Example: A film star I admire came and lay beside me in the night. He told me he loved me and would stay with me. I knew he was living with a woman who had borne his child, but he told me he was going to tell her he was leaving her. In the morning we walked along the road where I live, to tell the woman’ (Sharon). Sharon processed her dream and saw the film star as her own strength and determination to further her career as a dancer. Being 18 she was faced with the decision of whether to become a wife and mother—the other woman —or put those urges into her work. In her dream she chose to be fully involved in her dancing.
Famous people can be seen as social guinea pigs. Collectively we expose them to enormous amounts of money, sexual opportunity, drugs, alcohol, and tremendous social and commercial pressures. Then we examine every part of their life to see how well they cope. Millions then identify with the image they portray of how to deal with reality at its worst.
The famous person in our dream might therefore represent our coping mechanism. [1]
According to Freudians, such dreams are pure wishfulfillment, with the celebrity representing either what you want to be or your desire for more recognition in waking life. By contrast, Jungians consider that dreams of celebrities represent archetypes and aspects of your personality that are still buried in your unconscious.
If so, your dreaming mind is encouraging you to incorporate those desired qualities that you see in the famous person into your conscious life, because they are already present—latent—in you. On the other hand, the famous person may represent your shadow or hidden side: a part of your personality, or a behavior pattern, that you have refused to acknowledge—for example, aggressiveness or a will to dominate.
In short, celebrities in dreams often symbolize those hidden qualities upon which you need to turn the spotlight. Whenever you dream of becoming famous, or meeting someone famous or powerful, quickly write down a couple of positives and a couple of negatives about that person. Don’t think too much.
Then ask yourself, ‘Do I see any of these qualities in myself right now? Are they qualities that I want to develop? What can I learn from the dream about myself and my life from this person?’ See also ARCHETYPES; PEOPLE. [2]
(2) The famous person may represent what you would like to be. This may correspond to your shadow-self, the other side of your personality that is still buried in your unconscious.
If so, it means you could incorporate into your conscious life those desired qualities that you see in the famous person, because they are already present - latent - in you.
(3) Alternatively, what the famous person represents may be a part of your personality or behaviour patterns that you have refused to acknowledge - for example, aggressiveness or a will to dominate. [3]
A young person dreaming of a film star may not be ready for the responsibility of a real relationship. [6]
For instance, we may realize that the destructiveness of a public life would take its toll within our own lives. [8]