Dreams

When we sleep, our brains weave dreams. A dream is made up of emotions, images and sounds that occur within our minds while we sleep. Why do dreams occur? What is their purpose? Are they a form of supernatural communication? Many psychologists, scientists and spiritual gurus have grappled with such questions in the past. Freud believed that dreams express our repressed thoughts and desires. Carl Jung felt dreams allowed us to reflect on our waking selves and solve our problems or think through issues.

Throughout human history this topic has led to speculation and interest. In most ancient civilizations dreams were considered a source of divine inspiration or a form of supernatural communication. Today psychologists believe that when the true meaning of dreams (especially the recurrent ones) are analysed, they can a)help recall a long-lost memory, b)help resolve relationship issues, c) help find solutions to certain baffling workplace problems, d)help alert you to the existence of health issues that you might be unaware of (or which you might be ignoring)

Sometimes people just intuitively ‘know’ what a dream meant. However, since dreams are rarely ever about what they appear to be on the surface, you might need professional help to decipher the true meaning of your dreams. Visiting a psychologist with some expertise in the dream phenomenon is the best option. If you are willing to keep an open mind, you can even seek the guidance of a spiritual guru who can use his/her intuition to help you understand the ‘true nature’ of your dreams. However, be smart and make sure you do not get caught in the snares of a conman.

Dream Types
Based on content and symbols, dreams are categorised into various types. The following list mentions the most common types.

Symbolism Dream Type
These dreams contain symbols which carry a hidden message. Often the dreamer finds it impossible to decode the hidden message behind the symbols without professional help.

Rehearsal Dream Type
Dreams sometimes train the mind to deal with positive or negative aspects of a likely future event. Here the mind actually rehearses and prepares for things that might happen at the future event. For example, if you have recently become engaged, you might find yourself discussing catering arrangements with a wedding planner in your dreams. If you are scheduled to give a speech, you might dream that when you get up on the stage and start speaking, no words come out.

Premonition Dream Type
Many believe that certain dreams can predict actual future events.

Problem Solving Type
History offers countless examples of inventors, scientists and others who found solutions to problems in their dreams. A German scientist called Kekule discovered the structure of the benzene molecule. It is said that he realised that the benzene molecule had a circular structure (rather than a linear one) after he dreamt of snakes forming circles with their tails in their mouths.

Message Dream Type
Though scientists generally disregard this phenomenon, many spiritual gurus believe certain dreams contain messages from a supernatural source outside yourself. Many ordinary men and women who are just ‘regular everyday people’ also believe that loved ones who have passed away sometimes contact us through dreams to let us know that they are at peace, or to alert their living family members about something.

Aesthetic Inspirational Type
Dreams can be funny, scary or just weird. The ordinary man usually forgets his dreams upon waking and just carries on with his daily routine. But artists function in a different way. Dreams allow artists (musicians, painters, writers and others) to see strange places and feel amazing or absurd things that they would not be able to experience in real life. Upon waking these dreams often inspire great works of art. Mary Shelly’s popular story ‘Frankenstein’ was based on an idea she got from a dream.

Dreams can be amusing, vague, inspiring or terrifying. But no matter how complex, they are an essential part of the human experience. Therefore, they will continue to fascinate the common man and intrigue scientists for years to come.