Pursuit and Chase Dreams
On meeting and negotiating with the shadow
“A persecutory dream always means: this wants to come to me. When you dream of a savage bull, or a lion, or a wolf pursuing you, this means: it wants to come to you. You would like to split it off, you experience it as something alien—but it just becomes all the more dangerous. The urge of what had been split off to unite with you becomes all the stronger. The best stance would be: “Please, come and devour me!”’
- C.G. Jung “Children's Dreams: Notes from the Seminar Given in 1936”
Being chased and pursued are some of the most common ways that shadow material manifests in our dreams. There may be natural resistance to working with these dreams as they are often accompanied with emotional currents of fear, uncertainty, panic and stress. Everything in our body says to stay away, to allow the dream images to slip back into the depths, to clear our mind of what we experienced the night before.
But these dreams are a gold mine for working with our shadow. It allows us to see how the unconscious is presenting to us in symbolic form. Something inwardly wants to be known and so it lurks in the darkness, stalking us with each step we take. It may be an animal, frightful figure, demon, or dark presence that pursues us relentlessly in the dreamscape. We may find ourselves running, attempting to hide or trying to fight back against an overwhelming presence.
In Jungian dreamwork, a typical stance taken is to confront this shadow head-on. To invite it forward, as Jung says, “Please, come and devour me!”. Taken psychologically, this is a statement that begins that dance of shadow integration. Rather than denying the presence of our dark companions, we offer it a seat at the table. Despite our instinctive reaction to feeling threatened by its presence, we build resources and grounding to hold the tension it brings and uncover what it represents.
For many months I had a series of pursuit dreams. Most of the time I was being chased by a bear; sometimes I couldn’t discern what it was at all. One day, I took to my journal to contemplate this recurring theme. I decided I would attempt to confront this shadowy presence. 'Next time I dream of this, I will turn around and see what is chasing me,' I wrote.
About a week later I had this dream:
I’m running away from my house and someone is chasing me. It seems pretty hopeless, like I am being toyed with and I can’t really get away, no matter how much I try. In the midst of the pursuit, I am shot with something and feel my body partially paralyze. Despite this, I continue to run. I turn a corner and suddenly, next to me, are 3 huskies. I was holding one by the collar as we ran, a pure white husky. At a certain point I became somewhat lucid. I realized I shouldn’t run, that I could turn around and ask the being what it wanted. But when I turned around and asked, it didn’t answer. I demanded it to reply, it did not. It only looked at me in silence. I felt exasperated, let down. I called to the dogs and we took off down the road.
I woke up from this dream in surprise - How can the shadow stand in silence, without anything to offer? Doesn’t it want to come to me, to unite in conscious integration? What do I do when the playbook doesn’t go as planned?
Despite my frustration with the dream, I saw it as an opportunity to develop a nuance with shadow work. To honor the image as it appeared, to commune with its current form, rather than holding onto unrealistic expectations.
From this dream, I divined several insights and further ways to work with shadow. I’ll share them below.
Negotiating with the Shadow
“Shadow is the very stuff of the soul, the interior darkness that pulls downward out of life and keeps one in relentless connection with the underworld.”
- James Hillman “Dream and the Underworld”
Negotiating with the shadow implies that all parties involved have an equal say in the interactions. As a sovereign, volitional force, our ego (conscious awareness) can approach the psyche, send out intentions, and actively address the patterns that emerge in waking and dreaming life. The unconscious also has its autonomy. It is the greater force of gravity that the ego orbits.
In this sense, we are not in a position to dictate outcomes. We are creating a dialectic with profound parts of our own being whose purpose, desires, and motivations are ultimately mysterious. At times, we must follow its lead, taking note of the subtle information it provides through dream images, symptoms, etc. We must also maintain our sense of self and direct energy when possible. Transformation happens when these forces meet, intermingle, and evolve to something new.
Here are some guidelines to consider for your own shadow pursuit dreams.