# Dreams related to your functions?



## susurration (Oct 22, 2009)

This stems from the very little of what I have read from John Beebe, but can any of you pin point some dreams (recurring or otherwise) that relate to the functions/processes and how you relate to or experience them? 

an example;



> I began to watch my dreams. Gradually it became obvious that when they symbolised my extraverted intuition, it was in a heroic, rather grandiose way. (In a dream, I once saw President Lyndon Johnson, architect of the Great Society in my country, as an image of my dominant extraverted intuition, which gave it a high-handed, crafty cast, a bit out of touch with the actual readiness of those around me for the changes that I wanted to introduce in their lives, in the name of helping them progress.)
> 
> My introverted thinking was symbolised by a Father in one dream that found him in conflict with an upset feeling-type son, whom I eventually recognised as an image of my third function. The particular son figure in the dream was a persistently im-mature man in analysis at the time, whose oscillation of woundedness and creativity fit well the description Marie Louise von Franz had given in her classic study of the ‘problem of the Puer Aeternus’ (1970), the Latin term referring to an eternal boyhood befitting an immortal. I decided that this dream was referring to an aspect of my own feeling that was inflated, vulnerable and chronically immature.


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## Matchbook (Jul 8, 2010)

Good topic.

I had a dream a few nights ago, a lucid dream, which spoke to me.

I was in the backyard of my grandparent's house, next to an iconic tree of my childhood that shows up regularly in my dreams. The icons are productions of my Si, chosen according to my Fi. I have many iconic places and objects in dreams. Anyway, I became lucid and looked up at it, it's green leaves welcoming my gaze. I flew upwards into it, and its spacious foliage seemed to expand to greater breadth. I had a moment of confusion and frustration which produced the thought, "What shall I do with these lucid moments, to enjoy them?" I felt unease (typical Fi for me), and I looked into the foliage and willed it to turn its leaves into bright, dazzling flowers, in hopes of feeling greater connection through beauty. This was an exhibition of my Fi desire to connect to the external world through Se and Fe, a common theme of my desire. However, Ne was used to come up with ideas to facilitate this. The leaves began to produce flowers, and yet as I floated upwards I felt frustration, and as I moved up along a limb, there were deep, crimson roses on it, and I grabbed one and stuffed it into my mouth (Ne tries again). I tasted a faint, floral flavor in my mouth, but I was unsatisfied and quickly spit it out. Revealed here is that a main theme of the dream is Fe. No matter the beauty and life that surrounded me, which I was immersed in, I felt a disconnect even though I desired to merge with and and be part of it, and so I attempted to try to take it internally...a revelation of how I normally try to handle the situation when I lack connection with external entities of an animate nature...I try to experience it and beautify it internally through an Fi/Si interplay.

I think I woke up soon after that. It didn't leave a pleasant feel. To distill the meaning of the dream, my Fi had desires that it recognizes as being aided by Se and Fe experiences, yet it struggles to accomplish this. Fi sends Ne on frantic and anxious missions to figure out how to accomplish a closeness with others and nature, but it tends to be useless, with anxiety and impatience as a fuel.


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## folium (Dec 3, 2010)

Well i don't think i have ever had a part of a dream represent one of my functions but i believe My Ni function tells me things in my dreams. like if i start to believe something that starts to stray from my principles then My Ni tells me though not in a direct manner more like symbols that manifest instead of ideas.


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## twentyseven (Dec 7, 2010)

I am INTP -> Ti - Ne - Si - Fe (I think)

This particular dream several years ago was such a unique experience for me. I actually remember it quite vividly. (Of course at the time I had this dream I knew nothing about typology. The references to the functions/attitudes are for reference to better explain my experience).

My Ne had knocked out (chloroformed?) both Ti and Si and I was just randomly flying through hard-to-describe 'magical' places while somewhere in the background my Fi was giggling "WHEEEEEE." Unfortunately Ti didn't stay out long and over-powered Fi. Ti looked around at the terrain and started analyzing the situation... "I am flying." "I don't know this place" "This doesn't make any sense" (Ti then wakes up Si to have a conversation.) "What is this?" "Have I done this before?" "How is flying like this possible?" Si is a bit groggy and slow to respond but manages "ummm... no." Ti then determines "I must be dreaming, yes, I am dreaming." Ne hears this and is excited at the news. "I am dreaming? Then let's see what we can really do!" Ne is also pleading with Ti to keep Si at bay so Ne can play longer. Ti is trying hard to comply because it wants to add this unique perspective of Ne's new experience to its analyzation chamber. As Ti tries to store more and more information Si gains awareness of what Ne and Ti are up to and starts throwing out historical facts... "This isn't real or possible." "Dreams don't last." "Be prepared and remember flying as much as you can." "I will try to resist waking for you but historically speaking it will not be successful." "You will be waking..."

