Editing Dream interpretation

{{Short description|Assigning of meaning to dreams}}
{{For|similar terms|Dream Interpretation (album)|Interpretation of dreams (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Dream analysis|the book by Carl Jung|Dream Analysis}}
{{Original research|date=August 2022}}[[File:Tom Paine's nightly pest.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|''Tom Paine's Nightly Pest'', a [[James Gillray]] cartoon of political activist [[Thomas Paine]] dreaming of faceless judges unfurling scrolls listing charges and punishments]]

'''Dream interpretation''' is the process of assigning meaning to [[dream]]s. In many ancient societies, such as those of [[ancient Egypt|Egypt]] and [[ancient Greece|Greece]], dreaming was considered a supernatural communication or a means of [[Miracle|divine intervention]], whose message could be interpreted by people with these associated spiritual powers. In the [[modern era]], various schools of [[psychology]] and [[neurobiology]] have offered theories about the meaning and purpose of dreams.

==History==
===Early civilizations===
[[File:Tablet V of the Epic of Gligamesh.JPG|thumb|The ancient [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'' (''Tablet V pictured'') contains numerous examples of dream interpretation.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/>]]

The ancient [[Sumer]]ians in [[Mesopotamia]] have left evidence of dream interpretation dating back to at least 3100 BC in Mesopotamia.<ref name="Seligman">Seligman, K. (1948), ''Magic, Supernaturalism and Religion''. New York: Random House</ref><ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> Throughout Mesopotamian history, dreams were always held to be extremely important for [[divination]]<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/><ref name="Oppenheim">Oppenheim, L.A. (1966). ''Mantic Dreams in the Ancient Near East'' in G. E. Von Grunebaum & R. Caillois (Eds.), ''The Dream and Human Societies'' (pp. 341–350). London, England: Cambridge University Press.</ref> and Mesopotamian kings paid close attention to them.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/><ref name="Seligman"/> [[Gudea]], the king of the Sumerian city-state of [[Lagash]] (reigned {{circa}} 2144–2124 BC), rebuilt the temple of [[Ningirsu]] as the result of a dream in which he was told to do so.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> The standard [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'' contains numerous accounts of the prophetic power of dreams.<ref name="BlackGreen1992">{{cite book|last1=Black|first1=Jeremy|first2=Anthony|last2=Green|title=Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary|location=Austin, Texas|publisher=University of Texas Press|year=1992|isbn=0714117056|pages=71–72, 89–90}}</ref><ref>Thompson, R. (1930) ''The Epic of Gilgamesh.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press.</ref><ref>George, A. trans. (2003) The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.</ref> First, [[Gilgamesh]] himself has two dreams foretelling the arrival of [[Enkidu]].<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> In one of these dreams, Gilgamesh sees an axe fall from the sky. The people gather around it in admiration and worship. Gilgamesh throws the axe in front of his mother [[Ninsun]] and then embraces it like a wife. Ninsun interprets the dream to mean that someone powerful will soon appear. Gilgamesh will struggle with him and try to overpower him, but he will not succeed. Eventually, they will become close friends and accomplish great things. She concludes, "That you embraced him like a wife means he will never forsake you. Thus your dream is solved."<ref>Oppenheim, A. (1956) The interpretation of dreams in the ancient Near East with a translation of an Assyrian dreambook. ''Transactions of the American Philosophical Society,'' 46(3): 179–373. p. 247.</ref> Later in the epic, Enkidu dreams about the heroes' encounter with the giant [[Humbaba]].<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> Dreams were also sometimes seen as a means of seeing into other worlds<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> and it was thought that the soul, or some part of it, moved out of the body of the sleeping person and actually visited the places and persons the dreamer saw in his or her sleep.<ref name=":2">Caillois, R. (1966). ''Logical and Philosophical Problems of the Dream''. In G.E. Von Grunebaum & R. Caillos (Eds.), ''The Dream and Human Societies''(pp. 23–52). London, England: Cambridge University Press.</ref> In Tablet VII of the epic, Enkidu recounts to Gilgamesh a dream in which he saw the gods [[Anu]], [[Enlil]], and [[Shamash]] condemn him to death.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> He also has a dream in which he visits the [[Kur|Underworld]].<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/>

