The dream is a little hidden door in the innermost and most secret recesses of the soul, opening into that cosmic night which was psyche long before there was any ego-consciousness, and which will remain psyche no matter how far our ego-consciousness extends.

- C.G. Jung

In this evening’s talk, I will discuss the profound influence of C.G. Jung’s and Marie-Louise von Franz's discovery of the presence and workings of archetypes within the individual and the collective Psyche and their influence in our dreams. We come to understand how these in-born aspects of the Psyche not only inform us of the life we are meant to live, but also provide an objective commentary on the way we are living. 

With an acknowledgment of the archetypes’ ability to literally shape a life, we realize the inherent spiritual nature of Jung's work: Our personal perspective and our understanding of life are often severely limited because they are derived from complexes and thus miss the greater understanding provided by the Psyche.

Dr. Michael Conforti is a Jungian analyst and the Founder and Director of the Assisi Institute. He is a faculty member at the C.G. Jung Institute - Boston, the C.G Jung Foundation of New York, and for many years served as a Senior Associate faculty member in the Doctoral and Master's Programs in Clinical Psychology at Antioch New England. A pioneer in the field of matter-psyche studies, Dr. Conforti is actively investigating the workings of archetypal fields and the relationship between Jungian psychology and the New Sciences. He has presented his work to a wide range of national and international audiences, including the C.G. Jung Institute - Zurich and Jungian organizations in Australia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, and Venezuela. He is the author of Threshold Experiences: The Archetype of Beginnings (2007) and Field, Form and Fate: Patterns in Mind, Nature and Psyche (2002). His articles have appeared in Psychological Perspectives, San Francisco Jung Library Journal, Roundtable Press, World Futures: The Journal of General Evolution, and Spring Journal, and his books has been translated into Italian, Russian and a soon to be released Spanish edition of his work.