Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur

involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of
dreams are not definitively understood, although they have been a topic of
scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious interest throughout
recorded history. The scientific study of dreams is called oneirology. Science has
proven to an extent that all mammals dream. The scientific approach to dreams
has been conducted through the discovery of REM sleep.
Dreams mainly occur in the rapid-eye movement (REM) stage of sleepwhen
brain activity is high and resembles that of being awake. REM sleep is revealed by
continuous movements of the eyes during sleep. At times, dreams may occur
during other stages of sleep. However, these dreams tend to be much less vivid or
memorable. Dreams can last for a few seconds, or as long as twenty minutes. A
person is more likely to remember the dream if he or she is awakened during the
REM phase.
Dreams are a connection to the human subconscious. They can range from normal
and ordinary to the overly surreal and bizarre. Dreams can at times make a
creative thought occur to the person or give a sense of inspiration. Dream imagery
is often absurd and unrealistic, and the events in dreams are generally outside the
control of the dreamer, with the exception of lucid dreaming. Dreamers are usually
not self-aware in their dreams; thus the dreams seem as reality. Dreams can have
varying natures, such as frightening, exciting, magical, melancholic, adventurous,
or sexual.
The meaning of dreams has varied and shifted through time and culture. Dream
interpretations date back to 5000-4000 BC, where they were documented on clay
tablets. The earliest recorded dreams were acquired from materials dating back
approximately 5000 years, in Mesopotamia.
[3]
n some of the earliest societies, the
dream world was regarded as an extension of reality. n the Greek and Roman
periods, dreams were seen through a religious lens. The people believed that they
were direct messages from the gods or from the dead. The people of that time
relied on their dreams for solutions on what to do, or what course of action to take.
They also believed dreams forewarned and predicted the future. Throughout
history, people have sought meaning in dreams or divination through dreams.
[4]

Dreams have also been described physiologically as a response to neural
processes during sleep; psychologically as reflections of the subconscious; and
spiritually as messages from the Soul, from a god or from the deceased, or as
predictions of the future. Some cultures practice dream incubation with the
intention of cultivating dreams that are prophetic or contain messages from the
divine. Some of these interpretations remain today embedded in the minds of
individuals. The randomness or hidden meaning of dreams remains disputable.
The most prolific dream theories and interpretations were developed by Sigmund
Freud, the Austrian neurologist who developed the discipline of psychoanalysis.
Freud explained dreams where manifestations of our most deepest desires and
anxieties. During sleep, dreams would manifest childhood repressed memories
and obsessions. n The nterpretation of Dreams, Freud developed a psychological
technique to interpret dreams and devised a series of guidelines to understand the
symbols and motifs that appear in our dreams.

The cuIturaI meaning of dreaming
Ancient history
The Sumerians in Mesopotamia left evidence of dreams dating back to 3100 BC.
According to these early recorded stories, gods and kings, like the 7th century BC
scholar-king Assurbanipal, paid close attention to dreams. n his archive of clay
tablets, some amounts of the story of the legendary king Gilgamesh were found. n
this epic poemone of the earliest known storiesGilgamesh reported his
recurring dreams to his goddess-mother Ninsun, who made the first known
recorded dream interpretation.
Gilgamesh's dreams were thought of as a prophecy, where he used to control the
actions in the waking world. These philosophies recorded in the Gilgamesh epic
gave a valuable source of information about ancient dream beliefs. The
Mesopotamians believed that the soul, or some part of it, moves out from the body
of the sleeping person and actually visits the places and persons the dreamer sees
in his sleep. Sometimes the god of dreams is said to carry the dreamer
Babylonians divided dreams into "good," which were sent by the gods, and "bad,"
sent by demons. n Assyria, people believed that their dreams were omens. One of
the earliest recorded dreams was found written on a clay tablet in Nineveh. This
dream dated back to the reign of King Ashurbanipal (669-626 BC). The tablet
concluded that if a man flies repeatedly in his dreams, then all that he owns will be
lost. Assyrians believed that dreams involving sexual content or adultery were
thought of as diseases caused by evil demons rising from the under worlds to
attack people.
n ancient Egypt, people believed gods showed themselves in dreams. They
believed that dreams were caused by real things that were beyond interpretation or
control by the conscious mind. As back as 2000 BC, the Egyptians wrote down
their dreams on papyrus. People with vivid and significant dreams were thought
blessed and were considered special. Ancient Egyptians distinguished three main
types of dreams: those in which the gods demanded some devotional act, those
that contained warnings or revelations, and those that came about through ritual.
Ancient Egyptians believed that dreams were like oracles, bringing messages from
the gods. They thought that the best way to receive divine revelation was through
dreaming and thus they would induce (or "incubate") dreams. Egyptians would
travel to a sanctuary or shrine, such as the famous temple at Memphis, Egypt, to
lie down on special "dream beds" in hope of receiving advice, comfort, or healing
from the gods

