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Introduction

People have been interested in dreams since classical antiquity where dreams
considered mostly as messages from the gods. On the other hand popular belief
elaborated quite a lot during following centuries on this rather doubtful predictive
character of particular dream symbols, leading to a lot unconscious and
archetypal images being included.
Dreams can be seen as subjective
phenomena that only become
realities if we can remember their
contents after waking, but how
many of us remember our dreams
and why do we dream at all ?
The first question can be easily
answered by about 80% according
to statistics. the answer to the
second question, however, has
puzzled humankind from a long
time and even today scientist do
not agree on one explicit theory.
Ancient Egypt and Bible attributed a supernatural element to dreams Aristotle
introduced the psychological character of dreams.
Freud had argued that dreams express unconscious desire and underlying wishes
which he termed the latent content. In contrast Hobson and Mc. Carley believe
that dreams are created because of random activity e of brain during a certain
state of sleep (REM) more recent studies done by Stickgold try to be more
precise. He argues that brain is active during sleep because it tries to identify new
connections to learn new things from old memory.

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There is a theory from evolutionary psychology that’s pretty popular, and it
argues that dream have a survival function. They give us a chance to practice for
things we are stressed out about in real life. That would explain why dreams are
predominantly negative.
Dreams tend to be much more about anxiety and about pleasure and involve a lot
of intense feelings and fear. the idea is that we wake up and we are more
prepared to tackle the things we faced in our nightmares that will also maybe
explain why dreams tend to involve more primal settings. There are a lot of
actions like running around and being chased, elaborate themes that don't it
havemuch to do with our lives. If we live in cities we are less likely to have dreams
about reading and writing and activities that are more recent developments.

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What is a dream ?

Tibetan Buddhism considers sleep to be a form of nourishment like food that

restores and refreshes the body. Another type of nourishment is Samadhi or
meditative concentration. If one becomes advanced enough in the practice of
meditative concentration then this itself nourishes the body.

--by his holiness the fourteenth Dalai Lama.

The great English Romantic poet William Wordsworth had a startling concept:
that this life we live is merely a dream and that we will 'awake' to the 'real' reality
when we die, when our 'dream' ends.

'Our birth is but a sleep and forgetting:

The Soul, that rises with us, our life's star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar.

Dreams are a significant part of our life. They are as real and unreal as life itself.
dreams are extremely personal and transparent too. Our dreams are reflection of
ourselves …in dreams we meet ourselves. Dreams are a mirror to our soul. They
can help us to better understand ourselves our world and the nature of reality.
Dreams introduce us two other dimensions of experience. Here, time and space
are much more liquid and plastic; they can be shaped and reshaped almost at will.
Dreams hint of other worlds, other lives. They are a glimpse of our afterlife.
Everyone dreams although not all dreams are remembered equally 56% of
Americans have had a lucid dream 21% say they have a lucid dream because
many of them can't remember that they had a lucid dream.

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Doctors and scientist had discovered their own theory and studies on dream, the
discovery of the close association between rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and
dreaming and development of sleep laboratory techniques ushered in a new era
in the study of dreams. For the first time direct and systematic investigation could
be made of such topics as the occurrence qualities re collection and childhood
development of dreaming.
A dream is a succession of images , ideas , emotions and sensations that usually
occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.The content and
purpose of Dreams are not fully understood , although they have been a topic of
scientific , philosophical and religious interest throughout recorded history.
Dream interpretation is the attempt at drawing meaning from dreams and
searching for an underlying message. The scientific study of dreams is called
Oneirology.
Opinion about the meaning of dreams have varied and shifted through time and
culture.
Nowadays in modern era dreams are said to be the soul of a person. The modern
scientific interpretation of dreams and the use of the contents of dreams for
psychotherapeutic purposes only really started in 1900 with the publications by
Freud, Jung and many others.

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Classical history on theory of dreaming

History of the dreaming is the commonest thing among various peoples. There is
a vast history of dream, many great peoples and Kings have stated about their
dreams. The process of dream interpretation has been taking place from
Mesopotamian time.

Ancient History The Knight's Dream, 1655, by Antonio de Pereda

The ancient Sumerians in

Mesopotamia have left
evidence of dream
interpretation dating back
to at least 3100 BC. For
them dreams are extremely
important for divination and
Mesopotamian Kings paid
special attention to them. Gudea, the king of Sumerians city state of Lagash.
(2144-2124 BC), rebuilt the temple of Ningirsu as the result of a dream in which
he was told to do so. The standard Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh contains numerous
accounts of the prophetic power of dreams. First, Gilgamesh himself has two
dreams foretelling the arrival of Enkidu. Later, Enkidu dreams about the heroes
encounter with the giant Humbaba. Dreams were also seen as a means of seeing
into other words and it was thought that the soul, or some part of it moved out of
the body of the

sleeping person and actually visited the places and persons the dreamer saw in
his or her sleep. In Tablet VII of the epic, Enkidu recounts to Gilgamesh a dream in

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which he saw the Gods Anu, Enlil, and Shamash condemn him to death. He also
has a dream in which he visits the Underworld.
The Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal ll (883-859 BC) built a temple to Mamu, possibly
the God of Dreams, at Imgur-Enlil, near Kalhu. The later Assyrian king
Ashurbanipal (668-627 BC) had a dream during a desperate military situation in
which his divine petron the goddess Ishtar, appeared to him and promised that
she would lead him to victory. The Babylonians and Assyrians divided dreams into
“good” which were sent by the gods, and “bad” sent by demons. Iskar Zaqiqu is a
collection of dream omens and scenarios as well as prognostication of what will
happen to the person who experiences each dream apparently based on previous
cases.
In ancient Egypt as far back as 2000 BC the Egyptians wrote their dreams on
papyrus. People with vivid and significant dreams were thought blessed and were
considered special .Ancient Egyptians believe that dreams where like oracles,
bringing messages from Gods. They thought that the best way to receive divine
revelation was through you dreaming and thus they would induce dreams.
Egyptians would go to sanctuaries and sleep on special dream beds in hope of
receiving advice comfort or healing from gods.

Classical History

In Chinese history people road of two vital aspects of soul, one is freed from the
body during slumber to journey in a dream realm, while the other remained in the
body. This belief of dream interpretation had been questioned since Early times
by the philosopher Wang Chong (27-97 AD)
Indian text Upanishads, written between 900 and 500 BC emphasize two
meanings of Dreams , the first says dreams are merely expressions of inner desire
second is the belief of the soul leaving the body being guided until awakened.
Greeks shared their believes with the Egyptians on how to interpret good and bad
dreams. Morpheus the Greek God of dreams also sent warnings and prophecies
to those who slept at shrines and temples. The earliest Greek believes about
dreams where that when Gods physically visited the dreamers, where they

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entered through a keyhole, exiting the same way after the divine message was
given.

Hupao or Dreaming of the Tiger Spring : The spring itself and its statues of tigers and a dreaming monk.

Antiphon wrote the first known Greek book of Dreams . In 5th century BC in that
century, othercultures influenced Greek to develop the belief that souls left the
sleeping body.
Hippocrates (469-399 BC) had a simple dream theory : during the day, the soul
receives images; during the night it produces images.
Aristotle (384-322 BC) believed dreams caused physiological activity he thought
dreams could analyze illness and predict diseases.
Marcus Tullius Cicero, for his part , believe that all dreams are produced by
thoughts and conversations a dreamer had during the preceding days.
In Welsh history, “The dream of Rhonalbwy” is a middle Welsh prose tale.Set
during reign of Madog ap Maredudd , prince of Powys (died 1160), it is dated to

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the late 12th or 13th century. It survives in only one manuscript, “the red book of
Hergest” and had been associated the Mabinogion since its publication by Lady
Charlotte Guest in 19th century. The bulk of narrative scribes a dream vision
experienced by its Central character, Rhonabwy, a retainer of Madog, in which he
visits the time of king Arthur. In Welsh history “The dream of Macsen Wledig”is a
romanticized story about a Roman emperor Magnus Maximus born in Hispania.

