Wish Fulfillment Dreams

By Ariadne Green
A woman dreaming of being in a relationship and embracing her boyfriend
The other day, a man shared his dream in which he won a lottery jackpot of !"","""#
The specific amount struck a chord of e$citement in him because he bought tickets for a
local lottery drawing in which the winning jackpot was !"","""# The dreamer wanted
my e$pert opinion as to whether % thought the dream was precogniti&e# 'e confessed he
was wishing, hoping and already making plans for how to spend the money# 'e e&en
consulted with another psychic who saw him with a new car# 'e said that, in fact, he
desperately needs a new car because his is on its last leg# Although there are se&eral
stories of lottery winners dreaming they had won before the drawing, the majority of
dreams like this one ha&e nothing to do with precognition# They are merely wish
fulfillment dreams#
%n the subconscious, our desires take shape# (ften they are merely in the form of a
fantasy of how nice it would be if we had that one thing we wanted most, especially
when we feel like we ha&e been gi&en the short end of the stick recently or ha&e been
met with a mountain of problems to which the solution is an uphill climb#
)igmund Freud was the first to identify dreams as wish fulfillment fantasies# %n fact, early
in his career he belie&ed it was the primary function of all dreams to fulfill desires
through which the dreamer could deri&e pleasure# %n *ew %ntroductory +ectures on
,sycho-Analysis Freud wrote, .in e&ery dream an instinctual wish has to be represented
as fulfilled# The shutting-off of mental life from reality at night and the regression to
primiti&e mechanisms which this makes possible enable this wished-for instinctual
satisfaction to be e$perienced in a hallucinatory manner.#
Freud was particularly obsessed with dreams that he belie&ed were of an infantile se$ual
nature, probably because he himself was fi$ated on the topic# Although dream e$perts
agree that some dreams do represent wish fulfillment, it is not the only function of our
dreaming life to fulfill desires#
%n contrast to Freud, /arl 0ung, the father of analytical psychology, contended that most
dreams are attitude-compensations# The attitudes that dreams compensate are those of
the ego# 0ung said that compensatory dreams .add to the conscious psychological
situation of the moment all those aspects which are essential for a totally different point
of &iew#.
/ompensatory Dreams
Dreaming of eating donuts when you ha&e been on a diet for two weeks or ha&ing
passionate se$ with a mystery lo&er are certainly pleasant dreams# These dreams may
fulfill a deep wish, but more true is that they compensate for what the dreamer has been
denied# %n this case, they are called .compensatory dreams.# The subconscious has had
enough of denial and abstinence and creates a picture perfect scenario to satisfy a deep
hunger# 1nderneath it all, the subconscious seeks homeostasis and happiness and
functions to create a happier way of life than the one the dreamer faces during the day#
)e$ dreams are particularly common among those who ha&e gone far too long without a
passionate lo&er# The longer you go without se$ the more fre2uent the dreams tend to
become# 3ore than a desire, the dream mentions an unsatisfied instinctual need#
4econciliation Dreams
+oss and separation, especially death, creates sorrow and conflict for the subconscious#
5&en when the conscious mind has become accustomed to the loss, the subconscious
yearns, mourns and tries to make peace with the fact that it has lost someone or
something important# %n this case, the subconscious tries to reconcile the loss in some
way by creating a fantasy of happier times#
For a year after my mother6s death, my adult daughter had a series of dreams in which
she disco&ers that her grandmother didn6t die# %t was all a horrible joke and a lie#
Grandma was brought back to life in the dream as if she had ne&er departed#
1ndoubtedly, the fact that my mother had died suddenly in a traffic accident contributed
to my daughter6s feelings of disbelief and shock# 'er subconscious didn6t want to face
the fact that her belo&ed grandmother had died so suddenly# The wish was that her
death was all a joke or a mistake and that life with grandma would continue on# The
dreams re&ealed how attached my daughter was and how she still needed to accept the
finality of death#
Among those who ha&e e$perienced a relationship failure, dreaming that they are
reunited with their mate is 2uite common# %n the dream, the dreamer is making up in
some way for the discord in the relationship# 5&en when the conscious mind has no
thoughts of the two reconciling, the subconscious may just not want to let go# As a result,
it creates a kiss-and-make up scenario to point out it is the deeper wish of the dreamer
to be together again with his or her mate# These dreams are often disconcerting to
someone who has finally gotten up the courage to end it and for those who long for a
reconciliation when there is no possibility of it e&er happening# 4econciliation dreams are
too often misinterpreted as precogniti&e, when in fact they are pure fantasy#
+ife Fulfillment Fantasy Dreams
% once had a funny dream that % had just been elected ,resident and was standing in
front of an audience proclaiming my &ictory and gi&ing a long-winded speech# %
recogni7ed that the dream represented my deep need and wish to make a difference in
the world and to be recogni7ed as a leader# We all dream of making it big in the world,
whether in our careers or just by doing something out of the ordinary through which we
are recogni7ed and honored by those around us# )o important is the 2uest for
significance that our subconscious often creates opportunities in dreams so that we feel
&alued or recogni7ed in some way# An artist who hasn6t sold a painting in a year may
dream of an e$hibition in a gallery in which all his or her paintings are sold for top dollar#
A struggling musician may dream of becoming a rock star performing in front of an
audience of thousands# And an author may dream their ne$t book makes The *ew 8ork
Times Best )eller +ist# All these dream scenarios fulfill the deepest wish for fame and
recognition e&en when the reality measures short of success#
Why does the subconscious create such fantasies9 %t appears that as 0ung suggested it
is to affirm that anything is possible and to help the dreamer shed limiting attitudes# But
more importantly, it is to uplift the consciousness of the indi&idual out of misery and into
a state of happiness no matter how temporary it might be# The subconscious seeks to
create harmony, peace, joy and lo&e abo&e all#
:55*#/(3