The [[Assyria]]n king [[Ashurnasirpal II]] (reigned 883–859 BC) built a temple to Mamu, possibly the god of dreams, at [[Imgur-Enlil]], near [[Kalhu]].<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> The later Assyrian king [[Ashurbanipal]] (reigned 668–{{circa}} 627 BC) had a dream during a desperate military situation in which his divine patron, the goddess [[Inanna|Ishtar]], appeared to him and promised that she would lead him to victory.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> The [[Babylonia]]ns and Assyrians divided dreams into "good," which were sent by the gods, and "bad," sent by demons.<ref name="Oppenheim"/> A surviving collection of dream omens entitled ''[[Iškar Zaqīqu]]'' records various dream scenarios as well as [[Prognosis|prognostications]] of what will happen to the person who experiences each dream, apparently based on previous cases.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/><ref>Nils P. Heessel : ''Divinatorische Texte I : ... oneiromantische Omina''. Harrassowitz Verlag, 2007.</ref> Some list different possible outcomes, based on occasions in which people experienced similar dreams with different results.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> Dream scenarios mentioned include a variety of daily work events, journeys to different locations, family matters, [[Human sexual activity|sex act]]s, and encounters with human individuals, animals, and deities.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/>
[[File:Tissot Joseph Interprets Pharaoh's Dream.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Joseph Interprets Pharaoh's Dream (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot)]]

In [[ancient Egypt]], priests acted as dream interpreters. [[Hieroglyph]]ics depicting dreams and their interpretations are evident. Dreams have been held in considerable importance through history by most cultures.

===Classical Antiquity===
The [[ancient Greeks]] constructed temples they called [[Asclepieion]]s, where sick people were sent to be cured. It was believed that cures would be effected through [[divine grace]] by [[incubation (ritual)|incubating dreams]] within the confines of the temple. Dreams were also considered prophetic or [[omen]]s of particular significance. [[Artemidorus]] of Daldis, who lived in the 2nd century AD, wrote a comprehensive text ''[[Oneirocritica]]'' (''The Interpretation of Dreams'').<ref>Artemidorus (1990) The Interpretation of Dreams: Oneirocritica. White, R., trans., Torrance, CA: Original Books, 2nd Edition.</ref> Although Artemidorus believed that dreams can predict the future, he presaged many contemporary approaches to dreams. He thought that the meaning of a dream image could involve puns and could be understood by decoding the image into its component words. For example, Alexander, while waging war against the Tyrians, dreamt that a satyr was dancing on his shield. Artemidorus reports that this dream was interpreted as follows: satyr = ''sa tyros'' ("Tyre will be thine"), predicting that Alexander would be triumphant. Freud acknowledged this example of Artemidorus when he proposed that dreams be interpreted like a rebus.<ref name="Freud, S. 1900">Freud, S. (1900) ''The Interpretation of Dreams.'' New York: Avon, 1980.</ref>

===Middle Ages===
In [[psychology in medieval Islam|medieval Islamic psychology]], certain [[hadith]]s indicate that [[dream]]s consist of three parts, and early [[Ulema|Muslim scholars]] recognized three kinds of dreams: false, pathogenic, and true.<ref name=Amber-376>{{Harv|Haque|2004|p=376}}</ref> [[Ibn Sirin]] (654–728) was renowned for his ''Ta'bir al-Ru'ya'' and ''Muntakhab al-Kalam fi Tabir al-Ahlam'', a book on dreams. The work is divided into 25 sections on dream interpretation, from the etiquette of interpreting dreams to the interpretation of reciting certain [[Sura]]hs of the [[Qur'an]] in one's dream. He writes that it is important for a layperson to seek assistance from an [['alim|alim]] (Muslim scholar) who could guide in the interpretation of dreams with a proper understanding of the cultural context and other such causes and interpretations.<ref name=Amber-375>{{Harv|Haque|2004|p=375}}</ref> [[Al-Kindi]] (Alkindus) (801–873) also wrote a treatise on dream interpretation: ''On Sleep and Dreams''.<ref name=Amber-361>{{Harv|Haque|2004|p=361}}</ref> In [[consciousness]] studies, [[Al-Farabi]] (872–951) wrote the ''On the Cause of Dreams'', which appeared as chapter 24 of his ''Book of Opinions of the people of the Ideal City''. It was a treatise on [[dream]]s, in which he was the first to distinguish between dream interpretation and the nature and causes of dreams.<ref name=Amber-363>{{Harv|Haque|2004|p= 363}}</ref> In ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]'', [[Avicenna]] extended the theory of [[temperament]]s to encompass "[[emotion]]al aspects, mental capacity, [[moral]] attitudes, [[self-awareness]], movements and [[dream]]s."<ref name=Lutz>{{citation |first=Peter L. |last=Lutz |year=2002 |title=The Rise of Experimental Biology: An Illustrated History |page=60 |publisher=[[Humana Press]] |isbn=0-89603-835-1}}</ref> [[Ibn Khaldun]]'s ''[[Muqaddimah]]'' (1377) states that "confused dreams" are "pictures of the imagination that are stored inside by [[perception]] and to which the ability to think is applied, after (man) has retired from [[sense]] perception."<ref>[[Ibn Khaldun]], [[Franz Rosenthal]], N.J. Dawood (1967), ''The Muqaddimah, trans.'', p. 338, [[Princeton University Press]], {{ISBN|0-691-01754-9}}</ref>

Ibn Shaheen states: "Interpretations change their foundations according to the different conditions of the seer (of the vision), so seeing handcuffs during sleep is disliked but if a righteous person sees them it can mean stopping the hands from evil". Ibn Sirin said about a man who saw himself giving a sermon from the mimbar: "He will achieve authority and if he is not from the people who have any kind of authority it means that he will be crucified".

