Good morning, afternoon, or evening.
I’m a young adult from Brazil, and I’d like to share a dream I had. It’s a very specific one that I keep coming back to from time to time.
It happened a while ago, but after finding this subreddit, I felt like sharing it. I even wrote it down on the same day.
Dream:
"On the night of January 2nd, 2026, after visiting a Jung exhibition in São Paulo, I had a very interesting dream.
In the dream, I was at my parents’ house. I went to the backyard and found Cacau, my mom’s dog (a Yorkshire). But she was different: bigger, with completely black fur, a deep black, like “vantablack.” You couldn’t see any details of her body, only her eyes, which were completely white.
She was extremely hostile. She started attacking me, biting my arm with large, sharp teeth. My arm was bleeding heavily, like a piece could be torn off, but I didn’t feel any pain. My reaction was almost automatic, more like annoyance:
"Hey, stop it, Cacau… tsc, let go. Did you become my shadow now?"
At some point, I managed to get free (I don’t remember how). After that, I looked back. Where the laundry room should be in real life, there was a wooden gate.
The first gate was simple, small, like an old western-style gate. I opened it and found another gate, better made than the first. At that moment, I thought:
"Interesting... so, if he's right, there should be four gates in total, right?"
I opened the second gate, and there was a third one, even more elaborate. When I opened the third, I found what seemed to be the last one: a richly decorated gate, with ancient oriental illustrations and pillars resembling traditional Chinese architecture.
When I saw this fourth gate, I felt a strong sense of happiness, as if it confirmed something I’ve been studying about Jung. Even so, I didn’t open it. I stepped back and realized clearly:
"I’m in a dream."
I looked at Cacau again. Before, she was aggressive, now she was calm and gentle. Her appearance had inverted: completely white fur and black eyes.
I looked back again. The door leading into the house had turned into that western-style gate again. I ignored it, because at that point, realizing I was dreaming felt more important than the environment itself.
Then I thought:
"Is the Self here?"
I started walking (or maybe lightly running) to the left. The environment changed completely. It wasn’t the backyard anymore, it felt like I was heading toward a street.
I was excited, happy, almost euphoric for being aware inside the dream.
Then, as I thought about the Self, I saw a man appear in front of me (like a video game character spawning). At the same time, I saw an elderly couple walking together. The old man seemed like my grandfather, but not entirely.
As I moved toward the mysterious figure, the old man tried to stop me. He seemed worried, like a father protecting a son from something greater, as if I were about to disrespect a higher entity.
Still, I moved past him and kept going.
The mysterious man was completely different from any image I would have of the "Self":
- He had a belly
- He wore a bucket hat, sunglasses, a Hawaiian shirt, jean shorts, and flip-flops
- He had stubble and possibly longer hair
I approached him, placed my hands on his shoulders, and asked:
"Are you the Self?"
He just smiled. No answer.
I stayed silent too. I started feeling confused:
"Why is he just smiling? Is this my Shadow-Trickster? That can’t be…"
That doubt made me feel insecure. At first, I was happy, but he was nothing like what I expected. Still, I pushed that thought aside, the silence felt neutral.
Then, slowly, he placed one hand on my shoulder.
Right after that, my vision started to darken, and my body felt heavy. It was like he was manifesting something, something like tentacles, similar to Slenderman. I knew I was supposed to feel fear, but I didn’t.
On the contrary, I wanted to stay there with him.
Even without an answer, even with that strange appearance, it felt more like a display of power than something threatening. It didn’t matter if he was trying to scare me, I just wanted to remain by his side, even with that strange sensation in my body.
And then I woke up."
Active Imagination (a few days later):
A few days later, I told this dream to my therapist, and she set aside time in our session for active imagination.
In that experience, I was in the same position as in the dream, facing the mysterious figure.
It felt like time had stopped when I touched him, not literally, but nothing moved. The sensation remained: my body felt rigid and heavy, like gravity had increased. I couldn’t see the tentacles anymore, but my vision was blurry.
He didn’t respond. In fact, he didn’t even touch me. We just stood there, looking at each other, until he looked to the right, where the sun was either rising or setting. It felt like he, along with the elderly couple, was going toward the beach.
Since there was nothing else to do, and I didn’t want to keep him "stuck" there, I let go. Naturally, he started walking to the right, in the direction he was looking.
Today, I’m not entirely sure what to believe about what he was. I think he might be the Self, but I wouldn’t be upset if he wasn’t.
To give a better idea of his appearance, he reminded me of a mix of:
- Adult Kenny (South Park: Post Covid)
- Hank Anderson (Detroit: Become Human)
- Karl Heisenberg (Resident Evil Village)