Planting the Golden Flower: A Dream of Hope in the Age of Trump. (2nd January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Olson, Susan
• Is Part Of: Psychological perspectives. Volume 62:Number 1(2019)
• Page Start: 71
• Page End: 78
• Publication Date: 2019-01-02
• Subjects: Psychoanalysis -- Periodicals; Psychology -- Periodicals; Jungian Theory -- Periodicals; Psychoanalysis -- Periodicals; Psychoanalytic Theory -- Periodicals; Psychology -- Periodicals; 150.1954
• DOI: 10.1080/00332925.2019.1564595
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0033-2925

Abstract

Abstract : This article examines the author's dream of Donald Trump, which occurred two months before the 2016 presidential election. In the dream, Trump watches while the dreamer plants a yellow chrysanthemum in a public garden. Objective and subjective interpretations are explored, and the dream's central images are amplified. The image of Trump is interpreted as a collective shadow figure. The yellow chrysanthemum is compared to the golden flower in Jung's commentary on Richard Wilhelm's The Secret of the Golden Flower, first published in 1931. Jung's mandala drawings and dreams are related to the development of his understanding of the archetype of the Self. In conclusion, it is suggested that the golden flower planted in the dream may represent the transcendent function, a reconciling symbol that offers reason for hope in our fractured and turbulent world.