The Dream Book of Self-Knowledge
- wedding dreams usually foretell the actual unification of emotional components of the psyche that appear in dreams in various forms with the bride and groom no longer present.
- a wedding is an important symbol on the path to self-improvement; through the figure of the bride and groom the life of the dream girl (maiden) – emotional anima – or woman – instinctual anima – merges with the figure of the dream man (virgin) – emotional animus or man – instinctual animus so that the divided emotional or instinctual anima – animus components can unify in a symbolic wedding ceremony; we can then recognize based on the bride's traits on which level of experience the unification is located and which level of experience the dreamer is reaching; a condition for a successful unification on the emotional level is an understanding of the aspects of emotional anima and emotional animus; only in this way is a person secure from the usual fall to the instinctual level of experience by the degradation of the symbol of the bride in the arms of the groom and is allowed to ascend to the spiritual level of experience; a condition for a successful unification on the instinctual level is understanding the aspects of the instinctual anima and instinctual animus without the presence of sex.
- the dreamer's attempt to marry a prince: symbolizes the unconscious desire to join with the spiritual animus; such dreams often appear at the start of the spiritual path when the dreamer tries to free himself from the shackles of earthly life.
