Dreams about children and Puer Aeternus archetype in Tarot
Puer Aeternus archetype and dreams about children
Among the various characters encountered in dreams, dreams about children take on particular symbolic importance in relation to the archetype of the Puer Aeternus (“eternal child”).
To understand the values of this archetype, it is sufficient to observe the elementary characteristics of a child. It is a primitive, spontaneous natural force, dominated mainly by the unconscious. But the child also manifests timeless wisdom, it is a vital and instinctive energy capable of upsetting the status quo. Playfulness is the other feature of children. Through their games children create and destroy worlds with a blink of an eye, and this makes them similar to God (see also the theme of the “divine child”).
These are the key characteristics to keep in mind when dreaming about children: a new energy has taken shape in us, which must be embraced, educated and addressed in a project of conscious life.
The archetype of the Puer Aeternus in the Tarot
There are three Tarot cards that can be associated with dreams about children and the archetype of Puer Aeternus.
The first of them is the Magician:
Being the first numbered character of the Tarot we can think of the Magician as a child immersed in a magical world that plays to build worlds. It represents the connotations of playfulness, creativity and spontaneity (but also unconsciousness) of the Puer Aeternus.
We find the child symbol also in the Lovers Tarot card, Arcane VI, in the role of Cupid. It is the “divine child” that hidden in our unconscious upsets our rational plans and guides our destiny in an apparently irrational way: the Puer Aeternus as a messenger of the jungian Self, of our genuine essence.
The theme of the child finally reappears in the Judgment, Arcane XX.
Meaning of the Judgment Tarot card and dream symbolism
The puer revives from the sepulcher: it is the prodigious value of the eternal child who defeats death. Our Mask, in the Jungian sense, is destroyed and we are led back to the totality of the Self. It is the miraculous energy that allows us to be reborn every time destroying the stagnation of our status quo.
On the dreams of childbirth (dreaming of giving birth) see also this article.
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