Editing Dream (section)

== Religious and other cultural contexts ==
Dreams figure prominently in major world religions. The dream experience for early humans, according to one interpretation, gave rise to the notion of a human "[[Soul#Religious views|soul]]",<ref>{{cite book |last=Lévy-Bruhl |first=Lucien |author-link=Lucien Lévy-Bruhl |date=1923 |title=Primitive Mentality |translator=Lilian A. Clare |chapter=Chapter III Dreams |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/primitivementali00levy_0/page/98/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater |location=New York |publisher=Macmillan |page=98 |quote=...[I]n dreams,...man passes from the one world to the other without being aware of it. Such is in fact the ordinary idea of the dream to primitive peoples. The "soul" leaves its tenement for the time being. It frequently goes very far away; it communes with spirits or with ghosts. At the moment of awakening it returns to take its place in the body once more.}}</ref> a central element in much religious thought. [[J. W. Dunne]] wrote: <blockquote>But there can be no reasonable doubt that the idea of a soul must have first arisen in the mind of primitive man as a result of observation of his dreams. Ignorant as he was, he could have come to no other conclusion but that, in dreams, he left his sleeping body in one universe and went wandering off into another. It is considered that, but for that savage, the idea of such a thing as a 'soul' would never have even occurred to mankind....<ref>{{cite book |last=Dunne |first=J. W. |date=1950 |orig-date=1927 |title=An Experiment with Time |location=London |publisher=Faber |page=23}}</ref></blockquote>

=== Hindu ===
In the [[Mandukya Upanishad]], part of the [[Veda]] scriptures of [[Hinduism|Indian Hinduism]], a dream is one of three states that the soul experiences during its lifetime, the other two states being the waking state and the sleep state.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/mand/mand_4.html |title=The Mandukya Upanishad, Section 4 |last=Krishnananda |first=Swami |date=16 November 1996 |access-date=26 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409004128/http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/mand/mand_4.html |archive-date=9 April 2015}}</ref> The earliest [[Upanishads]], written before 300 BCE, emphasize two meanings of dreams. The first says that dreams are merely expressions of inner desires. The second is the belief of the soul leaving the body and being guided until awakened.

=== Abrahamic ===
[[File:Michael Lukas Leopold Willmann 001.jpg|thumb|Jacob's dream of a [[Jacob's Ladder|ladder of angels]], c. 1690. [[Michael Willmann]]]]

In Judaism, dreams are considered part of the experience of the world that can be interpreted and from which lessons can be garnered. It is discussed in the Talmud, Tractate Berachot 55–60.

The ancient [[Hebrews]] connected their dreams heavily with their religion, though the Hebrews were [[monotheistic]] and believed that dreams were the voice of one God alone. Hebrews also differentiated between good dreams (from God) and bad dreams (from evil spirits). The Hebrews, like many other ancient cultures, incubated dreams in order to receive a divine revelation. For example, the Hebrew prophet [[Samuel]] would "lie down and sleep in the temple at [[Shiloh (biblical city)|Shiloh]] before the Ark and receive the word of the Lord", and [[Joseph (Genesis)|Joseph]] interpreted a Pharaoh's dream of seven lean cows swallowing seven fat cows as meaning the subsequent seven years would be bountiful, followed by seven years of famine. Most of the dreams in the [[Bible]] are in the [[Book of Genesis]].<ref>{{cite book |url={{Google books |id=zs3gup4iFu4C |page=15 |plainurl=yes}} |title=A letter that has not been read: Dreams in the Hebrew Bible |first=Shaul |last=Bar |publisher=Hebrew Union College Press |year=2001 |access-date=4 April 2013}}</ref>

[[Christians]] mostly shared the beliefs of the Hebrews and thought that dreams were of a supernatural character because the [[Old Testament]] includes frequent stories of dreams with divine inspiration. The most famous of these dream stories was [[Jacob's ladder|Jacob's dream of a ladder]] that stretches from Earth to [[Heaven]]. Many Christians preach that God can speak to people through their dreams. The famous glossary, the [[Somniale Danielis]], written in the name of [[Daniel (biblical figure)|Daniel]], attempted to teach Christian populations to interpret their dreams.