ReIigious history
The ancient Hebrews connected their dreams heavily with their religion, though the
Hebrews were monotheistic and believed that dreams were the voice of one god
alone. Hebrews also differentiated between good dreams (from God) and bad
dreams (from evil spirits). The Hebrews, like many other ancient cultures,
incubated dreams in order to receive divine revelation. For example, the Hebrew
prophet Samuel, would "lie down and sleep in the temple at Shiloh before the Ark
and receive the word of the Lord."
Christians mostly shared their beliefs with the Hebrews and thought that dreams
were of the supernatural element because the Old Testament had frequent stories
of dreams with divine inspiration. The most famous of these dream stories was
Jacob's dream that stretched from Earth to Heaven. Many Christian men preached
that God talked to his people through their dreams.
CIassicaI history
n Chinese history, people wrote of two vital aspects of the soul of which one is
freed from the body during slumber to journey a dream realm, while the other
remained in the body. Although, this belief and dream interpretation was
questioned since early time, such as by the philosopher Wang Chong (27-97). The
ndian text Upanishads, written between 900 and 500 BC, emphasize two
meanings on dreams. The first says that dreams are merely expressions of inner
desires. The second is the belief of the soul leaving the body and being guided
until awakened.
The Greeks shared their beliefs with the Egyptians on how to interpret good and
bad dreams, and the idea of incubating dreams. Greek legend states that the god
Hypnos made the people sleep by touching them with his magic wand or by
fanning them with his wings. Morpheus also sent warnings and prophecies to those
who slept at shrines and temples. The earliest Greek beliefs of dreams was that
their gods physically visited the dreamers, where they entered through a keyhole,
and exiting the same way after the divine message was given.
Dreams also helped their practice of medicine, sending sick people to particular
temples. Sick Greeks visited these temples to perform various religious rites, sleep,
and hope to have a dream that assured a return to good health. They slept for
many days, sometimes trying for weeks or months until they had the "right" dream.
Antiphon wrote the first known Greek book on dreams in the 5th century BC. n that
century, other cultures influenced Greeks to developed 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. Greek philosopher, Aristotle
(384-322 BC) believed dreams caused physiological activity. He thought dreams
could analyse illness and predict diseases. n the Hellenistic times, the main
interest in dreams centred around their ability to heal. Greeks of that period
believed that dreams offered vital clues that could help healers diagnose the
dreamer. Galen, a Greek physician born in 129 AD, said that people should
carefully observe dreams for clues to healing. He was so convinced of dream
messages that he performed operations on the basis of dream interpretations.
!ost-CIassic/MedievaI history
Some ndigenous American tribes and Mexican civilizations believe that dreams
are a way of visiting and having contact with their ancestors.

