The first article in this series examined the ego, Carl Jung’s term for the conscious mind. The ego gives us our subjective sense of identity, and is typically symbolized in dreams by the dreamer or by a vehicle that the dreamer is in. In this article we explore a component of the psyche closely associated with the ego which Jung called the persona.
“Persona” is derived from the Latin word for mask. In the theater of ancient Greece and Rome actors would wear a mask to signify their character (e.g., parent, child, warrior, etc.). In Jungian psychology, persona refers to the role that people play in social settings and society at large. The persona is closely connected to the ego because the role that we play in any social situation tends to structure our conscious identity within that setting. For example, your behavior and demeanor during a formal meeting with your boss may be quite different from what you would display at a restaurant with your friends later that day.
Like the skin, which functions as a protective boundary between the body’s internal organs and the outer world, the persona serves a similar function between our inner self (thoughts, emotions, instinctual impulses, etc.) and our outer relationships. Because we don’t want to be an “open book” to everyone we encounter, we wear a “cover,” our public face. In daily life our persona is reflected in our choice of clothing, makeup or hairstyle, the way we speak, our posture and general demeanor. Even the type of car we drive, where we live, and our community and organizational affiliations are aspects of our persona. In dreams, the persona is most often symbolized by the clothes we are wearing.
A woman dreams: “My sister is looking very thin and designed this outfit–all white. She’s wearing several different layers, and it looks more ridiculous than fashionable. Since she gets defensive easily, I don’t know how to tell her that maybe she shouldn’t wear that.” Although the main character of this dream is the dreamer’s sister, the dream is commenting on the dreamer’s persona for, as a general rule, the other people in our dreams symbolize some aspect of our own personality. The focus of the dream is the woman’s multi-layered, white outfit. There is something about the outfit that makes her look ridiculous. The dream is not necessarily referring to her actual wardrobe–she probably doesn’t even own such an outfit–but it is giving her information about the way she presents herself to others. The dreamer’s own association to the dream was that it referred to her tendency to play the role of a “good girl.” This association fits with the color of the outfit, for white is a common symbol for purity and innocence. While the role/persona of a good girl may have been appropriate for the dreamer when she was six years old, it is a poor fit for her as an adult. The multi-layered aspect of the outfit may reflect the fact that rather than discarding this outgrown persona when she was no longer a child, the dreamer has instead added to or embellished it over the years.
No persona can do justice to the individuality of the person behind it. The persona is first and foremost a means of adaptation to social life, and because of this is shaped as much by collective social forces (peers, family, the media, etc.) as by the demands of the unfolding personality. The best that any person can hope to achieve is a conscious and reasonable harmony between the two. The healthy persona must be flexible and adaptable to the different roles we play in the course of a day, and the course of a lifetime. For example, the tough persona of a drill sergeant may be very effective in the training of soldiers, but highly ineffective if carried over to his relationships with his wife and children. The persona that is flexible and appropriately matched to a person’s unique gifts, abilities, interests, and phase of life becomes an invaluable instrument of that individual’s ministry and vocation in life.
A woman dreams: “I am in a used clothing store, sorting through the dresses to find one I like. I’m not having much luck.” Finding our place and role in life can be a difficult process. Following the path of our own destiny is sometimes challenging when social, familial, economic and other pressures come to bear. It can also be challenged by our own attachment to the status quo, a reluctance to take a risk, or an unwillingness to expend the effort. The roles that we assume in each phase of our life represent not only our individual contributions to society, but also important steps in the development of our personality. The woman in the dream above may need to ask herself in what way she may be trying to “live life on the cheap.” There is nothing wrong with buying and wearing used clothing; this is not the message of the dream. The problem is in trying to fit into a role, or maintain an established role, simply because it’s the easiest thing to do. The Self (the Jungian term for the center, or core, of the psyche) seeks the fullest development of the individual personality, and holds little regard for our protestations regarding personal cost/effort. This psychological truth is symbolized in dreams where we are given the opportunity to buy a certain outfit, but its price seems exorbitant. The difference between the asking price and what we think is an appropriate price is symbolic of the difference between the value placed on personal growth by the Self, and the value placed on it by the ego. Too often we pad the wallet of our ego and short-change our soul. The next time you dream of an outfit that is quite pricey but unique or special in some way, do yourself a favor, buy the outfit! Then, when you wake up, reflect on the outfit. What kind of person would wear that outfit? Explore what it would be like to be that person. This can be a transforming process.
