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spirits that contacted the sleeper at night spirit could be dead people or underworld evil spirit.For Egyptians dreams were designed to instruct & advice to predict future & warn of danger or to answer questions. Dreams should be interpreted in opposite. E.g. If you dream of death you are actually dreaming of life. The Greek borrowed liberally from Egyptian Assyrian & Hebrew dream analysts. Greek interpreted dream symbols differently although they agreed that dreams were divine messages. Hippocrates, Aristotle, Plato fascinated by dream Hippocrates thought that there was a therapeutic function in dreaming. He felt that dreams were prodormal signals. He argued that when brain was divorced from external stimuli it became more sensitive to message of discomfort or pain from elsewhere in the body. A dream is way of signaling is uneasiness to sleeper. Plato in contrast forshadowed Freud & Jung Plato believes that dreams reveals peoples true nature & were the products of innermost consciousness symbolizing the for hidden desires that we strifle in working life. Plato He rejected that dreams are divinely inspired as Hipporates believed but he believed that they were influenced by astrological force Plato's pupil Aristole wrote five books on dreams interpretation 1st book suggest dreams were purely physiological function.
Mohammed maintained that dreams were primarily working of soul. Dreams represents conversation between God & humans. Islamic approach is not similar to Christian tradition. In Islam only Mullahs were deemed wise & worthy enough to interpret dreams. Christian approach priest took view, dreams were sent by God to inform & command his obedient subject. The Bible & writings as St. Augustine & St. John sprinkled with examples- St. Jerome was tormented by disturbing dreams & possible meaning overturned claiming that dreams were work of devil. Church adopted his theory & condemned most dreams as being satanic trickery that should be disregard. During the reformation Christian suspicion of dreaming reached new heights. During near fatal illness Jerome dreamed that he was dragged before the Lords tribunal accused of being a follower of the 1st century B.C. roman philosefher Cicero, rather than Christianity & hundreds severely lashed. He vowed never again to read pagan literature Sigmund Fread Austrian philosopher believed dreams were predormal but revealed out mental not our physical health. Interpretation of dreams is important part of psychoanalysis. Brain's complex neural net work build up electrical energy like a machine & in order to function it discharges electrical energy by dreaming. Alfred Alder claimed dreams experiences & emotion are associated.
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