How To Interpret Our Dreams

                  
          To Begin With, Our Dreams

         Last night, I had the strangest dream!” How many

conversations in your life have started that way? People are

fascinated with the movies that play in their head while

they’re sleeping. Some believe that dreams can predict the

future. Others say that dreams depict real life. Still others

believe that dreams are a manifestation of what we want to

be.

         Interpreting dreams has evolved over the years to what

some consider an art form. We spend one-third of our lives

sleeping. In the average lifetime, six years is spent

dreaming. That’s more than 2,100 days spent in a different

world! Every night, we dream an average of one to two

hours dreaming and usually have 4-7 dreams per night.

Consider some of these other facts about dreams and

dreaming:

1. Everybody dreams. EVERYBODY! Simply because you

do not remember your dream does not mean that you

did not dream.

2. Dreams are indispensable. A lack of dream activity

can mean protein deficiency or a personality disorder.

3. Men tend to dream more about other men, while

women dream equally about men and women.

4. People who are giving up smoking have longer and

more intense dreams.

5. Toddlers do not dream about themselves. They do not

appear in their own dreams until the age of 3 or 4.

6. If you are snoring, then you cannot be dreaming.

7. Blind people do dream. Whether visual images will

appear in their dream depends on whether they

where blind at birth or became blind later in life. But

vision is not the only sense that constitutes a dream.

Sounds, tactility, and smell become hypersensitive for

the blind and their dreams are based on these

senses.

        The dream world is fascinating full of speculation, hope,

and sometimes even fear. We can wake up from a good

dream feeling refreshed and hopeful. On the other hand, we

can wake up from a bad dream feeling tense and

apprehensive.

         Ever since Freud's Interpretation of Dreams was

published, there has been recognition of the importance of

dreams. But even before that there were dream

interpretations. People had superstitious notions about

dreams - for example, "Something is going to happen

because I dreamed it was going to happen."

        This is a common misconception. Regardless of what

some people might say, if you dream you are falling and

don’t wake up before you hit the ground in your dream, you

will not die. If you dream that someone close to you dies,

that’s not an omen to warn you of their death. Dreams do

not predict the future.

        What dreams can do is provide a sense of insight into

ourselves. They can help us cope with situations we’re

unsure about. They can guide us in a certain direction when

faced with uncertainty. They can simply give us an overall

good feeling as we dream of something pleasant.

        The dream state is an experimental playground which

gives you a chance to explore and express emotions without

the usual inhibitions you may display in your waking life.

        Dreams provide an avenue of expression for that part of

yourself that knows both your history and your potential as

a spiritual being.

        They are another way the universe provides guidance

about relationships, careers, and health problems. Through

dreams you may find answers to your spiritual questions and

even receive encouragement to some challenge in your life.

        While some dreams may allow you to release bottled

emotions from your day's activities, others can lead to

profound insights in a psychological or spiritual way.

        Acquiring the ability to interpret your dreams is a

powerful tool. In analyzing your dreams, you can learn

about your deep secrets and hidden feelings. No one is a

better expert at interpreting your dreams than yourself.

        In this book, we’ll look at dreams and dreaming as a

science as well as the various meanings that dream content

can have. This is not meant to be a definitive guide to

dreams. It is simply a starting point for you to look at what

“movies” your sub-conscious is creating at night and how

you can apply it your life and affect change if needed.

        Remember that a dream unifies the body, mind, and

spirit. It provides you with insight into yourself and a

means for self-exploration. In understanding your dreams,

you will have a better understanding and discovery of your

true self. So stay awhile -- explore, discover, have fun,

and find out what's in your dreams!

DID WE ALWAYS DREAM?

        That may seem like a silly question, but think about

early man. Have people always dreamt even when the

world around them was quite simple and mundane? The

answer is yes. While we cannot have definitive proof of

paleo-man, we can know that back in the Roman Era,

striking and significant dreams were submitted to the

Senate for analysis and interpretation.

        What did man do with these odd images that

appeared during their sleep? Well, they did what we do

today – tried to interpret them!

        Dream interpretations date back to 3000-4000 B.C.

where they were documented on clay tablets. For as long

as we have been able to communicate our dreams, we

have been fascinated with them and strive to understand

them.

        People in primal societies were unable to distinguish

between the dream world and reality. They not only saw

the dream world as an extension of reality, but that the

dream realm was a more powerful world.

        Back in the Greek and Roman era, dreams were often

seen in a religious context and messages from the gods.

        Temples, called Asclepieions were built around the power of

dreams. It was believed that sick people who slept in these

temples would be sent cures through their dreams.

In Egypt, priests also acted as dream interpreters. The

        Egyptians recorded their dreams in hieroglyphics. People

with particular vivid and significant dreams were believed

to be blessed and were considered special. People who had

the power to interpret dreams were looked up to and seen

as divinely gifted. In the bible, there are over seven

hundred mentions of dreams. Tracing back to these ancient

cultures, people had always had an inclination to interpret

dreams.

        Dreams were also seen as prophetic and an omen

from outside spirits. People often looked to their dreams

for signs of warning and advice from a deity, from the dead

or even the works of a demon. Sometimes they look to

their dreams for what to do or what course of action to

take.

        Dreams often dictated the actions of political and

military leaders. In fact, in the Green and Roman era,

dream interpreters even accompanied military leaders into

battle to help. Some interpreters aided the medicine men

in a diagnosis. Dreams offered a vital clue for healers in

finding what was wrong with the dreamer.

        Dreaming can be seen as an actual place that your

spirit and soul leaves every night to go and visit. The

Chinese believed that the soul leaves the body to go into

this world. However, if they should be suddenly awakened,

their soul may fail to return to the body. For this reason,

some Chinese today, are wary of alarm clocks.

        Some Native American tribes and Mexican civilizations

share this same notion of a distinct dream dimension. They

believed that their ancestors lived in their dreams and take

on non-human forms like plants. They see that dreams as a

way of visiting and having contact with their ancestors.

Dreams also helped to point their mission or role in life.

        During the Middle Ages, dreams were seen as evil and

its images were temptations from the devil. In the

vulnerable sleep state, the devil was believed to fill the

mind of humans with poisonous thoughts. He did his dirty

work though dreams attempting to mislead humans down a

wrong path.

        In the early 19th century, dreams were dismissed as

stemming from anxiety, a household noise or even

indigestion. Hence there was really no meaning to it. Later

on in the 19th century, Sigmund Freud revived the

importance of dreams and its significance and need for

interpretation. He revolutionized the study of dreams.   atj