This study of dream accounts in the Bible and in ancient Near Eastern literature suggests two main lines of interpretation: on the one hand it defines the function of dream accounts from a literary, social, political and religious point of view on the basis of literary genre (practitioners' manuals, royal inscriptions, prophetic texts, etc.). On the other hand, in adopting a rather larger typology than is usual (message dreams, symbolic dreams, but also prophetic, premonitory and judgment dreams), it seeks to clarify both the relationship between the fiction implied by the literary form and the actual dream experience of individuals, as well as the different ritual practices related to this experience (interpretation, conjuration, incubation, etc.).

We all dream, and 98 per cent of us can recall our dreams the next morning. Even in today’s modern age, it is human nature to wonder what they mean. With incredible new discoveries and stunning science, Why We Dream will give you dramatic insight into yourself and your body. You’ll never think of dreams in the same way again . . . Groundbreaking science is putting dreams at the forefront of new research into sleep, memory, the concept of self and human socialization. Once a subject of the New Age and spiritualism, the science of dreams is revealed to have a crucial role in the biology and neuroscience of our waking lives. In Why We Dream, Alice Robb, a leading American science journalist, will take readers on a journey to uncover why we dream, why dreaming matters, and how we can improve our dream life – and why we should. Through her encounters with scientists at the cutting edge of dream research, she reveals how: - Dreams can be powerful tools to help us process the pain of a relationship break-up, the grief of losing a loved one and the trauma after a dramatic event - Nightmares may be our body’s warning system for physical and mental illness (including cancer, depression and Alzheimer’s) - Athletes can improve their performance by dreaming about competing - Drug addicts who dream about drug-taking can dramatically speed up their recovery from addiction. Robb also uncovers the fascinating science behind lucid dreaming – when we enter a dream state with control over our actions, creating a limitless playground for our fantasies. And as one of only ten per cent of people with the ability to lucid-dream, she is uniquely placed to teach us how to do it ourselves.

Dreams Beyond Time: On Sacred Encounter and Spiritual Transformation offers readers an overview of dreams research as applied to non-ordinary dreams. Lee Irwin describes four basic types of dreaming: normative, mythic, psychic, and transpersonal, and he illustrates each type with specific dream examples. These types of dreaming are then used as a lens to look more closely at additional dream types that indicate dreaming as a process of creative discovery. Through virtual dreaming encounters, latent human potentials are revealed and suggest aspects for spiritual development based on dream recording, interpretation, and analysis. In turn this leads to a metaphysical description that is pan-sentient, illustrating a vivid, living universe of process-becoming in which certain dream types reveal mythic, psychic, and transpersonal capacities as intrinsic to a deeper more awakened sense of intersubjective self-awareness. While dream theories from many diverse authors are explored, the author uses an existential and phenomenological method to analyze dreaming contents in relationship to altered states of mind, trance, out of body and near-death experience, meditation, imagination, and stages of lucid self-awareness. Transpersonal dreams are given considerable attention in relationship to mystical traditions, paranormal research, and the comparative anthropology of self.

Envision waking from a dream that felt 'big' and being able to understand why the characters, images and even landscapes appeared and what they are specifically communicating to you. What if you were able to unearth how your dreams can improve your relationships, raise your consciousness and illuminate your life's purpose?Dreams: Soul-Centred Living in the 21st Century is essential for everyone who is curious about the profound realm of dreams. It leads you on an exciting journey while accelerating your personal, professional and soulful evolution. Laura Grace Ph.D. provides cutting edge awareness and guidance in exploring your dreams.

Dreaming is essential to survival and evolution and to creative endeavors in every field. Moss traces the strands of dreams through archival records and well-known writings, weaving remarkable yet true accounts of historical figures influenced by their dreams.

