Should we believe dreams and dream books?

Every person has had dreams at least once in their life. For most people, their mood depends on their dreams. Many especially impressionable natures are able to see in them a harbinger of some fateful manifestations in real life. They try to remember and decipher each dream by rereading dream books. Others, on the contrary, argue that a dream is simply an echo of those events that occurred during the day and in themselves do not carry any information. So what are dreams and dream books? Should we believe them?

Dreams and dream books

Sleep is a physiological state of a person, during which the entire body rests . And the images that people visit at this time are evidence that the psyche is freeing itself from the information accumulated over the whole day. But there is another concept, which is based on the fact that during his stay in the kingdom of Morpheus, a person finds himself in the so-called other world and receives all kinds of instructions that some events may happen in life.

The dreams you see depend on a large number of factors : the state of health of the sleeper; because of what happened to the person during the day preceding the dream; from the position in which a person sleeps; from the room in which the sleeper is located and from many others.

In order to figure out what this or that dream portends, dream books have been created. These are books that contain definitions and interpretations of dreams. They appeared in ancient times, when people were very attentive to everything that happened while they were in a different state. We tried to remember our dreams and write them down. And then they observed what happened for several days after the dream. Thus, the first transcripts appeared, which were compiled into books.

Currently, there are a huge number of such books. There are more than 40 . The most famous are Miller’s Dream Book, Freud’s Dream Book, Vanga’s Dream Book, Nostradamus’ Dream Book, Tsvetkov’s Dream Book and many others. And everyone interprets dreams in their own way, but their general concepts are the same.

Whether or not to believe dreams and dream books is up to each person. But dream interpretation has its pros and cons.

Moral ambiguity of dreams

For the ability for natural spiritual life inherent in human nature by God is, on the one hand, of course, good. Because it allows absolutely all people to lead such a life, including pagans, those of little faith, or even the most sworn atheists. So, for example, both Pharaoh (Gen.41: 1-7) and Nebuchadnezzar (Dan.2: 1;27-48) saw prophetic dreams, although they were pagans. From here it can be noted that even they, by the grace of God, turned out to be not alien to spiritual life, albeit in a natural way. And this, as already said, is good!

But, on the other hand, when we talk about something natural for a person, we must keep in mind that this very nature, his very nature, was damaged by the fall of his ancestors. Therefore, as the holy fathers say, in particular, the outstanding ascetic, ascetic and teacher of spiritual life, Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov), wrote a lot about this: when the spiritual world is revealed to a person, then he, as a fallen being, first of all sees the world of fallen spirits, i.e. e. demons. And many ascetic conclusions follow from here.

The advantages of dreams and dream books

A big plus is that in a dream a person can really see something very important , a detail that can affect his entire future life and become fateful. And with the help of books you can decipher what exactly can happen.
A dream can tell you what a person needs to do in the current life situation. It can become a decisive link in making a particular decision. In this case, the dream book will help to explain exactly what actions a person must take in order for the situation to turn positive for him.
With the help of data obtained in a dream, people can correct many of their actions . For example, making peace with a person with whom you quarreled.
Dream books can tell you what changes await a person at work (promotion, dismissal), in the family (divorce, pregnancy, marriage).
With the help of dreams and dream books, a person can avoid many troubles that can happen to him.
Dreams can warn people about upcoming illnesses or injuries.
In a dream you can see a dear person who has died and talk to him. Very often the dead come to their family and friends in a dream. They help them make decisions, support them in difficult situations, and encourage them.

Examples from Scripture

This is how the biblical Book of Genesis talks about the prophetic dreams of Pharaoh. When he first dreamed of seven fat cows, which were devoured by seven skinny ones; then I had a similar dream, when seven fat and good ears of corn devoured seven lean and withered ones (Gen. 41: 1-7).

This dream was interpreted to Pharaoh by the righteous Joseph, enlightened by the Holy Spirit (Gen. 41: 16-36). Interpreted in the sense that Egypt and the surrounding lands expect seven years of extraordinary fertility and abundance, which, among other things, will be followed by seven years of crop failure and terrible famine. Which exactly came true later. Moreover, the godly Joseph also gave the Egyptian king advice on how to avoid this disaster.