And then I woke. I will never forget how weird it was to have an actual conversation in my head about it being a dream and being able to analyze the dream while I was dreaming it. It was as if the actual realization of it being a dream caused me to reject it and wake up.

No I have never used drugs and this was before I discovered alcohol.


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## etherealuntouaswithin (Dec 7, 2010)

A good topic indeed...I once dreamt of a luciously adorned terrain over flowing with the purest animates of water in which presided many females..akin in appearence to the "muses". when at last i reached the peak of the terrain i beheld a wonder of light personified as female figure(though i could not distinguish the identity of this creature)the next morning i recieved word that my feelings of "love" toward a particular female was reciprocated and thus began a romance(that is no more).. a cognitive demonstration perhaps of Ne Fi?


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## Nearsification (Jan 3, 2010)

My dreams don't make sense. I don't mean they don't make sense as in Alice in Wonderland use pig as a footstool or aliens are attacking the universe with Ninja turtles. My dreams have no plot. Their just random events with no meaning. One second I see aliens with Super man than I'm a vampire then spider fights a gorilla. Nothing makes sense. Theirs no plot. No setting. Just a bunch of random events that revolve around me. Its like I don't participate in my dreams. I observe random events that are happening. Its like an entire universe flashing in my mind. When I wake up I can name like 20 different things that happened while I was sleeping. But I have no part in any of them.


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## Vaka (Feb 26, 2010)

Nears said:


> My dreams don't make sense. I don't mean they don't make sense as in Alice in Wonderland use pig as a footstool or aliens are attacking the universe with Ninja turtles. My dreams have no plot. Their just random events with no meaning. One second I see aliens with Super man than I'm a vampire then spider fights a gorilla. Nothing makes sense. Theirs no plot. No setting. Just a bunch of random events that revolve around me.


That's almost the opposite of my dreams. They usually have some logical sequence...though with rather weird plots. But they do have plots of sorts as well as resolutions. Like I had a dream the other night that my house was being invaded by aliens, so I had to leave my home to somewhere far away. Another one in which there was some huge catastrophe and I had to leave with my family through a portal to another universe.


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## vel (May 17, 2010)

Function order: Ni-Fe-Ti-Se
Most of my dreams don't make much sense. They range from learning to fly, to visiting ufos, to living underground, to meeting some fantastical kind of creatures, to approximate reproductions of movies I have lately seen, to very down to earth stuff like a situation that has happened or may happen in future. At times I can't even identify people in them precisely as sometimes a person is really like a morph combining qualities of several people I have known in life. Perhaps this is Ni shifting meanings? I also sometimes dream in very bright, very deep almost euphoric color. Colors I see in real life cannot approximate the colors of these dreams. Inferior Se acting out? Common nightmare before falling I fall sick that is probably some interplay between Ni-Fe-Ti: war, dystopia, tanks, burning buildings, planes taking off and bombing cities below, post-apocalyptic landscapes, general atmosphere of destruction and hate, people viciously hating each other, families turning on each other. Another seemingly popular dream that I've seen INFJs talk about is the elevator one that goes up above the building to invisible floors. Seemingly this one is about loss of control over your external surroundings.


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## lirulin (Apr 16, 2010)

I am almost never in my dreams. I am usually just a narrative construct. Also, sometimes I dream in words - not reading, speaking, or hearing them, just _in_ them. Hard to explain.
I can often have recurring dreams that get 'perfected' each night it repeats.
Ni with a dash of Te?
My complete lack of Si and even Se is evidenced in that I can recall no sensory impressions from my dreams (save for the rare visual flash) but instead I just_ know _what happened; I know the words and that's all.
For a good couple of years, every possible iteration of penguin was played out in my dreams. Every dream I could recall had some aspect of a penguin.
Then again, some are just _completely_ fucked up.


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## Eric B (Jun 18, 2010)

Most of my dreams are just benign images of the past. Usually just places, and they look different. Seems to be just some SiNe combo.


