The Meaning of Dreams

 

Dreams, Dream Catchers and Interpretations

Where can you be anything you want to be? A place of unlimited imagination? A place where you can experience life as you imagine it?

Dreams are a realm of unexpected and involuntary emotions, ideas, and images created in a mind while a person is asleep. But what are they? Many have tried to understand or, rather, interpret dreams, seeking its purpose in an attempt to understand its meaning. It is still a mystery that fascinates scientists, and philosophers alike. The possibilities of a dream are far more than we can comprehend and some believe interpreting dreams reveal a road-map which can guide us through our troubles, warn us of challenges, or provide us with hope.

Ancient civilizations believed that dreams are actually supernatural or divine communication conveying a message from the gods to people chosen by them. Centuries later, people still believe dreams hold treasures hidden to the naked eye. Many have attempted to interpret dreams. Some have even provided plausible explanations to a few common dreams.

For example, dreaming of a cat implies that a person is ignoring their intuition which is pointing in another direction than the path chosen by them. Because of their cautious nature and their uncanny ability to land on all fours no matter what, cats are a symbol of intuition.

Similarly, dreaming about a snake is an unconscious acceptance of your mind that you’re in a difficult situation and/or is healing or transforming. Dreams, where a person is falling down, is interpreted as an indication of a person being overwhelmed by insecurities. Clearly, dreams are of many types and they are interpreted differently, although their true “meanings” may or may not be understood. To grasp the vast concept of dream interpretation, dreams are generally classified into 5 categories.

1. Day Dreams

Day Dreams occur in a complex state of mind in the waking hours. A person dwells in a state of consciousness between sleep and wakefulness for an average of 70-120 minutes.

2. Lucid Dreams

Lucid dreams are dreams where a person is aware that he/she is in it. It is extremely rare for people to be aware of their dream state. Thus, most people wake up as soon as they realize it’s a dream. But many have practiced to consciously navigate and participate in their dreams like playing a video game.

3. Nightmares

Nightmares are disturbing dreams which subconsciously project a person’s fear. They are triggered either due to trauma, which is a symptom of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or a disturbed mental state which is screaming to confront and overcome the fear and challenges they face.

Did you know that nightmares are the main reason behind dream catchers? According to the legends of the Native Americans, a mystical lady, known as the “spider woman”, looked after the tribe, especially children. She protected the spirit of the tribe, and as the tribe spread through the land, she created the first dream catcher to connect her to her children. The nets of the dream catcher woven by the maternal “spider woman” catches and destroys nightmares. Good dreams caught by the nets are slid by the feathers into the minds of her children.

4. Recurring Dreams

As the name suggests, they recur. They’re usually negative focusing on a problem or challenge. They repeat themselves until the mind believes that it has overcome the issue.

5. Prophetic Dreams

Dreams which foretell the future with abstract images and psychic dreams are called prophetic dreams. Scientists believe that while unconscious the human mind pieces together information that is otherwise overlooked to predict the outcome of a situation that troubles the mind.

Dreams are fascinating phenomena. Dream interpretation is just the beginning to explore a different world. We may never discover its secrets. But as the mystery of their working remains unveiled, we can look forward to unique experiences in our mind palace as we shut our eyes every night.