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,
founder of Protestantism, believed dreams were the work of the Devil. However,
Catholics such as St. Augustine and St. Jerome claimed that the direction of their
life were heavily influenced by their dreams.
in the 19th century, psychotherapist Sigmund Freud argued for the importance of
dreams and their significance for psychology. He created a great vogue for the
study of dreams.
[13]
n 1899 he published Die Traumdeutung. n English it was
called The Interpretation of Dreams.
Freud theorized that wish fulfillment was behind most dreams. His interpreted
dreams as a reflection of the dreamer's deepest desires, going back to their
childhood. To Freud, dreams were images that held important meanings. Freud's
theory distinguishes two layers of dream content: manifest and latent. Manifest
(superficial) content had no significant meaning but was a mask for underlying
issues of the dream. Latent content was those underlying issues; it expressed
unconscious wishes or fantasies. Freud believed most dreams were of a sexual
nature. From Freud's time forward, many no longer considered dreams divine or
demonic, but a valid mode for collecting information on an unconscious level.
Freud called dreams the "royal road to the unconscious."
[14]
n his earlier writings,
Freud viewed the vast majority of dreams as sexual in nature, but he later shied
away from this categorical position, and in Beyond the Pleasure Principle,
considered trauma and aggression as other possible causes of dreams. He also
considered supernatural origins in Dreams and Occultism, a lecture published in
New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis
[15]
Freud's, and by extension, other
psychoanalytic views of dreams, have been attacked by, among others, Hans
Eysenck, who wrote a book discrediting them called Decline and Fall of the
Freudian Empire.
However,Carl Jung, a student of Freud who later turned against him, also believed
that dreams related to the dreamer's wishes, which enables them to realize things
they unconsciously desire, and that the dreams helps them to fulfill their wishes.
Jung believed dreams were messages to the dreamer and that dreamers should
pay attention for their own good. Jung believed dreams were messages to the
dreamer and that dreamers should pay attention for their own good. Carl Jung
came to believe that dream contents present the dreamer with revelations that
uncover and help to resolve emotional issues, problems, religious issues and fears.
Jung believed that recurring dreams are a proof that the dreamer is neglecting an
issue, thus it shows up repeatedly in dreams to demand attention. He believed that
many of the symbols or images from these dreams return with each dream. Jung
also said that dreams are not only important to the dreamer's life, but that they are
all parts of "one great web of psychological factors." Such things as events, movies
and people seen the previous day also play a role in dreaming. These memories
leave impressions for the unconscious to deal with when the ego is at rest. The
unconscious re-enacts these glimpses of the past, in the form of a dream. Jung
called this a day residue.
Another student of Freud's who turned against him, Alfred Adler, believed dreams
simply represented aggression. Freudian psychotherapy and psychoanalysis today
have fallen out of fashion. Most modern psychologists regard Freud as being of
primarily historical interest.

REM sIeep
There is not a universally accepted biological definition of dreaming. n 1952,
Eugene Aserinsky identified and defined rapid eye movement (REM) sleep while
working in the surgery of his PhD adviser. Aserinsky noticed that the sleepers' eyes
fluttered beneath their closed eyelids. Later he used a polygraph machine to record
their brainwaves during these periods. n one session, he awakened a subject who
was wailing and crying out during REM and confirmed his suspicion that dreaming
was occurring.
[18]
n 1953, Aserinsky and his advisor published the ground-
breaking study in $cience.
[19]

Accumulated observation has shown that dreams are strongly associated with
rapid eye movement sleep, during which an electroencephalogram (EEG) shows
brain activity that, among sleep states, is most like wakefulness. Participant-
remembered dreams during NREM sleep are normally more mundane in
comparison. During a typical lifespan, a person spends a total of about six years
dreaming (which is about two hours each night). Most dreams only last 5 to 20
minutes. t is unknown where in the brain dreams originate, if there is a single
origin for dreams or if multiple portions of the brain are involved, or what the
purpose of dreaming is for the body or mind.
During REM sleep, the release of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine, serotonin
and histamine is completely suppressed. As a result, motor neurons are not
stimulated, a condition known as REM atonia. This prevents dreams from resulting
in dangerous movements of the body.
According to a report in the journal Neuron, rat brains show evidence of complex
activity during sleep, including the activation in memory of long sequences of
activity. Studies show that various species of mammals and birds experience REM
during sleep, and follow the same series of sleeping states as humans.
[26]

