White

White represents daylight, clarity, and order. It is generally a color of enlightenment and consciousness. White is pure and incorruptible; bathing in white milk spiritually purifies a person, and so forth.

The Good and the Pure

In the New Testament, angels are described as wearing shining white clothes: “… his clothes were white as snow” (Matt. 28:3); at the Transfiguration, Christ’s clothes become “white as light” (Matt. 17:3). The white bird symbolizes the Holy Spirit.

In the modern yet intuitively written and archetypically rich The Lord of the Rings, Saruman is no longer “the White” once he becomes interested in the Rings of Power, while Gandalf, upon returning from death, dons white robes, symbolizing the purification and subsequent elevation he has undergone.

Similarly, in Christian tradition, initiates wear white clothing at baptism, symbolizing a state of spiritual purity. The practice of initiates wearing white is universal. White, therefore, generally symbolizes purity and blamelessness. (Dream Interpretation Ancient and Modern, p. 109.)

Alchemy

In the alchemical process, white follows the blackness of prima materia. However, white is bloodless and fleeting; the next stage of the process involves turning the material red.

Killing the White

If dreams depict the killing of the white lamb, white dove, or similar symbols, this may indicate that the dreamer must relinquish an idealistic or infantile attitude for individuation to progress. Likely, darkness will follow—nigredo—explaining the dreamer’s resistance to sacrificing this stance for continued development.

White as a dream image can sometimes express who we are and aspire to be consciously. Meanwhile, darker shades may be more desirable as they symbolize the new and growing aspects of the self. 

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