Dream Symbol Meanings example essay topic

This paper is about dreams. It is on three different topics of dreams. One is about the history of dreams. The other is about the types of dreams. The last topic is about the interpretations of dreams.

Plato was a Greek philosopher who studied dreams. He thought dreams had some kind of symbolic action. Plato said "Dreams were merely messages received from gods". In one of his dialogues, Plato stated that dreams were used as a method to achieve a particular kind of knowledge. Plato also stated that dreams originate from the organs in your belly.

(Lewis 191) He said "When the belly organs are frustrated while sleeping, it censors the dreams". Plato said that the kinds of dreams you have are based on your character and education. He said that if someone had been angry or happy then that also strikes the actions in the dreams. Even if someone was a decent person, they were still able to have offensive dreams. He said that nightmares were caused by bad behavior while being awake. (Lewis 191) Aristotle had a different yet similar thesis of dreams.

He said that "Dreams were caused by the afterimages of our memory". Aristotle also said that our imagination in our sleep is the product of senses that we had while we were awake. He said that dreams are probably just disturbances of bodily functions. Dreams had different meanings to different tribes. (Lewis 191) The Navaho Indians translated dreams as the opposite of what the dream was. The Yuma Indians considered dreams the basis of religion, tradition, and power.

They Dreams 4 believed that anything that happens in a dream will happen in real life if it has not happened already. (Lewis 191) The Mohave Indians said that good dreams mean good luck and bad dreams mean bad luck. They thought that their "medicine men" could heal people in their dreams. The Mohave also believed also believed that the destiny of the human soul came from dreams. The Navaho considered dreams kind of like interpreters that reveal problems and cures. They also believed that spirits and gods put dreams in people's heads.

The Navaho believed that bad dreams come true. Crow Indians believed that success in life was the result of a good vision. (Lewis 191) The Dakota used dreams as prophetic visions. The state where the most dreams and nightmares happen is the REM cycle.

The mind can create any sort of nightmare during the stage of sleep. There is a debate at what age people start having nightmares. Researchers say that one year old babies have fears of anxiety instead of dreams. Children are least likely to have drastic nightmares because they aren't exposed to a lot of dangerous things. But children do have more problems with nightmares than adults. After a certain age, children realize that nightmares won't harm them.

Unfamiliar people and strange faces tend to strike nightmares for a small child. Adults feel vulnerable during a nightmare. (Drake 118) Children and Adults usually have different kinds of nightmares. Children's nightmares might consist of getting lost, a bodily injury, or strangers. Adults usually have nightmares of death or some kind of failure whether physical or mental. Nightmares Dreams 5 can be caused by loss of sleep or stress.

Compensatory dreams are kind of like dreams that we are still processing as if we were still awake. (Drake 118) Day dreams can go from fantasies to images related to our daily lives. They are quite different from other dreams. Falling dreams are the sort of dreams due to some kind of anxiety or stress. These dreams include such dreams as being naked in public and being unprepared.

Lucid dreaming is basically the stage in which you know you are in a dream. Researchers have tested that lucid dreamers can communicate during this stage of sleep. Manifest dreams are usually remembered and reported. Precognitive dreams are d'ej'a vu experiences.

They are things that you dream of before they happen. In some cases, you can't tell when you have had a precognitive until it has happened. (Drake 118) Recurring dreams are dreams that repeatedly come to your mind when you sleep. Visitation dreams are dreams where a spirit of departed relative comes to visit. In certain cultures, it was suspicious if you had a sexual dream. Dreams usually reflect on what people do daily.

People thought that sex dreams were the work of the devil. Since technology developed, people realized that anyone has sexual desires, therefore they have sexual dreams. These dreams could easily mean creative impulse. But anything like an object could " ve meant or had a sexual meaning. Some sex dreams don't have any kind of meaning at all. The biggest fact though is that sexual dreams usually describe your real sex life.

(Drake 118) The next paragraph or so will be about dream symbol meanings. Green: When you see the color green in a dream, it might mean healing and prosperity. Water: to some researchers, water was considered a sexual Dreams 6 symbol because sexual intercourse involves fluids. Snakes: they have different have different meanings. They could mean fertility, evil, or healing. (Guiley 145) Falling: it could mean failure or being unprepared in life.

Doors: open doors mean a new opportunity and closed doors mean that you are hiding a secret. Death: it means having anxiety about death, unhappiness or struggle of letting someone go. Marriage: it symbolizes commitment. Hell: suffering and torment, incapable of solving problems in reality. Ghost: the essence of what no longer is obtainable. Bridge: represents life transitions and emotions.

(Guiley 145) This paper was about dreams. It consisted of three topics all relating to dreams and how they affect people's lives. One of the topics was about the history of dreams. The other was about types of dreams. The other was about interpretations of dreams.

Bibliography

Abnormal Psychology. Drake M., Raleigh. Littlefield, Adams & Co., 1954 Encyclopedia of Dreams.
Guiley, Rosemary. Mass Market Paperback, 1995 The Dream Encyclopedia.
Lewis R., James. Visible Ink Press, 2002.