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5
The magic of Dreams, especially as related to the
Symbolism of the Wolf
Gabrielle the Bard, Phoenix, Arizona
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Dream- \Dream\, v. t. To have a dream of; to see, or have a vision of, in sleep, or in idle fancy; -- often followed by an objective clause. Webster's Revised Unabridged
Dictionary, © 1996
What is a dream? Ever since man first learned to record events they have recorded dreams. Dreams have factored in some of the biggest events in history. But not until the
last century have we done much to figure out what they really are.
Background
In 1953, REM sleep was discovered. What is REM sleep? REM, rapid eye movement, occurs while we sleep and is the state in which most vivid dreams occur. By monotoring REM we can
learn much about dreams. But what does this really tell us about the dreams themselves?
Dreams were generally accepted to be a wish embodied by the unconscious mind. But some societies believed they were more. Some believed that through dreaming we could reach an
alternate plain of reality. For example, the waking world is one reality. When we die we reach another. Dreams are a reality somewhere in between. Such an example would be what
is called an astral plane. A plane where the imagination is reality and anything can happen. In magic there is such a thing as astral travel, astral projection, and astral magic.
But even the mere mortal among us can reach the astral plane at night.
Types of Dreams
There are many different types of dreams. In anamilistic cultures they are classified into four basic types; omen dreams, message dreams, incidental personal dreams, and
diagnostic or prognostic dreams. An omen dream is often symbolic and would need interpretation. Omen dreams were often thought to warn of something that might come to pass
and so such peoples would do rituals to make sure that good omens happened and bad omens did not.
Message dreams are the sort that are sought on vision |
quests and such. In a message dream a spiritual being or spirit guide would visit the dreamer and deliver a message that would affect their waking life.
The most common dreams in animalistic culture are incidental personal dreams which reflect personal desires or experiences.
And the last, diagnostic dreams, are the kind that either result in illness because of bad happenings undergone in the dream or dreams that occur while the dreamer is ill and tell
them how they can be cured.
But there are more kinds of dreams for people of all cultures. First are the kind that everyone has experienced; nightmares. Nightmares are the dark side of the dream
experience. Some believe that nightmares are caused by evil spirits visting the mind. Some may simply be suppressed anxieties that come out in dreams. Even so, nightmares are
powerful enough to cause people across the world to go to a variety of measures to be rid of them.
Next are what are called lucid dreams. Lucid dreams are dreams in which you are aware that you are dreaming and are able to control the events of the dream. REM patterns during
lucid dreams are much like ones observed in meditation and studies show that people who meditate have lucid dreams more often than people who don’t.
Stranger and harder to explain dreams are the following kinds; shared dreams, telepathic dreams, and precognitive dreams. Shared dreams are dreams that are had by more than
one person on the same night. Telepathic dreams are dreams in which ESP experiences are connected. Precognitive dreams are dreams in which you have an awareness of something
before it happens.
Lastly, some people experience dreams of previous lifetimes. Such past-life dreams are among the most difficult to understand because the person should have no real memory of the events. Yet in some instances, confirmation of remembered events has been possible. It has been suggested that these past-life dreams provide evidence that alternate realities and the astral plane do, in fact, exist.
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