Interpretation of Dreams meaning

Interpretation of Dreams meaning. Dreams are stories that our mind creates while we sleep; It is a physiological technique that the brain uses, in order to free ourselves from tensions and worries that invade our thoughts during the day.

Sometimes these images can reflect our lives so exactly that we may appear to be awake; on the contrary, we can dream of situations so incoherent that we can become confused or disoriented. However, it is normal that we do not remember exactly the details of these dreams and forget a large part of them.

When people are lucky enough to remember some of the stories they lived during a dream; it is very likely that they will try to decipher the things they saw and relate them to their current situation. Is it a sign from the Universe? Is it a warning? Why did I dream of that person? These are some of the questions we ask ourselves after having that dream experience.

But the truth is that, in order to interpret each of our dreams, we must have certain knowledge in the area and delve into various aspects of our life.

What is the interpretation of dreams for

Dream interpretation is a practice that has been carried out by different cultures and populations for years; which have used their beliefs or science to define the purpose of these images.

In general terms, the task of this discipline consists of assigning a meaning to each of the components of our dream, analyzing whether it has a connection with our real life and evaluating whether these images have an impact on our state of mind.

Various studies have been able to determine that the appearance of certain elements in our dreams can guide us to understand some situations that we experience during the state of consciousness. An example can be those riddles that seem to have no answer, but that during our rest we come up with an idea to solve them.

Many times the content of these dreams tends to produce anxiety, fear or any other negative emotion; interpreting them would give us the necessary tools to face this situation that puts our peace of mind at risk.

For this reason, many specialists recommend staying calm after a nightmare and trying to remember as many details as possible, since we could find the origin of these images and work based on it.

In psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis was a theory designed by Sigmund Freud in 1885; later, this doctrine was established as a highly effective therapeutic method in the treatment of psychological problems.

During his studies, Freud determined that most of the pathologies that affected the mind had been triggered by repressed trauma or negative thoughts that persisted in the unconscious. After the affected people were treated with the method of this psychoanalyst, their internal conflicts were resolved and they could achieve personal development.

Now, what is this procedure that is still applied by psychoanalysts today? This therapy is made up of two fundamental elements: the patient’s opinion regarding her condition, called free association, and the clinical interpretation of the information obtained by the specialist.

During the weekly sessions, the patient must describe in detail their insecurities, past experiences, relationships and any problems that cause psychological distress. On the other hand, the psychoanalyst must detect the patient’s internal conflict and make him aware of it, so that he is able to accept and overcome it.

How do dreams influence psychoanalysis?

In this discipline, dreams represent a symptom or manifestation of those tendencies that we ignore; All conflicts that remain without an effective solution in our unconscious will appear repeatedly in our dreams until we are able to resolve or accept them.

All the elements that appear during the dream are a graphic representation of our internal affairs; psychoanalytic therapy is responsible for analyzing these images and assigning them a logical interpretation, according to the information provided by the patient and its characteristics.

Freud was convinced that dreams were the escape route from all those wishes that had not been able to be fulfilled; it was a way of satisfying those needs that were repressed in the unconscious. Therefore, if the specialist was able to detect such situations, he could establish a solution in real life.

Who can benefit from this therapy?

This therapy is effective in anyone who experiences symptoms of a great psychological burden, which has the ability to impede the normal development of social relationships and daily activities.

Those people who cannot develop their full potential in various areas of their life due to inhibitions, anxiety or any degree of depression; They are perfect candidates for this type of psychological treatment, since the origin of these psychic problems is associated in most cases to unresolved internal conflicts.

Freud Book

Of all the works written by Sigmund Freud, the book entitled “The Interpretation of Dreams” is the most widely recognized in Freudian psychology. In turn, this text is characterized by contemplating the concepts that allowed the development of psychoanalytic theory.

For the creation of this book, Freud relied on his own dreams and those of his patients; For years this doctor analyzed the content of these dream experiences, their relationship with psychological problems and the impact on personality. Finally, he determined that these images were a type of language that our unconscious used to release accumulated tensions.

In his theory Freud had shown that all dreams were a manifestation of some unfulfilled desire, which remained censored due to the distortion of its content. In order to decipher these images and make sense of dreams, psychoanalytic therapy intervenes.

According to Freud, no dream is meaningless, but achieving a correct interpretation requires a series of specific steps. First of all, we must bear in mind that a dream cannot be completely deciphered; before it must be fractionated and each of those components will have a meaning established in the dream book. Subsequently, all these parts are studied together to give rise to a definitive interpretation of the dream.