On some occasions our persona is revealed less by the clothes we are wearing as by the clothes we aren’t wearing. Dreams of being naked–wholly or in part–are fairly common. They typically occur when we find ourselves in a role that we are not familiar with, such as when we must give a presentation to strangers, meet our new in-laws, or navigate our way through a new relationship. Such dreams reflect our struggle to find the proper balance between self-disclosure and self-protection. If you dream of being naked the night after you had too much to drink at the office Christmas party, the interpretation might be obvious. However, if you dream of being naked in front of a new person you are getting to know and like, the proper interpretation might be that you need to be more emotionally–not necessarily physically–intimate, or revealing, with that person. Paying attention to the life context within which your dreams occur can assist you in deciphering their message.
.....Copyright © Andy Drymalski, Ed.D. Excerpts may be used provided full and clear credit is given author with link to original article.
What about dreams where others, or another person is nude?
Hi Robert,
It would depend upon the situation. Perhaps that person is making themself vulnerable to you. They may be inviting you to a greater level of emotional intimacy.
Andy
what about dreams where someone else is nude and I’m clothed?
Hi Robert,
The other people in our dreams usually symbolize an aspect of our own personality that is like that person. Thus, in a dream where you are clothed and another dream figure is naked, you are probably being invited to be more revealing of this part of yourself to others. For example, if you dream of a friend who is naked and this friend has a strong spirituality, your unconscious may be encouraging you to share more of your own spirituality (or valuing of the spiritual) with others.
Thanks for your questions.
Andy
what happens if everything around me is changing and i keep changing my sights from 3rd person to 1st person and back and forth. the person in 3rd person is not me but i don’t know who it is, and they keep changing. i first see a decrepit ruined castle, then falling into nothing, than a spinning tower with huge doors that keep opening and closing, then falling and getting my right eye stabbed by a wooden spike, then an empty hay field with the 3rd person stranger staring at me in plain sight. he is always there, hidden or not, he is always in the picture. what in the world does that mean?
Hi Leo,
I don’t know what all of that means. I’m not sure I know what any of it means. However, I would think that the falling castle could reflect an outdated worldview that is being demolished so that a new perspective can be built. Out with the old, in with the new, as they say. This may go along with the theme of coming back down to earth (falling) and becoming more grounded and in touch with practical reality. The third person observer may represent that part of the psyche that is always observing the ego. The unconscious records everything. It sees what our ego doesn’t see, remembers what it doesn’t remember. It shakes its head at our follies.
I hope these thoughts stimulate more of your own. Thanks for writing.
Andy
Thanks for the article, over the years I have had many recurring dreams about clothes and it is only now that I really paying attention to them, especially after reading so much about Jung etc. I really related to the dream you explained about the woman buying clothes in a used clothing shop. I have had very similar dreams to this in vintage clothing stores and I never end up making a purchase. However in my dreams the issue isn’t literally ‘the price’ but because I’m looking for the perfect vintage item (dress, etc) and always putting them back on the rack because they’re not good enough. Is the message and meaning similar to the one you explained…..comfort and security over real change?? Thank you for any insight…I have been having this dream for a long time.
Hi Kate,
No, the message could be different. You are not just in any used clothing store in the dreams but a “vintage clothing store.” And you seem to be looking for something very specific there. Naturally, we wonder why a vintage clothing store? Do clothes of that time period symbolize something special to you? Might they represent a certain value system, worldview, or way of being?
Then there is the fact that you never seem to find what you are looking for in these stores. This is also significant. It could indicate that you are looking in the wrong place for what you seek, or perhaps that what you are trying to create for yourself is not meant to be. Might you be pursuing a certain role or persona that is not who you are meant to be at this time? Could you be trying to turn back the hands of time when you actually need to modernize? On the other hand, you say that you put the vintage clothes back on the rack because they aren’t good enough. Could this mean that you imagine the past to be better or more perfect than it actually was?
