Dream interpretations date back to 3000-4000 B.C., where they were documented on clay tablets. For as long as we have been able to talk about our dreams, we have been fascinated with them and have strived to understand them.

In some primal societies, members were unable to distinguish between the dream world and the waking world. Or they could simply choose not to make the distinction. They saw that the dream world was not only an extension of reality, but that it was a more powerful world.

In the Greek and Roman eras, dreams were seen in a religious context. They were believed to be direct messages from the gods or from the dead. The people of that time look to their dreams for solutions on what to do or what course of action to take. They believed dreams forewarned and predicted the future. Special shrines were even built where people can go there to sleep in hopes that a message could be passed to them through their dreams. Their belief in the power of a dream was so strong that it even dictated the actions of political and military leaders. In fact, dream interpreters even accompanied military leaders into battle to help with war strategy.

Greek philosopher, Aristotle believed that dreams were a result of physiological functions. Dreams were able to diagnose illness and predict onset of diseases.

During the Helllenistic period, the main focus of dreams was centered around its ability to heal. Temples, called Asclepieions, were built around the healing power of dreams. It was believed that sick people who slept in these temples would be sent cures through their dreams. Dream interpreters even aided the medicine men in their medical diagnosis. It was believed that dreams offered a vital clue for healers to finding what was wrong with the dreamer.

In Egypt, priests also acted as dream interpreters. The Egyptians recorded their dreams in hieroglyphics. People with particular vivid and significant dreams were believed to be blessed and were considered special. People who had the power to interpret dreams were looked up to and seen as divinely gifted.

Dreaming can be seen as an actual place that your spirit and soul leaves every night to go and visit. The Chinese believed that the soul leaves the body to go into this world. However, if they should be suddenly awakened, their soul may fail to return to the body. For this reason, some Chinese today, are wary of alarm clocks. Some Native American tribes and Mexican civilizations share this same notion of a distinct dream dimension. They believed that their ancestors lived in their dreams and take on non-human forms like plants. They see that dreams as a way of visiting and having contact with their ancestors. Dreams also helped to point their mission or role in life.

During the Middle Ages, dreams were seen as evil and its images were temptations from the devil. In the vulnerable sleep state, the devil was believed to fill the mind of humans with poisonous thoughts. He did his dirty work though dreams attempting to mislead us down a wrong path.

In the early 19th century, dreams were dismissed as stemming from anxiety, a household noise or even indigestion. Hence there was really no meaning to it. Later on in the 19th century, Sigmund Freud revived the importance of dreams and its significance and need for interpretation. He revolutionized the study of dreams.

Tracing back to these ancient cultures, people had always had an inclination to interpret dreams The bible alone has over seven hundred references to dreams.

“I Was Bitten By A Snake!!”

One of the most common animals found in dreams is the snake. Snakes are complicated symbols because they can have both positive and negative meanings. To understand the significance of the snake in your dream, it is important to consider your own personal experiences with snakes and how the snake is viewed in your culture. For example, if you keep a snake as a pet, then the dream will have a different meaning for you than a person who hates snakes or are terrified of them. The snake is also a strong symbol in many cultures and thus your cultural background can play an important factor in how your snake dream is interpreted.

Snake refers to fear:
For many, the image of a snake can invoke fear. Snakes are unpredictable and can strike at anytime without warning. Thus a snake in your dream may represent something in your life that is unpredictable and out of your control. You are afraid of the unknown.

Snake refers to hidden threats:
Because snakes are sometimes hard to see and are slithering in bushes, they are also symbolic of a hidden threat and/or a betrayal. They lie in wait waiting for the perfect opportunity to make a move. If the snake bites you, then the dream is trying to alert you to something in your waking life that you are not aware of or that has not yet surfaced. To see a baby snake in your dream means that you are underestimating the threat. If you kill the snake or if the snake is dead, then it means that this threat has passed or that you have overcome it.

Daydreaming is often a disregarded and neglected aspect of dream study because they are often overlooked as fleeting and wandering thoughts. There is a lack of emphasis on the content of your daydreams. However, the meanings to your nightly dream symbols are also applicable to your daydreams. he content in your daydreams are also helpful to the understanding of your true feelings and in fulfilling your goals. Daydreaming occurs when you are semi-awake. It is the spontaneous imagining or recalling of various images or experiences in the past or future. You allow your imagination to run away from you. When you daydream, you are accessing your right brain, which is the creative and feminine side of your personality.

Daydreams are often viewed as light-hearted in nature. They are just silly fantasies and wishful thinking. Actually, even worrying over things can be classified as a form of daydreaming. When you worry, you are visualizing an unwanted or negative outcome to a situation. By repeating these negative images in your mind, you are more likely to make them happen. Next time you start worrying, try to think of a positive outcome.
Just as your worrisome daydreams can unwittingly come true via repetition in your mind, you can use it as a tool to your advantage and make positive events happen. You can utilize daydreams as a technique to visualize what you want and hope to happen. It is said that many athletes, musicians and business leaders utilize daydreams to envision success. They anticipate or imagine landing the perfect jump, closing a deal, or making that hit single. Tiger Woods, for one, has said to use daydreams to improve his golf game. You, too, can utilize daydreams for something as simple as studying for and acing the next test or for landing that job.
Positive daydreaming is healthy. It serves as a temporary escape from the demands of reality. It is also a good way to release pent up frustrations without physically acting them out. All to often you worry about your job, your family, finances, a relationship, etc. It is a way to leave the world behind and ponder about what could’ve been or should’ve been. It relieves stress, improves attitude, fosters creativity and refresh the mind, body, and spirit.