How to interpret our dreams according to Freud’s theory

If lately your dreams cause you uncertainty, it is normal that you want to learn to interpret them. To achieve this you can start practicing a very effective exercise; you only need a notebook, pencil and the best arrangement.

The notebook will become the diary of your dreams and it is best to keep it near your bed. On those days that you remember having dreamed, write down the content of your dream in detail; You should also include the way you felt while watching that story (calm, happy, impatient, upset, sad).

In order to facilitate this exercise and prevent any element of the dream from going unnoticed, it is a good option to ask yourself the following questions:

Was the dream about me or someone else?

Besides me, was there someone else in the dream?

Where did the story take place?

How did I feel while experiencing this dream? What did I feel when I woke up?

Were there animals or objects that caught my attention?

After having noted all these details, we can individually assign a meaning to each of these aspects. It should be noted that at the beginning this task will not be easy, since dreams can be forgotten after a couple of minutes after waking up; however, with practice we can perfect this technique and achieve better results.

Benefits of performing this dream interpretation exercise

Improve our long-term memory

Prolonged practice of this exercise increases the probability of having more lucid dreams.

Helps us recognize situations that we normally ignore

It allows us to have more control over our thoughts and desires

Carl Jung

At first the ideas of Sigmund Freud were not fully accepted in the world of psychology; however, his works were admired and valued by the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. The fruitful friendship that emerged between these two characters, in a short time made Jung the president of the International Psychoanalytic Association.

But it did not take long for Jung to begin to make his own conclusions about the interpretation of dreams; These new ideas and thoughts diverged in certain aspects of Freudian theory, which caused various conflicts between the famous psychiatrists and the subsequent breakdown of their relationships in 1913.

Interpretation of dreams according to Jungian theory

Carl Jung did not completely rule out the idea of his old colleague Freud, who claimed that dreams arose from the unfulfilled wishes of the dreamer; but he was convinced that the origin and meaning of these images was deeper and contemplated elements alien to the individual.

To support his theory, Jung relied on all those aspects that were not related to the life of the dreamer, but that could still appear in some of his dreams.

How could a person dream of a place they had never visited? How was it possible to dream of an experience that had never been lived before? They were some of the questions that invaded Jung’s thoughts.

Based on this idea, Jung developed his research in the private clinic; he soon he began to notice certain patterns in the hallucinations of his patients with psychiatric problems and the dreams of normal people. He often heard stories that occurred in similar places or shared the same theme, which when examined coincided with narratives from the past.

Jung determined that these images completely alien to the experiences of the individual, were common symbols that came from a universal source, which he called the “collective unconscious.” These patterns corresponded to a biological instinct that tried to keep the history, religion and principles of humanity in force; which were denominated by Jung like “archetypes”.

In islam

In the Islamic tradition there are three types of dreams: the true, the doubtful and those that are related to the daily life of the individual. The manifestation of each will depend in most cases on the behavior of the person; those who live according to the orders of Allah, will have good or true dreams.

True dreams or Rahmáni

These are the dreams sent by God, mainly in the form of revelations to the prophets. They can also be had by those people who live righteously, obey God’s requests, do not commit prohibitions and keep God in his mind just before sleeping.

When people remember having a pleasant and rewarding dream, they can be sure that it is a true dream; so they must be willing to praise and thank God.

Doubtful dreams, nightmares or Shaitani

Dreams that cause feelings of fear, anguish, or depression in people are commonly known as nightmares; In the Islamic tradition these unpleasant images are sent by Satan, to throw people into a deep state of restlessness and despair.

Identifying these dreams is very easy, since the feeling of discomfort that it produces in the mood can remain for several minutes or hours. Frequently in these dreams there are situations of violence, crisis, persecution and conflicts between loved ones; Therefore, it is recommended to go to God and ask him to intercede in these bad thoughts.

Dreams of psychological origin or Nafsáni

These are the dreams that are produced from the everyday experiences of the individual; they are more closely related to discoveries made by science and established theories in the world of psychology.

All the concerns, desires and aspirations that are part of the worldly life of people, can be manifested through these dreams. The Islamic tradition does not classify them as positive or negative, but neither does it attribute any importance to them.

Interpretation of dreams according to Islam

Islamic tradition states that dreams should only be told to experienced interpreters; only these people have the power to assign a correct meaning to the images that were revealed in the dreamer’s mind.

In turn, the success of this practice will also depend on other factors such as:

The characteristics of the dreamer: the interpreter must know the sex, age, marital status, health condition and activities carried out by the dreamer.

