Everybody dreams. However some people want to know what their dreams mean. That’s where dream interpretation comes into the picture. It’s part science and part art .  But there is no doubt it’s a useful skill especially when someone wants to learn what their dreams mean.

In ancient cultures such as Greece and Egypt dreams were thought to be communications from the gods.  Dream interpretation was the realm of sorcerers.  Greek temples were set up to cure people.  It was believed that the gods would cure them with divine grace delivered through dreams.  Therefore, it was necessary to have someone on-site, usually a priest, who could help them understand their dreams and god’s plan for them.  In ancient Egypt dream interpretation was one of the duties of a priest.  For example David was a dream interpretor in the bible.  Hieroglyphics depict  the art of dream interpretation.

Sigmund Freud popularized dream analysis.  He published a book in 1899 called The Interpretation of Dreams.  He held that dreams contained inner wishes and desires.  He also believed that dreams were always about the events of the previous day.  Freud talked about an inner censor that controlled dreams.  Freud later changed this to the super ego.

People resist many things, said Freud.  That means they censor themselves.  They control their actions and even their conscious thoughts.  Strange dream imagery comes from these filters.  For dream interpretation Freud used a guide to standard ways the conscious mind distorted imagery in dreams.  He could then tell what the images meant.

In Freud’s dream analysis nightmares did not mean something bad happening in a person’s real-life. Rather, they were an expression of the ego’s frustration at being suppressed. It is often thought that everything in Freud dream interpretation had to do with sex. But Freud didn’t think everything was about sex.

Dream interpretation can be an interesting hobby.

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