Post-classical and medival history

Indigenous American tribes and Mexican civilizations believe that dreams are a
way of visiting and having contact with their ancestors . some native American
tribes used vision quest as a rite of passage, fasting and praying until an
anticipated guiding dream was received, to be shared with the rest of the tribe
upon their return. The middle ages brought a harsh interpretation of dreams.
They were seen as evil , and the images as temptations from the devil . Many
believed that during sleep , the devil could fill the human mind with corrupting
and harmful thoughts. Martin Luther the ProtestantReformer believed dreams
were the work of devil . However the Catholics such as St. Augustine and St.
Jerome claimed that the direction of their lives was heavily influenced by their
dreams.

In Art

The depiction of dreams in Renaissance and Baroque art is often related to

biblical narrative. Example are Joachim's Dream (1304-1306) from Sacrovegni
Chapel fresco cycle by Giotto, and Jacob’s Dream (1639) by Jusepe De Ribera .
Dreams and dark imagination are the theme of several notable works of romantic
era such as Goya's sketching: The sleep of reason produces Monsters (1799) and
Henry Fuseli's painting : The nightmare (1781). Salvador Dali's dream caused by

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the flight of a bee around a pomegranate a
second before awakening (1944). Also
investigates this theme through absurd
juxtapositions of a nude lady, tigersleaping
out of a pomegranate , and a spider-like
elephant walking in the background. Henry
Rousseau’s last painting was the Dream.
Le Reve (the dream) is a 1932 painting by
Pablo Picasso.

Jacob's Dream, by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1860

In literature

Dreams have also featured in fantasy and speculative fiction since 19th one of the
best known dream worlds is wonderland from Lewis Carroll’s. Alice’s adventures
in wonderland, as well as Looking-glass Land from its sequel, through the Looking-
glass. Unlike many dream world Carroll’s logic is like that of actual dreams, with
transitions and flexible casualties.
Many other fictions and stories are
present in literature that had
framed different dreams in
different stories.

The Cheshire Cat vanishes in Wonderland.

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Religious beliefs about Dreams

Christian views on dreams

The Bible defines a dream in Job 33:15, “In a dream, in a vision of the night, when
deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumbering upon the falleth upon men…” The
Bible says several things in this
one verse. First, a dream is a
vision of the night. The verse
also teaches that a dream occurs
when deep sleep falls upon
men. According to the Bible, a
vision is something that occurs
when a man is awake, while a
dream is something that occurs
when a man is asleep.

Jacob's dream of a ladder of angels, c. 1690, by Michael

Willmann

Dreams can appear to be very real. Sometimes you may even wake up mad, sad
or scared, yet you realize after a while that it was just a dream and you settle
down. The Bible speaks on this in Isaiah 29:8 when it says, “It will be as when a
hungry man dreams – and behold, he is eating; But when he awakens, his hunger
is not satisfied, or, as when a thirst man dreams – and behold, he is drinking, but
when he awakens, behold, he is faint and his thirst is not quenched.” You may
dream of eating or drinking, but when you awake you are still empty. That’s the
reality of your dreams. It may have appeared real, but it was not. The same goes
for visions; they can be so real in our minds, but not a reality; however, God may
be trying to tell us something through that vision.

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The Bible tells us, “He may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings”
(Job 33:16). God instructs through dreams, imprints upon the soul and through
lasting impressions in a similar way that a seal is used to make an imprint in wax
on a document. We can learn a lot through these instructions. We just have to be
open to listening to what he is saying.

Islamic views on dreams

The Quran, in contrary to the academics, substantiates dreams of a number of

human beings, such as Prophet Abraham and his dream about sacrificing his son
Ishmael , Prophet Joseph and his fellow inmates, and the Noble Prophet
Muhammad regarding the conquest of Mecca.
In the Islamic world the situation is quite different. Dreaming and the import of
visions are here of enormous significance, to the degree that many Muslims
believe that in their dreams they are receiving divine guidance: for example, on
whether or not to accept a marriage proposal, or a new job opportunity. In her
authoritative new book, Elizabeth Sirriyeh offers the first concerted history of the
rise of dream interpretation in Islamic culture, from medieval times to the
present. Central to the book is the figure of the Prophet Muhammad - seen to
represent for Muslims the perfect dreamer, visionary and interpreter of dreams.
In Islam dreams are of three types according to their nature:
 The first of these is termed mubashshiraat, which are sound dreams that
are indicative of glad tidings. They result from angelic inspirations or
suggestions cast by Allah in our consciousness. Referring to such dreams,
the Prophet (peace be on him) said: “Nothing of the prophecy remains
now (i.e. after his own call to prophethood) except sound visions, which
are bestowed on a righteous believer, and it constitutes one thirtieth of
prophecy.”

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This type of dream can include premonitions or intimations of things that might
happen in the future. For instance, a believer may experience a vision about his
own imminent death, or some future events to occur, or receive some
confirmation of his spiritual states, or even reminders/admonitions about his
omissions or commissions. These may include visions of Prophet Muhammad
(peace and blessings be upon him) or other prophets and communications with
them, or visions of symbols of Islam such as the Ka`bah or the Prophet’s mosque,
etc.

 A second type of dream is

the result of Satanic
whisperings or inspirations.
Satan, the avowed enemy of
man, is ever-present with us
and he sees us in ways that
we do not see him. Unless
we take proper safeguards
against him and such An artist's depiction of a woman having a nightmare.

inspirations, he
may trap us in his nets.
He inspires in us all kinds of
thoughts and suggestions, both in conscious and unconscious states. A
person may be predisposed to such Satanic visions and inspirations if he is
constantly exposed to sights, sounds and thoughts that are obscene or
filthy.

 A third type of dream can be termed as ‘idle dreams’, and they are due to
the impact of unpalatable foods, or the over-exercise of one’s imaginations,
or experiences in life which might also be reflected in one’s dreams.

“ Less benignly, dreams have been exploited in the propaganda of Islamic

militants in Afghanistan, and in apocalyptic visions relating to the 9/11 attack.

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Buddhist views on dreams

According to Buddhist psychology dreams are ideational processes which

occur as activities of the mind. In considering the occurrence of dreams it is
relevant to remember that the process of sleeping can be regarded as falling
into five stages.
- drowsiness,
- light slumber
- deep slumber,
- light slumber
- awakening.
The significance and the cause of dreams were the subject of discussion in
the famous book 'Milinda Panha' or 'The Questions of King Milinda', in which

Ven. Nagasena has stated that there are six causes of dreams, three of them
being organic, wind, bile and phlegm. The fourth is due to the intervention
of supernatural forces, fifth, revival of past experience and sixth, the
influence of future events. It is categorically stated that dreams occur only in
light slumber which is said to be like the sleep of the monkey. Of the six
causes given Ven. Nagasena has stated positively that the last, namely
prophetic dreams are the only important ones and the others are relatively
insignificant.
Dreams are mind-created phenomena and they are activities of the mind. All
human beings dream, although some people cannot remember. Buddhism
teaches that some dreams have psychological significance.
Buddhas and Arahants never dream. The first three kinds of dream cannot
occur in their minds, because their minds have been permanently 'stilled'
and cannot be activated to dream. The last kind of dream cannot happen to
them because they have eradicated all their craving energy completely, and

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there is no 'residual' energy of anxiety or unsatisfied desire to activate the
mind to produce dreams.
The Buddha is also known as the Awakened One because His way of relaxing
the physical body is not the way we sleep which results in dreams. Great
artists and thinkers, like the German Goethe, have often said they get some
of their best inspiration through dreams. This could be because when their
minds are cut off from the five senses during sleep, they produce clear
thoughts which are creative in the highest degree.