Way in which the dream is described: at this point the interpreter must detect positive or negative emotions, the impact the dream had on the person and all the details that are given in this regard.

Interpreter skills and abilities: The experience and knowledge of the person in charge of interpreting the dream will also have great influence. In turn, they must receive from Allah the capacity for interpretation.

In psychology

In psychology, the interpretation of dreams has been a motive for many decades. Several famous people of this science have contributed important arguments that still remain valid. Next, we take a brief tour of those theories that have marked the history of the dream experience according to psychology.

Freudian theory

Sigmund Freud was the first to enter this vast world of dreams; his theory was based on the ability of the human unconscious to express our repressed wishes and fears through dreams. This discovery allowed Freud to establish therapies to decipher the dreams of his patients and work on their content.

Jungian theory

Carl Jung was a disciple and admirer of Freud; This is how he discovered his passion for dream interpretation and decided to impose his own conclusions about it. His theory talks about those elements that have no relation to the dreamer’s life, but still appear in his dreams; due to the influence of a collective unconscious that can affect all humans.

Calvin S. Hall’s Cognitive Theory

Hall was convinced that dreams were the result of the perceptions and experiences that people had during the day. Depending on the concept that the dreamer had about himself or the people around him, the events in his dream would be triggered. An example would be an insecure, low self-esteem woman who dreams that she is cheated on by her partner.

Neurobiological Theory of Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley

In this work entitled “activation synthesis”, the ideas proposed by Freud were completely questioned. Hobson and McCarley had determined that while we slept, specifically during REM phase, there was neural activity in the brainstem. The spontaneous activation of this area was responsible for those images that were reproduced in our mind.

In ancient times

Interpretations of dreams in ancient times were highly dependent on culture and religion. For example, the Egyptians were certain that the gods were in charge of sending these images to help them prevent misfortunes and conflicts; in return, this population had to perform rituals and sacrifices as a token of their gratitude.

In the same way, the Mesopotamian civilizations believed that the gods communicated with them through dreams; But they also thought that demons could intercede in their thoughts and cause terrible nightmares.

On the contrary, in ancient Greece the process of dream interpretation was more complex and consisted of a ritual. In order to decipher the images that had appeared in her mind, the dreamer had to abstain from eating, drinking and having sexual relations for a few days. Then he could head to a sanctuary to stimulate his senses and gain revelation.

In the Bible

In various passages of the Bible it is contemplated how God interceded in the lives of certain characters through revelations or warnings that appeared in their dreams. It is for this reason that many believers have the certainty that they can communicate with the Lord through the dream experience.

According to Kabbalah

Kabbalah or Kabbalah is a spiritual science based on the foundations of Judaism, which is responsible for studying human thought, including the experiences of the dream world. This discipline considers that what happens in our dreams has more relevance than what happens in the real world, since it lacks limitations and our soul works in conjunction with our mind.

List of elements and their meanings according to Kabbalah

Dreaming of an eagle: the visualization of this animal in our dreams can represent the exploration of our creativity.

Dreaming of an old man: this discipline associates the appearance of an old man with the encounter of wisdom in our life.

Dreaming that you are dancing: this dream is very positive, as it represents joy and celebration.

Dreaming of a desert: this dream is an indication of detachment with our spiritual life, therefore we must work on this aspect.

According to the Gestalt

What does this German psychological discipline think about dreams? In general terms, consider that each of the elements that we contemplate in our dream represents an important part of our personality. Therefore, by reliving the dream during therapy, we will also be able to identify ourselves.

Gestalt Therapy refers to its name, which in english translates as “structure” or figure “; since during this session the specialist will try to unite all the pieces of the spectator’s dream in order to interpret its meaning.

According to gnosis

This spiritual movement that arose from Jewish sects during the 1st century, has a deep interest in the occult and everything that questions rational knowledge; therefore, he has also established his own opinions about dreams and the dream world.

List of elements and their meanings according to gnosis

Dreaming of water: in most cases it represents abundance, but other factors must be evaluated to establish a definitive meaning. When in your dream the water appears clean, it means good health and physical condition; on the contrary, if the water is dirty, it can be a warning of problems or illness.

Angels: Gnosis relates the appearance of angels in our dreams with the arrival of a wise person in our lives to guide us.

Seeing a torch in our dream: specifically if it is lit, it can represent two things: the fire of sexual desire or our identification with the sun.

Dreaming of waves or being carried by them: the waters in this state of movement can be a reflection of our instability; We do not have control over our lives and we must act quickly.