On analyzing dreams

I've been dreaming a lot lately... a LOT! At first it was almost impossible to remember but now they're shooting out of my brain every morning like a freaking firehose, to the point I'm having problems keeping up with them.

Anyway, with all this dreaming, I wanted to explore dream analysis more, and I found a great site. Some quotes that stood out are:

Jung felt that the dream acted as a mirror for the ego – revealing that which was missing from the consciousness of the dreamer. For Jung the dream acted as a teacher and guide on the road toward wholeness. The dream acted in such a way as to amend a lop sided or partial perspective on life. A series of dreams would develop, balance and refine the conscious awareness of the dreamer.

The ego cannot escape its destined encounter with the unconscious. Take for example the problem of love and hate. What we fail to see in ourselves we often find attractive in other. What we deny within, we battle outwardly. So too, the circumstances of our life are often designed to teach us exactly what it is that we need to learn. Illness often conceals a hidden wisdom. The ego cannot escape the unconscious just as we cannot escape our own birth.

The dream serves as a bridge between the conscious and unconscious mind. For the dream belongs to the twilight zone of consciousness – where the ego and the unconscious meet. The conscious element of the dream lies in its remembrance, the unconscious element lies in its mystery and perplexity. Half conscious, half unconscious, the dream unites the known and the unknown. To listen to the dream is to listen to the unconscious. Through doing so one relieves the need for the unconscious to force itself.

A dream serves as a mirror. In looking into the dream you see yourself from another angle. For a correct analysis of the dream, it needs to be appreciated as a statement of fact, albeit from an alternate perspective. A dream does not tell you what to do, rather it show you what you are doing.

Process

The writer suggests the following:

1. Write the dream down
2. List all the components of the dream (people, places or circumstances)
3. Write down all your associations to the dream elements
4. Amplify the dream (taking various themes and symbols from the dream and finding similar material in mythology, psychology or others areas related to the study of symbolism)
5. Think about recent events and go over the material, tossing and turning the dream in your head

This process is similar to what I already do, with some useful additions; amplifying the dream and thinking consciously about recent events. I do both already but in a hit or miss kind of way, but I think these two steps, done consistenly, will help draw out more from the dreams than I've been getting. I feel like there's a lot there but I'm missing it, and I hope this will help. I have a dream from a couple of night ago to try this out on.