The Full Moon, the Eclipse, and the Language of Dreams

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photo: Rebecca D'arcy

As the full moon approaches, I’ve been thinking about dreams, and the way they can bring us into contact with parts of ourselves that are not always accessible in waking life. 

On the 28^th of August 2026, the full moon will coincide with a partial lunar eclipse. From a Jungian perspective, the symbolism of the Moon and eclipse offers an interesting way of thinking about the relationship between consciousness and the unconscious.

The eclipse provides a useful psychological symbol. Something is temporarily hidden by shadow, but it hasn't disappeared. We all have aspects of ourselves that can remain outside conscious awareness, dwelling in shadow. Shadow might hold feelings we have pushed aside, or parts of our identity we haven't fully explored, or experiences that we have not yet been able to process. 

Sometimes a dream gives these things an image. Jung believed that dreams can compensate for what is missing from our conscious awareness. They may bring attention to feelings, conflicts or possibilities that we have overlooked or are not yet able to recognise. This is one reason I sometimes work with dreams in psychotherapy.

A dream isn't something I would interpret for you. Instead, we might explore the images together and begin with your own associations. We may explore questions such as -

• What does the house, person, animal, or landscape in your dream mean to you?

• If other people in the dream might represent a part of yourself, what might the dream be expressing?

• What feelings does the dream evoke?

• Is there something happening in your waking life that the dream might be connected to?

Marie-Louise von Franz, a close collaborator of Jung, emphasised the importance of staying with the dreamer's own associations rather than relying on fixed meanings or dream dictionaries. The same image can mean something quite different to different people.

If you have a recurring dream, a dream that has stayed with you, or simply a sense that your dreams are trying to tell you something, exploring them in therapy can be a way of beginning to understand what is happening beneath the surface. Or, if you find it difficult to remember dreams, keeping a dream journal, and sharing dream fragments in therapy can become a step towards a richer dream life.

Depth psychotherapy isn't about finding one dream meaning. It is about developing a relationship with the deeper layers of your own psyche, and becoming curious about what dream symbols may be showing you.

One simple way to become more familiar with your dreams is to keep a dream journal. Keep a notebook and pen beside your bed and, before getting up, write down whatever you can remember – even if it is only a feeling, image, fragment or single word. Don't worry about making sense of it. The more attention you give your dreams, the more readily you may begin to remember them. Over time, you may also start noticing recurring images, characters, places, or themes.

Once you have recorded a dream, you can spend some time with it, rather than immediately trying to interpret it.

Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams, by Lisa Marchiano, Deborah Stewart and Joseph Lee, suggests a number of ways of engaging more deeply with dream material, including reflecting on the emotions and images within the dream, and allowing the dream to continue through active imagination.

You might return to a particular image from the dream and write freely about it, imagining what happens next or allowing a conversation to develop between yourself and a dream figure. You can also draw the dream or one of its images, without worrying about artistic ability. Sometimes working creatively with a dream allows something to emerge that isn't accessible through words alone. Try not to force an interpretation, but instead stay curious and develop a relationship with the dream, and what it may be showing you.

I work with dreams as part of my depth-psychological and Jungian-informed approach to psychotherapy. If you would like to explore your dreams or something that is emerging beneath the surface of your everyday life, please get in touch. 

You can find out more about working with me here .