People spend a third of their lives sleeping. Most of them have dreams, some even several in one night. Science has long explained how the process of falling asleep takes place, but scientists do not like to talk about the psychology of dreams, referring to the fact that this is not their diocese. Dream researchers and psychologists have not yet reached a consensus on the causes of the appearance of dream images and their interpretation.
Furthermore, in different cultures, superstitions and omens associated with dreams are quite different, which makes it even more difficult to understand the origin of dreams and the psychology of the images they convey.
What is sleep?
The concepts of sleep among people of different mindsets, beliefs and lifestyles vary significantly:
• Science explains sleep as a reduced response to external influences, when the body and consciousness "turn off" and rest, recover, and the brain goes through four different stages during sleep, and during the REM (rapid eye movement) phase, a person sees images that are the result of the past day, experiences and all sorts of impressions.
• From the point of view of esotericism, during sleep, a person leaves histhe physical shell and can travel with the help of the astral body, and dreams are the events that happened to him during these travels.
• The ancient Egyptians believed that in a dream God conveys his will to people (it was they who created the first interpreter of dreams), which then the priests-interpreters conveyed to the rest.
Dreams from the point of view of psychology
According to psychologists, sleep is a reaction of the mind to life events, inner experiences, stresses and hidden desires. In a dream, the subconscious, through the images of a dream, indicates a problem and a possible way to eliminate it. It is not for nothing that all the powerfully influencing techniques of working with the subconscious (hypnosis, meditation) are close in their state to sleep. Only in the latter case is the state of mind completely controlled, and in a dream, on the contrary, it is completely free.
Some scientists attribute the effect of "déjà vu" also to dreams: once seen in a dream, but a forgotten event or place after a period of time really takes place in a person's life and seems to be repetitive.
Author of The Psychology of Dreams
The interpretation of dreams was studied quite extensively by Sigmund Freud, considering dreams to be repressed desires and repressed libido, manifested in the form of images.
The Austrian psychotherapist described this concept in detail in his book "Psychology of Dreams", carefully describing various cases of application of sleep psychoanalysis, what may be the connection of images and real life of a person, his past and hidden. Sigmund's theory of explanation of the essence of dreamsFreud divides all types of dreams into two types:
- sexual attraction (love, instinct for self-preservation and reproduction);
- attraction to death (the desire for harmony in life, the right way of life, cyclicity).
At the same time, the author emphasizes that the main image of a dream is not necessarily something archival, it happens that a small, insignificant detail has a much stronger effect on the unconscious than a key moment. The peculiarity of Freud's method is that only the patient himself can comprehend the images, associate them with another object or situation and draw a conclusion, starting from deep feelings and emotions, and the psychologist only directs him.
Also, his theory is based on the fact that the very first association to the analyzed image is often the most accurate, so the first thing that comes to mind upon awakening is often the most accurate interpretation.
Jungian archetypes
Carl Gustav Jung (a student of Freud) is his main opponent in the science of studying the nature of sleep. His position in the interpretation of the psychology of dreams is more extensive, not being categorically tied to sex and its manifestations. Jung believed that dream images are something really important and experienced in the process of life, and mixing the dreams of a schizophrenic with the dreams of a person with an Oedipus complex is simply stupid.
In his theory of interpretation of dreams, Carl Gustav adhered to the connection of images with archetypes (a psychological image inherent in the collective unconscious), he used seven of the main ones constantly. Animus and Anima (masculine and feminine), Self (holisticpersonality), Sage (a symbol of absolute knowledge) and Shadow (chaos, vices and shortcomings). The relationship of such images and their influence on human consciousness is clearly seen during all Jung's studies and gives an understanding of the human essence from a broader side.
The conclusion made makes it clear that Freud used baser instincts, while Jung relied on spirituality.
How to interpret images from a dream?
To understand the signals of the subconscious, you need to do the following:
- Record your dream as soon as you wake up so you don't forget the little details. Describe as clearly and in detail as possible.
- Arising spontaneous associations with images immediately prescribe, without analyzing. Sometimes the active work of the brain and attempts at logical reasoning nullify important deep images. Over time, the ability to explain a dream will improve, and it will be possible to easily manage life events and internal states.
- If there are no associations, use an authoritative dream interpreter.
For a deeper analysis of dreams, psychologists recommend keeping a diary in which dreams are recorded, their interpretations, and if the dreams are prophetic, then the period of time after which the dream came true.
Prophetic dreams are the messengers of fate?
It is generally accepted that a prophetic dream predicts the future, gives a clue to upcoming events, while really coming true in the near future. Usually such dreams are dreamed by people with hypersensitivity and a special psychological mood (on the eve of an important exam,weddings), although it happens without a reason. According to the old-timers, prophetic dreams can more often be dreamed on the name day, on the Holy Week (between Christmas and Epiphany) and on the night from Thursday to Friday (the most fateful dreams are dreamed on this day, but they are more difficult to remember).
What is a dream book?
Dream Interpretation is an interpreter of images that a person sees in a dream. The most popular are the dream books of Gustavus Miller, Sigmund Freud and Vanga's dream book, and young people often resort to online interpretation services without delving into the subtleties of interpretation. Among lovers of esotericism, Nostradamus's Interpretation of Dreams and Dreams, as well as Meneghetti's dream book, are in demand.
For the convenience of searching, the symbols of dreams are often written in alphabetical order in the interpreter. To understand the psychology of sleep and what he wants to convey to consciousness, they recall the images from the dream, then you need to find in the interpreter and read the explanations of the images and try to create a big picture from everyone. This will be the interpretation.
If you have the same dream several times
It happens that people periodically have the same dream for a long period of time: with the same images, situations and actions. Sometimes the plot changes slightly, but more often it coincides 100%.
From the point of view of psychology, recurring dreams are attempts by the unconscious to point out the same mistakes in life or habits that a person does not change in himself. This will be repeated until the person decides to analyze the signals, turns to an interpretation specialistdreams and dreams and draw the accompanying conclusions.
Also, sometimes in a dream a person sees the tragedies of the past, in which he was an unwitting participant or spectator: car accidents, scenes of violence, war or suicide. From a strong emotional shock, what is seen is imprinted on the subconscious and periodically reminds of itself through dreams, forcing the eyewitness to experience suffering again. In such cases, it is also recommended to seek the help of a psychotherapist.
Superstitions related to dreams
In every culture of the world, in almost every nationality, there are superstitions associated with what they saw in a dream.
- The Slavs believed that it was impossible to tell a terrible dream before dawn, otherwise it would come true. It is necessary, looking out the window, to repeat three times: “Where the night is, there is a dream” (some advised saying the same words to running water, replacing “night” with the word “water”).
- If you had a dream on a holiday (church), then it should have come true no later than lunch the next day, so it was considered a very good omen.
- If the baby laughed in a dream, it was forbidden to wake him up - it was believed that an angel was playing with him.
- In a dream, stepping on or getting smeared in excrement was considered a great success, for money and luck.
There is a whole system of interpretations about dead people who come in a dream. If the deceased was simply seen in a dream, this foreshadowed bad weather, and if he called for himself, it foreshadowed a quick death to the one who would follow him. In such cases, the old people recommended to go to church and puta candle for peace. It was believed that it was generally better not to respond to the “call” in a dream, even if the dreaming person was alive - it was unfortunately, failures and illnesses.
