House

The most common interpretation of the house is that it symbolizes the dreamer or his psychological structure—the entirety of his psyche, including the unconscious.

A house in a dream can reflect the personality of its inhabitant. (Cf. Home.) A frequent theme involves the dreamer exploring the house and discovering new rooms or spaces, likely illustrating the inner world, which can never be fully explored and always has the potential to surprise with new "rooms." These unexpected elements might represent repressed material (see Room, Forbidden), newly emerging contents previously unknown to the dreamer, unconscious complexes, inherited or archetypal material, a positive aspect of oneself, or a budding interest moving toward consciousness.  

Houses, like places in general, and companions, reveal the "situation" of life the dreamer is in, the influences at play, or the part of life or personality being reflected in the dream.  

Living and Life-Giving

Understanding the house in our dreams can be enhanced if we view it not as a static object but as something living and dynamic. The house is a sacred space; some speculate that houses were originally constructed to protect the fire, that is, our warm, life-sustaining center. When interpreting a dream, it helps to "sense" the place and attune oneself to the house as a representation of the current dynamics of the psyche.  

A Soulful and Intellectual Dwelling  

More specifically, the house serves as a depiction of our soulful and intellectual state at a given moment, largely shaped by our personal history (assuming it is a dwelling house). It represents, in essence, our mostly unconscious soul-house. The dream reveals what is currently unfolding within this inner environment. (See "Situation" below.)  

Houses have, throughout time, provided the positive function of shielding us from the dangers of the external world—inside is light, warmth, and safety, while outside is dark, cold, and perilous. This construction always reflects certain cultural and collective characteristics. Symbolically, however, the negative aspect of this protection is that we may become trapped within the situation the house describes in the dream. To be receptive to new (spiritual and intellectual) impressions, we may need to leave our house, at least temporarily.  

Bodily dwelling and protection  

The house functions as a kind of external skin, the “third skin” (with clothing being the second)—our “house-body.” Depending on the context, there are certain similarities with shoe as a symbol—it is something (attitude, etc.) that protects us. The house is an advanced adaptation to external circumstances, which in turn means that it generally symbolizes “the totality of our situation,” including our conscious attitude.  

The walls protect the inner from the outer, with the door we can let others in, and with the windows we can look out as if they were our eyes; they offer openings to the outside world. This self of ours can be open or closed to the outside world, which dreams sometimes illustrate.  

Types of houses  

To be able to make any assessments of the house’s significance in dreams, we need to know more about it. If it is a strange house in the forest, it likely describes a part of ourselves that we are unaware of; if it is our childhood home, the dream may address the “parental dynamics” we carry with us, or a parental complex; if it is one’s own home, the dream may illustrate a current issue related to private life. Additionally, is the house in good or bad condition, is it a shack or a villa, dark or bright, etc.?  

A house in a city can represent the city as a symbol, as an embodiment of the collective, culture, general adaptation.  

Front and Back

The front of the house represents the side we want to show to others and the side we are perhaps conscious of, while the back can represent more hidden, repressed, secret, or unconscious aspects of ourselves—what comes from behind (the unconscious). (Compare Backyard.) In dreams, the front may reflect what we present to others, and the back the more "real" self.  

Floors  

In general, the basement expresses our unconscious (perhaps darker, more instinctive parts), the ground floor possibly earthy aspects, the upper floor may lie closer to consciousness, and the attic again represents our unconscious, but perhaps on a more intuitive level.  

The Rooms of the House  

If one dreams of being in a house, it is wise to particularly note which room the dream takes place in. One must assume that different rooms have distinct meanings: the kitchen is a place for transformation; the living room for social, often more conscious activities; the bedroom may be associated with sexuality or the meeting with the unconscious (sleep); the bathroom is considered private, a place where we cleanse ourselves, and so on. (See respective rooms.)

Intruders

The common dream of someone or several people trying to break into one's house likely means that a shadow aspect or similar content is attempting “to gain access to the conscious personality to promote wholeness” (Privata myter, p. 227). (Compare Being chased.)

The House as a Situation

The house can also represent a situation in life—being in a house can be seen as being in a situation, and the dreamer needs to understand which situation the dream describes. It might reflect an ongoing psychological situation or change. For example, if one has undergone a healthy change, one might dream of buying a new, beautiful house; if one is unable to change an unfortunate psychological situation, one might dream that one’s house is in poor condition.

However, a building that starts to decay might also indicate that a change has begun internally—a psychological structure is on its way to being replaced. If inner renewal is underway, one might dream of renovation. If one is at the mercy of unconscious emotions, one might dream of the house burning. If a complex has been activated during the day, one might dream of being in a particular, possibly unpleasant house at night, as an illustration of the emerging psychological situation.  

The house is a form of protection; in dreams, it can illustrate a belief, attitude, traditions, or habits. Losing this protection makes one a nomad.  

Demolition and Collapse

Buildings being demolished in dreams can illustrate a rigid state (or "coagulated," to use alchemical terminology) breaking down to extract something valuable. For example, one’s libido might be tied up in a parental complex or myth; if the parental home is demolished in a dream, it might symbolize the breaking apart of a rigid state and the liberation of the dreamer’s own energy. (The parental home is often an expression of the parental complex in dreams.)  

Our Habits and Our History

Houses can also represent habitual attitudes, how we tend to live our lives, as well as attitudes and beliefs.  

If we are in a house that is dull and uninspiring, this could reflect how we tend to view or live our lives. A house is built by humans and represents our everyday life and individual history—especially so if it concerns the childhood home. (This contrasts with trees, which illustrate our autonomous, unconscious developmental process.)  

The House as a Vessel and Hearth

In dreams, changes sometimes occur in a house, perhaps one we are visiting. Symbolically, the house becomes a vessel for transformation. Like the vessel, the house can be an expression of the Self, the totality—"the whole." Another feminine association is house-hearth-Hestia, meaning that the house can symbolize a motherly quality or the otherwise absent feminine, and so forth.  

The Jungian analyst Barbarah Hanna recounts that she often dreamed of the old Elizabethan house where her godmother had lived, adding that "Jung always saw it as the house of the Self." (Encounters with the Soul, p. 55.)  

The house as our vessel also appears in dreams where it is at risk of being damaged or destroyed by natural phenomena such as floods, storms, falling trees, and so on. In this context, the dream might express that the dreamer lacks a "vessel" large or strong enough to receive the influx of the unconscious, often of an archetypal nature. According to Jason Smith, this is common nowadays because we lack symbols that can divert the contents of the unconscious away from the ego; the "vessel" is too small and fragile to hold and manage the influx alone. (Religious but Not Religious, loc. 1783f.)  

The House as One’s Inner Self

The house in a dream can be an illustration of one’s inner self, making it worthwhile to observe the state of the house: Is it spacious and luxurious, or dark and cluttered, well-furnished or cramped? Are doors locked, blinds drawn, and so forth?  

Toward the end of his collaboration with Freud, Jung dreamed that he was exploring a house, descending to the ground floor and then further down into the basement, where he found a trapdoor leading to an even lower level. The deeper he went into the house, the older the rooms became, until he finally reached a cave room beneath the house. He interpreted this to mean that the house’s levels reflected the levels of the psyche, which gave him a hint of what he would later call the collective unconscious. (Mitt liv, p. 151f.)  

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