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## Matchbook (Jul 8, 2010)

Paranoid Android said:


> Like I had a dream the other night that my house was being invaded by aliens, so I had to leave my home to somewhere far away. Another one in which there was some huge catastrophe and I had to leave with my family through a portal to another universe.


This helps me to understand the "Paranoid" part of your screen name, heh. Also, I can't help but wish to have my dreams usher me into parallel universes as well. I'll be arranging for it shortly!


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## susurration (Oct 22, 2009)

In my dreams I tend to have tasks and am fighting things. I do literally become heroic, or at least there's a strong theme of courage, but I don't know if I could say there's fi popping up heroically. I can't remember enough to pin point it. 

I can see ne and si in my dreams like Eric, definately. There are often characters in my dreams from years ago; people who I hadn't remembered or thought about for a long time. The plots tend to be quite layered and the setting; a mash up of all kinds of situations.

I notice that I kind of think in my dreams. It's half lucid, especially in the morning. But i'm always problem solving; not like i'm passively viewing, but i'm there, thinking, as if I would in real life. It's not wholly lucid though because I can't exactly control it. I just merely interact with the dream environment.


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## Matchbook (Jul 8, 2010)

lirulin said:


> I am almost never in my dreams. I am usually just a narrative construct. Also, sometimes I dream in words - not reading, speaking, or hearing them, just _in_ them. Hard to explain.
> I can often have recurring dreams that get 'perfected' each night it repeats.
> Ni with a dash of Te?
> My complete lack of Si and even Se is evidenced in that I can recall no sensory impressions from my dreams (save for the rare visual flash) but instead I just_ know _what happened; I know the words and that's all.
> ...


Interesting. I know an INTJ who has described to me some of his dreams, and there is often this strange yet well-constructed plot in the dream, and I recall he said that he sometimes gets conclusions and follow-ups to dreams he has had, kind of like the Ni/Te thing you described.


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## Matchbook (Jul 8, 2010)

To speak in more general terms about my INFP dreams and their cognitive processing, I'll share some thoughts:

*Dream Content*: The basic content of the dreams themselves seem to be constructed through a continuous interplay between Fi and Si. For instance, the dream may put me in a location that has a very specific emotional feel and relevance to it. I've been there several times in my dreams, but it appears different this time. Even though it appears different, I still recognize it as being the same place with the same feel. In order to achieve the emotional quality of the dream that Fi is suggesting, content is taken from Si to match this theme. In the broader sense, the location and emotional qualities are understood, but in the specific sense, Si/Se fill in the details according to the specific plot of events and purposes the dream calls for. Very often, several pieces of content have strong symbolic and iconic representation to me, and are emotionally charged.

*Dream Action: *Ne shows itself through how the dream content is acted upon and interpreted, and supplies Fi with suggestion of how the dream should be developed, whilst Fi is then determining what essential qualities should be retained or adjusted. I see a water tower. What will I do. Ne brings me to climb it. What will happen? Fi suggests that I am scared. Ne brings me to climb back down. I feel relief, but wish I had succeeded. WHOOSH! Ni materializes and I think to myself, "I never make it to the top of my goals. I always start with excitement, and then back down out of fear of falling." So Ni is working amidst this sea of action and content, and as a theme crystallizes, insights blare through...sometimes after waking as well. Interestingly, these insights follow the Ni archetypal model for the INFP, the Critical Parent, where most insights I find from dreams are in some way self-critical (I should do this....If I were only like this...I have a feeling this is what's next...).

*Dream Logic:* In some of my dreams there are Te/Ti constructs, least observedly Ti. Often this is showed through a dream plan on how to follow-through with a dream goal. Often during these times, the dream loses emotional connectivity, and I feel like I am going through dream motions, which is foreign. Then I feel like I regain full consciousness once the process tapers and I am faced with other emerging qualities. It's interesting how focused I occasionally get in performing Te in my dreams, even though I feel like a complete automaton. The actual logical Te construct of dreams themselves are not so often seen. A sequence may begin but is quickly cut off and thrown into something else...after all, Fi is basically running the show.

*Dream Connections*: Many of the themes of my dreams deeply involve Fe. Attempts to experience connection with people and elements, and to experience mutuality. Usually these themes involve difficulty and internal conflict.


