Many people who dream do not understand why
they dream or what their dreams mean. I
can still remember one particular dream I had as a young child that still
puzzles me. I was in my backyard on my
tire swing spinning and swinging around.
As I was swinging the door on my dad's tool shed started to open
up. I then saw things that could only be
described as humanoid aliens. They then
stepped out, captured me, and took me into the tool shed. The tool shed must have really been a space
ship from what I could see inside of
it. They were using a cordless
telephone, but for what I do not know.
Eventually I was rescued by Wonder Woman who flew in and rescued me in
her invisible jet. The dream I have
recounted may or may not have any significant meaning to me: however, dreams
are a natural phenomenon that have fascinated human beings for centuries.
Even though dreams are not fully understood,
researchers have documented a number of facts about sleep. For instance, studies have shown that sleep
is classified into four stages according
to depth as a sleeper goes from a light sleep to a deep sleep. As people fall asleep they first enter stage
one sleep. Research has shown stage one
sleep to be the lightest of the four levels of sleep. In this stage the E. E. G, a machine that
measures types of brain waves, shows many alpha signals. Alpha signals really
are fast low voltage brain signals. The
sleeper can also be easily awakened while in this stage of sleep. The next level of sleep is stage two. In which the brain shows sporatic brain wave
signals which consist of high-voltage
activity known
as sleep
spindles. Many people have been know to
sleep walk while in this stage. The next
level of sleep is stage three. In this
stage the brain produces the highest voltage brain waves. This informs us of the appearance of delta
waves. While in this stage the sleeper's
respiratory and heart rate slows down, and the sleepers temperature drops a few
degrees. While in this level of sleep it
would take great effort to awaken the
sleeper. The next and last level of
sleep, before returning to stage one, is
the fourth. This is perhaps the longest
and deepest level of sleep. While in
this level the E.E.G. is dominated by delta waves. After level four sleep is over the sleeper
then cycles through the levels again with one difference, level one sleep will
also contain raped eye movement (Parker and Parker 30, 31).
Dreams occur during REM sleep, a period
characterized by rapid eye movements.
This was discovered by a graduate student named Eugene Aserinsky.
Aserinsky made the discovery in a
project he was trying to find how peoples eyes moved during sleep. He did this by connecting the electrodes of a
EEG next to the eyes of the test subject.
During the night the machine
would occasionally record brain activity.
Thinking that the machine was broken , he decided to double check it
himself. He then discovered that periods
of REM would periodically occur through out the night. Since Aserinsky's discovery we have found a
new source of physical data about our REM sleep. For instance, while people sleep, REM occurs
about every
ninety minuets.
REM sleep occurs about four or five times a night. Researchers have found that
then people are deprived of REM sleep, they will experience a rebound effect in
which they will try to catch up on their loss of REM sleep by staying in REM
sleep longer during subsequent occasions (Dolnick 45).
Furthermore, most dreams contain common
elements: settings, characters, actions, and emotions. Nearly all dreams have a
setting. The setting may be realistic
and familiar to the dreamer, or it can be vague and unfamiliar. The setting can
also be used to help the dreamer to understand the meaning of the dream, The setting is used as much as all other
aspects of the dream when it is interpreted.
The characters are another dream element. The most common character in a dream is the
dreamer himself. He may be the main
character or just a minor character.
Other characters that commonly appear in dreams are members of the
dreamers family. Young dreamers will
usually dream of their mother and father, while older dreamers will usually
dream of their spouse and children. Friends and acquaintances also appear in
their dreams. They are most likely the
same age as the dreamer. Another common element of dreams are dream actions.
More people dream about movement than any other dream action. This is thought to be because dreaming
permits us a greater freedom of movement.
Passive actions are another form of dream actions. They usually consist of activities such as
sitting, talking, watching, standing, looking, and seeing. The
dreamer rarely
does any strenuous activity in his dreams (Hall 21-53).
Even though dreams are not fully understood,
people throughout history have sought to find
meaning in their dreams. Societies of the past often attributed their
dreams to spiritual sources. Dreams in
these cultures have always been regarded as important. The ancient
Egyptians believed that these dreams were messages from their gods and
in the pursuit to understand their dreams produced one of the earliest known
dream books. This book gave over
two-hundred interpretations of dreams and the meanings of certain dream symbols
commonly found in dreams. The Egyptian
dream interpreters used the theory of opposites in their interpretations
(Parker and Parker 11). For example,
"to dream of death was a omen of long life" (Parker and Parker
11). The Greeks interpretations of
dreams was almost opposite that the other cultures during this period, (Parker
and Parker). For instance:
The Greeks thought that a dream of a
snake signified
sickness and enmity, the Assyrians
believed that dreaming
of seizing a snake meant that [one]
would receive the
special protection of an Angel. The Jews thought that a
dream of being bitten by a snake
meant that the dreamers
income would be doubled, while to an
Egyptian a snake,
appearing in a dream, signified the
settling of a dispute.