These are some questions that come to my mind. I hope some will prove fruitful to you. Thank you for writing.
Andy
Hi Andy:
I dream that I am in a restaurant and as I take off my coat, I see 3 people that are known to me. At some point I’m pulling at my shirt and discover that I’m naked from the waist down and wonder if anyone else can see me. I seem to continue on with sitting down and ordering even though once I become confused as to which table is mine. At some point, I decide to cancel my food order and leave. Before I leave, I notice that the server is tangled in my yarn from my knitting bag. There are three very large balls of yarn; one of which is blue.
Hi,
As you probably know from this post, nakedness often symbolizes revealing revealing our inner thoughts or feelings to others. Sometimes it can even suggest vulnerabilities in our persona, areas where we may inadvertently reveal things about ourself that we would rather not reveal. In this case you are naked from the waist down. As this would reveal your genitals, I suspect the dream is telling you that certain sexual feelings you have towards someone–possibly one of the people in the dream–is being inadvertently transmitted to them. You are also confused about where you belong–which table is yours–and you decide to not eat. Perhaps there is something you need to take in and incorporate into your awareness or sense of self, but you feel too exposed, vulnerable or uncertain to do so? Getting tangled up with the waiter is interesting. If the waiter does not refer to someone you actually know, perhaps it refers to an aspect of your inner self that would nourish you–and perhaps is meant to nourish you–but you flee before that can happen.
Those are some thoughts for your consideration. Thank you for writing.
Andy
Hi Robert
I was going to work back with my old job from when I was young. I was getting dressed, I was borrowing clothes , that felt ok, clothes were slightly odd, baggy, large. There was a bit where I was dressed quite smart but floaty, feminine, a grey skirt with a sky blue 1920 style pattern, big around the waist, long and floaty not tight. Cotton. I was looking at myself in the mirror looking at price tag, saying to someone it was 30 pounds, this was expensive but when I work as a teacher will be need lots of outfits. I am not a teacher in real life. On the tag prices had been reduced and reduced from 120 ish downwards lots of times. I didn’t want to tell person it had been very expensive in the beginning, like I was embarrassed to say that. Like it was showing off, greedy to spend that much on a clothes item and not good. Then back in work, old job, someone with me found me jackets on hangers, there was a light brown suede one, it looked nice but I knew it was my exes and really really eighties style. Under that my current jacket, I wore it as a skirt, buttons would show knickers but I thought would be ok, actual thing of wearing jacket of skirt I would just do it and didn’t care people thought silly I wouldn’t mind, then on going out I thought I could twist it to the side and showing underwear, private parts fixed, not a problem anymore.
A feeling of achievement. Rushing to work I knew people didn’t like me, would I fit in, job not what I want, hard physically and long hours, no reward as a person but bills would be paid.
Hi Katie,
This dream sure sounds like you are having questions regarding your calling or role in life at this time. You say you are not a teacher and yet in the dream you are trying on clothes that might become part of a teacher’s wardrobe. It makes me wonder if being a teacher might be part of your future. The clothes are expensive but that may symbolize the sacrifices you might have to pay to become a teacher. (?)
Wearing your exe’s 80’s jacket as a skirt to a job you don’t like and where people supposedly don’t like you, is interesting. One wonders if this isn’t a going backwards for you. It could suggest that you are trying to take an out-worn and ill-fitting attitude or perspective and trying to make it work nonetheless. This typically does not work. Is there an attitude you might associate with your ex that you need to shed rather than resurrect?
I hope these thoughts are some help to you. Thank you for writing.
Andy
Hi,
What about dreaming woman in black..?. I was thinking that she was my granmother…
Hi Anna,
It would be helpful to have a little more information in order to offer some ideas regarding your dream, such as whether your grandmother is alive or deceased. My initial thoughts are that the dream has something to do with death.
Andy
Hi Andy,
Is it possible for a persona to show up in recurring dreams as a whole person in the dream? I had a dream where I was my animus and I told my persona I would not marry her and the two separated on good terms. Someone visually similar to that persona has returned in one of my dreams— and I could either interpret her as a stranger, or my mismatched/ rejected persona.
Thanks!
