnal dreams of a terminally ill cancer patient to Jungian theory, the aim being to better inform our clinical treatment and understanding of the dying. The ‘primordial images’ which pertain to the problems and mysteries of life are considered to be derivatives and representational experiences of those a priori ordering principles in the collective psyche to which Jung gave the term ‘archetypes’ (Jung 1936b). These archetypal images are to be distinguished from the archetype ‘as such’, by which is meant an essentially unknowable and phylogenetically determined factor which underlies and structures individual experience of typical, universal situations (ibid.).

Archetypal images are manifested, Whitmont informs us, primarily under three conditions: in the analytic situation, when the focus proceeds beyond the purely subjective and personal; in psychotic delusions and hallucinations; and, finally, ‘when inner or outer events which are particularly stark, threatening or powerful must be faced, when there is a state of psychic or physical emergency’ (Whitmont 1969, p. 74). As regards the latter category, the transitional stages in the life cycle-puberty, mid-life, and death-are of particular significance. It is in fact a fundamental tenet of Jungian theory that the negotiation of these universal critical stages is inspired, anticipated, and orchestrated by the archetypal symbol (Jung 1948b).

Firstly, it might be argued that the initial impetus towards transformation