Healing Dream Themes
To heal is to make happy
Helen Schucman
The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle believed that premonitory
dreams of sickness could be caused by the dreamer's unconscious
recognition of the symptoms. Sometimes, a treatment, or
sleep ritual would be devised to help incubate good dreams.
This "treatment" would include abstaining from
sex, meat, and drink. Aristotle postulated that dreams may
be premonitions of an illness coming from within the body,
where some "unconscious" mind recognized early
symptoms that had not yet come to the attention of the "waking
self". Clearly the ancient Greeks had many theories
about dreams that are remarkable similar our modern day
concept of the unconscious mind.
HOW TO INTERPRET HEALING
DREAMS
Healing dreams were usually received by sleeping
in the classical temples known as Aesculapia that were dedicated
to the healing god Aeslepius. After ritual purification
and ceremonial sacrifices to the local deities, the sick
person spent a night in a special part of the temple, the
incubation. If the gods willed it the patient received a
dream from the sons of Hypnos the god of sleep. These were
interpreted by a therapute (which is the origin of our word
therapist) who made a diagnosis
Many of theses dream temples were built on the lush Greek
island of Cos, which was the home of the priest-healer Hippocrates
who is considered today to be 'the father of medicine' from
him we get the Hippocratic oath which in its original form
charged his students to examine their patient's dreams to
look for symbols alluding to health and cures. The Hypocratics
developed the idea that the dream was a window on illness
and reflected the health of the body. Bizarre dream content
was considered to be a sign of illness whereas normal content
bode for recovery and health.
The theory that dreams can diagnose illness and aid with
healing is a cross cultural belief. The Hindus and Chinese
for centuries have used dreams to help diagnose illness
in their advanced medical practices. They divide dreams
into different classes to relate to different areas of the
body, the heart, the lungs, and so on. Similarly in Tibetan
medicine there are three major types of dreams - bad dreams,
reflective dreams, and auspicious dreams:
Bad dreams may foretell a disaster, a serious illness,
or death. Some of the images from these dreams include:
dreaming of riding a cat, monkey, tiger, fox, or a corpse.
Similarly other inauspicious signs include dreams of riding
naked on a buffalo, horse of camel. (A pretty chilly thing
to do in Tibet!) If any of these dreams are recurring then
the patient is instructed to say mantras and prayers. When
the dreams stop then they will recover. If a healthy has
these dreams it is considered to be a sign that an illness
is imminent.
Reflective dreams deal with our emotions and worries and
are understood in a similar ways to western psychology.
They are for processing and clarifying everyday events.
Auspicious dreams are a sign of good fortune and recovery.
These may include dreams of holy or famous people, a clear
lake, a spotlessly white cloth, climbing a mountain or fruit
laden tree or receiving good food or gifts.
Tibetans believe that dreams that occur before midnight
are benign and usually forgotten. If a dream comes just
before dawn, about 3-4 in the morning when the mind is vivid
and clear, it is especially important. As well as taking
the patient's pulses and examining their urine a Tibetan
physician will- like the Ancient Greek healers- also ask
about a patients dreams before making a diagnosis.
MORE ABOUT CLAIRVOYANCE & ESP
Extract
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