|
By: C. Muro  I think we can agree that we all love sleeping, right? And that dreaming is probably the best part of it? But, what does it mean to dream? And where exactly do we go?
When we dream, we do not physically go anywhere, but our mind shifts activity during REM sleep, activating the thalamus, responsible for transmitting sensory signals, and visual cortex, while simultaneously disconnecting from external sensorial input. Now, our imagination does go places, running wild in our dreams, often creating seemingly illogical images. Whether those images are nonsense or not, humanity has been trying to understand and make sense of for thousands of years. In psychology and neuroscience, dreams are understood as a form of our brain processing information and creating conscious and internal experiences during sleep. According to the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, dreams are a form to act out desires we cannot fulfil in our waking life, and this is part of his theory of dreams, which said that they were "manifestations of unconscious workings of the brain." Opposing Freud, Carl Jung, another contemporary psychiatrist, affirmed dreams were actually "a direct expression of the mind itself", and thoughts were expressed with symbols and metaphors. This way of the brain communicating thoughts is seen as a "language" which is natural to our unconscious selves, but quite complex for us to normally understand, since it is so distinct from waking language. Jung also believed that this language and the symbols were integrated in all human consciousness, and he saw dreams as messages or visions, allowing the dreamer to anticipate future events. For Jung, dreams are an essential path for self discovery, given that they are an expression of the psyche, seeking integration between the conscious and unconscious states of mind. The concept of dreaming has fascinated humanity for millennia, and ancient civilisations had their own explanations to make sense of dreams too. In societies around the world, dreams are seen as "windows to the supernatural" and as messages from ancestors, spirits, or other divine sources. Many Eastern Indigenous cultures see dreams as much more than personal reflections, instead offering spiritual guidance and a glimpse to future events. In these cultures, people tend to share their dreams with elders or community counsellors for a collective dream interpretation and guidance. Japanese culture has a concept called the "Hatsuyume", which translates to "the first dream of the new year", in which dreaming of Mount Fuji, a hawk, or an eggplant is considered an extremely powerful symbol of protection, luck, and prosperity for the new year. Their superstitions also involve the "Baku", a mythical creature who consumes bad dreams, and people even invoke it to stop their nightmares. For the Japanese, dreams aren't just random thoughts of desire, but they carry deeper meanings and are a form of communication between our world and the spiritual world. There is not one single answer to what happens when we dream. We could combine answers from many different perspectives from different countries and in different time periods to try to answer that question, but in the end, it all depends on what you choose to believe in. Whether that is the psychoanalysts, Eastern Indigenous or Japanese culture, or who knows even a combination of many, I am certain you will make the most out of your dreams to try to comprehend them in some way. Some cultures have quite similar views on dreams, and it is quite curious. Maybe Carl Jung was right, after all, that there is a universal language in every human consciousness. As for me, whenever I dream, I always seek that yellow brick road. I hope your dreams take you somewhere as magical. Anyways, sweet dreams to us all! Sources: https://www.brescia.edu/2016/09/psychology-of-dreams/ https://dreamstudies.org/carl-jung-dream-interpretation/ https://www.dreamly-app.com/dreams-interpretation-cultural-differences-in-dream-interpretation-a-global-perspective/ https://bokksu.com/blogs/news/dreams-for-the-new-year-exploring-japan-s-hatsuyume-superstition#:~:text=positive%20dream%20experience.-,Dreams%20in%20Japanese%20Culture:%20Beyond%20Hatsuyume,influence%20their%20outlooks%20and%20decisions.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |