ABSTRACT
The house as symbol appears often in dreams. As a symbol the house is feminine as it is a place of containment, of intimacy, a place of protection and growth. The house may represent the self, the façade the persona, the roof the head or mental level; the access may be an expression of introversion or extraversion. The house may have many floors representing the stages of development of the personality. Windows: the transparent barriers of insight and protection represent the connection between the inner and outer worlds. Do they look out towards sunlight or into darkness? The soul window often appears in the drawing of the house as an archetypal recall from some ancient belief. Stairs lead the way up or down. They go towards consciousness and the world or descend into the unconscious and the lower realms. The house is planted on the ground or has no ground, a suggestion of stability and solidity or lack of a solid basis in the psyche.