===China===
A standard traditional Chinese book on dream-interpretation is the ''Lofty Principles of Dream Interpretation'' (夢占逸旨) compiled in the 16th century by Chen Shiyuan (particularly the "Inner Chapters" of that opus).<ref>[http://dreams.00.gs/Wandering_Spirits,_I.1-4.htm ''Lofty Principles of Dream Interpretation'', "Inner Chapters 1–4"]</ref><ref>[http://dreams.00.gs/Wandering_Spirits,_I.5.htm ''Lofty Principles of Dream Interpretation'', "Inner Chapter 5"]</ref><ref>[http://dreams.00.gs/Wandering_Spirits,_I.6-9.htm ''Lofty Principles of Dream Interpretation'', "Inner Chapters 6–9"]</ref><ref>[http://dreams.00.gs/Wandering_Spirits,_I.10.htm ''Lofty Principles of Dream Interpretation'', "Inner Chapter 10"]</ref> Chinese thinkers also raised profound ideas about dream interpretation, such as the question of how we know we are dreaming and how we know we are awake. It is written in the [[Zhuangzi (book)|Chuang-tzu]]: "Once Chuang Chou dreamed that he was a butterfly. He fluttered about happily, quite pleased with the state that he was in, and knew nothing about Chuang Chou. Presently he awoke and found that he was very much Chuang Chou again. Now, did Chou dream that he was a butterfly or was the butterfly now dreaming that he was Chou?"

===Modern Europe===
In the 17th century, the English physician and writer Sir [[Thomas Browne]] wrote a short tract upon the interpretation of dreams. Dream interpretation became an important part of [[psychoanalysis]] at the end of the 19th century with [[Sigmund Freud]]'s seminal work ''[[The Interpretation of Dreams]]'' (''Die Traumdeutung''; literally "dream-interpretation").<ref name="Freud, S. 1900"/>

==Psychology==

===Freud===
{{psychoanalysis}}
In ''The Interpretation of Dreams'',  [[Sigmund Freud]] argued that all dream content is disguised [[Wish fulfillment|wish-fulfillment]] (later in ''[[Beyond the Pleasure Principle]]'', Freud would discuss dreams which do not appear to be wish-fulfillment). According to Freud, the instigation of a dream is often to be found in the events of the day preceding the dream, which he called the "day residue." In very young children, this can be easily seen, as they dream quite straightforwardly of the fulfillment of wishes that were aroused in them the previous day (the "dream day"). In adults the situation is more complicated since, in Freud's analysis, the dreams of adults have been subjected to distortion, with the dream's so-called "[[Content (Freudian dream analysis)#Manifest content|manifest content]]"<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Nagera |editor-first=Humberto |chapter=Manifest content (pp. 52ff.) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gZixAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT44 |title=Basic Psychoanalytic Concepts on the Theory of Dreams |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gZixAwAAQBAJ |year=2014 |orig-date=1969 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=[[Abingdon-on-Thames]] |isbn=978-1-31767047-6 }}</ref> being a heavily disguised derivative of the "[[Content (Freudian dream analysis)#Latent content|latent dream-thoughts]]"<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Nagera |editor-first=Humberto |chapter=Latent dream-content (pp. 31ff.) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PbauAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA31 |title=Basic Psychoanalytic Concepts on the Theory of Dreams |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PbauAwAAQBAJ |year=2014 |orig-year=1969 |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon-on-Thames |isbn=978-1-31767048-3 }}</ref> present in the [[unconscious mind|unconscious]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The interpretation of dreams|last=Freud |first=Sigmund |date=2010|publisher=Basic Books A Member of the Perseus Books Group|others=Strachey, James.|isbn=9780465019779|location=New York|oclc=434126117}}</ref> The dream's real significance is thus concealed: dreamers are no more capable of recognizing the actual meaning of their dreams than hysterics are able to understand the connection and significance of their neurotic symptoms.

