How do you view your dreams?

[stargaze]

I’m brand new to this forum so excuse me if this has been asked before. I’ve read a book or two (albeit not magic related) on lucid dreaming, and they had a few theories related to why we dream, although it hasn’t been proven for sure. Everyone has different types of dreams and experiences, so I was wondering- based on one’s personal experience, where do they believe dreams originate from? Do you think it’s a message from the subconscious, messages from someone or somewhere (like the astral realm or a deity/spirit) or both? And, What has led you to think that way? I almost always write down every dream I have, and I’ve only felt emotionally moved by dreams rather than spiritually led, so I’m inclined to believe it’s just a subconscious thing for me. Curious to hear everyone’s thoughts on the matter.

 

[Konsciencia]

You don't have to believe me if you don't want to. Take it or leave it. As far as I can tell, you are interacting with different version of yourself within dreams. So, let's say you are speaking to a dead relative. It is still you interacting as that dead relative. I know is hard to wrap your head around things like this but this is coming based on my own experience. You see, on a Consciousness level, you know everything there is to know. You even trick yourself that you are not your Soul or Consciousness when you are on a physical plane. In reality, we create our own Gods and Goddesses. This may fuck with people's heads.

 

[Robert Ramsay]

I believe it's a kind of 'garbage collection' process of the brain which can put us in contact with other versions of ourselves. Some of these versions are just not viable in normal life, so they hang together only for the duration of the dream, like Boltzmann Brains appearing spontaneously. This leads to it being very difficult to remember them for very long.

 

[AbammonTheGreat]

Three classifications; Artemidorus who was the classical inspiration for Jung and Freud classifies them in two camps:

Enhypnia: non predictive, and Oneiro: prophetic. We will add a third classification with the insight of Freud which we will call Psychoanalytic.

Enhypnia will be your average dream that is just an amalgamation of things that occurred during your day, Artemidorus also lists these as being anxiety motivated in that if you are worried about money you may dream about money etc etc. These dreams are mundane in nature but can provide insight into what our primary concern is amongst the noise of conscious thought.

Psychoanalytic dreams are going to be heavily symbol laden and can also be anxiety motivated, however they are often repetitive and stand out to the dreamer as profound. For example one may have a reoccurring dream that is extremely vivid of being trapped in an empty house. This dream is the subconscious mind trying to communicate with the conscious mind about some type of pressing psychological emergency and should be interpreted and dealt with according to the symbols.

Oneiros can fall in two camps, prophetic and visitation. Most occultists, psychics, and spiritualists will be familiar with these dreams. The prophetic Oneiros is considered by Artemidorus to be directly from the gods and not within, this can predict a death or traumatic event. Or if it is a massive event such as the destruction of a city will afflict multiple people within the population. Jung experienced this type of prophetic dream in regards to World War 2 as well as a plethora of his clients. Artemidorus however states that these types of prophetic dreams usually only afflict the person who has responsibility for the situation. For example, only a King will have a prophetic oneiro about his kingdom being invaded. The visitation dreams occultists are familiar with as this is when a god, spirit, or the deceased visit the dreamer to provide them with guidance. Those of us who have had them know what this feels like as the visitation is marked with a synchronicity in waking life and an extremely profound feeling upon awakening.

I usually classify dreams for myself and amongst people I interpret within these camps. A solid lucid dreaming practice helps the interpreter pick up on the subtleties of where to place the dreams.

 

[OberonFromTheHills]

Mostly garbage collection with maybe sometimes more otherwordly experiences (very rare)

I remember when i read a lot about dragons, I had more vivid dreams about them, with way more sensations and full body awereness.

Maybe it was still a garbage ahhaah (i'm always sceptical in magick before proven otherwise)

 

[Lemongrass00]

Mostly garbage collection

This is from the perspective of the ego (yourself), it is also a very modern interpretation.

I think it aligns more with Jung’s interpretation, it’s communication attempts from the subconscious.

dreams often influence your behaviors, even the following day after you have them, even if you’re not consciously aware of it.