Despite their power to bewilder, arouse, frighten or amuse, dreams can often be
ignored in mainstream models of cognitive psychology.
[29]
As methods of
introspection were replaced with more self-consciously objective methods in the
social sciences in 1930s and 1940s, dream studies dropped out of the scientific
literature. Dreams were neither directly observable by an experimenter nor were
subjects' dream reports reliable, being prey to the familiar problems of distortion
due to delayed recall, if they were recalled at all. According to Sigmund Freud,
dreams are more often forgotten entirely, perhaps due to their prohibited character.
Altogether, these problems seemed to put them beyond the realm of science.
The discovery that dreams take place primarily during a distinctive
electrophysiological state of sleep, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which can be
identified by objective criteria, led to the rebirth of interest in this phenomenon.
When REM sleep episodes were timed for their duration and subjects woken to
make reports before major editing or forgetting could take place, it was determined
that subjects accurately matched the length of time they judged the dream
narrative to be ongoing to the length of REM sleep that preceded the awakening.
There is no "time dilation" effect; a five-minute dream takes roughly five minutes of
real time to play out.
[30]
This close correlation of REM sleep and dream experience
was the basis of the first series of reports describing the nature of dreaming: that it
is a regular nightly, rather than occasional, phenomenon, and a high-frequency
activity within each sleep period occurring at predictable intervals of approximately
every 6090 minutes in all humans throughout the life span.
REM sleep episodes and the dreams that accompany them lengthen progressively
across the night, with the first episode being shortest, of approximately 1012
minutes duration, and the second and third episodes increasing to 1520 minutes.
Dreams at the end of the night may last as long as 15 minutes, although these may
be experienced as several distinct stories due to momentary arousals interrupting
sleep as the night ends. Dream reports can be reported from normal subjects on
50% of the occasion when an awakening is made prior to the end of the first REM
period. This rate of retrieval is increased to about 99% when awakenings are made
from the last REM period of the night. This increase in the ability to recall appears
related to intensification across the night in the vividness of dream imagery, colors,
and emotions.

There are many hypotheses about the function of dreams, including:

Dreams allow the repressed parts of the mind to be satisfied through fantasy while
keeping the conscious mind from thoughts that would suddenly cause one to
awaken from shock.
Freud suggested that bad dreams let the brain learn to gain control over emotions
resulting from distressing experiences.
Jung suggested that dreams may compensate for one-sided attitudes held in
waking consciousness.
Ferenczi proposed that the dream, when told, may communicate something that is
not being said outright.
O Dreams regulate mood.
O Hartman
n
says dreams may function like psychotherapy, by "making
connections in a safe place" and allowing the dreamer to integrate thoughts
that may be dissociated during waking life.
More recent research by psychologist Joe Griffin, following a twelve-year review of
data from all major sleep laboratories, led to the formulation of the expectation
fulfilment theory of dreaming, which suggests that dreaming metaphorically
completes patterns of emotional expectation in the autonomic nervous system and
lowers stress levels in mammals

Dream interpretations
Dreams were historically used for healing (as in the asclepieions found in the
ancient Greek temples of Asclepius) as well as for guidance or divine inspiration.
Some Native American tribes used vision quests 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.
[75]