In Freud's original formulation, the latent dream-thought was described as having been subject to an intra-psychic force referred to as "the censor"; in the terminology of his later years, however, discussion was in terms of the [[super-ego]] and the work of the [[Id, ego and super-ego|ego]]'s defence mechanisms. In waking life, he asserted, these "resistances" prevented the repressed wishes of the unconscious from entering consciousness, and though these wishes were to some extent able to emerge due to the lowered vigilance of the sleep state, the resistances were still strong enough to force them to take on a disguised or distorted form. Freud's view was that dreams are ''compromises'' which ensure that sleep is not interrupted: as "a ''disguised'' fulfilment of ''repressed'' wishes," they succeed in representing wishes as fulfilled which might otherwise disturb and waken the sleeper.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Matalon | first1 = Nadav | year = 2011 | title = The Riddle Of Dreams | journal = Philosophical Psychology | volume = 24 | issue = 4| pages = 517–536 | doi=10.1080/09515089.2011.556605| s2cid = 144246389 }}</ref>

One of Freud's early dream analyses is "[[Irma's injection]]", a dream he himself had. In the dream a former patient of his, Irma, complains of pains and Freud's colleague gives her an unsterile injection.  Freud provides pages of associations to the elements in his dream, using it to demonstrate his technique of decoding the latent dream thoughts from the manifest content of the dream.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Freud |first1=Sigmund |title=The Interpretation of Dreams |url=http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Freud/Dreams/dreams2.htm |website=Classics in the History of Psychology |access-date=19 August 2023}}</ref>

Freud suggests that the true meaning of a dream must be "weeded out" from the dream as recalled:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.womenio.com/214/remembering-and-understanding-your-dreams|title=Remembering and Understanding your Dreams|last=Wilson|first=Cynthia|date=3 April 2012|publisher=Womenio|access-date=28 May 2012}}</ref>
{{blockquote|You entirely disregard the apparent connections between the elements in the manifest dream and collect the ideas that occur to you in connection with each separate element of the dream by [[free association (psychology)|free association]] according to the psychoanalytic rule of procedure. From this material you arrive at the latent dream-thoughts, just as you arrived at the patient's hidden complexes from his associations to his symptoms and memories... The true meaning of the dream, which has now replaced the manifest content, is always clearly intelligible. [Freud, ''Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis'' (1909); Lecture Three]}}

Freud listed the distorting operations that he claimed were applied to repressed wishes in forming the dream as recollected: it is because of these distortions (the so-called "dream-work") that the manifest content of the dream differs so greatly from the latent dream thought reached through analysis—and it is by ''reversing'' these distortions that the latent content is approached.

The operations included:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://courses.washington.edu/freudlit/Dreams.html|title=Lecture Notes: Freud's Conception of the Psyche (Unconscious) and His Theory of Dreams|last=Gray|first=R.|date=9 January 2012|publisher=University of Washington|access-date=28 May 2012}}</ref>
* [[Condensation (psychology)|Condensation]] – one dream object stands for several associations and ideas; thus "dreams are brief, meagre and laconic in comparison with the range and wealth of the dream-thoughts."
* [[Displacement (psychology)|Displacement]] – a dream object's emotional significance is separated from its real object or content and attached to an entirely different one that does not raise the censor's suspicions.
* Visualization – a thought is translated to visual images.
* Symbolism – a symbol replaces an action, person, or idea.

To these might be added "secondary elaboration"—the outcome of the dreamer's natural tendency to make some sort of "sense" or "story" out of the various elements of the manifest content as recollected. Freud stressed that it was not merely futile but actually misleading to attempt to explain one part of the manifest content with reference to another part, as if the manifest dream somehow constituted some unified or coherent conception.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=Ernest |title=Freud's theory of Dreams |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1413004 |journal=The American Journal of Psychology |date=1910 |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=283–308 |doi=10.2307/1413004 |jstor=1413004 |access-date=19 August 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Freud considered that the experience of anxiety dreams and [[nightmares]] was the result of failures in the dream-work: rather than contradicting the "wish-fulfillment" theory, such phenomena demonstrated how the [[Id, ego and super-ego|ego]] reacted to the awareness of repressed wishes that were too powerful and insufficiently disguised. Traumatic dreams (where the dream merely repeats the traumatic experience) were eventually admitted as exceptions to the theory.

