Man and His Symbols

The third installment of Man and His Symbols is written by Marie-Louise von Franz, another Jungian psychologist who specializes in the interpretation of alchemical manuscripts and fairy tales. Von Franz begins this portion of the work by explaining that on top of the interpretation of dreams within the context of the individual’s current circumstances, there is also a lifelong dream pattern that emerges upon careful observation. Images and sequences may repeat throughout a person’s life, appearing and reappearing in slightly different forms. Jung referred to this pattern as “the process of individuation” (129). These unconscious messages or tendencies seem to guide the individual in a particular direction of psychic growth, or individuation. It is a process of maturing and growing into oneself. This process is often symbolized by an image of a tree in a dream because trees represent a process of gradual and involuntary growth.

The process of individuation is regulated by the Self, the center, or the whole psyche. It may also be referred to as the soul, or as von Franz points out, as the Mista-peo or “Great Man” in the Naskapi tribe of the Canadian province Newfoundland and Labrador.