(Parker and Parker 13)
The Greeks also
believed that their dreams were divine messages from the gods. The Greeks had many sacred places in Greece
that were used for the sole purpose of having dreams by means of drugs and
herbs. They would then regard the dreams that they had at these places as
important prophecies, with special references to any problems that they were
having at the time of the dream. Plato,
a Greek philosopher of the fifth century BC, gave us the modern belief that
dreams revealed a man's true nature. Another Greek philosopher, Aristotle, saw
dreams as the products of purely
physical functions: when
one slept, the food in the body
evaporated, and liquids
passed to the head where dreams were
mirrored on the
surface of the fluids like images on
water. (Parker and Parker 14)
Aristotle also
believed that dreams could show diseases that could usually not be
detected. Although a few of the early
dream interpreters believed these dreams to be the result of physical stimuli,
the majority believed the dreams to be messages from a higher source (Parker
and Parker 20).
Modern beliefs about the meaning of dreams have
changed little. Leaving people still
seeking answers to their dreams. One of
the most influential dream interpreters of this century was Sigmond Freud,
whose beliefs about dreams dominated dream analyses for nearly a century. But in recent years outer theories, like that
of Allen Hobson, have also been recognized.
Freud believed that dreams had two parts. One part of the dream he
called the manifest content. It
consisted of meaningless images that often left the dreamer confused. The outer part he called the latent content
which was full of clear and meaningful images which could be easily interpreted
through psychoanalysis. Freud's belief
about the content of dreams was similar to that of Plato (Parker and Parker). Freud believed that dreams "combined two
functions: they enabled forbidden wishes to be expressed concealed form and, by
concealing the true nature of these wishes, allowed the sleeper or the dreamer
to continue undisturbed" (Parker and Parker). Freud's work has been a valuable source, but
his interpretation of symbols are now criticized. as Parker and Parker
explained, "Freud's interpretations of dreams are based on sexual
repressions" (23). However, the
views of Allen Hobson, a Harvard psychiatrist and neuroscientist, are
completely opposite than those of Freud.
Hobson believed that while sleeping the brain produces a barrage of
electrochemical signals which can cause us to dream. "the brain then races madly to keep up
with the flood of imagery that the signals produce. The brain then tries to do its' best to
assemble the images into a coherent story" (Dolnick 42,43). Hobson believes that while the images we see
in our dreams have no meaning, it is what the dreamer adds to the fumble of
unrelated information. Hobson claims
that this is how the dreamer reveals himself. Dolnick tells us that "on
the most general level Hobson and Freud are in accord" (44).
Three types dreams are particularly
fascinating. The prophetic dream is one
which intrigues many. A prophetic dream
is a dream in which the dreamer is made aware of a future event whether it is
good or not. Most of these dreams rarely
come true, and the ones that do are usually just partially true (Faraday 311).
Another interesting type of dream is the lucid
dream. The lucid dream is a dream in which
the dreamer knows that he is dreaming and can influence the outcome of the
dream. This type of dream is perhaps one
of the easiest types of dreams to recount after awakening. This type of dream could even be thought of
as a way to cure reoccurring nightmares (Hoffman 141).
Most people dread the frightening dreams known
as night terrors and nightmares. Hoffman
defines nightmares as "anxiety-arousing dreams that never occur near the
end of the sleep cycle during rem sleep, [and night terrors as] abrupt
awakenings from non-rem sleep accompanied by intense physiological arousal and
feeling of panic"(142). These dreams seem to trouble people more than any
outer type of dream. While scientist
know the difference between nightmares and night terrors they are still baffled
by the cause of these bad dreams. The
theories range from eating the wrong foods to the invasion of our bodies by the
supernatural. Sleep disorder expert Dr. Barry
Krackow says, "Night mares are one of the most vivid and dramatic experiences
of the human mind. They invoke
incredible images... yet no horror film, no science-fiction fantasy, not even a
outer can upstage the brutal image thrust upon us in our dreams" (qtd. in
Susman B1). Krakow says that these
dreams, no matter how frighting, can be cured with a three step process.
Krakow's method is to "write down your dream, change the nightmare in any
way you wish, and rehearse the dream before you fall asleep."(Susman
B1). This method has been proven to work
in researched test.
Even though we have still have not found the
true meaning of dreams. In our search we have found out many things about our
body and how it functions while we sleep. The dream that I had did not have any
significant meaning to me. It is my belief that my brain was just processing
information as Hobson said. However, we all have strange and bizarre dreams
that we can not explain. We may one day be able to fully understand the meaning
of these dreams. But until that day We shall have to look at our dreams as a natural
phenomenon.
Works Cited
Dolnick, Edward.
"What Dreams are (Really) Made Of." The Atlantic Monthly July
1990: 41-61.
Faraday, Ann. The
Dream Game. New York: Harper and Raw, 1974.
Hall, Calvan. The
Meaning of Dreams. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966.
Hoffman, Karen,
et al. Psychology in Action. New York:
Wiley and Sons, 1991.
Parker, Derek,
and Julia Parker. Dreaming: Remembering, Interpreting,
and Beneffitting. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1985.
Susman,
Carolyn. "Nightmares: The Good News
About Bad Dreams." Knoxville News
Sentinel 21 Dec. 1992: B1.
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