Calla
Hi Calla,
I suppose that is possible. However, it might be more precise to call that character a shadow figure. The shadow figure (the other woman in your dream) reflects certain attitudes that you associate with a particular persona. If the dream showed you in a variety of different clothes–especially clothes/outfits that portray different roles–then I think that type of dream would be more specifically about the persona, or your act of choosing among different personas.
I hope that helps.
Thank you for writing.
Andy
Hi Andy,
I dreamed that I was in the company of a few men….then one man stood up and everyone noticed his coat fit him well but was on back to front…..the front was clean, and the buttons were on the back. He then told us who the tailor was that custom made these coats and how much they cost.
Any thoughts on this dream?
Alex
Hi Alex,
That’s interesting. His front is his back and his back is his front. An obvious thought is that he has things backwards in some way. As he walks forward, is he really going backwards? Is he looking to the past when he should be looking to the future? Is he at odds with himself, or pursuing a role that is not for him? Is he backing into life rather than facing head-on? Maybe his head/thoughts want to go one way, but his heart (associated with the chest) wants to go another? Just some thoughts that come to my mind. Let us know what you come up with.
Thanks for writing.
Andy
Thanks very much, Andy.
I will reflect some more and get back to you all….
Hi Andy
I had a dream this summer which I keep thinking back to as felt significant. I met a young woman who was wearing a really beautiful dress – it was very unique and had pattern of flowers and birds in strong colours of blue and red . She seemed much more confident and stylish than me and I was very impressed by her.. I told her how much I liked her dress and asked where she got it. She told me she had bid for it in an auction so I realised it was rare possibly even unique and not something I could just find on the high street. She invited me to a performance she was givng at a festival and when we got there she told me she’d managed to get me a performance slot as well. I was concerned and said I didn’t have anything to perform. We were outside a church and she told me to go into a building in the grounds (it reminded me of where I’d gone to Bible class as a teenager ).Inside there were a few people one of whom recognised me and seemed to be a teacher.I’d had . He said it was good to see me back again and gave me a piece of paper . I took it outside to show the woman in the dress. It was titled Performance and underneath was a paint brush symbol and a blank space. Some context. I retired a couple of years ago which was and still is a big relief as I was very exhausted as never felt comfortable in my working role. I’d be grateful for any suggestions on this dream.
Thanks
Alison
Hi Alison,
Possibly the beautiful and unique dress reflects a new role you are invited to step into. Perhaps a role that will be both vibrant and also expressive of your unique nature, especially in comparison to your prior work. It may reflect a new blossoming of your life or spirit. There certainly seems to be a spiritual component to this new role, perhaps something that ties in with the religious upbringing of your youth. It would seem to suggest a new ministry or calling for you, something you are meant to share with others. Given the paint brush symbol, maybe it has to do with painting, art more broadly, or maybe you are just being given a blank sheet with which to sketch your own vision of the future?
Thanks for sharing your dream.
Andy
Hi Andy
I really appreciate you taking the time to respond to my dream, and your suggested meaning has filled me with positivity and a deeper sense of trust in my SELF as we start this new year. At the time of the dream the symbols of the blank slate and giving a performance had literally filled me with panic which was unsettling, but I now feel a sense of excitement, even joy, about the possibility of being able to create something new and more fulfilling at this stage in my life that will be more reflective of my true nature. Many thanks indeed
Alison
Thank you, Alison. I’m glad it helped.
Andy
Hi Andy
Thank you for the nice article.
Last night I dreamed of me on a journey to a holly place, with my friend and some of my classmates and my religious teacher .
I struggled to wear proper clothes and go meet my teacher. I ended up walking in the streets with my friends , wearing some of my friend’s dresses but looking good, even better than she, wearing clothes in blue variants.
Why am I wearing her clothes?
Hi Zeinab,
Perhaps you need to try on your friend’s way of being in the world, her persona, the role she plays. Perhaps you will find it more fitting or comfortable than the role you currently embody. Or, perhaps her perspective will somehow enhance your own role/identity in some way. The dream may be having you wear her clothes so that you will explore and experience what it feels like and thereby expand your vistas of what you are capable of being.
Thank you for sharing your dream.
Andy
Thank you very very much, your answer was great, I think it is the right answer and I should work on it.