ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author explores relationship themes that emerged in his dreamwork with David Lukoff, a gay man in his late forties. David's story illustrates the clinical usefulness of working with dreams and archetypal symbolism—in the case aiding the resolution of oedipal conflict, which had previously inhibited satisfaction of central life aims. David encountered five animal dream symbols—horse, camel, snake, alligator, and buffalo—representing different facets of his sexuality. The 1960s/1970s car reminded Dave of his adolescence, and his denial and repression of sexuality during his adolescence in the 1960s. The shift from wild horses to a camel reflected a significant internal shift for David. David's associations were that alligators are dangerous, stealthy; they creep up on their victims. David had been enveloped in a regressive union with the energies of the unconscious. His dream portrayed the heroic masculine principle of consciousness grappling with the instinctual "reptilian psyche".
