Dream Prophesy

ABDUCTION. To dream of being abducted or being forcibly taken away is a sign that success in any field of activity - business, love, social, professional, political, or artistic - will come to the dreamer.  See also Captive, Kidnapping.

ABSENCE. Dreaming of the absence of a member of your own family or of an old friend means that you will soon hear pleasant news of a personal nature.

ABSTAINING. To dream that you refuse to drink any kind of alcoholic beverage is a forecast of excellent health.

ABUNDANCE. To dream of having a great deal of everything, more than he could possibly use, is a sign to the dreamer to think of and to save for a rainy day, when he may have little - or nothing.

ABYSS. An abyss or pit into which the dreamer has fallen means that conditions are working against you and that you should allow some period of time to pass before making any change in your address or your work.  See also Ditch.

ACCIDENT. Accidents in an automobile, a plane, a boat, or a train are signs for the dreamer to avoid using temporarily these means of transportation; by extension, it is wise for the person to avoid, as much as possible, the thing or object that is part of the dream:  if one dreams of cutting himself, of being struck with a blunt instrument, or of falling, he should take great care in using knives or any sharp instrument, any hammer-like device or mechanism.

What do we dream about?

In waking life, one can think of anything or almost anything under the sun, and the same is certainly true of dreams and dream activity, which are not subject to any of the restrictions that are familiar to us in the objective world. Dreams may be as ordinary, as common, as plain as are our daily lives or they may be strange, fantastic, or impossible. Perhaps one should say that impossibility does not exist in and has no meaning for dreams.

They may be sad or happy, beautiful or ugly, trivial or significant, noble or sordid. They may deal with anything from a to z , and they do. One may dream of things as prosaic and unexciting as the simple acts that we automatically perform every day of our lives, such as dressing, undressing, shaving, eating, or walking, or one may dream of being engaged in dangerous, thrilling, romantic adventures with strange peoples in strange lands, or with inhabitants of other worlds than ours. One can dream of doing things that one may or may not be able to accomplish in actual life.

Is there a best time to dream?

Are dreams realized; do they come true? Is there a "good time" for dreaming that favors the hopes of the dreamer? "Yes" seems to be the answer of poets and singers, and "no" the answer of the scientific student. "After midnight, dreams come true," writes the delightful Horace, in his Satires , and "those dreams are true which we chance to have in the morning," says the amorous poet, Ovid, in his Epistles . This idea is repeated in almost the same words by many poets and dramatists, both major and minor.

Freud and the Interpretation of Dreams.

The modern and scientific study of dreams and their psychological interpretation is associated with the name of the Austrian physician, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the founder and father of psychoanalysis . Early in his work, Freud became impressed by the conflict between the conscious and the unconscious in the mind of the individual. The conscious part of the mind acts or tries to act - it is not always the easiest thing in the world - in such a way as to meet the approved standards of polite, refined, "civilized" society. The unconscious part is struggling to find an outlet, some outlet, for tendencies - natural, but not civilized - that must be, because of social pressures and our bringing up, either entirely repressed, partially controlled, or hidden, or disguised. Denied satisfaction, these tendencies or desires, take refuge in the unconscious part of the mind, and are, or are supposed to be, "forgotten." According to Freud’s theory, these repressed desires often express themselves in dreams.

General Remarks.

Using this dream book, the reader should keep the following points in mind:

Several dreams may have the same interpretation. It will also be noticed that interpretations may supplement or complement each other, and it is even possible that interpretations may appear to be contradictory.

Most dreams tend to concern themselves with the fundamentals of life and with the considerations that occupy our conscious daytime thoughts, although occasionally they are fantastic or bizarre.

It will be noticed that many dreams are regarded as signs of good luck or bad, as pleasant or unpleasant, as fortunate or unfortunate. The dreamer will be happy at the pleasing dreams, but he need not worry over-much at the bad ones, in view of the rule that dreams often go by contaries.

The interpretations given in the pages that follow are not intended to exclude the dreamer’s own interpretation of his dream. There are countless details and fringes of the dream which are known to the dreamer and to the dreamer alone, and these may add to or modify the interpretation here presented. However, the interpretations given in this book follow the historical and traditional explanations of the subject-matter of individual dreams, and in most instances will be as complete as the reader is likely to desire.

For the reader’s convenience, the subjects most often encountered in dreams are presented in this book in alphabetical order. Each topic or situation found in dreams is listed in its alphabetical place, accompanied by its interpretation. The key word chosen for listing is, of course, not the only word which would describe the particular dream subject matter, and the reader should therefore turn to other words of similar meaning, if he does not find an entry corresponding to the key word which he happens to look up first.

In all ages and all times, people of every kind - poets, peasants, philosophers, workers, statesmen, soldiers - have dreamed, have wondered about their dreams and about the dreams of others, have been made happy or miserable by them, have treated them with the utmost seriousness and respect, approaching awe and wonder, or with humor, scorn, and skepticism.  Dreams have, at one extreme, been regarded as divinely inspired, indicating the anger or the favor of the gods, or the divine character of the dreamer, and, at the other, as an aftermath of eating a heavy meal before retiring.  They have been told, retold, and forgotten, laughed over and cried over; they have been accepted as gospel truth or rejected as childish drivel; they have been known to influence - for good or ill - the actions and the motives of men in high places, and they have inspired and produced works of art.  From Homer to Freud, in verse and prose, the pages of world literature are filled with dreams.

The words dream and dreamer and dreaming are used in many ways and with many connotations.  In this survey of the subject, a dream is understood to mean a collection or group or series or train of thoughts, ideas, images, sensations, sounds, emotions that pass through our minds when we are asleep.

Who Dreams?

According to all students of the subject and to those who have conducted controlled experiments, the answer is "everybody dreams."  So universal and fundamental is dreaming that it is experienced by all sorts and conditions of people from the highest to the lowest and from the best to the worst, in ancient times and right down to every one of us today.

When do we Dream?

The general view is that we dream throughout the entire period that is called sleep.  A vivid, dramatic, out-of-the-ordinary dream is recalled; an ordinary, commonplace dream is likely to be forgotten.  The point to be emphasized is that the memory of the dreamer cannot be relied on.

How Long Does a Dream Take?

Opinions differ on the question of length of time a dream occupies.  It is believed that a great deal can happen and pass through the mind of a dreamer in a very few seconds.  Time and space and other relationships that restrict and control us during the day in the waking world do not operate in the dream world, and it is easy to believe that dreams actually use up only a small portion of time, however long and complicated they may seem.

Tomorrow: What Your Dreams Mean - Introduction Part 2 (of 2)

We’re going to begin something, today, that I think will be really fun. I’m going to start posting entries from a 1949 Dream Guide, "What Your Dreams Mean ." All of us know that these entries have more of an entertainment value than they do a prophetical value. Always keep that in some corner of your mind when you’re reading these entries.

Also, remember, they’re from 1949! Symbolisms have changed drastically since then - so, also keep that in mind. I’ll be typing the entries in exactly as they were printed in this 1949 book, so don’t think I’ve lost my senses or have entered a time warp, I just want to stay true to the author and his beautiful writing.

Having said all of that, these are incredibly fun and, actually, do ring very true on quite a few occasions! These entries will all be under the "Ancient Dream Guide" Category. When I get them all typed in, I’ll add a special button to the site to link to the posts.