The Dream Book of Self-Knowledge

Prince, princess

  • inner spiritual personifications of male (prince) and female (princess) principle; during a dream encounter with these spiritual personifications the dreamer usually assumes the role of his or her predominant component (i.e. a man fills the role of the dream prince and a woman the role of the dream princess).
  • even if the prince or princess is a child, this does not weaken their spiritual meaning in the unconscious.
  • the slightest moral lapse on the spiritual level (of a prince or princess) bears with it a tempest of emotions.
  • once sexuality enters the life of the prince or princess; their spiritual principle dissolves in the sensuality of instinctual experiences.
  • an ill, ailing princess: the dreamer's spiritual anima is overwhelmed by instinctual content of the psyche; the only way to heal a spiritual personification is by eradicating instinctual symbols; a very well-known tale of a lumberjack, who by cutting down the erotic-sexual symbols (trees) heals the princess, explores similar themes.
  • the dreamer cannot maintain an emotional bond with the spiritual personification (prince, princess), since this emotional bond would always betray him and reduce the relationship to the spiritual component to the emotional and later even to the instinctual level; the tale of "The Brave Blacksmith," in which friends try to drop the princess's liberator with a rope into an abyss; see Tale.
  • cursed or imprisoned princess: the dreamer's negative traits and dependencies prevent him from penetrating to the spiritual content of his own psyche (to the princess).
  • a frog turns into a prince or princess: love and a warm-hearted relationship to inner experiences in the subconscious mind enables the dreamer to discover the spiritual anima in the form of a cursed princess (spiritual animus in the form of a cursed prince).
  • liberating a princess: understanding of the spiritual anima from the perspective of the spiritual animus (usually a knight or prince).
  • everyone should be very careful in contact with princes or princesses since they do not necessarily always have the character of the spiritual personification; in understanding his own psyche a person will find within increasingly more masks or will identify with masks of various types of personalities (apotheosis23), then he can appear in dreams as, among other things, a beautiful princess or princess and similar masks without inner content as if tempted by the words: "Put me on and you will be perfect, beautiful and famous and all will envy you." (as soon as a person is trapped in this kind of labyrinth of masks of different personalities, he should immediately read the Treasure archetype).
  • parents of a prince or princess: see King, queen.
  • the dreamer's attempt to marry a princess or prince: symbolizes the unconscious desire to join with the spiritual anima or spiritual animus; such dreams often appear at the start of the spiritual path when the dreamer tries to free himself from these shackles of earthly life.
  • a prince with an epileptic fit (in the dreams of men): as soon as the instinctual animus touches or merely gazes upon the dream prince, an epileptic fit of the spiritual animus/prince will occur since when the instinctual and spiritual male components of the psyche make contact there is missing an equalizing factor, which should be the still underdeveloped or unconsciously suppressed spiritual anima; only through compassion for the anima (e.g. in seeing a girl suffering) can full and safe contact with the spiritual level be prepared; it is inevitable that if spiritual animus suffers then its antithesis – spiritual anima – must also suffer; in this case the role of the anima in the dreamer's consciousness must be strengthened, only then will the cause of the primary epilepsy be cured and the dreamer will be prepared to fully accept the principles of the spiritual level of consciousness.
  • a princess with an epileptic fit (in the dreams of women): as soon as the instinctual anima touches or merely gazes upon the dream princess, an epileptic fit of the spiritual anima/princess will occur, since when the instinctual and spiritual female components of the psyche make contact there is missing an equalizing factor, which should be the still underdeveloped or unconsciously suppressed spiritual animus; only through compassion for the animus (e.g. in seeing a boy suffering) can full and safe contact with the spiritual level be prepared; it is inevitable that if the spiritual anima suffers then its antithesis – the spiritual animus – must also suffer; in this case the role of the animus in the dreamer's consciousness must be strengthened, only then will the cause of the primary epilepsy be cured and the dreamer will be prepared to fully accept the principles of the spiritual level of consciousness.
  • the marriage of a prince and princess: a unifying act in the spiritual mind; the unification of the spiritual anima with the spiritual animus is a precursor to an understanding of the indivisible unity of existence over all antitheses.