A Clinical Note on the Ego Meaning of Certain Dreams of Flying

In the light of developing knowledge of ego psychology, it is perhaps justifiable to note the ego meaning which certain dreams of flying may have. That they often have a sexual meaning was pointed out long ago by Freud (2, p. 138), who noted that an airplane being able to elevate itself in defiance of gravity makes it appropriate as a phallic symbol in dreams. He referred also to the regressive sexual pleasure in dreams of flying oneself, unaided, which he regarded as typical repetition of the pleasurable sensations derived by the passive child who was tossed and caught by an adult (3, pp. 271-272).

Bond (1) amply demonstrated how often the airplane, as an unconscious, powerful phallus, and the sensation of flight, as a denial of the castration complex, lead to the conscious exultation experienced by pilots when they fly, and their psychological dependence on it.1 Flight, he points out, may be unconsciously equated with intercourse and, like incestuous wishes in the Oedipal situation, be fraught with danger. In the same vein Gatto observes that the basic universal fear of flying 'is merely another expression, whether fully instinctive or partially learned, of the fear of death, injury, or mutilation' (4, p. 1099). Like Freud, Bond also recognized the regressive aspects attached to flying in the unconscious, particularly in flying personnel who were not actually pilots. The important point here is the pleasure derived from being passively dependent on the pilot and the aircraft, which are endowed with a magic omnipotence. This same sense of omnipotence may also be utilized as a defense against the anxiety evoked by being forced into a position of passivity in a highly dangerous situation.

We wish to call attention to some dreams of flying in which