Tibetan views on dreams

Dreams are extremely personal – and transpersonal, too. Our dreams are
reflection of ourselves: in dreams, no matter how many characters appear, we
meet ourselves. Dreams are mirrors to our soul. They can help us to better
understand ourselves, our world, and the nature of reality. Dreams introduce us
to other dimensions of experience. Here, time and space are much more liquid

and plastic; they can be shaped and reshaped almost at will. Dreams hint of other
worlds, other lives. They are a glimpse of our afterlife.

Hinduism views on dreams

Adi Shankara, greatest philosopher of India, use dream hundreds of time in his
hymns and commentaries. Mandukya Upanishad use it to explain the state of
mind. Varahamihira, author of Brhat Samhita and several others before him dealt
with the dreams. Hindus have several books interpreting dreams. Poets of
Sangam Tamil literature even sing about the dreams of birds and animals. Tamil
encyclopaedia Abidhana Chintamani has a summary of the interpretation of
dreams over six pages. It is the summary of Sanskrit book on dreams attributed t
Deva Guru Brhaspati. Like the dream of a dumb person is a popular simile used in
Hindu literature. The meaning of dreams was an interesting part of Vedic

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literature. It is dealt with in various passages, including an Athrvan Parisista. The
Rig Veda regards as ominous the making of a garland or neckband in a dream.

Agni Purana : Lord Rama's instructions to Laxman and Sita on Dreams

and Omens…

 Revered as the
Mahapurana of
Hinduism, the Agni
Purana is one of the 18
holy ancient texts that
impart the knowledge,
wisdom and intellect to
mankind. It carries the
exchange of
conversations between
the God of Fire (Agnidev) and Sage Vashishtha.
 Unlike, other works where one can see the knowledge divided into separate
sections or khands, Agni Purana is written in whole (split) into 380 adhyayas
(chapters). Sage Vashishtha passed on the knowledge to his disciple Rishi
Vyasa, who along with his disciple Suta, compiled it.
 Puranas were principally compiled as a supplement to Vedas and
Upanishads, some of which were not to be meant to be read by all and those
which were difficult to understand. Unlike, Vedas and Upanishads, Puranas
were meant for all.
 Basically, Agni Purana is all about rituals and was authored for the sole
purpose of helping the humankind. Of the primary teachings from Shiva,
Vishnu, Krishna, etc., were also instructions from Lord Rama on how to
determine between the good dreams and nightmares, how to identify omens
and how to deal with them?

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  It is believed that during the period of their exile, Lord Rama imparted this
knowledge to Laxmana and Sita, who were constantly disturbed by certain
occurrences in dreams and around them. Rama also explained to them the
traits, duties and responsibilities of a wise King.
 Often what we see, hear and feel in our day-to-day life, is stored inside our
brain as memory. We may recall only a few things, and the rest is stored as
subconscious memory. It is these thoughts, pictures and sensations that
reoccur during our sleep, and build a dream.
 Often what we see, hear and feel in our day-to-day life, is stored inside our
brain as memory. We may recall only a few things, and the rest is stored as
subconscious memory. It is these thoughts, pictures and sensations that
reoccur during our sleep, and build a dream.
 According to Rama, if in dreams, one sees himself/herself wearing shabby
clothes, or sees themselves falling into an abyss, or witnesses a tree growing
out of their own body- then they must immediately start worshipping Lord of
Sun (Suryadev), as this is a bad omen.
 Dreams about killing or hurting snakes, attending a wedding, or hunting
animals and eating them, is inauspicious. One must perform yagna, under the
guidance of a holy man, at the river bank of Holy Ganges and seek remission
of their sins.
 Rama also instructs that dreams comes in three quarters- the first quarter
comes true in next one year, the second quarter comes true in next six
months, and the third quarter comes true in a fortnight.
 If one happens to see a good dream first, then he/she must not continue
sleeping and must arise soon. Because if the next quarter carries an evil
nightmares, chances are the second quarter dream would come true before
the good one.
 Rama instructs that in case someone continues to see nightmares for
extended period of time, then they must worship to Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva,
Lord Brahma, Lord Ganesha or Lord Surya.
 Dreaming about forts and palaces, seeing snakes and mountains are believed
to bring prosperity and happiness in life. Even seeing oneself riding a horse is
a very pious indication of God’s blessing.

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  Seeing oneself milking a cow, female lion or an elephant makes to be a good
dream and is believed to be a direct way of being blessed by Gods.
 Seeing death in dreams is equally good, especially if it’s yours; as this means
you are being doubly blessed. Burning in fire, or having head cut off is an
indication of prolong life.
 Unlike ,dreams, which one sees only during their sleep, Omens are
something which one witnesses while being awake. For example,
encountering something out of the blue, just before you are beginning
something or stepping out, is an omen. They are two types- bad and good.
 If you are about to step out of your home, and you see cow dung, hair, a
dead body, dried grass, ashes, broken vessel, bones or carcasses of a dead
animal, then one must break their journey, by praying to Lord Vishnu, first.
 If you happen to hear a musical instrument, right before setting off a
religious journey, then it is a bad omen. Hearing your name being called from
behind, right after you have set out is a sign of bad omen
 Hearing a crow caw just before beginning of a battle is not a good sign and
can indicate great loss of life and battle, both. Seeing a crow watching you
with one eye is a sign of short life and uncertain death.
 Seeing white flowers outside your home, or a goat and a cow, gold, or a dead
body (with no one carrying it) is a sign of auspicious happening.
 Hearing a peacock crying, a donkey’s shouting, or having a buffalo crossing
your path is a good omen.

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Physiology of Dreams

Older studies

Dreaming has been a subject of cogitation since remote Antiquity. In ancient

Greece, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle discussed about the meaning of dreams,
concluding that the prevailing mistic and mythic concepts about them were
incorrect. Instead, they thought that dreams were not provoked by spirits, ghosts
or gods, which took over the mind to express themselves through dreaming.
Aristotle , who had carefully observed several animal species while asleep,
noticed that movements of several of their body parts were quite similar to those
performed by humans during dreaming. Some of his statements, hereby
reproduced in a simplified form from his book on sleep and dreams, briefly
illustrate his contribution to the study of this subject:
"All creatures that have four limbs and are sanguine (mammals) display signs that they dream
while asleep. It seems that not only humans but also dogs, cows, sheep and goats and the entire
family of four-legged viviparous animals do dream."

"As to the oviparous creatures, it is obvious that they sleep but it is impossible to state that they
dream. The same holds true for animals that live in water, such as fishes, molusks, crustacea
and other similar animals; it is impossible to invoke as a proof that they do sleep the shutting of
their eyes, inasmuch as they do not have eyelids but it is obvious that they periodically do rest,
immobile, what perhaps does explain why at night their predators attack them heavily and
devour them. When they sleep, fishes keep quiet, with no apparent movements, and then they
can be easily fished with a hand."

"Insects are also creatures that do sleep, so much so that they can be seen resting with no
movements whatsoever. This is specially true as to bees, that at night do interrupt their hum,
"even if they are exposed to the light of a lantern".

"Dreams are not ghosts (phantasmata), since they are closely related to the events of the
previous day".

