What dreams may come: Do dreams have special meaning?

Dreaming

While many people shrug off their dreams claiming they don't remember them, there are many individuals and groups who not only believe in the value of dreams but believe they are of particular significance and often help foretell the future.

Some scholars maintain that the original field of dream study was religion.  The earliest texts on dreams revealed that people thought they were of great spiritual significance.

The Talmud has elaborate discussions about dreams, and some of the early Christian scholars spoke of the value of dreams.  Some scientists maintain that dreams are part of superstitious belief, but that, some say, comes from the same notion that religion itself is superstition.  Yet scholars also wonder why dream study fascinates so many people.

It has also been observed by some researchers that small-scale societies base much of their religious beliefs on what they learn in dreams.  Belief in spirit beings comes from the dream world and was very much a part of Native American culture.

Deceased ancestors were often part of one's dreams in some of the cultures where religious beliefs encompassed what is learned from dreams.  Life after death is said to be understood and become a belief in most cultures and religions because of the nature of dreams and the fact that people reported getting messages from loved ones who had died and appeared in dreams, often offering a special message.

Christians offer a perspective on dreams that recognizes that dreams are part of Bible traditions but are careful nonetheless to explain that the study of dreams can be taken too far and that often what one believes is a vision from God may simply be a wish that is visualized and made real only in a dream.  Caution is stressed when studying dreams, and worshipers are advised to be cautious about putting too much stress on the nature of dreams.

Yet many in the Western world believe dreams have real value.  Dr. Andrew Weil, for example, believes dreaming is vital to emotional wellness.  They allow the mind to process emotions and ideas.  In addition dreaming is part of deep sleep, an important aspect of good health.

Dreams are part of man's history and a vital part of being healthy, and when they happen, many people may not remember anything but the broad outlines of some of them, whereas for others they become the mechanism for understanding the nature of life and death and from that understanding the meaning of one's very existence becomes part of the reason why people are fascinated with dreams.