CHILD

The child of nature archetype inspires deep, intimate bonding with natural forces. Although the nature child is loving and giving, it can also have an inner toughness and ability to survive—the resilience of Nature herself. Nature children can develop advanced skills of communicating with animals, and in dreams reflecting this archetype, an animal often comes to the rescue of its child companion. Such dreams can reflect a compassionate, nature-loving aspect of our character, or the need to stop abusing the environment (understood in its widest sense) and reconnect with nature.

The magical child embodies qualities of wisdom and courage in the face of difficult circumstances. In dreams, it suggests the power of imagination and the belief that everything is possible. If, however, the magic is not put to positive use, the dream image is a negative one, and indicates lack of energy and action in waking life.

The orphan child is the major character in most well-known children’s stories, including ‘Bambi’, ‘Cinderella’, ‘Hansel and Gretel’, ‘The Little Mermaid’, ‘Little Orphan Annie’, ‘The Matchstick Girl’, ‘Snow White’ and many more. The pattern in these stories is often reflected in the dreams of people who feel from birth as if they are not a part of their family or community, or who fear surviving alone in this world.

The wounded child archetype in dreams holds the memories of the abuse, neglect and other traumas that may have been endured during childhood. From a spiritual perspective, a wounded childhood cracks open the learning path of forgiveness. The shadow aspect may manifest as an abiding sense of self-pity, a tendency to blame your parents for your current shortcomings and to resist moving on through forgiveness.

Whilst dreams about children that never grow old reveal a determination to remain eternally young in body, mind, and spirit, they can also suggest an inability to grow up and embrace the responsible life of an adult. Peter Pan is the most obvious example of this archetype—he resists ending a cycle of life in which he is free to live outside the boundaries of conventional adulthood. For women, this archetype may manifest as extreme dependency on those who take charge of their physical security. A consistent inability to be relied on, and the inability to accept the aging process, are also markers of this archetype.

Carl Jung claimed that the dream symbol of a child is a metaphor for the forgotten things in childhood. For example, your dream may be telling you that you have forgotten how to play, or that you should take a more innocent, carefree attitude. The symbol of the child also represents possibilities and paves the way for future changes in the personality. In addition, it can also represent the part of you that needs security and reassurance.

See also BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD.

See also Childhood Recollections.

(2) The child may* be a symbol of vour true self, that which is essentially you and which you are capable of unfolding. The fact that your real self is represented by a child suggests that your true self is a

CHILDHOOD RECOLLECTIONS

beautiful unspoilt product of Nature; that it is worthy of unreserved love; and that it needs the nourishment of your love if it is to grow and unfold all its loveliness.

(3) If the child has some divine aura (e.g. if it is the Christ-child), what is symbolized is as in (2) above. The aura represents the transcendent nature of the self: it is much more than your conscious ego or your present image of yourself; it holds together the opposites that are within you (e.g. conscious and unconscious, ‘head’ and ‘heart’, extroversion and introversion, masculine and feminine), and it is your ultimate goal and fulfilment (for self).

(4) The child may represent (the possibility of) a new beginning, a new development in your psyche - a new attitude to life, a new set of values, a new balance of your psychic forces, a new reconciliation of previously conflicting forces. The child in you is the growing-point in you.

(5) There is in all of us a child - our emotional self - that often needs reassurance, to be told that all is well and there is no cause for fear, or anger, or guilt, and that love makes all things good and dissolves all pain. At the same time the child sometimes needs to be chided and corrected if it is eventually to - as it should - grow up.

A teenage child represents glad tidings or dispelling one’s worries.

If one sees a beautiful looking teenage child entering a town or descending from the skies or appearing from beneath the ground in a dream, it means that the glad tidings will take effect shortly. Seeing a mature child in a dream means power and superiority.

If one sees himself as a child learning in school in a dream, it means that he will repent of a common sin he is used to commit.

If one sees one of the renowned people of knowledge sitting in a kindergarten and learning along with other children in a dream, it means that he will shift to ignorance, lose his rank, or that financial changes will affect his living conditions.

If one sees himself receiving instructions like a child in a dream, it means that he will receive an inheritance from his mother. Ifone sees himself as a newborn child in a dream, it means that he will become wealthy and prosper.

If a young boy sees himself in a dream as a child, it has a negative meaning.

If a sick person sees himself as a child in a dream, it means his death.

If one sees himself as a child being reprimanded in a dream, it means that he will be conquered. In a dream, if one looks in a mirror and sees his face to be that of a child, and ifhis wife is pregnant, it means that she will beget a son who will look like his father. Carrying a baby child in a dream means distress and burdens.

A child in a dream represents a weak enemy who sometime shows friendliness and at other times demonstrates his enmity. Ifone sees that his wife has just delivered children who are playing around him in a dream, it means distress or misfortune and the consequences could be either good or bad. Carrying a child in a dream means managing an inheritance or a financial investment. Ifan elderly person sees himselfroaming as a little child in a dream, it means that he will commit an act of ignorance or lose his dignity, ideals or sense of honor. On the other hand, if such an elderly person who sees himself in a dream as a little child is suffering from depression or financial difficulties or health problems, then it means relief from distress and good health and that he will become free from his sins, like the day his mother gave birth to him.

If one sees that he has a little child who disdains from coming near his father in the dream, it means financial promotion and enjoyment of one’s life. Ifone sees a little child screaming in his lap in a dream, it means that he plays a string instrument. Children in a dream also could mean either sorrow and pain or happiness and joy.

If they are one’s own children in the dream, then they mean temptation with money. Children in a dream also could mean contentment with little or loss of one’s means to earn his livelihood or they could mean money or marriage or a flourishing business. Bereavement of a child in a dream means the opposite in real life. It also means rejoicing, reunions, pleasures and earning respect. Bereavement of a child in a dream is sometimes interpreted to portray an intention of one’s children or wife to separate from the family.

A little male child in a dream represents worries, responsibilities, hard work, catering to ignorant people or dealing with trivial and time wasting people.

If a prisoner sees himself carrying a little girl in his dream, it means that he will be released from his prison.

If one who is going through hard times sees himself holding a little girl in a dream, it means that his adversities will be lifted.

If he is poor, it means that he will thrive for success and the little girl then represents his glad tidings.