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In the past, most civilizations boasted having wise people who could tell the
meaning of dreams if conveniently paid for that, a fancy profession that still has
its counterparts in modern nations. Psychoanalysis considers dreams as an
important window to the unconscious world, what makes dream interpretation a
crucial factor in psychonalytic diagnosis and treatment. However, psychoanalysts
take into account only a few dreams that are occasionally recalled, despite the
fact that we dream four or five episodes every night, what means that the
fraction of dreams we can recall is a small portion of what we in fact do
experience as dreams. Psychoanalysis also considers dreams as the expression of
repressed wishes; this is undoubtly true as to only a few dreams, whereas several
studies reveal, instead, that most dreams are closely related to the events of the
previous day, as Aristotle had already demonstrated.
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Xenophanes, nearly 2,400 years ago, were opposed
to the prevailing view of the phantastikon, that is, mystic apparitions, and to the
premonitory character of dreams as their main characteristics. However, they
ignored that the dreams were produced by the brain. Hippocrates and Alkmaeon,
who discovered that the mind is in the brain, not in the heart, knew that dreams
were originated in the brain. Later, the Roman writer Lucretius, the first
popularizer of science, in his book De Rerum Natura (1978) credited these Greek
philosophers for the discovery of the characteristics of sleep and dreams (2).
Plato, despite his logical view of dreams, antecipated by 24 centuries one of the
dogmas of psychoanalysis, stating that the dreams with a sexual background,
mainly those with an incestuous content, and those in which the dreamer
attacked or even killed someone, did, in fact, represent occult wishes that only
could be fulfilled without punishment as an oniric experience. During the second
century of the present era, Galen, a Greek physician who practiced Medicine in
Rome and was a great anatomist and clinician, knew that temperature, heart rate
and respiration exhibited cyclic changes at night, which he attributed to
dreaming.
During the medieval era in Spain, by then the very cultural center of Europe
(probably of the entire world), and mainly in the 13th century, some Muslim
Arabs and Jewish rabis, centered in Cordoba rediscovered the Greek literature,
that had been concealed by early Christianism, and translated all that important
work into Latin, Arabic and Hebraic. During this bright period of the Middle Ages

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some physicians also reasoned about dreams. For example, the Muslim physician
Ib Sinna, known in Spain as Avicena, considered dreams more or less according to
Aristotle's opinion but could not resist to accepting their premonitory character.
The ancient Chinese scientific inquiry tried to understand dreaming but usually
also considered them mistically.
During the nineteenth century several physiologists and neuropsychiatrists tried
to understand the mechanisms and meaning of dreams. McNiss, in his
book Philosophy of Sleep, published in 1854, agreed with Aristotle, regarding eye
movements as a consequence of visual dreams, and Pinkerton, in Sleep and its
Phenomena, also took the facial movements of dogs and cats during sleep as a
manifestation of dreams . An important contemporary of these authors, Charles
Darwin, in his landmarking book Emotions in Man and Animals, published in 1872
and reedited several times in the twentieth century, states that "at least birds and
mammals do dream", a concept that still remains unchallenged, despite which
most researchers that carry out studies on sleep still hold that dreaming is
specifically human.
At the end of the 19th century several authors published on oniric activity.
Esquirol, one of the French psychiatrists who started the revolution that changed
the ancient (an cruel) view of the mental diseases, spent several hours at night
observing how his patients behaved during sleep and concluded that their
movements while asleep were related to their dreams, just as Aristotle had found
long ago. The American psychologist Mary Whiton Calkins published in 1893 an
important, although entirely unkwnown, article under the title Statistics of
Dreams, wherein she introduced the technique of arousing people when they
moved parts of the body during sleep and asking them to report their dreams.
Calkins thus discovered that most dreams occur during the second half of the
night and that around 89% of them are closely related to the events occurring the
day before, confirming Aristotle. Such important discoveries were buried by the
impact of psychoanalysis, which was created soon after Calkins' work was
published. Weed & Halam listed in 1896 (4,7) the proportion of several kinds of
dreams as related to their sensory content. Their data do not depart from modern
studies of the same kind.
De Sanctis, in 1899, in his book I Sogni, Studi Clinici ed Psicologici di un
Alienista (Dreams, Clinical and Psychological Studies of a Psychiatrist), cites no

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less than 323 articles and books dealing with dreams, which proves that the
objective study of dreams did not start during the middle of the 20th century, as
is usually taken for granted (4). De Sanctis, whose main research on sleep was the
incorporation of sensory stimulation into dreams, states in his book that "by
measuring the pulse and observing the movements in humans and other animals
during sleep it is possible to detect the occurrence of dreaming and sometimes
even to guess the dream content". Inasmuch as all this relevant knowledge is
entirely ignored, we hope the present review may help in rescuing it.
During the first half of the twentieth century, despite the heavy influence of
psychoanalysis, dreaming was again but sporadically studied scientifically. In
1926, for example, Denisova & Figurin , recording heart and respiratory rate of
sleeping children, found that both changed cyclically, what is presently known to
occur as vegetative components of dreaming activity. In 1944 Obhlmeyer,
Brilmayer & Uhlstrung observed that in humans penile erection occurs during
sleep at intervals of 85 minutes, which is the average duration of a sleep cycle.
Penile erection, that also occurs in monkeys, is present
during desynchronized (paradoxical or REMsleep) but it is not necessarily linked to
erotic dreams. In rats penile erection in desynchronized sleep has also been
detected and was found to cease after spinal transection; following
mesencephalic transections that spare desynchronized sleep, penile erection was
deeply reduced. However, reflex penile erection is facilitated after spinal
transection whereas mesencephalic transections significantly increase the latency
to its reflex induction, without affecting the percentage of tests eliciting an
erectile event. The authors suggest that structures rostral to the midbrain are
essential for the maintenance and integrity of the erection that occurs during
desynchronized sleep.
Animal experimentation, by making it possible to implant electrodes in any part
of the nervous system and to lesion and stimulate (electrically or chemically) also
any nucleus or pathway, has been of the utmost relevance for the understanding
of the mechanisms causing not only sleep but also the manifestations of
dreaming. Unfortunately, despite the opinion of great scientists of the past, most
researchers that deal with sleep and dreaming, probably moved by philosophical,
religious prejudice and a faulty reasoning, do not accept the idea that non-human
animals do dream. With Darwin (1965), we are fully convinced that "at least

23
birds and mammals do dream" . As a matter of fact, manifestations of dreaming
have been identified in many species, including chickens, chimpanzees, cats, rats
and in some birds. While humans dream around 100 minutes every night, cats
exhibit signs of dreaming during nearly 200 minutes per day. Desynchronized
sleep has been identified in many mammals and birds but below the birds only in
crocodiles brief periods of an equivalent phase (eye movements, low voltage
electro-oscillograms and cervical hypotonia) seem to occur . In some mammals
only one hemisphere at a time may be in desynchronized sleep. In cats, Thomas &
Benoit have found oniric activity during synchronized sleep, similar to what we
described in rats as pre-paradoxical sleep as intermediate phase.
The very essence of dreams is , certainly,memorized information. As shown in
figure below, information released (by some passive mechanism) or revoked from
memory (through some active but entirely unknown mechanism) is combined by
processes that may be equivalent to, but different from, those that produce
thoughts during wakefulness. As any neural information, it has to be analyzed, so
that the nervous impulses, which carry it be decoded and integrated as a specific
neural configuration, that contains all the information released (or revoked) from
the mnemonic archives. Such a configuration is subsequently compared to
memorized patterns and then, and only then, it can be identified by means of the
conscious process. The result of such conscious identification is a dream. As any
information consciously identified, a dream triggers a specific behavior, that we
call an oniric behavior.

FIGURE : Flowchart of steps that probably

generate a dream and the consequent oniric
behaviors. Mn: memorized information in
mnemonic archives. An: analysis of such
information. Synth: specific synthesis as a neural
configuration of the information released (or
retrieved) from memory archives after it has
been analyzed. M: memory (expressed
as M instead of Mn to mean memorized
patterns). I: identification of the synthetized
pattern after its matching with memorized
patterns, the result of such identification is the
dream. D: decision. P: programming. E:
execution of the oniric behavior. (Modified from
Timo-Iaria & Vall

24
Motor components of dreaming

The motor components of dreams are expressed as clearly different patterns,

according to the dream content. During a visual dream the eyes move (Figure 1)
whereas during an auditory dream the middle ear ossicles (stapedius and tensor
tympani) are activated (Figure 2). When a dream has a verbal content the tongue,
lips and other facial muscles do contract and if the dream is deambulatory several
lower limb muscles do contract, expressing the behavior triggered by the
imagined walking. Visual dreams provoke eye movements. Although such
movements are not always obviously compatible with the dream content , as
should be expected (see below), as a rule they can be related to the dreams.