In exactly the same way, the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, saw a prophetic dream relating to the distant future, and his dream was interpreted for him, as did the righteous Joseph, moved by the Spirit of God, and the prophet Daniel (Dan. 2: 1; 27-48).

Other pagan kings also saw similar prophetic dreams. The question arises: why did these pagans see such prophetic dreams from God? The Holy Fathers answer this question this way: these prophecies were given to them in a dream because they were rulers and shepherds of nations, for whose benefit they were granted such prophetic dreams, for example, warning them and their peoples from dangers.

So, for example, the prophetic dream of Pharaoh and, most importantly, the interpretation of this dream by Joseph, made it possible to save the peoples of Egypt and the lands surrounding this country from hunger. In particular, this is how the relatives of Joseph himself were saved, in particular, his father Jacob and his brothers with their families, who constitute the future seed or beginning of God’s chosen Israel!

But, of course, dreams from God were given to righteous people to an even greater extent. Moreover, in these dreams they received direct commands from the Lord, serving for their benefit and the fulfillment of God’s Providence. Thus, the Angel of the Lord repeatedly appeared in a dream to the righteous Joseph, the betrothed of the Virgin Mary (Matt. 1: 20-22; 2.13). In the first case, the Angel testified to the Ever-Virginity of the Mother of God; and in the second, he warned Joseph about the persecution of the lawless Herod and commanded him, taking the Mother of God and the Child of God, to flee from this persecution to Egypt. The elder fulfilled some of his commands. Thanks to this, the machinations of the evil Jewish king Herod came to nothing.

Disadvantages of Dream Decoding

Probably the most obvious disadvantage in dream books is that in most cases, the interpretation of dreams is incorrect . That is, according to the dream book, a dream foreshadows something good, but in life, on the contrary, troubles happen. A person is able to consider a dream that does not mean anything prophetic. Women are especially susceptible to this condition. They often interpret dreams incorrectly.
Quite often it is simply impossible to interpret a dream, or the dream is a dream that is not described in any known dream book. Then many people begin to look for something similar in dream books, and this is wrong and dangerous.
If you had a bad dream, then people who are especially impressionable begin to be afraid of everything that happens to them . They become irritable, nervous, and begin to withdraw into themselves. And many generally sit at home and don’t go out anywhere, so that what the dream book told them about doesn’t happen to them.
Dreams and dream books can push a person to take actions that may turn out to be fateful in his life. But they can negatively affect the rest of your life. A person can commit actions that cannot be corrected later.
Dream books seem to program a person for any emotional experiences, stress, failures. People begin to transfer everything they see in their dreams into real life. Thus, they harm their physical, mental and emotional state. Psychologists say that self-hypnosis sometimes actually leads to unpleasant consequences. The same situation applies to positive dreams. If, according to the dream book, a dream promises something incredibly good, but in reality this does not happen, then this leads to a spoiled mood and disappointment.

Fact or Fiction

Sometimes there are chaotic, absurd dreams. They hardly carry any meaning. They reflect experiences, fears, dreams. It’s another matter if you had an obvious, clear dream that you remember well. With its help, deceased relatives, a guardian angel or simply light energy (everyone decides to the extent of their beliefs) gives a warning or a sign.

In this case, there is no point in turning to the dream book - for two people, the same symbol may contain different meanings.

Having seen a vivid dream, you need to think about what it means specifically for a person. Trust your intuition and think through the situation. A vivid dream most likely warns of danger . There is no point in warning about imminent wealth or happiness, while pointing out a threat is important.

The dream book will not help either when you dream of a deceased relative. This often happens after a funeral. Many people see that the deceased is in a brightly sunny field or in another beautiful place - this means that everything is in order with the soul.

When a person mourns a loss too bitterly, a dead man comes in a dream and says that he is drowning. This is a veiled request to stop grieving and tormenting both yourself and deceased relatives. Sometimes the souls of drowned people make it clear where to look for their body. Consulting a dream book is unlikely to give an accurate answer to what a dream means—you need to look at the specific situation in which many factors play a role.

