Dreaming and the Past (excerpt of Paper No Bibilography)

Dreaming is "a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep" according to dictionary.com. This is an accurate definition of dreaming but it does not say why we dream or how we dream or even really what they are and why people have always felt so strongly about their dreams having a higher meaning. Could it be because they do have a higher meaning? Some people do think that is true. Others think the opposite, that dreams have no higher meaning at all and that people are trying to put a meaning on something that does not deserve a meaning.

One thing is true though even in the B.C. times people thought dreaming did have a higher meaning. Most of which was spiritual and dealt with the gods of that time. Today's research has revealed many things about dreaming. We have different stages of sleep and each stage our body reacts differently too and how that even with brain injuries some people are still able to dream. As technology advances we learn new things about dreaming and sleep. Even as our society expands new theories are released about why and how we dream. Dreaming is something that every can relate to because everybody dreams. Even people who have never had sight before still dream in voices and feeling and even though dreaming is so old little is actually known about it because it is so hard to prove things about dreaming because no two minds are the same. Therefore no two people dream the same or have the same thoughts about the complex idea of dreaming.

The definition of dreaming does not do the actual thing justice because dreaming can take people away but, it can also frighten them and make them scared, in things called nightmares. Why do people experience such phenomena's like nightmares and other types of dreams. Could it be because our unconcious mind is trying to tell us something bad is about to happen? Or is it just because those are the memories that our brain wanted us as people to remember that night for no real reason at all?

One thing is certain though, for many centuries human have been looking for the answers to these questions. Even since the third century people have been trying to interpret dreams and the meaning of them.

The history of dreaming dates back to about 3000 B.C. when, interpretations of dreams were recorded on clay tablets. Sources say that dreaming could not be differentiated from reality. Back then, they thought that the dreaming world was just a more powerful version of the world in reality. This little bit of information then leads us to the Egyptians.

The Chester Beatty Papyrus, which is the first written dream interpretation, dates all the way back to 1350 B.C. The Chester Beatty Papyrus is the oldest dream interpretation book known to man. What this manuscript is is a group of biblical writings which tell about dreams. They were written in the third century but not largely used by Christians