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## Nearsification (Jan 3, 2010)

Nova said:


> In my dreams I tend to have tasks and am fighting things. I do literally become heroic, or at least there's a strong theme of courage, but I don't know if I could say there's fi popping up heroically. I can't remember enough to pin point it.
> 
> I can see ne and si in my dreams like Eric, definately. There are often characters in my dreams from years ago; people who I hadn't remembered or thought about for a long time. The plots tend to be quite layered and the setting; a mash up of all kinds of situations.
> 
> I notice that I kind of think in my dreams. It's half lucid, especially in the morning. But i'm always problem solving; not like i'm passively viewing, but i'm there, thinking, as if I would in real life. It's not wholly lucid though because I can't exactly control it. I just merely interact with the dream environment.


In my dreams I'm powerless. I'm always the being saved. That is if I am viewable to the fictional people. My dreams also take place in 3rd person. So maybe I am not even in control. 

My dreams are random yet well constructed. Its like Ne that splits off into Ni branches that extend upon each idea Ne creates. Its one of the reasons I hate sleep. Nothing but pure flashes of madness when I wake up.

Is what I have even qualify as a dream?


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## Vaka (Feb 26, 2010)

Matchbook said:


> This helps me to understand the "Paranoid" part of your screen name, heh. Also, I can't help but wish to have my dreams usher me into parallel universes as well. I'll be arranging for it shortly!


Hehe, I actually like my dreams. In dream world, the scenarios are pretty cool. IRL, I'd shit myself.


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## bellamay77 (Nov 6, 2010)

ive never really had a dream were someone hasnt died so really only nightmares but im a very positive person and i deffinently doubt my purpose is to distroy :mellow:


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## dorareever (Jan 2, 2010)

My dreams are packed with absurdity, surreal horror and weirdness, but they're not random. There's always some kind of convoluted yet logical plot. I have semi-lucid dreams most of the time (as in knowing your dreaming, and enjoying it but not really doing anything to alter the dream). They're also full of so many details and happenings that I wake up tired. The overall flavour of all my dreams is N to the Nth degree. I do put elements of my everyday life in it, but I almost never dream of what happened during the day etc...there is always some deep stuff going on.

I seem to have a strong theme of saving the world, rebuilding society from scratch, defeating villains, conflicting cultures, and in general belonging to rebellious groups... i'm very confident and brave. Still I get into action only when some big screw-up towards humanity takes places. What motivates me is still Fi, but I seem to be much more gregarious and with a stronger Fe maybe as well? 



My nightmares go from laughably surreal but terrifying in contest (serial killers eating my head with a mouthwash sauce), to twilight zone eery (a room where you feel sudden fear and desperation. and that's it-no monsters, no killings.), to more like typical horror b-movies (evil cults) 

I often wondered if nightmares could be linked to your inferior or shadow functions, but I'm not sure...


I used to have a very much un-edited dream journal. It's not updated, and it's full of typos, but it might give you an unsight into my twisted mind.

dorareever's Dream Journal


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## Filigeedreamer (Sep 4, 2010)

The meanings and oragins of my dreams are normally pretty straight foward and don't use a great amount of complex symbolisim. 

I dreampt not long ago I was going to some sort of theatre with a friend with red hair, but I had trouble focusing on what was going on, and then concers fell from the ceiling, and her boyfriend tuned into a lion. I followed one of the concers as it rolled away and ended up realising I was in a huge amusment/entertainment place but there were only a few people around and my friend was gone...and I felt suddenly very anxouse and alone. 

Meaning: I went to the cinama with a friend recently, and we are going to see the lion king soon. My friend is at university so I don't get to see her often, and I know after this outing she will go back again. This sadens me as we have great fun together and I will have less people to play with. My radio alarm was also talking about concers when I woke up, and childhood. When I was very little I ran off from my parents and got lost in the woods. I ended up sitting by this concer tree waiting to be found, and the feeling at the end of the dream was how I felt then. 

I don't see my functions in my dreams at all, just bits of life and expirence put together in new/unexpected ways.


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## silverlined (Jul 8, 2009)

folium said:


> Well i don't think i have ever had a part of a dream represent one of my functions but i believe My Ni function tells me things in my dreams. like if i start to believe something that starts to stray from my principles then My Ni tells me though not in a direct manner more like symbols that manifest instead of ideas.


Same with me. My Ni has a field day interpreting my dreams and I love to soak up all the symbolism. I sometimes know right away what the symbol relates to and what it means


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## The Exception (Oct 26, 2010)

I find my inferior and shadow functions creeping up more in my dreams than in real life. Maybe because dreams aren't actually real, it's a safer outlet for me to express and integrate that side of me.


