Dream Interpretation

Everybody dreams. However some people want to know what their dreams mean. That's where dream interpretation comes into the picture. Some people consider this a science some people consider it an art. But there is no doubt it's a useful skill especially when someone wants to learn what their dreams mean.

In ancient cultures such as Greece and Egypt dreams were thought to be communications from the gods. It was often left up to sorcerers and astrologers and other soothsayers to interpret dreams. 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. Therefore, it was necessary to have someone on-site, usually a priest, who could help them understand their dreams and the god's plan for them. In ancient Egypt dream interpretation was one of the duties of a priest. The Bible records stories of David and Joseph interpreting dreams. There are even hieroglyphics that depict dreams and the process of interpreting them.

Dream analysis became popular in psychology with the work of Sigmund Freud. He published a book in 1899 called The Interpretation of Dreams. He claimed that dreams express people's desires and inner wishes. He also held that dreams were always based on the previous day's events. Freud developed the concept of the inner censor as the regulating portion of the mind that communicated through dreams. He later changed the name to the super ego.

According to Freud people have various resistances. In other words when they are awake they self censored themselves. They control their actions and even their conscious thoughts. The often strange nature of dreams is due to the fact that the filters are still in place even when people sleep. Freud came up with a standard set of distortions that were present in dreams, and applied these in dream interpretation. He used these to analyze the patient based on the imagery present in the dream.

In Freud's dream analysis nightmares did not mean something bad happening in a person's real-life. Rather, they were an expression of the ego's frustration at being suppressed. It is often thought that everything in Freud's dream interpretation had to do with sex. But Freud himself expressed frustration that his work with dream interpretation was often wrongly applied to this result.

Dream interpretation can be an interesting hobby.

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