Figure 1: A: synchronized sleep of a cat. Notice spindling and

delta waves that characterize phase SII and absence of
movements. B: desynchronized sleep a few minutes after the
previous phase, showing light motor activity of the neck
muscles (trapezius) but intense eye movements. C: saw-
thooth waves in the electroencephalogram from the right
parietal cortex (human), followed by eye movements. GSl: left
sigmoid girus. GSr: right sigmoid gyrus. H: electromyography
of the trapezius muscles, expressing head movements. EM:
eye movements.

Figure 2. Episode of desynchronized sleep of a

cat. The frontal electrooscillogram (F) is
desynchronized, the neck electromyogram (H),
that expresses head movements, shows a very
weak activity whereas eye movements (Ey) are
intense. Concomitantly with the eye movements
the tympanic muscles (tensor and stapedius)
exhibit a powerful activity, which is suggestive of
a dream with auditory components. (Baust
1971.)

25
In 1937, Fenn & Bursh, recording the eye movements while their subjects closed
and opened the eyes, found that the voltage (V) of the potentials that expressed
the movements were proportional to the angle of rotation [V=k.2.senα] in
which V is the voltage of the recorded potentials, k is a factor of proportionality
and α is the angle of rotation . Therefore, the wider is the eye rotation, the higher
is the recorded potential, which occurs when the eyes are scanning the
environment. The narrower is the angle of rotation, the lower is the recorded
potential, which happens when attention is being directed to a very small part of
the object or when the object is very near. By measuring the voltage of the
potential generated by the rotation it is possible to know if the object is near or
far. Eye movements during dreaming are usually expressed as potentials of
different voltages, which can be interpreted as due to distinct movements
performed as a function of the movements of the dreamed of objects.
Vanni-Mercier and co-workers (1994) believe, however, that in cats eye
movements during desynchronized sleep are in general asymmetric, that is, the
eyes tend to move preferentially to one side of the visual field, what, according to
these authors, disprove the hypothesis of the scanning character of eye
movements during dreams . Our experience with eye movements in rats and cats
shows, however, that eye movements are sometimes asymmetric but in other
occasions they tend to be of the scanning kind. The preferential eye movements
direction may be related to the dream content and, perhaps, as such also to
hemispheric dominance but it should always be taken into consideration
that “any movement originated by a dream is always faulty, otherwise we would
perform normal behaviors during a dream, what does not happen due to the
inhibition of motoneurons”. If we dream we are walking, the electromyographic
recordings from muscles involved in such behavior show quite clearly that they
are not able to produce normal movements. In humans, Hansotia and colleagues
found in humans, in accordance with our own observations in rats and cats, that
oniric eye movements may be directed to one side or the other, not exclusively to
one side, as stated by Vanni-Mercier and co-workers .

26
Eye movements in humans predominate because vision is our main sensory
channel and our visual memory is overwhelmingly predominant, resulting in
preponderance of visual dreams. As will be shown below, in rats, that are
macrosmatic animals, rostrum (snout) movements predominate during
desynchronized sleep over eye movements . Miyauchi et al. (1987) suggested the
occurrence of two kinds of eye movements during dreams, one associated to the
very dream content, another of reflex nature, that may be involved in those
occurring in children and in blind people but such a hypothesis is unlikely to be
valid . Eye movements in born-blinds are probably due to a quite different reason.
Vision is our predominant sensory channel, so much so that if we hear a sound we
immediately convey the eyes to the source of the sound, trying to identify its
origin, even if vision is absent. Similarly, in rats any kind of sensory stimulation
does immediately mobilize sniffing and vibrissal scanning movements. No wonder
that most dreams in humans have a visual component, explaining the reason why
eye movements occur in any kind of dream, alone or as part of non-visual dreams.
In nocturnal macrosmatic animals, olfaction is the predominant sensory channel
and their vibrissae are usually very long, to detect the presence of objects at
relatively large distances. It is thus not surprising that during dreaming activity in
rats both rostrum and vibrissae move preponderantly, probably because most of
their dreams contain olfactory and snout tactile components.
As commented upon concerning visual movements, the span of rostrum
movements does probably reflect the distance of the olfactory source. If the
animal is trying to identify the source of an odor that is located at a large distance,
snout movements are expected to span wide angles at low frequencies, whereas
when the source is near such movements are expected to span narrow angles, at
high frequencies, just as during wakefulness.
Roffwarg et al. , have recorded contraction of the tympanic muscles (stapedius
and tensor tympani) during human sleep. Around 80 per cent of such motor
activity was found to occur during desynchronized sleep, what points to its
participation in dreaming activity. In blind people, whose auditory and
somesthetic sensitivity is enhanced, auditory dreams predominate, as expected
from their high auditory sensibility. In cats, tympanic muscles sometimes contract
during desynchronized sleep , as shown in Figure 2. This may well reflect auditory

27
dreams, as has been found in humans . In rats we have recorded ear movements
in paradoxical sleep, which we attribute to the occurrence of auditory dreams .
Head jerky movements may reflect vestibular dreams. Doneshka & Kehaiyov
(1978) reported dreams with striking vestibular sensations. In normal humans
they found that around 20% of the dreams contain a vestibular component
(vertigo, sensation of head drop) but in people with a vestibular illness the
proportion of such dreams increased to over 70%, as expected from the close
relationship between dreams and the events occurring in the previous day .
Dreams in which walking occurs are very common and coincide with limb
movements, however faulty. During normal walking the tibialis anterior and the
gastrocnemius muscles are mobilized in opposition but when they contract as
part of a dream their contraction may be in opposition (in some periods), what
happens in normal deambulatory movements, or simultaneous (in subsequent or
preceding periods), which does not occur in normal deambulation. Such patterns
mimic oniric eye movements, which may occur in functional coincidence or not
with the visual scenes that are dreamed of.

The correlation between dream content and the oniric movements was first
studied by Aristotle, who identified lip, eye and limb movements and correctly
related them to what was being dreamed of. Many studies performed during the
eighteenth century confirmed such statement . Several authors also quantified
the kinds of dreams as related to their sensory content. In 1896 Weed & Halam

28
published the first quantification of dreams content. During the past two decades
several authors also did quantify the kinds of dreams. Table 1 shows the results of
some of such studies, including our data concerning nearly 2,000 dreaming
episodes recorded from rats. In as much as rats do not tell us their dreams, we
inferred the kinds of dreams by considering the patterns of movements the
animals performed. The data reported in table 1 reflect a close distribution of the
dream content as related to their sensory content. Its is noteworthy that Weed &
Halam's data, published in 1896, are close to those reported by Rechtschaffen &
Buchignani in 1992, which was calculated as the mean of the average of seven
different studies published by other authors.
It should be recalled here that, comparing the dream content in humans with
events of the previous day, Calkins found in 1876 that nearly 89% of the reported
dreams were closely related to such events.
The reason why when we dream we are walking we do not get out of the bed and
really walk, or when we dream we are talking to someone we do not really talk, is
that neural circuits located in the neighborhood of locus coeruleus, in the pontine
tegmentum, inhibit the motoneurons and do not allow the real movements to
occur. However, we still do not know why most motor units are inactivated while
a few ones are mobilized, causing real but incoherent and non-efficient
movements. The inhibition of motoneurons could be complete but5r we ignore
why it is not. Fortunately, thanks to this peculiar incomplete motoneuron
inhibition we are able to record movements occurring in both humans and non-
human animals and thus infer the presence of dreams. Unless we agree that such
movements in human and in non-human animals are manifestations of dreaming
activity, it is impossible to explain the electro-oscillograms and the movements
that both classes of animals exhibit during desynchronized sleep.

