By Raza Shahid 8I

There are many questions about dreams, such as how do we have them? Why do they come? How to interpret your dreams and other similar questions. In the dictionary, the meaning of dreams is seeing images along with memories and thoughts being played in your mind during sleep. Sometimes, you cannot tell the difference between dream and reality. Other times, you wish dreams would be real rather than fantasy. People have tried to find the meaning of dreams over many years and have created many theories on dreams.

 The first and most common theory is called Freud’s Theory. This theory says that a dream is our mind replaying a certain event in our life and adding a few twists and differences in the mind. This theory also says that you need a trained psychologist to interpret your dreams.

 The second theory is called Jung’s Theory. This theory says that anyone can interpret their dreams, all they have to do is relate it to their current life. Also, Jung’s theory says that dreams are like puzzle pieces. You need to add them all together to find the bigger picture.

 The third theory is called Cayce’s Theory. This theory says that dreams are there to enhance yourself in all your characteristics and personality. The dreams strengthen you physically, mentally and spiritually.

 Another theory is called Evan’s Theory. This theory says that during sleep your mind is available to organize and “clean” out your thoughts. So, during sleep, your brain begins to re-organize your mind and may modify existing memories. During this time, you can see everything that your brain is modifying and re-organizing. That is why dreams may feel familiar yet different.

 Some people say that they can see dreams that come true later on in life. There is no scientific theory on how people see these dreams commonly referred to as visions. Maybe, we humans already know the future but do not have the ability to unlock this knowledge. It also maybe possible that our spirit travels in time and is pulled back when awoken.

 Dreams were studied as far back as 4000 B.C. During that time, dreams were drawn and written on clay tablets.  Greeks and Romans believed that dreams were messages from God or the dead. Greeks and Romans also built shrines to sleep and hope for a dream. During war between Greek and Roman, they had people sleep and dream of strategies to fight the enemy, since dreams often provided solutions to problems.

 In Egypt, people who dreamed were considered very special and blessed by the Egyptians gods. These people were treated fairly and were respected by those around them. They were often looked up to and others seeked advice from these dreamers.

 In China, people believed that during sleep, your spirit would wander into a spirit world. This is where they believed dreams came from. However, they also thought that if you wake up too quickly, then your spirit wouldn’t make it back to the body in time.

 During the middle ages, people thought dreams were from the Devil and that he was trying to get you on the wrong path in life.

 During the early nineteen hundreds, dreams were ignored and were considered nothing but an annoyance to people. Rarely did anyone speak of dreams and even so, nobody really cared. However, a man named Sigmund Freud studied dreams and made them a popular topic to study from there on.

 Sometimes, you may think that your dreams may have special meanings to them and want to find the meanings of these dreams. Some say that only a trained and experienced psychologist can interpret dreams, while other people say that anyone can interpret their dreams if they relate anything in the real world to it. The next few slides will have some dreams and their meanings. There is a website called “ Dreammoods ” in which it has over 5200 different dream interpretations. These interpretations may not always be accurate.

 If you are daring someone in your dream that indicates that you are becoming too dominant. To dream someone daring you means that you will find yourself in an embarrassing situation.

 To see a mailbox in your dream means that you are about to receive important information. If the mailbox is full, then that indicates that you have not accepted these messages.

 To dream that you are Zeus, suggests that you have total control over your life. That also means you are looking for better control.

 If you are dreaming about your bank account, that generally means that you are worried about financial problems.

 Sometimes, dreams can be scary and frightening. These dreams are called Nightmares. Nightmares usually occur in younger ages but can also occur in older age. Nightmares are commonly events in life you don’t want to remember, or it can show something you consider scary and can add a dark twist to it.

Here are some additional dream information:  Dreams last from 5-20 minutes though it feels like the whole night.  Snoring prevents dreams.  By 5 minutes of waking up, the person already has forgotten 50 percent of the dream. Telling yourself to remember may work.  Repeated dreams are trying to tell you something such as a reminder.

 Sometimes you can control whatever happens in your dreams. This occurs when you realize you are dreaming but don’t wake up. Control in dreams allow you to overcome nightmares.  There are 5 stages of sleep. Stage 1 is light sleep, stage 2 is when body temperature drops, stage 3 is when deep sleep begins, stage 4 is when Delta Waves are produced and stage 5 is where dreams occur. Dreaming before stage 5 is usually very light dreams that are half real and unreal and seemingly distorted.

 Dreams have different meanings and theories. They could be from God or from the dead. They could also be your spirit travelling or messages from the Devil. They can be a recollection of your past or a puzzle. They could also be there to enhance one’s self or modify on the mind. Dreams have, are and always will be mysteries that science can’t fully explain.