Documented throughout time and across cultures, dreams experienced by those on the verge of death can offer profound insight into the process of dying and provide deep spiritual solace for the individual passing away. In Dreaming Beyond Death, Kelly Bulkeley and Patricia Bulkley bring together their diverse areas of expertise to create a guide to pre-death dreams that offers practical advice and provides a broader understanding of this phenomenon. Drawing from a rich understanding of dreaming in culture, history, psychology, and through modern dream study, this book explicitly addresses three common aspects of pre-death dreams and offers interpretations that will aid both the dying person and the caregiver. Rev. Patricia Bulkley"s experience with the transformative possibilities of pre-death dreams as a hospice spiritual counselor lend this book a deeply personal and human touch, while Kelly Bulkeley"s insightful analysis and intellectual framework make it easy to understand the deeper meanings behind this type of dreaming. A final chapter provides resources and concrete methods for a caregiver to respectfully guide a dying person through the dreaming process and, ultimately, to a sense of peace.

What, if anything, do dreams tell us about ourselves? What is the relationship between types of sleep and types of dreams? Does dreaming serve any purpose? Or are dreams simply meaningless mental noise--"unmusical fingers wandering over the piano keys"? With expertise in philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience, Owen Flanagan is uniquely qualified to answer these questions. And in Dreaming Souls he provides both an accessible survey of the latest research on sleep and dreams and a compelling new theory about the nature and function of dreaming. Flanagan argues that while sleep has a clear biological function and adaptive value, dreams are merely side effects, "free riders," irrelevant from an evolutionary point of view. But dreams are hardly unimportant. Indeed, Flanagan argues that dreams are self-expressive, the result of our need to find or to create meaning, even when we're sleeping. Rejecting Freud's theory of manifest and latent content--of repressed wishes appearing in disguised form--Flanagan shows how brainstem activity during sleep generates a jumbled profusion of memories, images, thoughts, emotions, and desires, which the cerebral cortex then attempts to shape into a more or less coherent story. Such dream-narratives range from the relatively mundane worries of non REM sleep to the fantastic confabulations of deep REM that resemble psychotic episodes in their strangeness. But however bizarre these narratives may be, they can shed light on our mental life, our well being, and our sense of self. Written with clarity, lively wit, and remarkable insight, Dreaming Souls offers a fascinating new way of apprehending one of the oldest mysteries of mental life.

Handbook of Sleep Research, Volume 30, provides a comprehensive review of the current status of the neuroscience of sleep research. It begins with an overview of the neural, hormonal and genetic mechanisms of sleep and wake regulation before outlining the various proposed functions of sleep and the role it plays in plasticity, and in learning and memory. Finally, the book discusses disorders of sleep and waking, covering both lifestyle factors that cause disrupted sleep and psychiatric and neurological conditions that contribute to disorders. - Emphasizes a comparative and multidisciplinary approach to the topic of sleep - Covers the neurobiology and physiology of sleep stages, mechanisms of waking, and dreaming - Discusses in detail the proposed functions of sleep, from health and rest, to memory consolidation and synaptic plasticity - Examines the current state of research in mammalian and non-mammalian species, ranging from primates to invertebrates

This A-Z guide to dream interpretation presents the meanings of common and unusual symbols, from angels to zebras.

This book is about sleeping and dreaming as explained by arts and science: where sleep is described as being the natural periodic suspension of consciousness during which the powers of the body are restored. The contents detail the body's relaxation as induced by graded switching off of the nerves. All species of mammals undergo regular periods of it, varying with age, species, and with the seasonal changes of day length. Sleep is a natural state of torpor, and a lowering of consciousness associated with changes in the patterns of electrical waves recorded from the brain. Additionally, it clarifies the dream states, as a series of thoughts, images, poetry, or emotions occurring during sleep. Dreams can also be experiences of waking life: having the characteristics of a dream as a visionary creation of the imagination; as a day-dream state of mind marked by abstraction or release from reality; a reverie, as an object seen in a dream-like state; and vision, as a wishful creation of the imagination.