Dreams have always been an enigma to me. I could never find an answer to my dreams. For that matter even to my nightmares. I dream things which happened throughout the day and many a times somethings which have no relation to my life. Dream of people who are close to me and even the dead. Dream of abstract….no specific images, no meaning, not at all comprehensible. Many a times dreams have left me baffled with things which I have absolutely no idea about. The question that predominantly remains unanswered is why at all we dream and what relevance dreams have in our lives.
Dreams are very much a way of our lives. Even though we don’t know anything specifically, but dreams are important and always get our own interpretations. When we dream about anyone close to our heart, we love to believe that we are being thought of. At the same time when we encounter nightmares, we consider it as a bad omen. Knowing unknowing we do decipher dreams in our very own ways, according to our convenience. But scientifically, dreams do have theories with them.
It is said that if we have happy positive expectations we have happy dreams, but, when this system is overstretched and the dreaming process cannot cope with the amount of negative expectations (as when people continually worry), sleep balance is disturbed, dreams are miserable, even nightmarish, and depression can set in. An extreme stress overload can interfere with the process to such an extent that psychotic symptoms arise. And that is precisely when we say that we dream bad and consider it as a negative premonition. Our dreams are governed predominantly by our thought process and our daily lifestyle. Also dreams are metaphorical translations of waking expectations and it is said that only expectations that cause emotional arousal that are not acted upon during the day become dreams during sleep.
Dreams share many qualities with hallucinations also. They are the hallucinations we all experience. Both dreams and hallucinations involve intensive activation of the seeking system. Dreaming is the deepest trance state we go into and there are essential principles to understand them.
I have gone through a lot of theories which have different things said about dreams. But to me what I thought the most fascinating one was the Cayce theory. Let me briefly take you through what Cayce’s experience states…
Cayce’s Experience
When it came to the idea of dreams having purpose, Cayce’s theory was a bit different than the others. He believed dreaming to be the bodies way of “self edification,” which is the building up of the mental, spiritual, and physical well-being. It was a way of quickening the dreamer to his/her own human potential. By getting a good nights sleep, any person could develop more mature values, stretch their thinking, and right one’s self.
According to Cayce, there are five different levels that dream’s stem from. These different levels are the body level, subconscious level, level of consciousness, level of super conscious, and the level of the soul. What they can do for you is anything from presenting messages of your body calling for aid during sickness to stating problems which must be solved within the conscious.
Cayce believed that if you were to interpret your dreams correctly you must thoroughly study yourself. Once you know how you feel about dreams and what they can do for you can you begin to study your dreams. If you have a dream, according to Cayce, it’s primary focus is to either solve problems and adapt to external affairs or awakening and alerting the dreamer to new potential within the self. The first step to Cayce’s method of interpretation is to determine which of the two major functions of dreams is the primary focus of the dream.
The second step is the process of taking inventory. You need to know your conscious and subconscious mind inside out. Know future plans, goals, interests, stances, and decisions. Know your hidden fears, longings, dependencies, and defenses. Know the cycles, needs, habits, and stresses of the body. Once you finish with these two steps you can begin to interpret your dreams and decide how they can help you better yourself mentally, physically, and spiritually.
Nevertheless, dreams will always remain an enigma. To me dreaming deactivates that emotional arousal by completing the expectation pattern metaphorically, freeing the brain to respond afresh to each new day. Although dreams have different meanings for different people, the society we are a part of does impact on our dream imagery.We all collectively respond to aspects of life similarly. We are all concerned with our relationships with people, our general survival dealing with problems in our life, happy sad moments and our triumphs and tribulations.These are common to everyone.Thus, when these issues come into our dream life, there are common ways in which we all tackle them. But what remains a fact that our dreams does fulfill many of our lives’ unfulfilled dreams. And dream gives us our much needed hope !!! I read a quote which says, ” If only I could be with you in my dreams….let me sleep forever…..!!!! So true 🙂
Critique's Corner by Maitabi Banerjee 