history of dreams

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history of dreams



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 have strived to understand them..

People in primal societies were unable to distinguish between the dream world and waking world or that they simply choose not to make such a distinction. They saw that the dream world was not





only an extension of reality, but that it was a more powerful world.

In the Greek and Roman eras, dreams were seen in a religious context or as direct messages from the gods or from the dead. They look to their dreams for what to do or what course of action to take. Dreams forewarned and predicted what will happen in the future. Their belief in the messages of dreams was so strong that it even dictated the actions of political and military leaders. In fact, dream interpreters even accompanied military leaders into battle to help with war strategy.

During the Helllenistic period, the main focus of dreams was centered around its ability to heal. Temples, called Asclepieions, were built around the healing power of dreams. It was believed that sick people who slept in these temples would be sent cures through their dreams. Dream interpreters even aided the medicine men in their medical diagnosis. It was believed that dreams offered a vital clue for healers to finding what was wrong with the dreamer.

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.

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 us 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.

Tracing back to these ancient cultures, people had always had an inclination to interpret dreams The bible alone has over seven hundred references to dreams.

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the Importance Of Dreaming

Research have shown that people who are deprived from entering the dream phase of sleep (i.e. REM stage), exhibit symptoms of irritability and anxiety. In one dream study, volunteers were woken up right before they entered into the dream state. Then they were allowed to fall back to sleep. Again, right before they enter REM sleep, they were woken up. This continued on through the night. The volunteers slept the same amount of time as they normally did. The next day, these





volunteers went about their day. They were observed to be disoriented, depressed, crabby, and quick tempered. There was a general impairment in their daily functioning. Some ate more than usual. As this study continued on through several nights, subjects became more and more noticeably agitated. Deprivation of REM sleep causes over-sensitivity, lack of concentration and memory loss.

This study shows the importance of dreaming and its role in our well-being and health. Some researchers believe that dreams help us tackle stress. It is clear that dreaming help recharge the mind and revitalize the body. Dreaming is a necessity.

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lucid dreams

Lucid dreams give us the ability to control our own dreams and steer them toward the direction we want. In the lucid state, we are more willing to confront threats and as a result, become more self confident. When we achieve lucidity, we can use it as a tool to improve our sports game, to rehearse a speech, to fulfill our fantasies, or to solve a problem in our waking life. In fact, some athletes utilize their lucid dreams to practice their tennis serve, golf stroke or bat swing. Even in our day to day life, we can use lucid dreams to ask the boss for a raise, prepare for a first date, overcome phobias, get







over writer's block, etc. The application of lucid dreams is limited only to your imagination. Lucid dreams can help us visualize and rehearse the event in our minds before it actually occurs.

Because brain activity during the dream state is the same as during a real life event, what you "learn" or "practice" in your lucid dream state can be seen as training and preparation for the real thing in the waking world. Our neuronal patterns are already being conditioned.

At least half of all adults have had at least one lucid dream in their lifetime. Many have reported having lucid dreams without even trying. Often flying is associated with lucid dreams. However with practice, lucid dreaming can be learned and can be achieved at your will.

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Steps to Improving Lucid Dreaming

1. Throughout the day, while you are awake, ask yourself, "Is this a dream?" anytime something odd happens or even when nothing out of the ordinary happens. The trick is not to answer the question with an immediate "Of course I am not dreaming!". Come up with a consistent way to check if you are awake or asleep. For example checking the time on a clock and then quickly check it again. If you are dreaming, the time will always dramatically change at the second glance. Or if you are reading something, look away and then read it again.



Again if you dreaming, when you look at it the second time, whatever you are reading will be completely different. As you keep asking yourself this question during the day, the question will become second nature. You will ask the question during your dreams. And when you do your check to see if you are awake or asleep, you are well on your way to lucidity.

2. Identify your dream signals. These are objects or images in your dream that serve as cues or markers to let you know that you are dreaming. Anything can be a dream signal and is unique to each individual dreamer. It may help to read through your dream journal and select an images that seem to constantly appear in your dreams. By selecting a recurring image, then it has a better chance of appearing in your future dreams. Then when you are ready for bed, tell yourself that "When I see an apple, then I know I am dreaming." or whatever dream signal you have chosen.

3. Use your dream signs to let you know that you are dreaming. When an anomaly or something impossible occurs in your dream, instead of ignoring it or trying to rationalize it, let it be an indicator that you are dreaming. Some common dream signs include flying, walking through walls or the appearance of someone who is dead in real life.

4. Finally encourage your lucid dreams, but do not force them, as your efforts may have an opposite effect. It is important to relax.

As you improve your lucid dreaming, you can even learn to "write" your own dream scripts. Your sense of smell and touch will become heightened. Before going to bed tell yourself what you want to dream and what area you want to explore.

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Dream Walking and Astral Travelling are very similar. Astral






travelling tends to be something you do alone, where dream walking is a more conscious experience where you can choose who goes with you.

It is good to set your intentions when going to sleep. You can ask your Higher Self for help with a problem or you can consciously choose to go on an adventure, using your powers of visualization and imagination.

If you have friends who are open to spiritual experiences, you could chat with them in advance and invite them along on the adventure. Distance is no object, so you can even arrange this on Chat or by SMS messaging in advance.

When bedtime comes, go to bed in a relaxed and happy way and if you feel any tension in your body, just spend a few minutes releasing that consciously, becoming aware of the different parts of your body.

Breathe into these areas and relax and expand your consciousness. Feel the more subtle aspects of the physical body ¯ the organs, the cells and molecules; and become aware of your Energy Body or Aura, which permeates throughout the physical body.

Allow the Electromagnetic Power in your Aura to expand and connect to more aspects of yourself by grounding yourself to the Earth, reaching up with your consciousness to the planets around the Sun in our solar system and feeling their influence, like archangels guiding one's destiny.

As you connect more and more with your Energy Body and the Energy Matrix, feel your chakra centres activating and coming alive. Feel the multidimensional aspects of yourself opening up and connecting you with your healing helpers and guides.

When the energies feel right, remember your intentions at the beginning of the process and who is coming with you. Reach out with your feelings and start a telepathic communication with the friends you would like to take with you.

If they are ready too, choose to slip out of your physical body into your Energy Body and choose to focus with your feelings on the images in your imagination. See yourself soaring through time and space.

Remember that you do not really travel out of yourself: you just choose to make yourself bigger and move your awareness around inside of your Self, which truly is the whole universe.

It is all about focus of intention and what you choose to create, either alone or with the friends you have chosen to have this experience with you. Connect fully to the senses in your Energy or Light Body.

Feel your surroundings, the warmth of the sun, the wind in your hair; smell the flowers and the freshly cut grass in the hay meadows. Start a conversation with your friend and hear their voice in your ears. Feel their hand in yours as you walk along together.

Then fully open up your imagination and your Self to the multi-dimensions of experiences you can choose to create in this state of consciousness. Enjoy your Dream Walk.

When you are finished bring your Light Body back to the here and now, reconnect with your physical body again and enjoy the rest of your night's sleep.