Dream Interpretation
Our dreams are often more complex than they appear on the surface. Your mind uses its own unique symbols and stories to talk to you and share its secrets. The symbols and their meaning come from your life experiences, your beliefs and your wisdom. Dreams are the way your unconscious mind attempts to communicate with your conscious mind.
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The Philosophy of Dreaming-Analysis & Interpretation
Ancient Egypt
In ancient Egypt dreams were considered to be part of the supernatural realm- messages from the gods sent during the night. High Priests often interpreted them as an early warning or prophecy for disaster or good fortune. From early writings Egyptians were among the first dreamers to attempt interpretation.
Records show documentation as well as an early form of book where the process of “dream incubation” began. Egyptians experiencing troubles in their life would ask for help from the Gods, those allowed access to the temples would sleep there – upon waking the next morning would summon a priest known as the Master of the Secret Things, who would be consulted for the interpretations of that night’s dreams.
Greece
The peoples of Greece did not consider dream analysis until 8th century BC. The first written analogy appears in Homer’s Iliad, where he describes a scene in which Agamemnon receives instructions from a messenger of Zeus via his dream. Greeks, like their learned counterparts the Egyptians and Babylonians believed dreams carried divine messages from the Gods, but could only be interpreted with the aid of a priest. It was from these two groups the Greeks also inherited many occult techniques. Dreams aided in the early practice of medicine as well. Doctors often sent sick people to particular temples where the “gods of the body” shrines were located. Ailing Greeks would visit the temples, perform various religious rites, sleep and hope that a dream assured them restoration of good health. This practice continued until they had the “right” dream which could often take weeks and sometimes even months. The most famous for dream pilgrimage was the Sanctuary of Aesclepius at Epidaurus.
Pliny the Elder suggests that the earliest interpreter was a man named Amphictyon, son of Deucalion. Deucalion in Greek mythology, was the son of Prometheus. Herodotus, an early historian claimed that the people of Telmessus, located in southwest Asia Minor, specialized in dream interpretation. It was speculated that King Croesus, the last king of Lydia, consulted them for an interpretation of an important dream.
The leap into modern dream interpretation was in the early 5th century BC when Greek philosopher Heraclitus suggested a person’s dream world was created in their own mind. This went against other philosophers who still believed dreams were the result of outside influence, such as messages from the Gods. Most Greek philosophers have pondered dreams and what they might mean. Plato was one of the first who realized dreaming could affect a personality or someone’s life. In the Phaedo, he tells how Socrates studied music and the arts because he was instructed to do so in a dream.
Aristotle finally put an end to Heraditus’ idea that dreams were messages from the gods. He began to study dreams and the dreaming process in a controlled environment using studies to explain how dreams affected individuals. In his De divinatione per somnum, he states, “most so-called prophetic dreams are to be classed as mere coincidences, especially all such as are extravagant,” and later states that “the most skillful interpreter of dreams is he who has the faculty of absorbing resemblances. I mean that dream presentations are analogous to the forms reflected in water.” Aristotle’s Parva naturalia suggests that dreams are in fact believed to be a recollection of the days events.
Aristotle also advanced the theory that dreams reflected a person’s bodily health. It suggested that a doctor could diagnose a person illness by hearing a dream that they had. Hippocrates, the founder of modern medicine supported this theory. Galen of Pergamum, a Greco-Roman physician, picked up where Aristotle had left off. Using patients dreams to help treat their medical conditions.
Rome
Although the Egyptians created one of the earliest documents on dreams, known as the Chester Beatty Papyrus, the Oneirocriticon or The Interpretation of Dreams by the Roman Artemidorus (c. AD 150) is the first comprehensive book on the dream interpretation. Hi five-volume work, Artemidorus brought out the idea that dreams are unique to the individual dreamer. He believed that a person’s occupation, social status and health could affect symbols in a dream. His interpretations were often however, extremely shrewd. Astrampsychus wrote a second Oneirocriticon, which may have been the basis for dream books produced by the Victorians This book contained a few ideas that were somewhat outrageous such as “To wear a purple robe threatens a long disease” and “To hold or eat eggs symbolizes vexation.” However, some of the axioms still reflect today’s interpretations, such as “Sitting naked signifies loss of property.”
Visions of Biblical Proportions
Christianity revived the idea that dreams were of the supernatural element. The Old Testament holds an abundance of dreams in it’s teachings. One of the most famous being Jacob’s dream of a ladder from Earth to Heaven. Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II (c 634 – 562 BC) had a dream that is recorded in the Biblical book of Daniel. In this dream the King envisions a beautiful tree with lush green foliage, birds nesting in it’s branches and beasts sheltering underneath. One day a messenger from Heaven orders the tree cut down and the King chained to the stump. The King was left to feed on the grass as a beast would.
