What Do Dreams Mean?

Our tendency to forget all but the most vivid of our dreams impels us to lend special import to the few dreams that linger after we awaken. Scientists are unsure exactly what causes us to dream. One theory is that dreams are a dumping ground for excess stimuli from the day. The unconscious brain collects stimuli, such as colors, smells, and images, and then processes them into a coherent story in your dream.

Sometimes, the meaning of a dream is mundane and obvious. If you are looking for a bathroom in your dream, chances are you need to use the bathroom in real life, too. Other times, the meaning of dreams is more obscure. Dreams can reflect anxiety (dreams in which you are naked or are taking a test...or both), specific fears (spiders and heights are common frightening dream elements), or seemingly random elements (a circus strongman holding a bouquet of irises, or perhaps your third-grade teacher and the girl you hated from sleepaway camp at your house watching a movie).

Ancient traditions believed that some dreams were messages from the gods. In modern times, you can buy books of dream interpretation, where you can look up individual dream elements just as in a dictionary. According to the Dream Moods online dream dictionary, climbing a ladder means achieving a lofty goal or higher status, and a butterfly means transformation. Cutting your hair signifies that you may be changing your thinking, and seeing an old man means wisdom. The problem with interpreting dreams by the elements is that it can be hard to decide which elements are most important and what they mean in combination rather than isolation.

Types of Dreams

Some common dreams are chasing dreams, falling dreams, and flying dreams, each with different causes.

Chasing dreams are caused by anxiety and fear. What happens in your dream can parallel what is happening in your life. The chaser in your dream could symbolize your own feelings of anger or jealousy. If the distance between the chaser and you is closing, that suggests that your problem is not going away. If you are stuck and cannot run away, that may indicate a fear of something in your life is overwhelming to you. Chasing dreams can also indicate that you are trying to run away from a problem.

Falling dreams occur when you are anxious or insecure. These usually occur in the first stage of sleep and are sometimes accompanied by muscle spasms called myclonic jerks, which can awaken you. Falling dreams can reflect your out-of-control feelings you have about your work or a relationship. These dreams may also indicate a real danger in your life that you registered on a subconscious level. This could be something like a wobbly balcony rail or a loose floor board that could actually hurt you.

Flying dreams are often liberating and wonderful experiences. If you are enjoying the flight, then you are in control. If the flight is rough, this could indicate you are struggling to maintain control. If the flight has obstacles, like trees or buildings, the obstacles could be things in your life that are in your way and are keeping you from reaching your goals. This may show a lack of confidence on your part. Some feel flying dreams are a spiritual experience as you rise towards the heavens.

Stages of Sleep

There are three stages of sleep and you can have dreams in all of them. They are sleep onset, non-REM sleep, and REM sleep. REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement and was discovered by Eugene Aserinsky in 1953. He observed that when babies slept, their eyes would move at certain times. He went on to find out that REM occurred at intervals between 60 and 90 minutes. During REM sleep, you experience the most intense dreams and are more likely to remember them.

Dream Interpretation

In ancient times, when people wondered what dreams meant, they felt that dreams were messages from the gods. In Egypt, when a person was distressed about something, he would sleep in the temple. Upon awakening, a priest, called the Master of the Secret Things, would interpret his dreams. In the fifth century, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus proposed that dreams were created in the dreamer's mind.

In the Bible (Genesis 40:5–41:39), Joseph proves himself a skilled dream interpreter while in prison in Egypt, which ingratiates him to Pharaoh and results in him obtaining high office. In the Iliad (Book I ll. 62–63), Achilles requests that they consult a "reader of dreams," since dreams are sent by Zeus. In the second century CE, Artemidorus of Daldis wrote the Oneirocritica, a compilation and synthesis of earlier writings that tried to answer the question, "What do dreams mean?"

Aristotle felt that dreams were like images reflected in a mirror. He also felt that dreams could help a doctor determine a person's health. The founder of modern medicine, Hippocrates, agreed with Aristotle, and this theory is still practiced by some doctors today.

During Medieval times, the Church discouraged interpreting dreams and oneiromancy as pagan practices.

Many cultures, including the Chinese and Native Americans, feel you can have an out-of-body experience during sleep. Your soul can leave your body and visit other dimensions. You can communicate with people who have passed and glean knowledge from their wisdom. This helps you on your journey to your higher self and enlightenment.

Dream interpretation came into fashion in Victorian times, and in 1900, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) used dreams to help him understand his patients.  Freud, considered the father of psychoanalysis, felt that everything is affected by your unconscious. He felt that, since you live in society, your feelings and urges sometimes have to be repressed, and these impulses can be expressed through your dreams. Dreams can symbolize things that you wish would happen, and other things that you fear will happen.

Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1960) studied under Freud, but disagreed with some of his dream theories. He saw the unconscious as more spiritual in nature, not animalistic. He felt dreams did not try to cover-up your true feelings, but were a way to become aware of your unconscious. He believed dreams can assist you to become a better person and to deal with problems that arise.  He declared that there were two types of dreams, and each merited its own type of interpretation:

• Personal dreams - which include objects, people, and routines from an individual's daily life.
• Collective dreams - which arise from the collective unconscious and have significance not only for the dreamer but for the dreamer's community.

Although some dreams seem to be universal within and even occasionally across cultures, most everyday dreams seem to have more to do with an individuals' mental detritus than with divine inspiration or telling the future. Thus, in order to know what your dreams mean, you should reflect on them yourself, or ask someone who knows you well to help you figure them out.