29
Dream , sleep and brain

When we sleep, we go
through five sleep stages. The
first stage is a very light sleep
from which it is easy to wake
up. The second stage moves
into a slightly deeper sleep,
and stages three and four
represent our deepest sleep.
Our brain activity throughout
these stages is gradually
slowing down so that by deep
sleep, we experience nothing but delta brain waves -- the slowest brain waves .
About 90 minutes after we go to sleep and after the fourth sleep stage, we begin
REM sleep.
Rapid eye movement (REM) was discovered in 1953 by University of Chicago
researchers Eugene Aserinsky, a graduate student in physiology, and Nathaniel
Kleitman, Ph.D., chair of physiology. REM sleep is primarily characterized by
movements of the eyes and is the fifth stage of sleep.
During REM sleep, several physiological changes also take place. The heart
rate and breathing quickens, the blood pressure rises, we can't regulate our body
temperature as well and our brain activity increases to the same level (alpha) as
when we are awake, or even higher. The rest of the body, however, is
essentially paralyzed until we leave REM sleep. This paralysis is caused by the
release of glycine, an amino acid, from the brain stem onto the motoneurons
(neurons that conduct impulses outward from the brain or spinal cord). Because
REM sleep is the sleep stage at which most dreaming takes place, this paralysis
could be nature's way of making sure we don't act out our dreams. Otherwise, if
you're sleeping next to someone who is dreaming about playing kickball, you
might get kicked repeatedly while you sleep.

30
The four stages outside of REM sleep are

BRAIN
called non-REM sleep (NREM). Although most
dreams do take place during REM sleep, more
recent research has shown that dreams can occur
during any of the sleep stages. Tore A. Nielsen, WAVES
Ph.D., of the Dream and Nightmare Laboratory in Our brains cycle through four
Montreal, refers to this as "covert REM sleep" types of brain waves, referred
making an appearance during NREM sleep. Most
to as delta, theta, alpha and
NREM dreams, however, don't have the intensity
beta. Each type of brain wave
of REM dreams.
represents a different speed of
Throughout the night, we go through these five oscillating electrical voltages in
stages several times. Each subsequent cycle, the brain. Delta is the slowest
however, includes more REM sleep and less deep
(zero to four cycles per second)
sleep (stage three and four). By morning, we're
and is present in deep
having almost all stage one, two and five (REM)
sleep. Theta (four to seven
sleep.
cycles per second) is present in
stage one when we're in light
Actions of different parts of brain sleep. Alpha waves, operating
while dreaming at eight to 13 cycles per
second, occur during REM
sleep (as well as when we are
The whole brain is active during dreams, from the
awake). And beta waves, which
brain stem to the cortex. Most dreams occur
represent the fastest cycles at
during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. This is
13 to 40 per second, are
part of the sleep-wake cycle and is controlled by
usually only seen in very
the reticular activating system whose circuits run
stressful situations or
from the brain stem through the thalamus to the
situations that require very
cortex.
strong mental concentration
The limbic system in the mid-brain deals with
and focus. These four brain
emotions in both waking and dreaming and
waves make up
includes the amygdala, which is mostly associated
the electroencephalogram (EE
with fear and is especially active during dreams.
G).

31
The cortex is responsible for the content of dreams, including the monsters we
flee from, the people we meet, or the experience of flying. Since we are highly
visual animals the visual cortex, right at the back of the brain, is especially active,
but so are many other parts of the cortex.
Least active are some parts of the frontal lobes, and this may explain why we can
be so uncritical during dreams, accepting the crazy events as though they are real
until we wake up.

32
Importance of dream in “Health”

There are various schools of thought, but we are certain that dreams are
important to mental health, physical health, and emotional well-being.
All of us dream, although many patients do not remember dreaming. About every
90 minutes or so we enter rapid eye movement sleep, which is commonly called
REM sleep. At one time, it was thought that we only dreamed in REM sleep, but
we now know that dreaming can occur in all stages of sleep. During REM sleep,
we all experience atonia, which is believed to occur to keep us from acting out
our dreams.
There are sleep disorders
that can occur during REM
sleep, including sleep
paralysis and REM sleep
behavior disorder. Sleep
paralysis is the inability to
move during the transition
into or out of sleep, and it
can be quite frightening.
Patients often have a
sense that someone is in Dreams are important to mental health, physical health, and emotional
the room or feel as if they well-being.
are suffocating.
Interestingly, if someone
touches them it will break the paralysis, but it usually resolves on its own in a few
seconds to minutes.
REM sleep behavior disorder is a disorder in which patients break through the
atonia and act out what they are dreaming. This can cause harm to the patient
and the bed partner. There have been cases tried in court for murders that have
occurred when patients acted out their dreams, which are typically violent in
nature.

33
Dream disorders or nightmare disorders

Nightmare disorder, also known as dream

anxiety disorder, is a sleep
disorder characterize by
frequent nightmares. The nightmares,
which often portray the individual in a
situation that jeopardizes their life or
personal safety, usually occur during
the REM stages of sleep. Though most
people have experienced at least one
nightmare during their life, subjects with
nightmare disorder experience them with a greater frequency.
During the nightmare, the sleeper may scream and yell out things. The nightmare
sufferer is often awakened by these threatening, frightening dreams and can
often vividly remember their experience. Upon awakening, the sleeper is usually
alert and oriented within their surroundings, but may have an increased heart
rate and symptoms of anxiety, like sweating. They may have trouble falling back
to sleep for fear they will experience another nightmare.
A person experiencing nightmare disorder may have trouble going through
everyday tasks; anxiety and
lack of sleep caused by the
fearful dreams may hinder
the individual from
completing everyday jobs
efficiently and correctly.
Upon experiencing this,
these nightmare sufferers
may consult with a
psychiatrist.
A boy having nightmare

34
The sleeper may have recurring episodes of awakening while recalling the
intensely disturbing dream manifestations which usually result
from fear or anxiety, but can also be triggered from anger, sadness, disgust, and
other dysphoric emotions. The sleeper also can endure at least one of the
following two features: delayed return of going back to sleep after episodes, and
having episodes in the latter half of the patient's sleep.

Content of idiopathic nightmares: Physical aggression is the main theme of

nightmares. Other fields, such as interpersonal conflict, failure, helplessness,
apprehension, being chased, accident, evil force, disaster, insects and
environmental abnormality could also be part of nightmares.[5] Fear is the most
frequent emotion associated with these nightmares, even if other emotions such
as sadness, anger, and confusion can also be present.

Causes:
Nightmares can be caused by extreme pressure or irritation if no
other mental disorder is discovered. The death of a loved one or a stressful life
event can be enough to cause a nightmare but mental conditions such as post-
traumatic stress disorder and other psychiatric disorders have been known to
cause nightmares as well. If the individual is on medication, the nightmares may
be attributed to some side effects of the drug. Amphetamines, antidepressants,
and stimulants like cocaine and caffeine can cause nightmares. Blood pressure
medication, levodopa and medications for Parkinson's disease have also been
known to cause nightmares.
The nightmares may be idiopathic or could be associated with psychiatric
disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, and borderline
personality disorder. Nightmares can also be triggered by stress and anxiety and
substance abuse, such as drugs that affect the
neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine and serotonin. Nevertheless,
causality between drugs such as beta-blockers or alpha-agonists and nightmares
is still unclear and further researches need to be done to investigate the
biochemical mechanisms of nightmares.

