As a supplement to our dreamwork here, I offer interested participants just such a study group experience outside our usual meeting times. In case anyone wishes to prepare with an introduction to the easily accessible Jungian literature, I have the following recommendations. A very popular starting point is to view the documentary film Matter of Heart. An excellent next step, to which many return again and again, is to read Man and His Symbols, which Jung and his colleagues wrote toward the end of his life for a general audience. On the other hand, many new initiates have been inspired by the more narrative approach in Memories, Dreams and Reflections, written by Jung and edited posthumously. Finally I recommend the lectures of Murray Stein, which is a superb basis for in-depth discussions.
Lest we may assume that a complete understanding of meaning may emerge with enough effort, it is worthwhile to recall Jung's results reported in volume 8 of his collected works. He noticed the enlivening effect on patients when the unconscious contents were elaborated. The released energy was so much that patients developed an urgent drive for interpretation of symbolic material. Jung eventually realized that
| interpretation should be limited, |
in fact, to just an amount as to drive further production of symbols, with a corresponding therapeutic effect. Similarly, we may assume that our dreamwork will enrich our lives without ever fully understanding why.