Don't accept or reject

Both in relation to reasoning about dreams - whether they are gracious or from the evil one, and in relation to all supernatural phenomena in general, the Holy Fathers have a rule: neither accept nor reject. This reasonable rule will save a person from pride and exaltation if he attributes such phenomena to Divine grace, and will also save him from blasphemy against grace if its manifestation actually took place.

Unfortunately, not all people want to think about this. It is not beneficial for them to call their mistakes a sin and not a virtue. Not only do they not want to repent, they want to puff themselves up, presenting their sinful actions as a model for others, and in the end, fallen human nature takes its toll. Many people, including highly educated specialists, resort to fortune telling by dreams in case of failure. And a good secular education does not help here, and religious skepticism disappears somewhere. Even those who keep up with the times, push progress forward, even to the point of growing individual organs, still remain superstitious, still afraid to tell someone their bad dream so that it does not come true, or, on the contrary, they tell a good one in hope that it will certainly come true. A person is afraid to change something in his life; it’s easier for him to say that everyone does this. This is very bad, because, without true faith in God, a person inevitably makes room in his soul for false, vain and petty faith.

Yaroslav Khizhnyak

Will it come true? Of course it will come true!

In fact, whether you believe dreams or not depends on the degree of your susceptibility to external influence and suggestion. Did you dream about a piece of raw meat? The dream book helpfully suggests: “disease.” And what are you doing? You begin to listen to your own body in search of alarming symptoms. As a result, the mood deteriorates, the head begins to hurt, and then all the other sores that may appear in a once healthy body follow. Where did it all begin? Just from the dreamed meat!

Let's sum it up

So, can you trust dreams? You are probably already confused in long discussions. It's actually simple. Do you want to believe you? To your health. Just make sure that your passion for dream books does not affect the course of your life. And always try to analyze the dream. Did you dream about a cat? The reference book will tell you that a cat is evil. But in a dream you saw your pet. Is she really capable of bringing you something bad? Or just last night you spent a long time petting a domestic cat, so you dreamed about it?

And finally, I would like to wish you pleasant dreams. Let nothing spoil your night's rest!

Our dreams: signs or sick imagination

What are our dreams really: mysterious signs from the other world or sick fantasies of our mind?

During sleep, when our self-awareness weakens, we lose control over ourselves, we become sincere, and we have nothing to be ashamed of at all - the mask falls off our face, all our unfulfilled desires come true, and we become ourselves. The images and mental states characteristic of our dreams are the most faithful, unhidden manifestations of our real personality. A sober and skillful assessment of dreams can help in self-knowledge and open your eyes to many things. Dreams, to some extent, can be an indicator of the purity of the soul.

Sometimes in a dream we can sin such sins that cannot happen in reality. This is an indicator that the purification of the soul is only superficial; sin still lurks in its depths. The Holy Fathers assert that only with complete purification of the heart and dreams will always be pure and bright. The nature of dreams corresponds to the spiritual state of a person. The enemy of the human race, having access to our souls while we are awake, also has it during our sleep. And during sleep, he tempts us with sins, mixing his own dreams into our dreams. Also, noticing our attention to dreams, he makes them attractive and arouses greater attention to these nonsense, and we gradually begin to trust them. Such trust is always associated with pride, which makes our inner view of ourselves darkened.

Not all dreams can be focused on. The Lord Himself commands God’s chosen people through Moses: “Do not use magic or guess” (Lev. 19:26). Every person has the right to decide how to live. “Reckless people,” says the wise Sirach, “deceive themselves with empty and false hopes: whoever believes in dreams is like one who embraces a shadow or chases the wind; dreams are exactly the same as the reflection of a face in a mirror” (34:1-3).

Dreams quite often mislead us and contradict the realities of life. The Monk Cassian the Roman tells a story about a man who was inspired in a dream by fallen angels that he would live a long life. He collected enough savings to live carefree into old age, but suddenly fell ill and soon died - and thus could not receive any benefit from his wealth, and at the same time could not take any good deeds with him into eternity.