35
Eighty percent of patients who suffer from PTSD report nightmares. Patients
suffering from PTSD have symptoms that are classified into three clusters:
intrusive/re-experiencing, numbing, and hyperarousal. Nightmares are usually
considered to be part of the intrusive/re-experiencing symptom.
Some differences are existing between idiopathic and PTSD related nightmares. A
PTSD person having nightmares would wake up during the night more frequently
and for a longer time than with idiopathic nightmares. Consequently, people with
PTSD would have a poorer sleep quality. Furthermore, nightmares related to
PTSD would be more stressful than idiopathic ones. However, further studies
have to be conducted in this area to obtain more reliable results.
Treatment:
Stress reduction techniques such as yoga, meditation and exercise may help to
eliminate stress and create a more peaceful sleeping atmosphere.
Diagnosis and medication can only be given to patients that report the recurring
nightmares to a psychiatrist or other physician. Therapy usually helps to deal with
the frightening themes of the nightmares and alleviate the recurrence of the
dreams. The persistent nightmares will usually improve as the patient gets older.
Therapy is usually efficient to treat chronic nightmares in PTSD disorder or in
other population. Medication has shown efficacy to treat chronic nightmares
among a PTSD population but the impact of pharmacological treatments on other
populations, such as drug-related nightmares, are unknown. Furthermore,
patients usually take more than one medication at a time, whatever the cause
related to nightmares, leading to possible interactive effects.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) has demonstrated a
significant nightmares’ reduction, especially for the treatment of PTSD. Silver,
Brooks and Obenchain have found a decrease of the nightmares with Vietnam
War veterans after 90 days of EMDR.
The Lucid Dreaming Therapy is a specific method of the Imagery Rehearsal
Therapy. The dreamer is conscious during his dream and can modulate it.
Consequently, anxiety decreases, controllability increases, expectations change,
which will impact the frequency of nightmares.

36
Exposure, relaxation and rescripting therapy is used to treat PTSD related
nightmares. This intervention combine Imagery Rehearsal Therapy with exposure
and relaxation techniques.
Systematic Desensitization, using graduated exposure, has been shown to be
efficient to treat chronic nightmares. The person has to face the frightening
elements of nightmares in a gradually way, from the less to the most
stressful. When the person starts to feel unsecure, she has to manage the stress
by applying a relaxation technique.
Pharmacological treatments could be also efficient to treat nightmare
disorder. Most of the treatments were assessed to patients suffering from PTSD.
The most efficient is an alpha-blocker, named Prazosin, which reduce tone during
sleep by blocking noradrenergic receptors. Prazosin would significantly decrease
the number of PTSD related nightmares and would therefore improve sleep
quality. Benzodiazepines are also often used to treat nightmare disorder, despite
the lack of efficacy demonstrated in empirical studies. Olanzapine has quickly
decreased the nightmares. Two studies have shown the positive effects of
Risperidone.[21] Aripiprazol is more tolerated than olanzapine and has
demonstrated substantial improvement in the nightmare frequency.[21] Some
other drugs as clonidine, cyproheptadine, fluvoxamine, gabapentin, nabilone,
phenelzine, topiramate or trazodone have presented an amelioration of the
nightmares.

Epidemiology:
About 4% of American adults are affected by nightmare disorders. Women
seem to be more affected than men, the ratio being 2-4 : 1. This inequality
decreases with aging because of a less high prevalence in elderly
women. However, it is still unclear if the difference of prevalence between men
and women is real or if it reflects a higher dream recall capacity of women.
According to studies, children at the age of 6–10 years are 41% more likely to
experience nightmares and 22% at the age of 11. Children with persistent
nightmares range from 10% to 50%. However, only 1% of children meet the
criteria of a nightmare disorder. Some factors tend to predict the development of
a disorder from the presence of nightmares during childhood, such as a fear of

37
going to sleep or going back to bed after a nightmare, an irregular sleep life and
an avoidance of thinking about the nightmare.

38
Importance of dreams in medical world

Medicine as a science and an anthropocentric art, could not ignore the

importance of dreams, having in mind their popularity in antiquity. In ancient
Greek medicine dreams can be divided into two basic categories. In the first one -
which is related to religious medicine-dreams experienced by religionists are
classified, when resorted to great religious sanctuaries such as those of Asclepius
(Asclepieia) and Amphiaraos (Amfiaraeia). These dreams were the essential
element for healing in this form of religious medicine, because after pilgrims
underwent purifications they went to sleep in a special dwelling of the sanctuaries
called "enkoimeterion" (Greek: the place to sleep) so that the healing god would
come to their dreams either to cure them or to suggest treatment.
In ancient Greek literature there are many reports of these experiences, but if
there may be phenomena of self-suggestion, or they could be characterized as
propaganda messages from the priesthood of each sanctuary for advertising
purposes. The other category concerns the references about dreams found in
ancient Greek medical literature, where one can find the attempts of ancient
Greek physicians to interpret these dreams in a rational way as sings either of a
corporal disease or of psychological distress. This second category will be the
object of our study. Despite the different ways followed by each ancient Greek
physician in order to explain dreams, their common intention was to give a
rational answer for the creation and content of dreams setting aside any
supernatural beliefs.
Ancient Greek physicians focused especially on nightmares, which were
associated with physical problems. For those physicians these nightmares
included information about the corporal disease of the patient, which had a
reflection in the dream, and they could help them to diagnose the problem in
order to restore balance of the body.
In the early 1900s, Sigmund Freud wrote extensively about the theory of dreams
and their interpretations. Freud believed that dreams are a manifestation of our
deepest anxieties and desires, often relating to repressed childhood obsessions or
memories. In addition, it was his belief that almost every dream topic,

39
irrespective of its content, represented the release of sexual tension. In Freud’s
Interpretation of Dreams 1899, he developed a psychological technique whereby
dreams could be interpreted; he also devised a series of guidelines to help us
understand the motives and symbols that appear in our dreams.
This shows that from past histories too dream has an important value to know
about peoples inner problems due to which outer pathology is seen .

Today’s Explanation of Dreams:

Today, many people see dreams as a connection to the unconscious mind. There
are varying natures of dreams, such as exciting, frightening, melancholic, magical,
adventurous, and even sexual; and our dreams seem to range from normal and
ordinary right through to bizarre and completely surreal. With the exception of
lucid dreaming, the events that occur in our dreams are normally outside the
control of the dreamer. The dreamer is self-aware during lucid dreaming.
Sometimes, dreams can implant a creative thought, thus giving the dreamer a
sense of inspiration.
Throughout cultures and time, opinions have varied and shifted about the
meaning of dreams. It seems that people generally endorse the Freudian theory
of dreams, and that is that dreams reveal hidden emotions and desires. Other
theories are that dreams help us in problem solving, in memory formation, or that
they occur simply due to random brain activation.
Some people have a sleep disorder in which they physically act out their dreams
during sleep called REM Behavior Disorder(RBD). In this case, acting out dreams
can be dangerous to the individual and bed partner.

40
Views of different modes of treatment or pathies in
dreams:

Allopathy science or modern medicines:

Modern medicines had a different views in the dreams of the patients . They
took dreams as anxiety or stress disorders and treat them in a different
way.

Homoeopathic views :

Homeopathy is form of holistic medicine that uses natural, non-toxic remedies

that stimulate the inherent healing capacity within the mind and body.
The homeopath must view this confused or chaotic state within the individual
from a broader and broader perspective until the order that points to the correct
remedy reveals itself. Dreams are often very useful in helping to supply the key
allows the practitioner to perceive this order.
Since its inception, homeopaths have used dreams as part of the information that
leads to the appropriate remedy. There are, however, several reasons why
dreams are beginning to play a more important and sophisticated role in the
perception of what needs to be healed in the individual, and therefore perform an
increasingly important role in the homeopathic interview. Firstly, because
diseases are presently more suppressed than they were in the past, and secondly,
humanity has become more aware of its own psyche; a factor that happened
concurrently with the development of psychology.