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, both Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung
thought of dreams as an interaction between the unconscious and the conscious.
They also assert together that the unconscious is the dominant force of the dream,
and in dreams it conveys its own mental activity to the perceptive faculty. While
Freud felt that there was an active censorship against the unconscious even during
sleep, Jung argued that the dream's bizarre quality is an efficient language,
comparable to poetry and uniquely capable of revealing the underlying meaning.
Fritz Perls presented his theory of dreams as part of the holistic nature of Gestalt
therapy. Dreams are seen as projections of parts of the self that have been
ignored, rejected, or suppressed. Jung argued that one could consider every
person in the dream to represent an aspect of the dreamer, which he called the
subjective approach to dreams. Perls expanded this point of view to say that even
inanimate objects in the dream may represent aspects of the dreamer. The
dreamer may, therefore, be asked to imagine being an object in the dream and to
describe it, in order to bring into awareness the characteristics of the object that
correspond with the dreamer's personality.
Dream interpretation can be a result of subjective ideas and experiences. A recent
study conducted by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology concluded
that most people believe that "their dreams reveal meaningful hidden truths".
RecaIIing dreams
The recall of dreams is extremely unreliable, though it is a skill that can be trained.
Dreams can usually be recalled if a person is awakened while dreaming. Women
tend to have more frequent dream recall than men. Dreams that are difficult to
recall may be characterized by relatively little affect, and factors such as salience,
arousal, and interference play a role in dream recall. Often, a dream may be
recalled upon viewing or hearing a random trigger or stimulus. A dream journal can
be used to assist dream recall, for psychotherapy or entertainment purposes.
For some people, vague images or sensations from the previous night's dreams
are sometimes spontaneously experienced in falling asleep. However they are
usually too slight and fleeting to allow dream recall. At least 95% of all dreams are
not remembered. Certain brain chemicals necessary for converting short-term
memories into long-term ones are suppressed during REM sleep. Unless a dream
is particularly vivid and if one wakes during or immediately after it, the content of
the dream is not remembered.
Dj vu
One theory of dj vu attributes the feeling of having previously seen or
experienced something to having dreamt about a similar situation or place, and
forgetting about it until one seems to be mysteriously reminded of the situation or
the place while awake.
SIeepwaIking
Sleepwalking was once thought of as "acting out a dream", but that theory has
fallen out of favour.
Daydreaming
A daydream is a visionary fantasy, especially one of happy, pleasant thoughts,
hopes or ambitions, imagined as coming to pass, and experienced while awake.
There are many different types of daydreams, and there is no consistent definition
amongst psychologists. The general public also uses the term for a broad variety of
experiences. Research by Harvard psychologist Deirdre Barrett has found that
people who experience vivid dream-like mental images reserve the word for these,
whereas many other people refer to milder imagery, realistic future planning,
review of past memories or just "spacing out"--i.e. one's mind going relatively
blankwhen they talk about "daydreaming."
While daydreaming has long been derided as a lazy, non-productive pastime, it is
now commonly acknowledged that daydreaming can be constructive in some
contexts. There are numerous examples of people in creative or artistic careers,
such as composers, novelists and filmmakers, developing new ideas through
daydreaming. Similarly, research scientists, mathematicians and physicists have
developed new ideas by daydreaming about their subject areas.
aIIucination
A hallucination, in the broadest sense of the word, is a perception in the absence of
a stimulus. n a stricter sense, hallucinations are perceptions in a conscious and
awake state, in the absence of external stimuli, and have qualities of real
perception, in that they are vivid, substantial, and located in external objective
space. The latter definition distinguishes hallucinations from the related
phenomena of dreaming, which does not involve wakefulness.
Nightmares
A nightmare is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong negative emotional
response from the mind, typically fear and/or horror, but also despair, anxiety and
great sadness. The dream may contain situations of danger, discomfort,
psychological or physical terror. Sufferers usually awaken in a state of distress and
may be unable to return to sleep for a prolonged period of time.
Night terrors
A night terror, also known as a sleep terror or pavor nocturnus, is a parasomnia
disorder that predominantly affects children, causing feelings of terror or dread.
Night terrors should not be confused with nightmares, which are bad dreams that
cause the feeling of horror or fear.
n cuIture
n art
Dreams and dark imaginings are the theme of Goya's etching The $leep of Reason
Produces Monsters. There is a painting by Salvador Dal that depicts this concept,
titled Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a $econd
Before Awakening (1944). Rousseau's last painting was The Dream. Le Rve
("The Dream") is a 1932 painting by Pablo Picasso.
n Iiterature
Dream frames were frequently used in medieval allegory to justify the narrative;
The Book of the Duchess and Piers Plowman are two such dream visions.
They have also featured in fantasy and speculative fiction since the 19th century.
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 worlds, Carroll's logic is like that of
actual dreams, with transitions and flexible causality.
Other fictional dream worlds include the Dreamlands of H. P. Lovecraft's Dream
Cycle and The Neverending $tory's world of Fantasia, which includes places like
the Desert of Lost Dreams, the Sea of Possibilities and the Swamps of Sadness.
Dreamworlds, shared hallucinations and other alternate realities feature in a
number of works by Phillip K. Dick, such as The Three $tigmata of Palmer Eldritch
and Ubik. Similar themes were explored by Jorge Luis Borges, for instance in The
Circular Ruins.