Freud famously described psychoanalytic dream-interpretation as "the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind". However, he expressed regret and dissatisfaction at the way his ideas on the subject were misrepresented or simply not understood:

{{quote|The assertion that all dreams require a sexual interpretation, against which critics rage so incessantly, occurs nowhere in my ''Interpretation of Dreams'' ... and is in obvious contradiction to other views expressed in it.<ref>Freud, S. (1900) op.cit., (1919 edition), p. 397</ref>}}

===Jung===
Although not dismissing Freud's model of dream interpretation wholesale, [[Carl Jung]] believed Freud's notion of dreams as representations of unfulfilled wishes to be limited. Jung argued that Freud's procedure of collecting associations to a dream would bring insights into the dreamer's mental complex—a person's associations to anything will reveal the mental complexes, as Jung had shown experimentally<ref>Jung, C.G. (1902) The associations of normal subjects. In: ''Collected Works of C. G. Jung'', vol. 2. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp. 3–99.</ref>—but not necessarily closer to the meaning of the dream.<ref>Jacobi, J. (1973) ''The Psychology of C. G. Jung.'' New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.</ref> Jung was convinced that the scope of dream interpretation was larger, reflecting the richness and complexity of the entire [[unconscious mind|unconscious]], both personal and [[collective unconscious|collective]]. Jung believed the psyche to be a self-regulating organism in which conscious attitudes were likely to be compensated for unconsciously (within the dream) by their opposites.<ref name="Anthony Storr 1983">{{Cite book |author=Storr, Anthony |author-link=Anthony Storr |title=The Essential Jung |location=New York |year=1983 |isbn=0-691-02455-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/essentialjung00jung }}</ref> And so the role of dreams is to lead a person to wholeness through what Jung calls "a dialogue between ego and the self". The self aspires to tell the ego what it does not know, but it should. This dialogue involves fresh memories, existing obstacles, and future solutions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://psychcentral.com/lib/jungs-dream-theory-and-modern-neuroscience-from-fallacies-to-facts/|title=Jung's Dream Theory and Modern Neuroscience: From Fallacies to Facts|last=Lone|first=Zauraiz|date=2018-09-26|website=World of Psychology|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-30}}</ref>

Jung proposed two basic approaches to analyzing dream material: the objective and the subjective.<ref>Jung, C.G. (1948) General aspects of dream psychology. In: ''Dreams.'' trans., R. Hull.  Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1974, pp. 23–66.</ref> In the objective approach, every person in the dream refers to the person they are: mother is mother, girlfriend is girlfriend, etc.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=What does it mean to be human? Life, Death, Personhood and the Transhumanist Movement|last=Doyle|first=D. John|publisher=Springer|year=2018|isbn=9783319949505|location=Cham, Switzerland|pages=173|oclc=1050448349}}</ref> In the subjective approach, every person in the dream represents an aspect of the dreamer. Jung argued that the subjective approach is much more difficult for the dreamer to accept, but that in most good dream-work, the dreamer will come to recognize that the dream characters can represent an unacknowledged aspect of the dreamer. Thus, if the dreamer is being chased by a crazed killer, the dreamer may come eventually to recognize his own [[Homicide|homicidal]] impulses.<ref name=":1" /> [[Gestalt therapy|Gestalt]] therapists extended the subjective approach, claiming that even the inanimate objects in a dream can represent aspects of the dreamer.

Jung believed that [[archetypes]] such as the [[anima (Jung)|animus]], the [[anima (Jung)|anima]], the [[shadow (psychology)|shadow]], and others manifested themselves in dreams, as dream symbols or figures. Such figures could take the form of an old man, a young maiden, or a giant spider as the case may be. Each represents an unconscious attitude that is largely hidden to the conscious mind. Although an integral part of the dreamer's psyche, these manifestations were largely autonomous and were perceived by the dreamer to be external personages. Acquaintance with the archetypes as manifested by these symbols serve to increase one's awareness of unconscious attitudes, integrating seemingly disparate parts of the psyche and contributing to the process of holistic self-understanding he considered paramount.<ref name="Anthony Storr 1983"/>

Jung believed that material repressed by the conscious mind, postulated by Freud to comprise the unconscious, was similar to his own concept of the shadow, which in itself is only a small part of the unconscious.

Jung cautioned against blindly ascribing meaning to dream symbols without a clear understanding of the client's personal situation. He described two approaches to dream symbols: the causal approach and the final approach.<ref>Jung, C.G. (1948) op.cit.</ref> In the causal approach, the symbol is reduced to certain fundamental tendencies. Thus, a sword may symbolize a penis, as may a snake. In the final approach, the dream interpreter asks, "Why this symbol and not another?" Thus, a sword representing a penis is hard, sharp, inanimate, and destructive. A snake representing a penis is alive, dangerous, perhaps poisonous, and slimy. The final approach will tell additional things about the dreamer's attitudes.