Nebuchadnezzar summoned Daniel, an expert on dreams, who told him that the tree represented the King’s power and glory; when it was cut down he became nothing but a beast, living off the grass. Daniel explained that this dream was to teach him to acknowledge the heavenly power above him in the same way he was above the beasts in the field. The dream was, as it turned out, was somewhat prophetic…it is said that “While boasting over his achievements, Nebuchadnezzar is humbled by God. The king loses his sanity and lives in the wild like an animal for seven years. After this, his sanity and position are restored and he praises and honors God.”
Preachers of Christianity spoke of God revealing himself through dreams. St. John Chrysostom, said “We are not responsible for our dreams, and should be ashamed of what we dream or any images that appear therein.” St. Augustine and St. Jerome, claimed the direction of their lives were dramatically affected by their dreams. Other religions also believed in the significance dreams. Mohammed “received” much of the text of the Koran from a dream he had, as well as interpreting dreams of his disciples.
Others such as Martin Luther, the founder of Protestantism, believed that dreams were not the work of the divine, but quite the opposite, the Devil. Luther said that sin was, “the confederate and father of foul dreams.” Since the church interpreted God’s word, revelations made to individuals in dreams could only have been diabolic.
Middle East
An anonymous Persian writer determined that to truly interpret a dream it must be done during the day of occurrence. If the dream is allowed to pass without record it would become tainted with outside thoughts and influences. The Zoroastrians followed this theory, which set rules for each day of the month, such as, “The second day is that of Bahman: Events dreamed of will occur in four days, but the hopes which may be cherished will be disappointed.”
Gabdorrhachamn was the earliest and most well-known of the Arabic dream interpreters. He was a strong believer of dreams being prophetic and could only be interpreted by a person with “a clean spirit, chaste morals, and the Word of Truth.” His dream aphorisms however, are thought to have been based on his own feelings rather than an understanding of dream symbols.
Victorian Ideas
Europeans became very curious about dreaming at the beginning of the 19th century. Robert Cross Smith was one of the first to start the Victorian “Dream Craze.” Under the pen name of “Raphael” he published the book The Royal Book of Dreams and was immensely successful. It wasn’t until Alfred Maury, a French doctor with “New” ideas led us into modern dream interpretation. It was said he studied over 3,000 different dreams and found external stimuli to be the catalyst to all of our dreams. It was his own particular dream that brought him to believe dreams came about so quickly that they were almost simultaneous with the stimulus that produced them. His dream had him condemned to the guillotine and as it fell, he woke up to find the top of the bed had fallen and hit him in the spine at the exact time the guillotine would have struck his head clean off.
This idea later was proved to be relatively unimportant, as the theory of the unconscious developed into the modern attitude toward dream interpretation. Maury wasn’t too far off with his interpretations however.
Modern Philosophies
The most well-known of the modern dream philosophers was Sigmund Freud. His theories were based on the ideas that even though dreams may be prompted by external stimuli, wish-fulfillment was the root behind most. His ideas placed dreams in the category where they became a reflection of our deepest desires going back to our childhood. To Freud, no dream was merely entertainment, they all held important meanings.
Carl Jung, a student of Freud disagreed on the theory that erotic content was the basis behind most of our dreams. Jung believed dreams reminded us of our wishes, enabling us to realize the things we unconsciously yearn for, and therefore a springboard to fulfilling our own wishes. Contradictory to how Freud believed dreams to be a product of our desires too outrageous for our own belief. Jung believed dreams were messages and that we should pay attention to them for our own benefit.
Today, most psychologists will agree with Jung’s theory. The idea that dream interpretation is something that we can use in our everyday lives. If Freud were alive today he would likely disagree with every theory that says you are able to interpret your own dreams. Jung believed, although difficult, dreams were meant to be understood.
Other Ideas
Ever since the Freud/Jung rivalry, other theories about dreams and dreaming have flourished and are continuing to be developed today. There are some that believe that any theory on dreams is basically pointless and that dreams are just another fact of life. There are others who say that dreams are either the clearing of fragments from our memory banks or that they are the storage of these fragments. Either way they are believed to be unimportant and should be disregarded. However, there are the people that argue against this and say that dreams are important to living full and complete lives. Until there is a definite way to study how dreams work and where they come from for sure, we will only have to decide which theory we believe for ourselves.
