Running to a door and never reaching it, falling with no end, being chased by something but never being able to run fast enough; what do all these dreams mean? From going to school and forgetting your pants, to running through a field of flowers dreams have different interpretations. There have been many theories behind not only the meaning of dreams, but also how they originated. From different religious views to Freudianism to Neo-Freudianism, dreams have had a constant impact on our understanding of life. Some theories explain how dreams help us grow and prepare for life. Others theorize how they help us sort through unresolved and/or repressed wishes; while others thought dreams as mediums between our world, and that of the gods. Dreams continue to be theorized, asked unanswered questions; for all we know, unanswered prayers. Of the earliest theories behind dreams, the Greeks had many theories of their own. The Greek god of dreams, Morpheus, was believed to be the messenger of the gods to man. Son of Hypnos (god of sleep) and Pasithea (goddess of hallucination, meditation, and relaxation), Morpheus was believed to be sent into the dreams of man, kings and servants alike, to deliver a message from the gods. These dreams, believed to have prophetic powers, where they could show you a message; a lesson to be learned, or of danger to come. Morpheus was believed to have the ability to form into any figure; usually that of a man, but his true form was that of a winged daemon.
Early civilizations thought they were a medium between the earthly world and that of the Gods. This point of view is more of a religious outlook and it involves a lot of superstitions of what dreams mean. Just searching "dream" in google what immediately pops up is dream dictionaries and tons of them. These dictionaries are said to cover anything from the colors you see to the actions that take place. For example, if you dreamt about kissing it could mean that there are two aspects of your life that are merging together or it may suggest some sort of wish fulfillment. Also, if the color black is a major aspect it could represent mystery. The list goes on and on of what anything could mean. Just like how people listen to their horoscopes, many own dream dictionaries so that they know exactly what it might be that they are dreaming about or what it is that they should be looking for in the near, or maybe even far,
Dreams have many meanings some come in various different forms. Some dreams have very deep meanings while others are just simply a product of your imagination. For example some people experience Deja Vu. Deja Vu is when you have a dream of something and then it comes to life. People who have had Deja Vu have been very surprised. A dream is a product of your imagination some are just entertaining while others might be viewed as life lessons. Some dreams have deeper meanings into them, you just have to look for them. For example some people have been having dreams of going to a certain place then the next morning they end up in the same exact place. When you arrive at the place you will have a certain feeling like you have been here before then you will remember that your dreamed about it. Dreams have so much to to do with your imagination but some are no product of your imagination but a product of reality. Dreams have many meanings they might be good, bad, and scary ,whatever they are they are still a product of you. Likewise In Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, Antonio’s dreams, thoughts, and actions help identify who he is and what he is meant to be . There are several examples of Antonio finding
Dreams, one of the many dimensions in our mind, gives a lot of different information then we are use to having in the day. The subconscious mind that takes control when we sleep, takes care of our passive memories and holds the key to our lives. Dreams are what lead us to this key which unlocks the door to another type of wisdom. The farther we get
However, this kind of thinking did not last long. A Greek philosopher in the 5th Century named Heraclitus was probably the first to suggest that dreams actually originated from within. He stated that each individual’s dreams were unique and were products of his own mind. Socrates and Plato followed where Heraclitus left off, corroborating his theory with their own research. Finally it was Aristotle who completely dispelled the notion that dreams were attempts at divine communication. His practical approach to dream research paved the way for future scholars such as Freud and Jung. Aristotle stated that dreams were most often fragments of the days events, and could sometimes provide insight into one’s personal problems. (Parker 10-15)
When looking into the meanings of dreams, a variation of things can be found. Most people believe that dreams are a reflection of people’s inner thoughts and feelings. Most of these feelings are too private to be expressed in the real world and that is why they are expressed in a fantasy type way through dreams.
The mystery of dreams have fascinated people for years. Do they have significant meaning? Do they predict the future? Is our subconscious mind trying to warn us about our waking state of mental health and awareness? There are an abundance of websites and books that help interpret significant bits and pieces of dreams that we remember. Using a few of these websites I’ll interpret a few of my own dreams and what significance they may have had at the time that they occurred and how each one can be used as a coach for future challenges.
