Lavender Sleep

Creative Dreaming .
Creativity and problem solving are two of the most fascinating aspects of dreams. Many famous people have been inspired by their dreams. Niels Bohr (1885-1962) owed his Nobel Prize to a combination of hard work plus an inspired dream.

He was working on the structure of the atom, and was finding it very difficult to visualize his ideas. However, one night he had a vivid dream in which he found himself standing right in the middle of a brightly burning sun. He looked up, and saw planet attached to the sun by slender threads, revolving around the central body where he stood. Suddenly, the hot gaseous sun began to cool and the whole whirling image came to a solid standstill. Bohr used the analogy of a solar system to describe vividly how electrons revolve around a nucleus and won the Nobel Prize for Physic for his concept.

Many writers have conceded that they have been inspired by their dreams. Robert Louis Stevenson was a great dreamer, although he did not always enjoy his experiences. His famous horror-story, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, came to him in a dream.

Music, too, has benefited from dreams… “You are going to hear a dream, a dream I have made a sound…I dreamed all this, never could my poor head have invented such a thing purposely.” Wrote Wagner to a friend. Wagner was referring to his opera Tristan und Isolde. Similarly, Giuseppe Tartini, the Italian composer, described how he dreamed of selling his soul to the devil, and gave him his violin to see how he would play. The devil turned out to be a talented musician, and exquisitely beautiful music filled Tartini’s dream. The resulting sonata, which he claimed was a pale imitation of the actual dream music he called ‘The Devil’s Trill’.

Egyptian Dreams.
References to dreams are found throughout ancient literature, whether carves on the walls of Egyptian temples, in the Bible, or in what is though to be the oldest dream book of all, compiled by Artemidorus of Ephesus in the second century AD. Dream messages were taken very seriously, and every civilized country in the world had its interpreters, or soothsayers.

Greek Dreamers.
The Ancient Greeks believed that dreams entered the sleeping mind through what were called the Gates of Dreams. One gate was made of horn, the other of ivory – prophetic dreams came through the horn gate, while warnings came through the ivory gate. With the help of special priests and priestesses, the Ancient Greeks searched their dreams for divinely inspired messages.

Those who were troubled or sick would visit a sacred shrine, such as Asclepius’ temple on Kos. Rituals were performed invoking the god or goddess of the temple, and then the visitors would sleep in a special sanctuary, in the hope of receiving help in their dreams. These were then analysed by the priests. Sometimes they contained details of herbal remedies, and practical advice. In other dreams, the sick person received a visit from the god – and woke in the best of health.

Dreams of the future.
Although many twentieth-century psychoanalysts have dismissed the idea of prophetic dreams, they do happen – and they do come true. John Godley, who became Lord Kilbracken, had an amazing series of dreams over twelve years, which predicted he winners of horse races. Since he shared these supernatural tips with friends, his successes are well documented, and he became famous in the 1950s as a psychic punter, working as racing correspondent for the Daily Mirror.

Other predictive dreams contain warnings, and in many cases have saved the lives of those who paid attention to them. In April 1973, for example, a terrible tragedy devastated four Somerset villages. The local Ladies’ Guild had chartered a plane to take them to Switzerland for a day trip. Severe weather conditions near Basle caused their plane to crash, with the loss of more than one hundred lives. However, one lady, who had booked to go, returned her ticket and stayed at home because of a dream in which there was a terrible snowstorm and the plane she was in crashed into some trees. The bodies of her friends lay close to the wreckage, and this is precisely what happened in reality.

How to make sense of your dreams.
With a little effort , you can become your own expert dream interpreter. For you create your dreams, and while you sleep you become an artist, author and composer of them. By getting closer in touch with the dreamer within you, you will se yourself and others, in a new light.

The first step is to keep a regular dream diary. Immediately you wake, scribble down everything you can possibly remember about your dreams. At first, this may simply be an assortment of vague feelings, colours and perhaps, some images. Some people can recall only a word or a name, and on some mornings there may be nothing to record at all. But the more you practise, the more you are likely to remember. If you persevere, you should soon be writing down detailed descriptions.

Analysing your dreams takes intuition. First of all, you must ask yourself how you feel on waking – happy and relaxed, depressed, filled with foreboding, or confused? Your mood is an important key to the meaning of your dream, for the same symbol can contain both positive and negative messages and must always be interpreted in context.

Spend a little time thinking about whether the dream is simply a scene from real life, or whether it has a deeper, veiled meaning. ‘Real’ dreams are one of the mind’s safety valves and are showing you some actual event or relationship which may have upset you – either in the distant past or in recent times. Such dreams are valuable friends, often shedding fresh light on your problems by revealing things your conscious mind has forgotten or is unaware of.

Highly imaginative dreams filled with bizarre symbols, fantastic creatures and mystical themes are just as practical, too – although it may take more thought to make sense of them in the cold light of day.

Designing dreams.
Can dreams be deliberately manipulated ? Lucid dreams – where the dreamer is fully aware he or she is dreaming, are the source of investigation. British scientist, Dr Keith Hearne, and others, believe that lucid dreams represent an extraordinary reservoir of untapped mental abilities, and can (and should) be deliberately encouraged.

In experiments where subject are woken from REM periods of sleep and asked to describe their dreams. Often broken dreams reveal a persons though process through surprising surreal images which can be interpreted to be indicative of things going on in the subject real life.

Another form of dream manipulation comes from the Temiar tribe in Malaysia. These people have always known about the importance of dreams can detach their children to confront nightmare figures. In this way, the Temiar culture says, the children will be free from evil spirits once they reach adulthood. They also regularly share their dreams, believing that dreams can predict the future. Forewarned is forearmed, and so they are able to avoid potential problems or deal with them before they get out of hand.

Dream work.
Once you have established a firm link between your waking mind and your dreams, you are ready to try problem-solving while you sleep. This does not necessarily always work, mainly because we forget our dream thoughts so quickly. However, when it does work, results can be spectacular.
Simply relax, settle down in bed and think as clearly as you can about whatever it is that is worrying you. Do not even attempt to solve a problem consciously, just mentally list all the aspects or, if you prefer, write them down. Then, in your own words, ask your subconscious, higher self or God to send you a helpful, enlightening dream.
It is also a good idea to ask for a clear dream, which you will remember when you wake up the next morning. Calmly tell yourself that you are ready to receive this information, and fully expect to answer your question. Finally, go to sleep. Naturally, problem-solving during sleep is a skill like any other, and need practise. However, the results of your repeated efforts will be both intriguing and rewarding.