Technically, Jung recommended stripping the dream of its details and presenting the gist of the dream to the dreamer. This was an adaptation of a procedure described by [[Wilhelm Stekel]], who recommended thinking of the dream as a newspaper article and writing a headline for it.<ref>Stekel, W. (1911) ''Die Sprache des Traumes'' (The Language of the Dream). Wiesbaden: J.F. Berman</ref> [[Harry Stack Sullivan]] also described a similar process of "dream distillation."<ref>Sullivan, H.S. (1953) ''The Interpersonal Theory of Psychiatry.'' New York: Norton.</ref>

Although Jung acknowledged the universality of archetypal symbols, he contrasted this with the concept of a sign—images having a one-to-one connotation with their meaning. His approach was to recognize the dynamism and fluidity that existed between symbols and their ascribed meaning. Symbols must be explored for their personal significance to the patient, instead of having the dream conform to some predetermined idea. This prevents dream analysis from devolving into a theoretical and dogmatic exercise that is far removed from the patient's own psychological state. In the service of this idea, he stressed the importance of "sticking to the image"—exploring in depth a client's association with a particular image. This may be contrasted with Freud's free associating which he believed was a deviation from the salience of the image. He describes for example the image "deal table." One would expect the dreamer to have some associations with this image, and the professed lack of any perceived significance or familiarity whatsoever should make one suspicious. Jung would ask a patient to imagine the image as vividly as possible and to explain it to him as if he had no idea as to what a "deal table" was. Jung stressed the importance of context in dream analysis.

Jung stressed that the dream was not merely a devious puzzle invented by the unconscious to be deciphered, so that the ''true'' causal factors behind it may be elicited. Dreams were not to serve as lie detectors, with which to reveal the insincerity behind conscious thought processes. Dreams, like the unconscious, had their own language. As representations of the unconscious, dream images have their own primacy and mechanics.

Jung believed that dreams may contain ineluctable truths, philosophical pronouncements, illusions, wild fantasies, memories, plans, irrational experiences, and even [[Telepathy|telepathic]] visions.<ref>{{Cite book|author= Jung, Carl |author-link=Carl Jung |title=The Practice of Psychotherapy. The Practical Use of Dream-analysis |year=1934 |page=147 |isbn=0-7100-1645-X}}</ref> Just as the psyche has a diurnal side which we experience as conscious life, it has an unconscious nocturnal side which we apprehend as dreamlike fantasy. Jung would argue that just as we do not doubt the importance of our conscious experience, then we ought not to second guess the value of our unconscious lives.

===Hall===
In 1953, [[Calvin S. Hall]] developed a theory of dreams in which dreaming is considered to be a [[cognitive]] process.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://psych.ucsc.edu/dreams/Library/hall_1953b.html |author=Calvin S. Hall |title=A Cognitive Theory of Dreams |publisher=dreamresearch.net |access-date=7 October 2010}}</ref> Hall argued that a dream was simply a thought or sequence of thoughts that occurred during sleep, and that dream images are visual representations of personal conceptions. For example, if one dreams of being attacked by friends, this may be a manifestation of fear of friendship; a more complicated example, which requires a cultural metaphor, is that a cat within a dream symbolizes a need to use one's intuition. For [[English language|English]] speakers, it may suggest that the dreamer must recognize that there is "more than one way to skin a cat," or in other words, more than one way to do something. He was also critical of [[Sigmund Freud|Sigmund Freud's]] [[psychoanalytic theory]] of dream interpretation, particularly Freud's notion that the dream of being attacked represented a fear of [[castration]]. Hall argued that this dream did not necessarily stem from [[castration anxiety]], but rather represented the dreamer's perception of themselves as weak, passive, and helpless in the face of danger.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hall |first=Calvin S. |date=1955 |title=The Significance of the Dream of Being Attacked |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1955.tb01182.x |journal=Journal of Personality |language=en |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=168–180 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-6494.1955.tb01182.x |issn=0022-3506|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In support of his argument, Hall pointed out that women have this dream more frequently than men, yet women do not typically experience [[castration anxiety]]. Additionally, he noted that there were no significant differences in the form or content of the dream of being attacked between men and women, suggesting that the dream likely has the same meaning for both genders. Hall's work in dream research also provided evidence to support one of [[Sigmund Freud|Sigmund Freud's]] theories, the [[Oedipus complex|Oedipus Complex]]. Hall studied the dreams of males and females ages two through twenty-six. He found that young boys frequently dreamed of aggression towards their fathers and older male siblings, while girls dreamed of hostility towards their mothers and older female siblings.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hall |first=Calvin |date=1963 |title=Strangers in dreams: an empirical confirmation of the Oedipus complex1 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1963.tb01303.x |journal=Journal of Personality |language=en |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=336–345 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-6494.1963.tb01303.x|pmid=14051965 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> These dreams often involved themes of conflict and competition for the affection of the opposite-sex parent, providing [[Empirical evidence|empirical support]] for Freud's theory of the [[Oedipus complex|Oedipus Complex]].