An individual’s unconscious mind combines bits and pieces of information and places them together. Dreams are almost always visual. “Forty to fifty percent of dreams have some form of communication present in them and a very small percentage of dreams give the dreamer the ability to use his or her five senses”(Encarta). Dreams allow one to take a closer look into their mind in a quest for self-discovery. In ancient Greece dreams were believed to be messages from the gods. Hippocrates and Aristotle believed that dreams contained physiological information that may be cause of future illnesses. Dreams can be used to solve a number of different types of problems. In The Interpretation of Dreams, by Sigmund Freud he states “As regards the dream, all the troubles of waking life are transferred by it to the sleeping
First, to fully understand where we are going when we are talking about dreams we first need to understand fully the meaning of consciousness and the varying levels that exists in the human brain. Consciousness is a concept explained by psychologists as the awareness of our environment
Dreams have been around as long as the first civilization came to be and have been a normal part of human existence. One third of your life is spent sleeping, and of that third, on average you will have spent a total of about six years of it dreaming. Most people dream on average two hours every night, but you can have anywhere from four to seven dreams in one night. According to research, the most common setting for a dream is in your own house. In our dreams we can do anything we want and be whoever we want to be. Our dreams are an escape from reality. While we dream we are unable to control our actions and choose our surroundings. We let our minds take over. Sometimes dreams can be understood in the context of repressed thoughts. Dreaming serves as an outlet for those thoughts and impulses we repress during the day. When we go to sleep at night and slip into our dream state, we feel liberated and behave in a manner that we do not allow ourselves to in our everyday life. Visions and ides can come from your dreams. Often, authors, screenwriters, and even poets turn to their dreams for inspiration. The think quest oracle library goes on to tell about the most well-known of the modern dream
Everyone in the world has had at least one dream in their lifetime. Most people don’t think much about the dreams they have, unless they are recurring. Most people today wake up from a dream or nightmare saying, “thank heaven that was a dream,” or “too bad that was just a dream.” Many times these dreams or nightmares have more meaning than we think.
The god of sleep, Hypnos, also resided in the underworld, in Cimmerians in a cave on the island of Lemnos. Hypnos was the son of Nyx and the brother of Thanatos. His sons were the conductors of dreams. The mightiest among them, Morpheus, from whom we get the name for modern day morphine, brought dreams of men, Icelus, animals, and Phantasus, inanimate things.
The humankind throughout history has tried to learn and figure out the meaning of dreaming. The interpretations and true meanings of dreams has expanded and has varied over centuries and cultures. Many of the earlier studies were based on culture’s and the interpretation of dreams, but also used as a form of prophecy, inspiration, and guidance. Many people still believe this such, people today beliefs and theories have opened up to a more vast interpretation, they are made up of; dreams are rare brain activity, dreams allow people to reflect on themselves, or that dreams are too massive to be correctly interpret. Although, not a single theory has been proven to this day, science as of why dreams occur is still a mystery.
Humanity has searched for their significance and meanings, from the Old Testament dreams of Pharaoh and of Jacob’s dream of the ladder, to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks as being messages from the gods. These vivid images that arise in the unconscious mind contain elements of our personal identity, segments of our daily lives, as well as the bizarre.
To many people, dreams are the thoughts that occur while sleeping, having almost mystic qualities. For millennia the significance of dreams has escaped even the brightest of philosophers and intellectuals. Many people have speculated about why people dream and what meanings the dreams have but in recent times two theories have gained credibility in answering those questions. The first theory is Sigmund Freuds and the other is known as the cognitive theory of dreams also known as biological determinism.
Dreams are “hallucinations of the sleeping mind” (Loftus & Ketcham). Dreams can be very vivid, loud, and even emotional. This is why it is easy to confuse them with reality. Dreams are kind of like taking all of a person’s wishes and emotions and putting them all in a little “shadow world” (Bynum) when they go to sleep at night. “What is common in all these dreams is obvious. They completely satisfy wishes excited during the day which remain unrealized. They are simply and undisguisedly realizations of wishes.” (Freud). A person may be experiencing an emotion or wishing for something without even realizing it at all. Dreams can sometimes show a person how they are truly feeling without even their own awareness of these feelings or wishes. A lot of a person’s reality and emotions are used in their dreams, however, this is not always the case. Dreams can also be extremely bizarre, confusing, and even repetitive. This is where the interpretation of dreams comes into action. Many people find it hard to believe that when they have a dream over and over again that it does not mean anything. These types of dreams are called recurring dreams. Recurring dreams happen