[[Iain R. Edgar]] has researched the role of dreams in [[Islam]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Edgar |first=Iain |title=The Dream in Islam: From Qur'anic Tradition to Jihadist Inspiration |year=2011 |publisher=Berghahn Books |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-85745-235-1 |page=178 |url=http://www.berghahnbooks.com/title.php?rowtag=EdgarDream |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929125708/http://www.berghahnbooks.com/title.php?rowtag=EdgarDream |archive-date=29 September 2011 |access-date=9 March 2012}}</ref> He has argued that dreams play an important role in the history of Islam and the lives of Muslims, since dream interpretation is the only way that Muslims can receive revelations from God since the death of the last prophet, [[Muhammad]].<ref name="Iain">{{cite journal |last=Edgar |first=Iain R. |author2=Henig, David |title=Istikhara: The Guidance and practice of Islamic dream incubation through ethnographic comparison |journal=History and Anthropology |date=September 2010 |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=251–262 |doi=10.1080/02757206.2010.496781 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/10630.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108072540/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/10630.pdf |archive-date=8 November 2017 |citeseerx=10.1.1.1012.7334 |s2cid=144463607 |access-date=26 October 2017}}</ref> According to Edgar, Islam classifies three types of dreams. Firstly, there is the true dream (al-ru’ya), then the false dream, which may come from the devil ([[shaytan]]), and finally, the meaningless everyday dream (hulm). This last dream could be brought forth by the dreamer's ego or base appetite based on what they experienced in the real world. The true dream is often indicated by Islam's [[hadith]] tradition.<ref name="Iain"/> In one narration by [[Aisha]], the wife of the Prophet, it is said that the Prophet's dreams would come true like the ocean's waves.<ref name="Iain"/> Just as in its predecessors, the [[Quran]] also recounts the story of Joseph and his unique ability to interpret dreams.<ref name="Iain"/>

In both Christianity and Islam dreams feature in conversion stories.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bulkeley |first=Kelly |url=https://archive.org/details/big-dreams-the-science-of-dreaming-and-the-origins-of-religion |title=Big Dreams: The Science of Dreaming and the Origins of Religion |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2016 |isbn=9780199351534}}</ref> According to ancient authors, Constantine the Great started his conversion to Christianity because he had a dream which prophesied that he would win the [[battle of the Milvian Bridge]] if he [[Constantine the Great#Constantine adopts the Greek letters Chi Rho for Christ's initials|adopted the Chi-Rho as his battle standard]]."<ref>Lactantius, ''De Mortibus Persecutorum'' 44.4–6, tr. J.L. Creed, ''Lactantius: De Mortibus Persecutorum'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984), qtd. in Lenski, "Reign of Constantine" (CC), 71.</ref><ref>Eusebius, ''Vita Constantini'' 1.27–29; Barnes, ''Constantine and Eusebius'', 43, 306; Odahl, 105–06, 319–20.</ref>

=== Buddhist ===
In Buddhism, ideas about dreams are similar to the classical and folk traditions in South Asia. The same dream is sometimes experienced by multiple people, as in the case of the [[bodhisattva#Theravada Buddhism|Buddha-to-be]], before he is [[great Renunciation|leaving his home]]. It is described in the ''[[Mahavastu|Mahāvastu]]'' that several of the Buddha's relatives had premonitory dreams preceding this. Some dreams are also seen to transcend time: the Buddha-to-be has certain dreams that are the same as those of [[List of the named Buddhas|previous Buddhas]], the ''[[Lalitavistara]]'' states. In Buddhist literature, dreams often function as a "signpost" motif to mark certain stages in the life of the main character.<ref name="Young 2003">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Young |first=S. |year=2003 |title=Dreams |via=Indian Folklife |volume=13 |url=http://indianfolklore.org/journals/index.php/IFL/article/download/434/497 |encyclopedia=The encyclopedia of South Asian Folklore |page=7 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180225064910/http://indianfolklore.org/journals/index.php/IFL/article/download/434/497 |archive-date=25 February 2018 |access-date=24 February 2018}}</ref>

Buddhist views about dreams are expressed in the [[atthakatha|Pāli Commentaries]] and the [[Milinda Panha|Milinda Pañhā]].<ref name="Young 2003"/>

=== Other ===
[[File:Hupao.jpg|thumb|[[Dreaming of the Tiger Spring]] (虎跑夢泉) Statue at Hupao Spring (Hupaomengquan) in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China]]

In Chinese history, people wrote of two vital aspects of the soul of which one is freed from the body during slumber to journey in a dream realm, while the other remained in the body.<ref name=bulkeley-71/> This belief and dream interpretation had been questioned since early times, such as by the philosopher [[Wang Chong]] ({{CE|27–97}}).<ref name=bulkeley-71>{{cite book |last=Bulkeley |first=Kelly |title=Dreaming in the world's religions: A comparative history |url=https://archive.org/details/dreamingworldsre00bulk |url-access=limited |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8147-9956-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/dreamingworldsre00bulk/page/n83 71]–73|publisher=NYU Press }}</ref>

The Babylonians and Assyrians divided dreams into "good," which were sent by the gods, and "bad," sent by demons.<ref>Oppenheim, L.A. (1966). ''Mantic Dreams in the Ancient Near East'' in G. E. Von Grunebaum & R. Caillois (Eds.), ''The Dream and Human Societies'' (pp. 341–350). London, England: Cambridge University Press.</ref> A surviving collection of dream omens entitled ''[[Iškar Zaqīqu]]'' records various dream scenarios as well as [[Prognosis|prognostications]] of what will happen to the person who experiences each dream, apparently based on previous cases.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/><ref>Nils P. Heessel : ''Divinatorische Texte I : ... oneiromantische Omina''. Harrassowitz Verlag, 2007.</ref> Some list different possible outcomes, based on occasions in which people experienced similar dreams with different results.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> The Greeks shared their beliefs with the Egyptians on how to interpret good and bad dreams, and the idea of incubating dreams. [[Morpheus]], the Greek god of dreams, also sent warnings and prophecies to those who slept at shrines and temples. The earliest Greek beliefs about dreams were that their gods physically visited the dreamers, where they entered through a keyhole, exiting the same way after the divine message was given.