n popuIar cuIture
Modern popular culture often conceives of dreams, like Freud, as expressions of
the dreamer's deepest fears and desires. n films such as $pellbound (1945), The
Manchurian Candidate (1962) and Inception (2010), the protagonists must extract
vital clues from surreal dreams.
Most dreams in popular culture are, however, not symbolic, but straightforward
and realistic depictions of their dreamer's fears and desires. Dream scenes may be
indistinguishable from those set in the dreamer's real world, a narrative device that
undermines the dreamer's and the audience's sense of security and allows horror
movie protagonists, such as those of Carrie (1976), Friday the 13th (1980) or An
American Werewolf in London (1981) to be suddenly attacked by dark forces while
resting in seemingly safe places.
n speculative fiction, the line between dreams and reality may be blurred even
more in the service of the story. Dreams may be psychically invaded or
manipulated (Dreamscape, 1984; the Nightmare on Elm $treet films, 19841991;
Inception, 2010) or even come literally true (as in The Lathe of Heaven, 1971).
Peter Weir's 1977 Australian movie "The Last Wave" makes a simple and
straightforward postulate about the premonitory nature of dreams (from one of his
Aboriginal characters) that "...dreams are the shadow of something real". Such
stories play to audiences' experiences with their own dreams, which feel as real to
them.
One of the earliest newspaper comic strips, recounting Little Nemo's adventures in
Slumberland, had a dream world theme.
Graphic novelist Neil Gaiman was tasked with re-imagining a Golden Age
character, "The Sandman". n his version, the Sandman becomes Dream, the Lord
of Dreams (also known, to various characters throughout the series, as Morpheus,
Oneiros, the Shaper, the Shaper of Form, Lord of the Dreaming, the Dream King,
Dream-Sneak, Dream Cat, Murphy, Kai'ckul, and Lord L'Zoril), who is essentially
the anthropomorphic personification of dreams. At the start of the series, Morpheus
is captured by an occult ritual and held prisoner for 70 years. Morpheus escapes in
the modern day and, after avenging himself upon his captors, sets about rebuilding
his kingdom, which has fallen into disrepair in his absence.
n phiIosophy and reIigion
AboriginaI beIiefs
The Dreaming is a common term within the animist creation narrative of indigenous
Australians for a personal, or group, creation and for what may be understood as
the "timeless time" of formative creation and perpetual creating.
n addition, the term applies to places and localities on indigenous Australian
traditional land (and throughout non-traditional Australia) where the uncreated
creation spirits and totemic ancestors, or genius loci, reside.
[108]
No one English
word covers the concept; for example, Anangu who speak Pitjantjatjara use the
word Tjukurpa and those who speak ankunytjatjara use apar, but neither
means dreaming in the English sense.
Dreams and phiIosophicaI reaIism
Some philosophers have concluded that what we think of as the "real world" could
be or is an illusion (an idea known as the skeptical hypothesis about ontology).
The first recorded mention of the idea was by Zhuangzi, and it is also discussed in
Hinduism, which makes extensive use of the argument in its writings. t was
formally introduced to Western philosophy by Descartes in the 17th century in his
Meditations on First Philosophy. Stimulus, usually an auditory one, becomes a part
of a dream, eventually then awakening the dreamer.