What kind of dreams are there?

Dreams can be good or destructive in nature, and the attitude towards them can speak about the spiritual state of a person.

According to Saint Diadochos of Photiki, good dreams “do not terrify the senses, they fill the soul with spiritual joy, the soul desires such a dream after waking up, or such a dream instills sweet sadness and non-painful tears in the soul.” Bad dreams are dreamed by passionate and carnal people, then they come not only from the devil, but also from the very consciousness of an unrepentant person, they confuse the soul, frighten it, plunge it into deep sadness or hopelessness.

Moreover, according to the Monk Nikita Stifat, by the nature of the dream one can judge the structure of a person’s very soul and his concerns. If a person already lives a virtuous life, he does not need to interpret even good dreams, since the very works of living faith saturate him with life according to the will of God. And even more so, with what recklessness unrepentant people suffer, who are literally captivated by the fact that they interpret every dream they have. At the same time, they turn to other people who are themselves in a deluded state for help, and compose various versions of dream books.

By making this their way of life, they deprive themselves of the opportunity to recognize a dream, which can be truly fateful and in accordance with the will of God. Such people seem to be forcibly inclining themselves to what the holy fathers and the Lord Himself so persistently warn against, as we have seen.

Archimandrite Theodosius (Marchenko)

How should we treat dreams?

The world of dreams is covered with incredible mysteries. This is the side of life that no one can influence . As soon as a person falls asleep, his subconscious goes on an unknown journey. During his stay in the kingdom of Morpheus, he experiences sorrows and joys, suffering and happy moments, pain and inspiration.

So, each person decides independently whether to believe or not to believe their dreams and interpretation through dream books. But in any case, it is necessary: to soberly evaluate everything that is seen in a dream.

There is no need to take everything you dreamed to heart ; if a person trusts dream books, then it is necessary to look at the interpretation of dreams only in time-tested dream books; try to decipher your dream yourself, sometimes it turns out more accurately than through dream books, since every person has intuition that helps to correctly interpret what he sees.

And you need to remember that most often dreams do not mean anything, but are only a consequence of what happens during the day.

Content

What do we know about dreams

Not so much, if we talk about metaphysics. With physiology, everything is simple: we see dreams in the REM sleep phase, which occurs approximately an hour and a half after falling asleep. The brain is most active in this phase. Sometimes the whole night passes in the long sleep phase, so we don’t dream anything. Although another option is no less likely - we simply do not remember the dream. This happens, by the way, in 90% of cases.

In one night we can see up to 6-7 dreams, each of which lasts from 3 to 25 minutes - the last one is stored in memory.

A man in a dream is a defenseless warrior

A person spends approximately a third of his life in a sleeping state. His body relaxes, everything calms down, but his organs continue to work: blood is pumped, breathing does not stop, his stomach digests food. The mind is also asleep, so the subconscious comes to the fore. In such a special state, a person is not protected.

It was considered base among warriors to attack a dormant enemy. But demons don't stop 24 hours a day. On the contrary, a person in a dream is an excellent target for temptation. If during the day a person can protect himself with prayer and the sign of the cross, then how can he protect himself at night? Therefore, crafty spirits try to send different images to a person.

They intimidate with nightmares, defile with passionate scenes, thereby bringing a person closer to accepting sin. Sometimes they even appear in the form of saints and supposedly reveal the future. What tricks will the spirits of evil go to in order to deceive a person!

If a person is disposed to a positive answer to the question “Should I believe dreams?” and tries to interpret the images, then he indulges the demons, giving the signal: “You are doing a good job! I’m already interested, continue.” After such “praise,” the crafty spirits are happy to try with even greater zeal.

When we sleep, rational thinking turns off

Some parts of the brain become more active at night, while others turn off completely when we sleep, says psychologist, psychotherapist and somnologist Elena Kolesnichenko. If these processes are disrupted, then insomnia occurs. For example, the prefrontal cortex of the brain also “falls asleep,” so in our dreams we may see talking trees or flying giraffes. Rational thinking is turned off, so the dream can be fantastic, but the logic can be anything.