A dictonary of symbols

J. E. Cirlot

Introduction, The symbolic meaning of dreams, page 41

“What a myth represents for a people, for any one culture, or for any given moment of history, is represented for the individual by the symbolic images of dreams, by visions and by fantasy or lyricism. This distinction does not imply dichotomy: many dreams have been known to express premonitions. But when the symbol—or the premonition—goes beyond the particular and the subjective, we find ourselves in the realm of augury and prophecy; symbolic laws can explain both phenomena, but the latter may be a revelation of the supernatural. Given our contemporary psychoanalytic concept of the “unconscious,” we must accept the placing within it of all those dynamic forms which give rise to symbols; for, according to Jung’s way of thinking, the unconscious is “the matrix of the human mind and its inventions” (33). The unconscious was “discovered” theoretically by Charcot, Bernheim, Janet, Freud and other psychologists. But this newly acquired knowledge merely showed to be internal what had formerly been thought to be external to Man. For example, Greek seers believed that dreams came from “without,” that is, from the domain of the gods. Now, esoteric tradition, in accordance with the Hindu doctrine of the three planes of consciousness, had always been aware that the vertical division of thought could also be seen on three levels: the subconscious (instinctive and affective thought); consciousness (ideological and reflexive thought); and superconsciousness (intuitive thought and the higher truths). Hence, by way of simplification, we shall adopt the Jungian term “unconscious” instead of “subconscious,” since one rightly asks oneself when dealing with many authors: “How can they be so certain that the unconscious is ‘lower’ and not ‘higher’ than the conscious?”