[[Antiphon (orator)|Antiphon]] wrote the first known Greek book on dreams in the 5th century BCE. In that century, other cultures influenced Greeks to develop the belief that souls left the sleeping body.<ref>O'Neil, C.W. (1976). ''Dreams, culture and the individual''. San Francisco: Chandler & Sharp.</ref> The father of modern medicine, [[Hippocrates]] ({{BCE|460–375}}), thought dreams could analyze illness and predict diseases.<ref>''On Regimen'' IV, also published sometimes as ''On Dreams''.</ref> For instance, a dream of a dim star high in the night sky indicated problems in the head region, while low in the night sky indicated bowel issues.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hobson |first=J. A. |year=1988 |title=The Dreaming Brain |publisher=Basic Books}}</ref><ref>Steven M. Oberhelman. 1987. “The Diagnostic Dream in Ancient Medical Theory and Practice.” ''Bulletin of the History of Medicine''. 61 (1): 47-60.</ref> [[Galen]] (129–216 AD) believed the same thing.<ref>Oberhelman, Steven M. 1983. “Galen, ‘On Diagnosis from Dreams’.” ''Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences''. 38 (1): 36-47.</ref> Greek philosopher [[Plato]] (427–347 BCE) wrote that people harbor secret, repressed desires, such as incest, murder, adultery, and conquest, which build up during the day and run rampant during the night in dreams.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McCurdy |first=H. G. |year=1946 |title=The history of dream theory |journal=Psychological Review |volume=53 |issue=4 |pages=225–233 |doi=10.1037/h0062107|pmid=20998507 }}</ref> Plato's student, [[Aristotle]] (384–322 BCE), believed dreams were caused by processing incomplete [[physiological]] activity during sleep, such as eyes trying to see while the sleeper's eyelids were closed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rycroft |first=Charles |year=1979 |title=The Innocence of Dreams |publisher=Random House}}</ref> [[Marcus Tullius Cicero]], for his part, believed that all dreams are produced by thoughts and conversations a dreamer had during the preceding days.<ref>Cicero, ''De Republica'', [http://attalus.org/translate/republic6.html#10 6.10]</ref> Cicero's ''[[Somnium Scipionis]]'' described a lengthy dream vision, which in turn was commented on by [[Macrobius]] in his ''Commentarii in Somnium Scipionis''.

[[Herodotus]] in his ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|The Histories]]'', writes "The visions that occur to us in dreams are, more often than not, the things we have been concerned about during the day."<ref>{{cite book |author=Herodotus |title=The Histories |year=1998 |url=https://archive.org/details/histories0000hero |url-access=registration |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/histories0000hero/page/414 414]}}</ref>

[[The Dreaming]] is a common term within the [[animist]] creation narrative of [[indigenous Australians]] for a personal, or group, [[Creation myth|creation]] and for what may be understood as the "timeless time" of formative creation and perpetual creating.<ref>[http://environment.gov.au/parks/uluru/culture-history/culture/index.html Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park: Tjukurpa – Anangu culture] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090711104046/http://environment.gov.au/parks/uluru/culture-history/culture/index.html |date=11 July 2009}} environment.gov.au, June 23, 2006</ref>

Some [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous American]] tribes and [[Mexico|Mexican]] populations believe that dreams are a way of visiting and having contact with their [[ancestor]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tedlock |first1=B. |year=1981 |title=Quiche Maya dream Interpretation |journal=Ethos |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=313–350 |doi=10.1525/eth.1981.9.4.02a00050 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Some [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] tribes have used [[vision quest]]s as a rite of passage, fasting and praying until an anticipated guiding dream was received, to be shared with the rest of the tribe upon their return.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dreams.ca/dreams.htm |last=Webb |first=Craig |year=1995 |title=Dreams: Practical Meaning & Applications |publisher=The DREAMS Foundation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305002601/http://www.dreams.ca/dreams.htm |archive-date=5 March 2016 |access-date=30 March 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/native-american-dream-beliefs/ |access-date=10 April 2012 |title=Native American Dream Beliefs |publisher=Dream Encyclopedia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415132211/http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/native-american-dream-beliefs/ |archive-date=15 April 2012}}</ref>