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## thegirlcandance (Jul 29, 2009)

I know for myself, I often come up with the best ideas just before I go to sleep. I always make sure I keep a pen and paper or notebook by my bed because often times I'll either write before I go to sleep or just at the very moment that I'm drifting off a great idea pops in my head and I have to write it down because I know I'll forget.

I often wish I remember my dreams because I'm pretty sure that I actually come up with my most brilliant ideas of all when I'm dreaming. Sometimes when I wake up I've remembered and was able to write it down real quick, but many times I loose it. Last week I had a dream that I was running at night and during my run I was coming up with many awesome ideas... unfortunately I didn't catch any to write down. :sad:

I do see this as a good reflection of my Ni... because it feels like a further enhanced version of all those "A ha!" moments that I get while awake.


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## Gauntlet (Oct 19, 2010)

Hmm, you're not the only one curious about how cognitive functions come to play in the dream world.

http://personalitycafe.com/myers-briggs-forum/40779-using-both-ni-si.html
http://personalitycafe.com/myers-briggs-forum/41301-how-do-you-explain-your-dreams.html


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## Gauntlet (Oct 19, 2010)

Dementia in Absentia said:


> I find my inferior and shadow functions creeping up more in my dreams than in real life. Maybe because dreams aren't actually real, it's a safer outlet for me to express and integrate that side of me.


So someone else noticed this. I found the same thing, or at least in the way people explain their dreams. They tend to focus or use rhetoric that is associated with the opposing function their dominant in order to describe their dreams. That is why I started my "How do you explain your dreams?" thread since I wanted to gather data without telling my hypothesis first. I didn't want the results skewed. Apparently not many were interested in the thread though. *shrugs*


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## Rez (Nov 6, 2009)

number one

flying


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## ListlesslyNumb (Nov 28, 2010)

INTP - Ti>Ne>Si>Fe

On occasion I have extremely vivid and lifelike dreams and almost always wake up in a sudden shock or don't realize I'm
awake because I'm trying to make the dream continue on and finish what ever was happening.

The only real trend in my dreams is that frequently I'm either trying to run away or hide from something or someone.
I'd tell you more details, but once I'm aware that I'm not dreaming anymore, and I try to remember what happened in the 
dream, the more I forget what it was about. I know for sure though that I have control over my conscious 'self' in dreams,
but with alternative motives then what is 'normal' for me.

Dreams are messed, 'nuff said.


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## Herp (Nov 25, 2010)

I'm an INFP, so Fi-Ne-Si-Te.

My dreams are either completely random or awfully detailed. 

I can tell about dreams where I was fighting giant toys with laser guns and tell dreams where I could tell how a touch in my skin felt. Normally, It's a mix between the two. It's random, but I can get a lot of detail from it. The only thing is that I never have a blank night, as in you do not dream anything.

One of my latest dreams had me living in an abandoned airplane cemitery. I was at the sink, washing my dishes, when one of my room-mates went to the door and asked me if she could use the sink. I told her that I had to wash my dishes first, but as soon as I finished it, I'd tell her to come. She said ok, and awaited by the door. I finished scrubbing my plate, and called her. She said thanks, and went over to the sink, looking perfectly fine.

She vomited in a way that human can't possibly do, basically like a Squirtle's water gun. As the vomit reached the sink, it splattered all over the room, and a lot of it landed on my arm. I felt the warm droplets of vomit on my arm, and felt its terrible smell. I looked at her, impressed, and she cleaned her mouth and went out.

Then, I was teleported to my boss' boat. He was having an employees meet-up, and it was my duty to bring Cookies. I told him of my tale in the airplane/house where I lived, and he chuckled. Then, the other employees arrived, and we started fishing. I remembered about the cookies, and jumped back to the harbor, rushing to the market.

From this point onwards, the dream made no more sense, and I soon woke up.


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## Rez (Nov 6, 2009)

I-flying

N-tsunami

F-burning in cabin in a desert

P-Carnival trip with friends


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## bogdan (Sep 11, 2009)

Dreams are sometimes about the subconscious, some hidden desires. It' s when I can use the Ni function in an old fashion way to construct my future events. Or, it may be a long monologue (Ti) between me and a different person trying to convince him some strong personal ideas. Or I' ll put myself in an awkward, problematic situation to see how I will manage (Te). Or it will be a beautiful romantic dream (Fi).


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