41
In our present day, most symptoms are suppressed or covered over by
medications. Skin symptoms are treated with steroids, pains are eased with
analgesics or more powerful painkillers, and any uncomfortable emotional state
can usually be whisked away by visiting a physician who is willing to write a
prescription for mind-altering medication. Given that the homeopath depends
on the totality of an individual’s symptoms as guideposts, this suppression makes
finding the correct homeopathic remedy more difficult. In these cases, dreams,
in particular a dream that repeats throughout a period of a person’s life, or a
dream remembered from childhood, can be a very helpful addition to the
information that points towards the remedy. It is not unusual to have an early
childhood dream contain imagery that is connected with pathology that develops
20 or 30 years later. It is as if the psyche of the individual is already aware of a
state that exists but has not yet become manifest in the body or in the conscious
mind.
The other factor that makes dreams a more significant part of homeopathy is that
individuals are now much more psychologically aware and have different needs
than they were when homeopathy was first developed. Freud and Jung, pioneers
in understanding the psyche, had not begun their work until after Hahnemann’s
death. In our increasingly global society Jung’s concept of the collective
unconscious is particularly relevant to what often turns out to be the root of
much chronic disease. It is as if the roots of disease have moved to a global level
while, paradoxically, treatment needs to be addressed on a more and more
individual level. A simplified example of this is how, since the September 11
tragedy, fear has permeated our society.
Each individual is deeply complex and cannot truly be understood in all facets of
his or her existence. However, the homeopath must attempt to understand the
individual as much as possible in order treat the whole person. Dreams serve as a
doorway into another dimension that leads to a realm of symbols and imagery
connecting the conscious with the vast unconscious. When used as a part of the
art and science of homeopathy, they increase what can be perceived about
another person, allowing the homeopath to more easily find the appropriate
homeopathic remedy. This remedy will then stimulate the inherent healing
capacity of the individual and move him or her into greater wholeness of mind,
body, and spirit.

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As we know in homoeopathy the mind is always taken in priority in case
taking and dreams are the one which are more important as it shows the
internal feeling of the patient. In Complete repertory Roger Von Zanvoort
mentioned rubric dream under the chapter mind.
Homoeopaths use dreams since Hahnemann’s time. Our repertories and
proving’s contain many references to dreams. The complete repertory
basically based on 1st ,2nd , and 6th edition of Kent’s repertory along with
Boerike’s material medica and repertory ,phatak’s additions and many
homoeopathic journals etc. Complete repertory contains volume, Roger Von
Zanvoort mentioned mind under volume 1 and it contains 1964 sub-rubrics
of rubric dreams, which help us to find appropriate dreams for individualize
the case. Dreams itself have a very long history, they have been a subject of
debate and disagreement. Throughout history, people have tried to find
meaning in dreams or prediction through dreams. They have been defined
physiologically as a response to neural processes at the time of sleep and
action of rapid eye movement; psychologically as thoughts of the sub-
conscious mind and spiritually as messages from the God or predictions of
the forthcoming. Study of dreams with complete repertory in case taking
along with their remedy gives us new sight of knowledge of prescribing.
Dreams had great utility in analyzing clinical cases homoeopathically.

International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews conducted a

clinical study was to evaluate the role of rubric dream with the help of complete
repertory in homoeopathic prescription and its uses in clinical cases. A single
blind, prospective, clinical study was conducted with 30 cases of both sex, with
different age groups between 15 to 65 years was studied. Homoeopathic
prescription on the basis of rubric dream has shown good result. It is concluded
from the percentage of result 21 (70%) cases shows marked improvement, 05
(17%) cases shows moderate improvement and 04 (13%) cases shows mild
improvement. From the above result it is concluded that homoeopathic
prescription on the basis of rubric dream gives good quality of life and helps in
curing the individual.

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After taking a detailed case history homoeopath interprets the patients dream.
Each person has thousands of dreams in their lifetime, but the patient choose to
recall a specific dream, which helps homoeopath to individualise the case on basis
of dreams. There is a proverb in Marathi : "Mani Vase te Swapnee Dise"which
means the thoughts in mind is perceived in the dreams. According to the
observations of pioneers, dream reflect the internal state of man. Due to
importance of dreams in homoeopathy, we have entire chapter on dreams, from
our first repertory i.e. Therapeutic Pocket book by Dr. Boenninghausen, Knerr
repertory, Kent’s repertory and the most recent Synthetic Repertory and
Complete repertory . It is obvious that dream occurs from the various state of
mind from fear, anger, joy, accident, death, dreams of violence and battle etc.
Dreams are the nature’s phenomena, not the outcome of unconscious mind in
sleep. Dream interlinks between the procedure of life and our sensible
personality.

Study procedure-

Total 30 cases of both sexes, with age group between 15 to 65 years having
complaints with dream and fulfilling the criteria ofinclusion and exclusion were
enrolled in the study from the general O.P.D. and peripheral O.P.D. of Bharati
Vidyapeeth Homoeopathic Foundation Hospital, Pune and all 30 cases with 5
follow ups.

Selection of Remedy, Potency and Repetition of Doses –

A detail history of each case comprising of information from the patient and
others, including the family was taken and the symptoms was carefully studied
and formed a reportorial totality giving higher importance to the rubric “Dream”.
The drug was administered in various potencies like 30, 200, 1M as per the
instructions given by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann in his Organon of Medicine, and
repetition of the doses as per the need of the case.

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 Figure 1 : Participants in study

Figure 2 : Dream wise study of cases from participants.

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 Figure 3 : Remedy wise study cases.

Figure 4 : Response of treatment.

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Criteria for assessment-

 Marked: When there is more than 75% disappearance of the symptom.

 Moderate: When the patient has symptomatic relief with more than 50%
reduction of the complaints.
 Mild: When the patient has symptomatic relief with less than 50%
reduction of the complaints.
 Dropped out: The patient opts out or does not report after first, second and
third visit.

Figure 5 : Gender wise number of patient.

Figure 6 : Male – Female ratio.

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RESULT AND DISCUSSION

The topic is study of rubric dreams from complete repertory with its importance
and utility in clinical cases. Aim is to select the similimum by taking dream in
account after complete case taking and evaluate its effectiveness in clinical cases.
So it is considered that the dream is important in complete case taking and the
remedy is prescribed on the basis of dream, so that it reduce the suffering and
improve the general condition and quality of life. Age wise incidence was high
between the age group of 15-25 years, followed by 25-35 years, 35-45 years, 45-
55 years, 55-65 years of age group. Each groups for 11, 8, 4, 4, 3 cases out of 30
respectively. Out of 30 cases 21 (70%) cases showed marked improvement, 05
(17%) cases showed moderate improvement and 4 (13%) cases showed mild
improvement, which shows mean age of male was 30.5 with SD 11.36 and female
mean was 35.5 with SD 16.02.

CONCLUSION

From the above result and observations, it is concluded that the importance of
dream rubrics from complete repertory in prescription for clinical cases shows
important role. It is concluded from the outcome that remedy prescribed after
considering the dream of the patient, mostly cases shows marked improvement
and from the above results and observations, it was found that the fact given by
different authors are true and applicable practically.

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Dream in “Organon of Medicine”

Dr. Hahnemann in his 6th edition , had wrote some Aphorisms that are based
on dream . A short concept of a dream is given in foot note of aphorism 17
and in aphorism 70.

Aphorism 17 (foot note)

A warning dream, a superstitious fancy, or a solemn prediction that death would

occur at a certain day or at a certain hour, has not unfrequently produced all the
signs of commencing and increasing disease, of approaching death and death
itself at the hour announced, which could not happen without the simultaneous
production of the inward change (corresponding to the state observed internally);
and hence in such cases all the morbid signs indicative of approaching death have
frequently been dissipated by an identical cause, by some cunning deception or
persuasion to a belief in the contrary, and health suddenly restored, which could
not have happened without the removal, by means of this mortal remedy, of the
internal and external morbid change that threatened death.

Aphorism 70

That everything of a really morbid character and which ought to be cured that the
physician can discover in diseases consists solely of the sufferings of the patient,
and the sensible alterations in his health, in a word, solely of the totality of the
symptoms, by means of which the disease demands the medicine requisite for its
relief; while, on the other hand, every internal cause attributed to it, every occult
quality or imaginary material morbific principle, is nothing but an idle dream.

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