Sigmund Freud opened the door into the modern day study of dreams, but the foundations of current theories on dreams began 2,000 years earlier with the Greeks whose practice of “Dream Incubation” invoked fasting, ritual, and inner searching to invoke a special dream that answered a specific concern. Before the arrival of the white man, some North American Indian tribes included a rite-of-passage vision quest ceremony for a young man that included noting special dreams which contained individual messages of life long significance. Many who currently analyze their dreams daily still report life-changing dreams.
The modern dream field now includes a variety of different theories. Freud’s theories of psychoanalysis used dreams as a cornerstone to peek into the contents of the person’s unconscious. Growing up in the repressed atmosphere of the Victorian era of the late 1880’s, it comes as no surprise that Freud based his outlook in psychoanalysis and dreams as emerging from a person’s “repressed sexuality”. In his day, there may have been truth to that outlook, but the viewpoint is no longer widely accepted.
Freud and his younger contemporary colleague, Carl Jung, daily recorded and analyzed their dreams, and often compared notes. Carl Jung widened our understanding of modern dream theory to include spiritual, creative, and problem-solving dimensions. He noted that paying attention to dream content regularly heightened the dreamer’s creativity and provided a link to the unconscious which brought insights for problem solving as well as inner growth, which he regarded as a cornerstone of human psychology.
Around 1973, researchers Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley started a new debate with the theory that what was going on during sleep was simply the result of random firing of brain cells. Known as the activation-synthesis hypothesis, they suggested imagery is pulled from memory traces and that these images don’t form the stories that we remember as our dreams. Instead, the waking mind, by trying to make sense of the random imagery, creates the stories because the brain wants to make sense of what it encounters. From that point of view, dream content is meaningless.
We do know for sure that dreams and memory are linked from researchers such as Eugen Tarnow linking dreams to excitations of long-term memory. Extensive research has shown that sleep is an important factor in establishing long-term memories, and that sleep helps a person remember what was recently learned. This includes increased insight after sleep, during which links between new pieces of information arise. From such studies, it is now generally accepted that during sleep, memories are restructured and that a good quality of sleep is important for learning. Students should take note, or at least take 15 minute naps, the optimal nap length every two hours during cramming sessions, as second-best to a full night’s sleep.
Lucid Dreaming is dreaming, and becoming aware, at same time, that you are dreaming, theory that in modern times is explained by Stephen LaBerge based on more than 20 years of research at Stanford University. He has shown that lucid dreaming techniques are useful to overcome deep-seated fears, anxieties, and phobias, as well as to awaken creativity and problem-solving.
Finding the true meaning of dreams is related to which dream theory is adopted. A dream is meaningless for those who accept the activation-synthesis schools of thought which state that nightly images are merely random brain cell firings. But regular dream users accept the more traditional view based on research that dreams are meaningful and useful, and share tools to explore the real meaning of a dream, such as those found on Interpretadream.com.
If you find yourself asking "What do dreams mean?" at Interpretadream.com, which supports the theory that dreams are meaningful and deliver practical information geared to a specific individual, we can help you find meaning in your dreams as it relates to you.
Additional information:
At Interpretadream.com we believe that the meaning of dreams can be found within the context of the dreamer's life. For example, if you've had a dream about eating pasta and have found yourself asking "What do dreams mean?" consider the following example.
One online dream dictionary presents the meaning of the word "macaroni" in a dream. To dream that you are eating macaroni is said to denote small losses. To dream of macaroni in large quantities denotes the need to be frugal, to save money, and to economize. These "interpretations" are general and likely have no relation to the dreamer’s life. To properly interpret theories on dreams and their meanings, consider the method presented by Interpretadream.com. By using the life context method of Stase Michaels, the dreamer would ask: “When did I last eat macaroni?” and “What happened when I last ate pasta?” In this case the dreamer answered that he loves macaroni and last ate it with a new woman he was dating, someone he really likes. Because he felt great eating pasta during the dream, the dream is suggesting that the new date could be a good partner. The dream mirrors his true feelings about her, so that he can examine his feelings and make a better decision about the new relationship.
Interpretadream.com was founded by dreams expert and author, Stase Michaels. With the knowledge gained from three degrees in psychology and a great deal of experience, she has created a variety of tools to help those curious about their dreams to interpret them on their own or to receive a correct interpretation from an expert. Michaels has created Do-It-Yourself tools, courses, and corporate seminars to help people unlock the secrets of the unconscious, and the results of such exploration are tremendous. For more information, continue browsing our website.