===Faraday, Clift, et al.===
In the 1970s, [[Ann Faraday]] and others helped bring dream interpretation into the mainstream by publishing books on do-it-yourself dream interpretation and forming groups to share and analyze dreams. Faraday focused on the application of dreams to situations occurring in one's life. For instance, some dreams are warnings of something about to happen—e.g. a dream of failing an examination, if one is a student, may be a literal warning of unpreparedness. Outside of such context, it could relate to failing some other kind of test. Or it could even have a "[[pun]]ny" nature, e.g. that one has failed to examine some aspect of his life adequately.

Faraday noted that "one finding has emerged pretty firmly from modern research, namely that the majority of dreams seem in some way to reflect things that have preoccupied our minds during the previous day or two."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Dream Game |author=Faraday, Ann |page=3}}</ref>

In the 1980s and 1990s, [[Wallace Clift]] and [[Jean Dalby Clift]] further explored the relationship between images produced in dreams and the dreamer's waking life. Their books identified patterns in dreaming, and ways of analyzing dreams to explore life changes, with particular emphasis on moving toward healing and wholeness.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Clift |first1=Jean Dalby |last2=Clift |first2=Wallace |year=1984 |title=Symbols of Transformation in Dreams |publisher=The Crossroad Publishing Company |isbn=0-8245-0653-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/symbolsoftransfo00clif }}; {{Cite book |last1=Clift |first1=Jean Dalby |last2=Clift |first2=Wallace |year=1988 |title=The Hero Journey in Dreams |publisher=The Crossroad Publishing Company |isbn=0-8245-0889-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/herojourneyindre0000clif }}; {{Cite book |last=Clift |first=Jean Dalby |year=1992 |title=Core Images of the Self: A Symbolic Approach to Healing and Wholeness |publisher=The Crossroad Publishing Company |isbn=0-8245-1218-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/coreimagesofself0000clif }}</ref>

=== Neurobiological theory ===
[[Allan Hobson]] and colleagues developed what they called the [[activation-synthesis hypothesis]] which proposes that dreams are simply the side effects of the neural activity in the brain that produces [[beta brain wave]]s during [[REM sleep]] that are associated with wakefulness. According to this hypothesis, neurons fire periodically during sleep in the lower brain levels and thus send random signals to the [[Cortex (anatomy)|cortex]]. The cortex then synthesizes a dream in reaction to these signals in order to try to make sense of why the brain is sending them. Although the hypothesis downplays the role that emotional factors play in determining dreams, it does not state that dreams are meaningless.<ref name=Weiten166>{{cite book | title=Psychology: Themes and Variations | url=https://archive.org/details/psychologythemes00weit_831 | url-access=limited | publisher=Cengage Learning | author=Wayne Weiten | year=2011 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/psychologythemes00weit_831/page/n210 166]–167 | isbn=978-0-495-81310-1}}</ref>

==Present-day popular attitudes==
Most people currently appear to interpret dream content according to [[The Interpretation of Dreams|Freudian psychoanalysis]] in the United States, India, and South Korea, according to one study conducted in those countries.<ref name=":0" /> People appear to believe dreams are particularly meaningful: they assign more meaning to dreams than to similar waking thoughts. For example, people report they would be more likely to cancel a trip they had planned that involved a plane flight if they dreamt of their plane crashing the night before than if the Department of Homeland Security issued a federal warning.<ref name=":0" /> However, people do not attribute equal importance to all dreams. People appear to use [[motivated reasoning]] when interpreting their dreams. They are more likely to view dreams confirming their waking beliefs and desires to be more meaningful than dreams that contradict their waking beliefs and desires.<ref name=":0" />

A paper<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Morewedge|first1=Carey K.|last2=Norton|first2=Michael I.|date=2009|title=When dreaming is believing: The (motivated) interpretation of dreams.|journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology|volume=96|issue=2|pages=249–264|doi=10.1037/a0013264|pmid=19159131}}</ref> in 2009 by Carey Morewedge and Michael Norton in the ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology'' found that most people believe that "their dreams reveal meaningful hidden truths." In one study they found that 74% of Indians, 65% of South Koreans and 56% of Americans believed their dream content provided them with meaningful insight into their unconscious beliefs and desires. This Freudian view of dreaming was endorsed significantly more than theories of dreaming that attribute dream content to memory consolidation, problem solving, or random brain activity. This belief appears to lead people to attribute more importance to dream content than to similar thought content that occurs while they are awake. People were more likely to view a positive dream about a friend to be meaningful than a positive dream about someone they disliked, for example, and were more likely to view a negative dream about a person they disliked as meaningful than a negative dream about a person they liked.

