People have paid attention to their dreams and sought to understand them for thousands of years. In ancient cultures around the world, dreams were seen as divinely inspired or gifts from the gods that brought important news. Profession and priestly dream interpreters and oracles worked for emperors, kings and other kingdoms, seeking to know or obtain the future. leadership of the state.
Gudea, the Sumerian king who reigned around 2200 BC, is one of the first known historical figures to be guided by dreams. The king wanted to build a temple in honor of the god Nin-Girsu. He had a dream sent by Nin-Girsu in which a large human figure appeared, wearing the head of a god and having the wings of a bird. The effigies were accompanied by two lions. Then Gudea saw the rising sun a woman looking at a map that showed “successful stars” and a warrior drawing a temple on the map from the lapis lazuli stone A basket for carrying earth and a clay pot with a side in it is placed at the feet of Gudaeus, and a donkey digs up the earth before the winged figure.
The king could not understand the dream, and underwent a sacred incubation to ask the goddess, Gatumdung, to interpret it for him. He told him that the winged figure was Nin-Girsu and that the donkey Gudea was impatient. She also explained other elements in the dream. Gudea then called Nin-Girsu for a clearer message. The god appeared in a dream and said that he would give the king a sign when it was time to start building the temple.
The Egyptians believed that dreams were a revelation of truth and thus attached a great power of divination to dreams, looking only to dreams as omens. Dreams retained an important role in the history of ancient Egypt, even in the declining years. A survivor tells of Pharaoh Tanuatamun (reigning 664-656 BC), an Ethiopian ruler in the decline of Egypt, who had a dream in which he held two snakes, one in each hand. Waking up, he saw that there were no snakes. he asked for an interpretation and it was said: “Egypt is superior to you, take it to you, Egypt is inferior. The goddesses Vulture and Urea appeared over your head, and the land was given to you in length and breadth and it will not be yours. He will share it with you.”
He had a dream to address his ruler over both upper and lower Egypt, represented respectively by Vulture and Uræus (fire-breathing cobras), which he later fulfilled. Of the statue in which this story is told, Tanuatamun said: “Behold, the dream is true! It is good for him who put evil on his head without understanding.” That is, it is good if the dream is well understood, but bad if it is misunderstood or ignored.
Everywhere dreams play a leading role in the health, prosperity, and fortune of the people and the state. Dreams were used to discern the future, to gain divine auspices, and to restore health and integrity. Many theories and methods of interpretation have arisen.
The ancient Hebrews placed great importance on dreams; The Holy Bible contains many lists of significant and prophetic dreams of the great Patriarchs and Prophets. The Greeks valued dreams more for their healing power than for their divination importance. It was discovered by the Greeks that not only can dreams help to cure a sick person, but dreams can also predict the severity of the disease, sometimes being early enough to prevent a serious illness. These predictive dreams are called “prodromals.” The great depth psychiatrist Carl G. Jung observed prodromal dreams in his own patients. Illness dreams continue to be reported as warnings in modern medical literature.
The Greeks and Romans, who took over their traditions, built hundreds of temples throughout the classical world. Pilgrims went to temples to seek healing dreams from the gods—or at least information that would heal them. Christianity fulfilled this tradition with churches and sanctuaries dedicated to the healing of Archangel Michael.
Similarly, the ancient Chinese understood that dreams played an important role in the diagnosis and maintenance of physical health. The understanding of dreams in Taoism, a mystical system and philosophy and the only indigenous religion of China. The ancient Chinese, like other ancients, compiled and published dream dictionaries and articles, dream diaries, tablets and woodcuts. dreams in progress. Magic spells against dreams and bad dreams proliferated. Dream incubation – solicitation or self-programming of dreams for a specific purpose – is widely used by artists in China who dream of receiving Inspiration for paintings and music.
Like others in the ancient world, the Chinese dreamed of a god who could. to grant certain kinds of dreams in hopes. The Compendium of Literary Allusions (Shih-lei tíung-pien) tells of a dream god called Chih-li, a name that was probably adopted from foreign sources. Chih-li could be invoked for fruitful dreaming by reciting a mantra or charm seven times before sleep.
In many cultures, including the Chinese culture, dreams have played a fairly controlling role in a person’s well-being. In the West we were less fortunate. Dreams suffered under the influence of the Christian Church and Aristotelian philosophy and science. The Christian church – even though it allowed Michael to heal churches and chapels – wanted to reduce the influence of the pagan gods by despising dreams. Aristotle’s philosophy, introduced by St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century as an underpinning of Christian theology, maintains the separation of mind and body—the fundamental science of the West. From this perspective, dreams can have no real effect on the material world.
Western respect, however, began to shift in the 19th century. We are now much less rigid about the existence and interaction of mind and body. More and more we recognize the power and importance of dreams as part of that tool. We return to a more ancient view of life and creation – a view that was central to Eastern philosophy and science for millennia
Today, dream work is pursued around the world in professional treatment and therapy, as well as in lay dream work for personal improvement and self-knowledge. Dream work is productive and rewarding, useful, instructive and healing in nature. Dream work also fascinates us, we take an incredible journey into ourselves and our place in the scheme of the universe.
Sources:
Beinfield, Harriet and Ephraim Korngold. Between heaven and earth. New York: Ballantine Books, 1991.
Edmunds, E.W., and J.B. Hoblyn. Commentary on the Five Elements. London: Cassell & Co. Ltd., 1912
Tooth, Jing Pei and Zhang Juwen. The Interpretation of Dreams in Chinese Culture. New York: Weatherhill, 2000.
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. Dreamwork for the soul: A Spiritual Guide to Dream Interpretation New York: Berkley Books, 1998.
