Dream interpretation
People dream. People often want to know what their dreams mean. That’s where dream interpretation comes into the picture. It might be a science or it might be an art. Either way it can be a lot of fun.
The Greeks and Egyptians believed dreams were communications from the gods. Astrologers and soothsayers performed dream interpretation. There were temples in ancient Greece where people could go to be cured of various conditions. It was believed that the gods would cure them with divine grace delivered through dreams. A priest attended the temple to help people determine the meaning of their dreams, and thus the intended cures from the gods. Egyptian priests studied dream interpretation. The Bible tales show Joseph interpreting dreams for the Pharaoh. Dream interpreters are even depicted in some hieroglyphics.
Dream analysis was an obsession of Freud. He published a book in 1899 called The Interpretation of Dreams. He held that dreams contained inner wishes and desires. He also believed that dreams were always about the events of the previous day. Freud developed the concept of the inner censor as the regulating part of the mind that communicated through dreams. He later changed the name to the super ego.
Freud talked about people’s abilities to resist things. In other words when they are awake they self censored themselves. People keep careful control over what they do and even what they reckon. The often weird nature of dreams is due to the fact that the filters are still in place even when people sleep. When performing dream interpretation Freud referred to a set of rules he had compiled for the way people change or filter dream images. He could then tell what the images meant.
Freud believed nightmares had nothing to do with dread or terrible events. Rather, they were an expression of the ego’s frustration at being suppressed. It’s well known that a Freud dream interpretation would often include sexual conclusions. But Freud himself expressed frustration that his work with dream interpretation was often wrongly applied to this result.
Dream interpretation can be an fascinating leisure activity.
