Dreams are mysterious and they have been inspiring and important for many cultures and people in history; many ancient people believed that dreams were messages from the gods about the future! The Iroquois in North America believed people could travel to the past and future in dreams. The early Australian people believed dreamers go on great journeys, then they would share these journeys with others to give them guidance. Ancient Egyptians trained professional dreamers to help leaders make important decisions.
Throughout history psychologists have made theories about why we dream. In the late 1800s an Australian psychologist named Sigmund Freud made a theory that our minds are like icebergs. The small tip above water that we can see is like the thoughts we are aware of, and the part that’s underwater that we can’t see is the thoughts we are not aware of. He believed dreams reflect the thoughts we’re not aware of.
Although there are many theories about dreams and why we dream, common dreams can have simple interpretations. Here are some common dream interpretations:
Being Chased
Being chased could mean you’re avoiding something in your life. Try remembering what was chasing you. This could help you understand what you are avoiding.
Falling
Falling could mean that you feel something in your life isn’t going right.
Flying
A dream where you are flying can mean you’re feeling confident.
Being Naked in Public
Being naked can mean many things. If you were embarrassed during this dream it could mean you’re feeling insecure. If you were feeling happy during the dream it could mean you’re feeling confident.
Teeth Falling Out
This dream could mean that you’ve said something you shouldn’t have.
Now that you know the meaning of some common dreams, what about nightmares?
Nightmares can be caused by many things, for example stress, medication, too little sleep, and even late night snacks can cause nightmares. Next time you have a nightmare try and find out what might have caused it, then you can try and prevent it in the future.
Another type of dreaming is lucid dreaming. In a lucid dream is a dream you realize you’re dreaming. Then you can control anything in your dream! most people will experience about one lucid dream in a lifetime.
Lucie, a student in MAC 3 Birch said, “One time I had a lucid dream and when I realized I was dreaming I went into everybody’s (in the class’) house and took all their stuff!”
Dreaming can be mysterious, but when do we dream? During your sleep you go through four stages, most of your dreams occur during the fourth stage which is known as the REM stage. Here are the stages of sleep:
Stage 1
Stage one is a light sleep that usually lasts 5 to ten minutes. During this stage it is very easy to wake up.
Stage 2
Stage 2 lasts about 20 minutes. you go into a deeper sleep; your body temperature drops and your heart rate slows.
Stage 3
During stage 3 you will be in a very deep sleep, you have no muscle movement and it will be very hard to wake you up. Stage 3 is about 30 minutes long.
Stage 4
This stage is called REM, or rapid eye movement. It is called this because your eyes are moving very quickly during this stage. During this stage your brain is very active, that is why people believe most of your dreams and nightmares occur during this stage. If you are awoken during REM you will be able to remember your dreams more clearly. If you keep sleeping you cycle back to stages 2, 3, and 4. This stage can last from ten minutes to an hour.
Now here’s some fun facts about dreams:
Did you know...
Now you know some things about dreams and their history and how they work, I hope you learned something new about dreams, and their mysterious wonders they can do while you sleep, I hope dreams inspire you and many other people in the future. I think no matter how much we interpret and study, there will always be something unfathomable about dreams we just can’t explain at all.
Sweet dreams!