Three Perspectives on Dreams

This paper is about dreams. It is on three different topics of dreams. One is about the history of dreams. The other is about the types of dreams. The last topic is about the interpretations of dreams.

Plato was a Greek philosopher who studied dreams. He thought dreams had some kind of symbolic action. Plato said “Dreams were merely messages received from gods”. In one of his dialogues, Plato stated that dreams were used as a method to achieve a particular kind of knowledge. Plato also stated that dreams originate from the organs in your belly. (Lewis 191)

He said “When the belly organs are frustrated while sleeping, it censors the dreams”. Plato said that the kinds of dreams you have are based on your character and education. He said that if someone had been angry or happy then that also strikes the actions in the dreams. Even if someone was a decent person, they were still able to have offensive dreams. He said that nightmares were caused by bad behavior while being awake. (Lewis 191)

Aristotle had a different yet similar thesis of dreams. He said that “Dreams were caused by the afterimages of our memory”. Aristotle also said that our imagination in our sleep is the product of senses that we had while we were awake. He said that dreams are probably just disturbances of bodily functions. Dreams had different meanings to different tribes. (Lewis 191)

The Navaho Indians translated dreams as the opposite of what the dream was. The Yuma Indians considered dreams the basis of religion, tradition, and power. They

Dreams 4 believed that anything that happens in a dream will happen in real life if it has not happened already. (Lewis 191)

The Mohave Indians said that good dreams mean good luck and bad dreams mean bad luck. They thought that their “medicine men” could heal people in their dreams.

The Mohave also believed also believed that the destiny of the human soul came from dreams. The Navaho considered dreams kind of like interpreters that reveal problems and cures. They also believed that spirits and gods put dreams in people’s heads. The Navaho believed that bad dreams come true. Crow Indians believed that success in life was the result of a good vision. (Lewis 191)

The Dakota used dreams as prophetic visions. The state where the most dreams and nightmares happen is the REM cycle. The mind can create any sort of nightmare du...

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...healing and prosperity. Water: to some researchers, water was considered a sexual

Dreams 6 symbol because sexual intercourse involves fluids. Snakes: they have different have different meanings. They could mean fertility, evil, or healing. (Guiley 145)

Falling: it could mean failure or being unprepared in life. Doors: open doors mean a new opportunity and closed doors mean that you are hiding a secret. Death: it means having anxiety about death, unhappiness or struggle of letting someone go. Marriage: it symbolizes commitment. Hell: suffering and torment, incapable of solving problems in reality. Ghost: the essence of what no longer is obtainable. Bridge: represents life transitions and emotions. (Guiley 145)

This paper was about dreams. It consisted of three topics all relating to dreams and how they affect people’s lives. One of the topics was about the history of dreams. The other was about types of dreams. The other was about interpretations of dreams.

References

Abnormal Psychology. Drake M., Raleigh. Littlefield, Adams & Co., 1954

Encyclopedia of Dreams. Guiley, Rosemary. Mass Market Paperback, 1995

The Dream Encyclopedia. Lewis R., James. Visible Ink Press, 2002