[[Layne Dalfen]], a contemporary dream analyst and educator, has significantly contributed to the modern understanding of dream interpretation. She developed the ''Six Points of Entry'' method, which provides practical tools for analyzing dreams. This method helps individuals uncover the emotional significance and potential solutions that dreams may offer, emphasizing their role in personal growth and problem-solving. Through her Dream Interpretation Center, media appearances, online course and books, Dalfen has made dream analysis accessible to a broader audience.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-15 |title=Layne Dalfen {{!}} Oprah Daily |url=https://www.oprahdaily.com/author/249174/layne-dalfen/ |access-date=2025-01-03 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Dream dictionary]]
* [[Dream journal]]
* [[Dream sharing]]
* [[Dreams in analytical psychology]]
* [[Mark Blagrove|DreamsID]] (Dreams Interpreted and Drawn)
* [[Lucid dreaming]]
* [[Oneiromancy]]
* [[Oneironautics]]
* [[Personality test]]
* [[Psychoanalytic dream interpretation]]
* [[Recurring dream]]
* [[Layne Dalfen]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Works cited===
* {{cite journal |last1=Haque |first1=Amber |title=Psychology from Islamic Perspective: Contributions of Early Muslim Scholars and Challenges to Contemporary Muslim Psychologists |journal=Journal of Religion and Health |date=December 2004 |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=357–377 |s2cid=38740431 |doi=10.1007/s10943-004-4302-z}}

==Further reading==
<!-- Some of these may have been used as sources to support article content.  Please convert to [[Wikipedia:Inline citations]] if possible. -->
* {{Cite book|last=Aziz |first=Robert |title=C.G. Jung's Psychology of Religion and Synchronicity |year=1990 |edition=10 |publisher=The State University of New York Press |isbn=0-7914-0166-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5gKC8utEuAEC}}
* {{Cite book|last=Aziz |first=Robert |editor=Becker, Carl |year=1999 |title=Asian and Jungian Views of Ethics |chapter=Synchronicity and the Transformation of the Ethical in Jungian Psychology |publisher= Greenwood |isbn=0-313-30452-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vwIZwT9VFmYC}}
* {{Cite book|last=Aziz |first=Robert |year=2007 |title=The Syndetic Paradigm: The Untrodden Path Beyond Freud and Jung |publisher=The State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-6982-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NumsNeikli0C}}
* {{Cite book|last=Aziz |first=Robert |editor=Storm, Lance |year=2008 |chapter=Foreword |title=Synchronicity: Multiple Perspectives on Meaningful Coincidence |publisher=Pari Publishing |isbn=978-88-95604-02-2}}
* {{cite book |last1 = Blagrove |first1 = Mark |author-link1 = Mark Blagrove |last2 = Lockheart |first2 = Julia |author-link2 = Julia Lockheart |title = The Science and Art of Dreaming |publisher = [[Routledge]] |date = 2023 |location = }} {{ISBN|978-0367479961}} (Hardcover), {{ISBN|978-0367479947}} (Paperback)
* {{Cite book|last=Doniger O'Flaherty |first=Wendy |author-link=Wendy Doniger |title=Dreams, Illusion, and Other Realities |year=1986 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=0-226-61855-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vhNNrX3bmo4C}}
* {{Cite book|last=Freud |first=Sigmund |title=Introductory Lectures |year=1966 |publisher=W.W. Norton |page=334|title-link=Introductory Lectures (Sigmund Freud) }}
* {{Cite book|last=Freud |first=Sigmund |title=The Interpretation of Dreams |year=1900 |publisher=Macmillan|title-link=The Interpretation of Dreams }}
* {{Cite book|last=Freud |first=Sigmund |title=A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis |publisher=Boni & Liveright |year=1920|title-link=A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis }}
* {{Cite book|last=Hall |first=James |title=Jungian Dream Interpretation: A Handbook of Theory and Practice |publisher=Inner City Books |year=1983 |isbn=0-919123-12-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BzqemZAlFdMC}}
* Sechrist, Elsie with foreword by Cayce, Hugh Lynn (1974). ''Dreams, Your Magic Mirror''. Warner Books. {{ISBN|0-446-31384-X}}.
* Van de Castle, Robert L (1994). ''Our Dreaming Mind''. Ballantine. {{ISBN|1-85538-070-6}}.

==External links==
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15489/15489-h/15489-h.htm Dream Psychology: Psychoanalysis for Beginners] – Full text of Sigmund Freud's revisitation of ''The Interpretation of Dreams''

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dream Interpretation}}
[[Category:Divination]]
[[Category:Dream|Interpretation]]
[[Category:Freudian psychology]]
[[Category:Analytical psychology]]