Dreams of Being Chased by Animals

“The familiar dream in which the dreamer is pursued by an animal nearly always indicates that an instinct has been split off from the consciousness and ought to be (or is trying to be) readmitted and integrated into life. The more dangerous the behavior of the animal in the dream, the more unconscious is the primitive and instinctual soul of the dreamer, and the more imperative is its integration into his life if some irreparable evil is to be forestalled.

“Suppressed and wounded instincts are the dangers threatening civilized man; uninhibited drives are the dangers threatening primitive man. In both cases the ‘animal’ is alienated from its true nature; and for both, the acceptance of the animal soul is the condition for wholeness and a fully lived life. Primitive man must tame the animal in himself and make it his helpful companion; civilized man must heal the animal in himself and make it his friend.”

- Aniela Jaffe, Man and His Symbols

Interpreting Right & Left in Art & Dreams

If you think about this quote while viewing some paintings, you might find possible insight about the artist's conscious attitude on the right side of the painting and the artist's unconscious attitude to the left:

“Among other things ‘right’ often means, psychologically, the side of consciousness, of adaptation, of being ‘right,’ while the left signifies the sphere of unadapted, unconscious reactions or sometimes even something ‘sinister.’” - Marie-Louise von Franz, Man and His Symbols

Another quote applies this right/left observation to dream work:

(Examining a subject’s dream.) “Henry is a ‘lonely wanderer’ on the narrow path. But (perhaps thanks to the analysis) he is already on his way down from inhospitable heights. To the left, on the side of the unconscious, his road is bordered by the terrifying depths of the abyss. On the right side, the side of consciousness, the way is blocked by the rigid caves (which might represent, so to speak, unconscious areas in Henry’s field of consciousness) there are places where refuge can be found when bad weather comes – in other words, when outside tensions become too threatening.” - Aniela Jaffe, Man and His Symbols

Dreams having meaning for both inner and outer life.

Guidance from dreams for both inner and outer life:

“But this specific help from the unconscious is not given to primitive man alone. Jung discovered that dreams can also give civilized man the guidance he needs in finding his way through the problems of both his inner and his outer life. Indeed, many of our dreams are concerned with details of our outer life and our surroundings. Such things as the tree in front of the window, one’s bicycle or car, or a stone picked up during a walk may be raised to the level of symbolism through our dream life and become meaningful. If we pay attention to our dreams, instead of living in a cold, impersonal world of meaningless chance, we may begin to emerge into a world of our own, full of important and secretly ordered events.

“Our dreams, however, are not as a rule primarily concerned with our adaptation to outer life. In our civilized world, most dreams have to do with the development (by the ego) of the ‘right’ inner attitude toward the Self, for this relationship is far more disturbed in us by modern ways of thinking and behaving than is the case with primitive people. They generally live directly from the inner center, but we, with our uprooted consciousness, are so entangled with external, completely foreign matters that it is very difficult for the messages of the Self to get through to us.” – Man and His Symbols, Marie-Louise von Franz

The meaning of dream symbols being relative to the individual.

“When we attempt to understand symbols, we are not only confronted with the symbol itself, but we are brought up against the wholeness of the symbol-producing individual. This includes a study of his background, and in the process one fills in many gaps in one’s own education. I have made it a rule myself to consider every case as an entirely new proposition about which I do not even know the ABC. Routine responses may be practical and useful while one is dealing with the surface, but as soon as one gets in touch with the vital problems, life itself takes over and even the most brilliant theoretical premises become theoretical words.” Man and His Symbols, C.G. Jung

a little Taoist thought can help

"In learning, we always pick up more. In Taoism, we drop things. Since our infancy, we have learned many things that separate us from the universe. We worry about trivial matters like wealth and prestige. Now we want to return to our origins, to be more like a baby and forget these distractions. We want to do nothing. This is Wu Wei (doing nothing).

“By choosing nonaction, we choose to empty ourselves and go with the flow rather than fight the current. Nonaction does not mean not doing, stopping the natural progression of events; instead, nonaction means to follow nature’s course without fighting, striving, or resisting change. We are like water, like the empty vessel, formless and nameless; and in so being, we cannot act: we must accept what challenges the universe throws at us. At the same time, by fulfilling our purpose and allowing ourselves to be empty, we are doing all that we need to do. We do nothing and, in so doing, accomplish everything.

“Wu wei is an act of spontaneity and effortlessness. Zhuangzi refers to this type of existence as xiao yao, or “purposeless wandering.” It should not be considered laziness or mere passivity. Instead, it is the practice of going with nature, or swimming with the current. The Chinese expression “ting qi zi ran,” “let nature take its course,” and the English axiom “Go with the flow” are close approximations of this fundamental principle.”

- Qiguang Zhao, Do Nothing and Do Everything

A complex you got before childhood - not from your parents

“Yet it seems that what we call the unconscious has preserve primitive characteristics that formed part of the original mind. It is to these characteristics that the symbols of dreams constantly refer, as if the unconscious sought to bring back all the old things from which the mind freed itself as it evolved – illusions fantasies, archaic thought forms, fundamental instincts, and so on.

“This is what explains the resistance, even fear, that people often experience in approaching unconscious matters. These relict contents are not merely neutral or indifferent. On the contrary, they are so highly charged that they are often more than merely uncomfortable. They can cause real fear. The more they are repressed, the more they spread through the whole personality in the form of a neurosis.

“It is this psychic energy that gives them such vital importance. It is just as if a man who has lived through a period of unconsciousness should suddenly realize that there is a gap in his memory – that important events seem to have taken place that he cannot remember. In so far as he assumes that the psyche is an exclusively personal affair (and this is the usual assumption), he will try to retrieve the apparently lost infantile memories. But the gaps in his childhood memory are merely the symptoms of a much greater loss -–the loss of the primitive psyche.”