Page:Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology (1916).djvu/326

 the association of additional, appropriate material; the erotic experience of the day before being depicted by the story of the Fall which was followed by such a severe punishment.

I maintain that there exists in the dreamer an unconscious propensity or tendency to conceive his erotic experiences as guilt. It is most characteristic that the association with the Fall of Man should ensue, the young man having never really grasped why the punishment should have been so drastic. This association throws light upon the reasons why the dreamer did not think simply, “I am doing what is not right.” Obviously he does not know that he might condemn his own conduct as morally wrong. This is actually the case. His conscious belief is that his conduct does not matter in the least, morally, as all his friends were acting in the same way; besides, for other reasons, too, he is unable to understand why such a fuss should be made about it.

Whether this dream should be considered full, or void, of meaning depends upon a very important question, viz. whether the standpoint of morality, handed down to us through the ages by our forefathers, is held to be full or void of meaning. I do not wish to wander off into a philosophical discussion of this question, but would merely observe that mankind must obviously have had very good reasons for devising this morality, otherwise it would be truly incomprehensible why such restraints should be imposed upon one of man’s strongest cravings. If we attach due value to this fact, we are bound to pronounce this dream to be full of meaning, for it reveals to the young man the necessity of facing his erotic conduct boldly from the view point of morality. Even quite primitive races have in some respects extremely strict legislation concerning sexuality. This fact proves that sexual morality in particular is a not-to-be-despised factor in the soul’s higher functions, but deserves to be taken fully into account. In this case it should be added, that the young man—influenced by his friends’ example—somewhat thoughtlessly let himself be guided