When it comes to Jung's point of view of dream interpretation, a deep understanding of complex topics in psychology isn't necessary; instead, what is required is a strong understanding of the foundational subjects, and a wide knowledge of mythology, culture, comparative religion and the like. This book is not a stand-alone work by Jung, but a collection of works, presented in four sections in this book:
1. Dreams and psychoanalysis - in the first works by Jung in this book, the reader will become familiar with Jung's view on the importance of dream interpretation and his advice on proper approaches to it. To give the reader a holistic understanding of the subject matter Jung gives some basic examples from his clinical experience. A point of comparison is also given by discussing the contributions of the Freudian school on the matter as well as discussions on where the Freudian work has fallen short.
2.Dreams and Psychic Energy - in this presentation of works, Jung talks about the manner in which psychic energy attaches itself to objects in conscious life, and how it is represented in dreams. This, is a further expansion on the section one and didn't really require a section of its own, but for the sake of understanding, I suppose it makes sense.
3. The Practical Use of Dream - the dream analyst has to be aware of transference, counter transference, as well as the questions the dream analyst asks - for the questions already have a portion of the answer prefigured in them. And, ultimately it is not important for the dream analyst to understand the solution, or the answer, but it is only necessary that the person who's dream it is does. It took me a bit to understand this principle, but I remembered something that Nietzsche said in one of his works... and I paraphrase, "if I hold the key to the locks to your chains, then what difference does it make if your locks are different from mine?"
4. Individual Dream Symbolism in Relation to Alchemy - Presents examples of dreams, and instead of providing tools for diagnosing the dreamer, the presentation is such that the dreams are not meant to diagnose the dreamer but are rather aimed at giving the analyst tools for understanding the context of the dreams. Apart from analysis of how psychic energy is expressed in dreams, Jung's analysis of Mandala dreams is also presented. Mandala dreams are those dreams which deal with the center of a person.- again, what is presented are not skeletal structures which one can use to diagnose, but rather tools which one can use to provide a context and understand. This section primarily deals with the principles pertaining to individuation and the synthesis of opposites in the personality of the dreamer.
Part 4 is the most dense section in the book, and the sheer number of ideas presented, in terms of symbols, makes it a slow read but ultimately worth it. I have picked up "psychology and alchemy" by Jung several times and found myself putting it down out of frustration-only to pick it up again later to repeat the cycle. Upon reading this book, I feel as though I am in a better position to understand the material in that book.