Our inner children like to reach for the sky. Sometimes, this part of us does this out of sheer wonder or an innate desire to connect to something larger and more expansive than itself. That’s an expression of the light side of the child archetype. Other times, the inner child hangs out in the heavens because it doesn’t feel safe being in a body on Earth and so it travels heavenward to escape—that’s an expression of the shadow side of the child archetype. If this were a dream image, I'd ask the dreamer: Why is the child on the ladder? What does he see? How does he feel about being up there? Is he scared? Is he happy? How does he feel about coming down? Are there parents or elders waiting for him? The answers to these questions would help the dreamer and me to understand what aspect of the inner child this boy represents; and they may even hint at how to integrate the psychic energy he carries. Image by Armand Khoury