What do Dreams Mean???? Window to the unconscious vs. A simple biochemical reaction.

What do Dreams Mean????

Window to the unconscious vs.

A simple biochemical reaction

Warm-up

• HOT ROC-What is a dream that you vividly remember from your past?

• Pair Share & Discuss

Dream Lore

• Classical approaches to dream analysis• Used by Freud

in his Psychoanalytic approach to psychology

Dream Lore• Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, Hebrews, Muslims, &

Assyrians:• Saw dreams as messages from the supernatural beings or gods.

• Hindus• dreams are prophetic, and the timing of the dream will indicate how soon

the prophecy will come to pass

• Japanese• dreams are sought as visions to help answer questions that are plaguing the

waking self. Usually the answers come from ancestral spirits.

• Australian Aborigines• The spirits from underground rise and wander in the land of the living, and

when they pass through a mortal being, a "greater vision" is momentarily acquired… this would be what we call a dream

• North American Indians• Hidden wishes of the soul are addressed and fulfilled in dreams. Visions

can also be sought after in the hopes of answering a question or resolving a conflict.

Dream Lore

• Based on the aforementioned Dream Lore, think about your childhood dream and what the ancient people would say that it meant?

• Pair Share

Dream Terminology • Dream censorship-

• the issues of a dream are omitted to hide the true meaning • Symbolism-

• the manifestation of an object, idea, or feeling, in some "concrete" form that is in the dream.

• Condensation- • taking large issues, or more than one issue, and representing

it is a dream with only one image• i.e. fearing your new girlfriend, missing your mother and

personality fixations revolving around an oral fixation may be represented in a dream with just a baby with a pacifier

• Displacement- • replacement of issues (conflicts) by something remote or

nothing • i.e. a big issue is only a small element of a dream, while a

small issue seems to get all the attention

Dream Terminology

• Use the dream terminology to identify various components of your dream and what corresponding terms relate to them

• Pair Share

Freud’s Dream Levels• #1 Manifest

• The left over remnants of the day that the mind uses as a stage to hide the deeper issues of a dream

• #2 Latent (hidden)• The unconscious

conflicts that the dreamer is experiencing

Freud’s Dream Interpretation

• Do not trouble yourself over the manifest's meaning

• Free associate • Hidden thoughts will appear

on their own, we can not rush them along

Freud’s Dream Levels

Freud’s Dream “Generalities”• a house = the human form

if the house is flat (no balconies or things coming off the house)- it is a man if the house has balconies, awnings, etc., then it is usually a women

• Kings/Queens, Emperors/Empresses = parents

• little animals/vermin = siblings • water = birth • journeys/travel = dying

Freud’s Dream “Generalities”• the #3, umbrellas, sticks, poles, trees, (things that

penetrate) knives, daggers, lances, sabers, guns, pistols, revolvers, (things form which water flow) taps, water cans, springs (objects that get longer) balloons, slide rulers, (things that defy gravity) airplanes, and snakes, etc.

• Represents: the male sex organs • pits, hallows, caves (things that hold things) jars, bottles,

boxes, chests, coffers, pockets, cupboards, stoves, rooms, (things that hold other things) mouths, doors, gates, (things that represent breasts) apples, peaches fruits, and (others) woods, shrubs, bushes, etc.

• Represents: female sex organs • dancing, riding, climbing, or experiencing some violent act• Represents: Intercourse

Freud’s Dream “Generalities”

• What would Freud say about the symbolism in your dream?

• Pair Share

Dream Recall Techniques

• You have to want to remember

• Reread over past dreams

• Be patient and do not force a memory

• Keep a journal

What do dreams REALLY mean?

Homework!

• Keep a dream journal for the next 4 days in which you write down every dream that you remember from the night before and what you think it means.