On dreams and death
Marie-Louise Von Franz
(My note: This passage of the book is translated by me from the original Czech version, so there might be some mistakes. The page may not match the original either).
On dreams and death, Introduction, page 8
The analysis of elder people provides a great wealth of dream symbols that mentally prepare them for impending death. Although C.G. Jung emphasized that the unconscious psyche pays relatively little attention to death as the abrupt end of bodily life, it does as if the mental life or individualization process of the individual simply continue. In this context, however, we encounter dreams that symbolically suggest the theme of the end of bodily life and the explicit continuation of life after death. The unconscious clearly “believes” in life after death. A skeptic could, of course, argue that such dreams are based on mere desire, but the following can be objected to: The fact that dreams reflect only unconscious desires does not correspond to general experience at all. Jung, on the other hand, showed that dreams usually depict a completely objective, natural “natural event” that was not influenced by the wishes of the self. In cases where the dreamer has the illusion of an imminent death or is unaware of its proximity, dreams often appear that brutally and ruthlessly announce it, such as: the watch itself stops and can no longer be started; the dreamer will see his defeated tree of life lying on the ground. Sometimes the death is even more pronounced: One colleague was working with a young woman who had cancerous metastases all over her body that eventually affected the brain, so she was unconscious most of the time. However, the analyst continued to visit her and sit quietly with her. Twenty-four hours before she died, she suddenly opened her eyes and said that she had the following dream:
I stand next to my bed in the hospital room and feel strong and healthy. The sun shines through the window. A doctor came and said, “Yes, Miss X, you have been completely healed unexpectedly. You can get dressed and leave the hospital. ” Then I turned around and saw my dead body in the bed !
The comforting message of the unconscious about the death means “healing” and that life goes on, here clearly cannot be interpreted as a dream of desire; it is at the same time brutal and clearly predicts the end of bodily life.