Endangered Species -or- Silent Spring in the Global Village

Dreamer: Melaney, 18, American

Last night I dreamt I was walking through some woods and spied a giant panda bending over a creek and drinking from it.

Mr. Hagen's Reply: Endangered Species -or- World Wildlife Fund

I remember seeing in the news a number of years back that a baby panda was born in captivity in the States somewhere. For the Chinese, a dream such as yours would be an important sign since pandas are considered a symbol of peace.

Freud interpreted animal figures as representing inborn memories of totem worship. Animals represented characteristics that were personified and applied to individuals or groups of humans by being placed on their totems. Carl Jung said that animal images are archetypes carrying messages of our ancestral animal life.

Bruno Bettelheim (a Freudian psychoanalyst) saw the animal as a symbol of the Freudian "id". Bettelheim recognized two types of animals in fairy tales: the dangerous and the benevolent. The benevolent ones symbolized natural energies directed towards the welfare of the whole personality. The dangerous ones satisfied instincts alone. Bettelheim's analysis of animals found in fairy tales may also be applied to animals in dreams. According to the World Wildlife Fund website whose logo is the panda there are only an estimated 1600 pandas alive. From an environmental movement perspective Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (video clip) brought the dangers of the destruction of the environment to the public's attention. From a popular film perspective Star Trek The Voyage Home (watch film trailer) warns us of the dangers surrounding the destruction of our environment and the planet Earth.

On a final note, "The Rite of Spring" by Igor Stravinsky is based on the pagan rituals surrounding the cycles of nature. Watch Disney's version of The Rites of Spring: Part 1, Part 2

Further Reading:

Bruno Bettelheim's "The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales"

All material Copyright 2006 International Institute for Dream Research. All rights reserved.