AnaIyzing the dream: UniversaI SymboIs..
AnimaIs
They symboIize our own traits, good and bad. When you
see an animal doing something in your dreams it usually
represents a bad trait. As it is far easier for us to accept and
watch an animal doing something negative then to take the
credit for it ourselves. Here is a good example: A woman on a
diet and really wants to loose weight but is prone to binge eating. She has tried and
failed many times, but this time has resolve. That night in a moment of weakness,
she eats a big slice of cake, and a bowl of ice cream. That night she dreams of
being on a farm on a cloudy day, and watching in disgust as a big manure covered
sow eats and sucks non-stop at her sloop. She is astonished and ashamed when
she noticed what the sow was eating! (cake and ice cream). t does not take a
rocket scientist to figure out what that dream means, or what the animal
symbolized! Her dream was telling her she would feel about as good about herself
as she felt about the sow if she did not control her eating.
AutomobiIes or vehicIes
VehicIes that you ride in usuaIIy refIect two things; the direction
you are heading in Iife, and your body. (the thing you travel or
"ride" through life in) This might vary if you are a mechanic or
designer of vehicles. Unusually over exposure to a specific vehicle type may easily
change the meaning. The condition of the vehicle might give you an idea of your
health. Driving an old beat up car down a muddy road on a stormy night would be
considered a pretty bad dream! However flying a Lear jet through blue skies with a
song in your heart and the wind at your tail would be a rather good dream. :)
ChiIdren
A chiId represents to most of us, something
new, different and joyous. Using this logic, it is
easy to see why a child represents a new phase
in your life or a new project as well. How well the
child gets along and fares in the dream is an
indication as to how well what it represents is doing. Also, a child symbolizes
innocent parts of yourself sometimes, and at other times, immaturity and
childishness. t all depends on the theme and emotions used in the dream.
CIothing
hen you get into different moods you tend to choose different
cIothing, so cIothing, for this reason best symboIizes your
mood or state of mind. They also signify attitude. We wear clothing
for all sorts of different reasons including, work, dating, play and social occasions.
Attitudes and moods are similar to clothing in this regard, they are the camouflage
we hide behind, our face we put on for the world in various situations so we can
better cope. Take a look at what you, or other people in your dream are wearing to
get even more clues to the dream's meaning. Also, a commonly overlooked clue is
sometimes you see clothes on a clothes line, or lying around. t would be a good
idea to take note as to what style and condition the clothes you see are.
Death
NearIy any dream you have that refers to death, dying or
attending a funeraI, or the Iike, pertain to .,30. Most all the
time this change is very dramatic and major. t can be change in your
life attitude or emotional balance. These types of dreams can also
symbolize confronting fear, usually fear of death or change. Since
most of use will agree that death is the ultimate change, and many
people fear it. Death dreams are generally big changes and should
never be ignored. Sometimes they really do signify death! Another possible symbol
of a death dream is threat. Whichever suits the dream depends on how well the
theme was arrived at. Most death dreams are about major change and not about
literal death though, so don't panic if you have one. Just patiently go through the
analysis process, and make sense of it.
uiIdings
The buiIding in a dream usuaIIy
points directIy to a specific area of
your Iife. Dreaming of being in an office
complex, or factory can pertain to your
working environment. t does not need
to specifically pertain to your exact line
of work. n other words, an office worker
dreaming of a loading dock still can
relate the dock to work, because that's
the association made in his mind. A
bathroom, may pertain to your general
health and hygiene habits, and a kitchen
might be about your eating and nutrition. What you associate different locations to
mean in general, usually points to what the dream was getting at specifically. To
dream of your childhood house, tends to be a reflection of your life today though. A
dream of mass chaos in your childhood home can indicate great disturbances in
your life either now, or coming shortly. These kinds of dreams are often prophetic.
You should always write down and deeply analyze dreams of your childhood
dwelling. Dreams of great buildings like cathedrals and large churches usually
indicate the dream has a great meaning, and should be taken seriously, as well as
any applied association.
!eopIe
!eopIe most often portrayed in
dreams are actuaIIy refIections of
your own personaIity traits, provided
the dream is not prophetic.These traits
are ones that you need to enhance or
develop, or if negative, work on
eliminating or reducing. You should immediately ask of yourself, what traits do
like, and what traits do dislike in the characters dream about? Then look for
those traits in yourself. You may be very surprised to find a match up! People in
dreams work most commonly to reflect, or mirror important aspects of your
personality. You do well to always make this association.