Dreams (experiment at end of post)

The Science Behind Dreaming

In 1953, Eugene Aserinsky of the University of Chicago noticed that the eyes of sleeping babies moved beneath their eyelids at certain regular intervals. This led to the discovery of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep periods. REM sleep occurs every 90 - 100 minutes, 3 to 4 times a night, and lasts longer as the night progresses. The final REM period may last as long as 45 minutes. Less vivid dreams occur at other times during the night.


Why Do We Dream??



Every dream has its significance, every one a secret message from our subconscious mind. Many popular dream theories suggest that the purpose of dreams is to allow our brains to process the information we were unable to during the day. Some say they serve to deal with behaviors that aren't acceptable or permissible in one's usual social environment. Freud would say dreams tell us what are unfulfilled desires and wishes are.

Dreams often come as series, throughout the night, for a few nights in a row, and/or within some natural cycle of weeks or seasons. They are also intimately interconnected with events in the dreamer's life, and often even with events that are yet to occur (which can make literal interpretation difficult). Edgar Cayce wisely insisted that one should "interpret the dreamer" and not just the dream alone.

Edgar Cayce also said, "Dreams, visions, impressions, to the entity in the normal sleeping state are the presentations of the experiences necessary for the development, if the entity would apply them in the physical life. These may be taken as warnings, as advice, as conditions to be met, conditions to be viewed in a way and manner as lessons, as truths, as they are presented in the various ways and manners."

Personally, I've noticed that I've had an increase in vivid dreams since around mid-December. I have also been recalling more dreams than usual. My dreams seem to have more meaning - more significance. Perhaps I have become more intropsective than ever.

There are so many different ways of classifying dreams that I've decided to come up with my own categories, and they are:

1)Recurring Dreams/Symbols

When I was a teenager, I used to have a recurring dream that the bathroom in my house had changed to a strange laboratory. I was scared, so I'd run back to my bedroom. Outside my bedroom window, every single time, there would be a dead man, his body burned all over, hanging upside down. The dream then ends.

The other recurring symbols in my dreams thus far are 1) bridges (maybe something from my childhood...I used to live on an island from 2-10 years and we had to drive over a bridge to get there) and 2)islands. This could also be from my childhood, but the islands in my dreams are always in the middle of the ocean and much more tropical. They're alot more like the island I describe in my previous post.

2) Spiritual Dreams

Some people have claimed that profound spiritual experiences and or insights have come to them in dreams. I have personal experiences of my own with this, but will not discuss it further here.


3) Nightmares
We all know what nightmares are. Often quite scary, dreams falling into this cateogory include dreams of monsters, death, being pursued or chased, etc., and often leave one feeling afraid, confused or slightly disturbed. They tend to be more violent than other dreams, and possibly are a way of coping with deap-seated fears, emotions and situations.

4) Premonitory/Intuitive Dreams

These are dreams that predict the future.
When I was with my son's father, I left town to visit my parents. On one of his drunken binges he spent all the money we were supposed to spend on baby furniture at a strip club. That night (before I knew) I had a dream of being in a variety store with him, surround by naked women. A very close monetary amount to what he had spent was the amount showing on the store's cash register.

5) Visitations From The Dead

I've read somewhere that a dream of someone who has passed away is a visitation. Most of the time, these loved ones or friends who have passed away do not speak. So if you dream of someone who has died and they talk to you, pay vrey close attention. They probably have an important message. The only dream I've had of someone who has died was of my Gramma who passed away in 2000. I had to help her cross a rickety rope bridge that spanned the inside of a church, very close to the ceiling. I remember her being very weak. But she did not say anything.

6) Regular (Processing) Dreams

Self explanatory.

7) Lucid Dreams

Lucid dreams are those in which the dreamer is fully aware that they are dreaming. Sometimes in this situation, the dreamer can even control and/or change the content and events of their dreams. I used to have some control over my dreams when I was a little girl. For example, when I was around 7 years old, I had a 'witch' night light in my room. In my dreams, all I had to do was look for the yellow glow through my closed lids to recognize that I was dreaming. This enabled me to wake myself up from nightmares, and even to change the content of my dreams. Unfortunately, the older I got, the less I seemed able to sustain the ability, and eventually, the ability to lucid dream just slipped away.


8) Astral Travel

Some say that during sleep when we dream we leave our physical bodies and can 'travel' to real locations.

Soooo.....here's my experiment:

I'm putting an object on my night table beside my bed. If someone can 'astral travel' both far enough and efficiently enough to see what I have placed on my night table, I will package it up and mail it to them.


Whatever the real purpose behind dreams, the fact of the matter is that everyone dreams, whether or not they remember them, and that regardless of the specific message, they exist because they are significant and important for the individual who experiences them.

Check out Peep's post on dreams.