The Dream Book of Self-Knowledge
- being inspected: the unconscious is telling the dreamer that he is passive in everyday life, that he should have a much more active approach to experiences and matters in the emotional realm.
- the state of one's psyche can be clearly recognized in the symbol of an inspection in dreams; if at the very start of the self-improvement process we inspect regular external objects and people, and fall into temptation with their images, then in a later developmental phase the dreamer inspects symbols linked to emotions, and even feelings and emotions themselves so as to learn to fully control his consciousness in various unwanted states (e.g. images of sex are an unwanted state for the ascetic) and the entire developmental process culminates in perfect indifference to the viewed inspections.
- the object or person (see individual symbols) can also tell us much about the state of mind; it is unfortunate for a person's development if the inspected objects are sexual symbols and the inspected people fall into the category of instinctual anima, instinctual animus.
- inspecting performed work of subordinates: positive for the future since the will becomes a controlling element and leads the dreamer to the gradual assimilation of the instinctual by the emotional and rational; the frequent appearance of this image in dreams attests to the dreamer's diligence in his self-improvement.
- controlled fall (willful flight without technical means might precede it): this is an active imagination experience in which at least temporary depersonalization in waking consciousness has rid the person in the dream of his ego and he, unburdened by personality, can experience one of the many dream miracles; for more on this interesting phenomenon see the Active Imagination archetype.
- inspecting one's feelings and thoughts: this image confirms that a similar activity has passed from the waking consciousness to the subconscious and into dreams and is becoming an important factor in the self-improvement process, which enables a view of unforgotten experiences of the Active Imagination archetype.
