To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

        No… Only in my dreams… As real as it may seem, it was only in my dreams. Those who grew up in the ’80s will surely remember Deborah Gibson’s catchy breakout tune, Only In My Dreams. She was barely old enough to get a driver’s license, but she had people bopping their ratted hairdo’s to the beat at shopping malls around the country. But Deborah wasn’t the first to ponder the elusive nature of dreams. Their fleeting and mysterious nature has made them a popular topic throughout history. Works ranging from the Epic of Gilgamesh to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream have touched upon the mysterious nature of dreams. More recently, author Stephanie Meyer even said that her hit book Twilight was based on a dream.
        As they always have, dreams continue to inspire and perplex –whether frightening us or providing escape from the banality of everyday existence. But what is the real purpose of dreams? Do they represent unconscious conflicts being played out (as Freud believed) or are they merely some kind of mental feedback arising from the random psychological and emotional clatter of our daily lives?
        In Meditations on First Philosophy, Philosopher Rene Descartes argued that there was no difference between the reality of our waking lives and the reality of the dream world. Citing a lack of distinction between the two, he pondered the issue of whether or not we have ever been truly awake. Are we the dreamer, or merely a part of the dream? Edgar Allen Poe echoed the same sentiments in his poem A Dream Within A Dream. Even if you aren’t a fan of Descartes or Poe, the idea may still sound familiar. That’s because it also formed the film premise for Larry and Andy Wachowski’s film The Matrix. Although Descartes never attempted dream interpretation, others such as Carlos Castaneda have. Today scholars view his works as everything from gospel truth to thoughtful, imaginative fiction and new age hokum. Castaneda, however, stuck to his beliefs until his dying day – claiming that the dream realm could be used to raise individual consciousness. He even worked out a road map. According to Castaneda, the simplest way to control a dream is to first realize that you are dreaming (known as lucid dreaming.) Castaneda claimed that by searching for your hands or feet in a dream (details that are often lacking) you can become lucid and then learn to direct your dreams rather than merely spectating.
        Although lucid dreaming can be a lot of fun (think of all the crazy sex you could orchestrate) most people are content with dreaming passively and then maybe checking a dream dictionary now and then. Fortunately, a general consensus has more or less developed on dream interpretation. The Dream Moods site gives reasonable explanations for common dreams that people may experience. It even offers a brief history of dream interpretation, looking at the evolution of views on dream significance. It also offers shortcuts to the most common symbols such as being naked, being chased, flying, losing teeth, and falling.        
        Have you ever dreamt that you were in school and about to take an exam for which you were unprepared? According to Dream Moods, this very common theme suggests “being put to the test or scrutinized in some way.” It can also suggest that the dreamer is feeling unprepared for a challenge. The site also offers alternate interpretations from others, Including scriptural and cultural interpretations. Dreams are broken down into categories such as nightmares, which are a sign that “it’s time to take notice and confront a problem or situation.” They believe that reflecting on dreams and their causes can potentially “lead to a solution for some problem, internal conflict, or personal difficulty.”
        At Curious Dreamer you’ll find an online dream dictionary that breaks dreams down into their component symbols and discusses what they each represent. Some of the most common symbols and themes include being attacked, dreaming about a dead acquaintance, having a dream within a dream, and having sex.
        At the Healing Power of Dreams site, researchers are seeking a connection between dreams and health issues. Besides the idea that certain dreams can signal specific health problems, they also posit that dreams can be used to create a healthier attitude and a feeling of well-being for those suffering from terminal illness. At the International Association for the Study of Dreams there are even those who believe that our nightly sojourns to dreamland can somehow help those who want to be cured of diseases. The association publishes dream related scholarly articles from all disciplines and viewpoints.
        Whether you subscribe to the Jungian notion that dream symbols are signposts on the road to self-actualization or to the Freudian theory that dreams are the battle ground where the id, ego, and super-ego fight for dominance, it’s hard not to attribute our dreams with at least some kind of significance. Although we may never truly know what dreams mean, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Marsha Norman may have summed it up best when she said, “Dreams are illustrations… from the book your soul is writing about you.”

Contact Danny Valle at [email protected]