MENU : Dream
Dictionary : Articles
: Remembering
Dreams : On-line
Book : Tips
------------------------------------
Theta Waves and Jonathan Winson
The father of modern dream analysis in not in my opinion Freud, Jung or
any other of the likely names in dream analysis. No it is Jonathan Winson
- a scientist from the 1960's. He established exactly what dreams are - what
function they perform and the importance of them in the human brain. He introduced
some unfamiliar words to dream analyzers - the Theta rhythm, the hippocampus,
the neocortex.
Many people believe erroneously that humans can record every detail of every
moment in their lives. That if you hypnotize someone they can recall every
last detail. This is just impractical. Every second hundreds of images are
being processed, smells detected, tastes interpreted. So much information
would make the brain an unwieldy and unpractical tool.
Jonathan Winson develops the idea that for humans their success is not that
they record every last detail but they are very efficient in processing information
which is essential for survival.
Animals which are less effective at this tend to process information on the
spot. They take sensory information and also the memories that they have and
on the spot update their strategies for survival. But this method is time
consuming and rather ineffective.
Dreams perform an important function in humans. They help us transfer information
from the short term memory to long term memory. This helps us to improve our
strategies - we perform better at life. It helps us reflect on what was successful
for us and what was not.
Dreams are especially important because this process of sorting information
out tends to be done in sleep - its an OFF-LINE process. We store information
that is important in short term memory then when we sleep we intensively cram
periods of learning into REM sleep. We take information that is relevant to
us, information about learning how to perform tasks etc. - then we devise
new strategies and this information is then stored in long term memory. Dreams
are about our survival strategies
To me this explanation is very valid - for one reason sleep deprivation
shows that going without sleep is very harmful. Perhaps this explains
that when we are deprived of sleep then we suffer from real confusion. Perhaps
the brain is overloaded with short term memories - it continues at the pace
it is used to. It continues to collect every last bit of useless information.
Yet it is not discarding information? So if this process does not take place
- if we do not dream then we are very damaged. WE cannot process information.
We become confused and indeed after a time start to hallucinate. Dreams
then are essential to process data - that data is not processed at any other
time.
One thing Winson mentions is that dreams help us improve our survival strategies.
Perhaps that needs a little refinement. Any dream analyzer would tell
you that dreams are about emotions, but these are a bit wishy washy and unimportant
surely as regards survival.
No - dreams perform not just survival strategies but they help us process
information about our emotions, tasks that we have learnt, language, and opinions
about everything. Man is not just a strict survival machine . Man is rather
a social animal - an animal who speaks, thinks, talks, learns, laughs
and feels emotion. Dreams help us reformulate our views on most important
matters. They edit out old and unused data and add in new data.
We also need to understand that the brain is not just one brain but two.
We have two absolutely perfect but very different computers - the conscious
and the unconscious mind. They work in very different ways. The conscious
takes data and stores it laterally - it builds up a series of blocks and then
comes to an answer. But the unconscious works the other way round - it spots
a problem and works out what is the cause. It works backwards - seeing the
bigger picture. So dreams integrate old data with new data. They also act
as a bridge between the conscious and unconscious minds.
So what exactly does this mean? If we know what dreams do and what functions
they perform then we know the type of things that cause dreams. Dreams are
stuck in the here and now. They are about processing information and transferring
the important bits into long term memory. So a dream maybe about a song we
heard which emotionally or intellectually we find very important. Or it maybe
about some task we are trying to learn and master. Important emotional issues
may also be the subject of dreams. We can also have dreams about conversations
or events we have scene. Indeed anything that is important and relevant to
our long term memories is likely to feature very strongly in dreams. So the
best way to learn what a dream is about is to write down all these little
things that have stuck in our memories from the day before: Songs, jokes,
conversations, little things that have stuck in your memories, emotional issues,
and things we are trying to learn. Most dreams will be about things on that
list. Its as simple as that!
Precisely the function that the dreams play in sorting out our memories
is open to debate. It is certain that thetawaves emerge at night and help
sort out our memories. However, is this process directly connected with REM
sleep. Some doubt remains there. Some believe that it is in Non-REM sleep
that this process takes place. Memories are transferred back and forth between
short between the hippocampus and neo - cortex during sleep and gradually
our long term memories are updated to take account of new experiences from
the day. Such people state that dreams play no real role in this. They
maybe play out such newly formed thoughts in our minds in the form of movies.
The actions maybe there to stimulate the brain during inactivity. It may also
be connected with neural patterns. Thoughts have to be imprinted on our
memories and replaying emotions maybe the brains way of pushing new thoughts
to the front of our minds
But I believe that Winson does prove the vital connection between REM sleep
and our emotions, our learning, our general survival techniques.
-----------------------------------------
DREAM DICTIONARY This website contains a carefully constructed
dream dictionary. It has been compiled using a bank of dreams which the meaning
is felt to be understood. If we have a heated argument on the night before
the dream then its almost certain that we will have a dream about that issue.
Certain things we know will trigger a dream. This website contains a dream
dictionary which contains all the various meanings of each dream symbol. Dream
dictionaries that show just one meaning per symbol are not much help. This
dream dictionary features the rich and varied ways in which the mind uses
each dream symbol.
This dream dictionary attempts to reduce each of these dreams which are
understood into one simple quote which captures the meaning such as "I
am worried about my two sons getting into bad habits". In this way we
can start to understand what dream symbols mean in practice. For instance
research has shown that dreams that feature witches will usually link to some
real life female who has been deeply manipulative and selfish . Many pages
contain real sample dreams to show how the process of dream interpretation
actually works.
AIRPLANE
: Explore some of the meanings of airplanes in dream
BED
: Look through the various different usages of beds in dream
CLOWNS
: Clowns can symbolise moments when you want to deal with a problem not put
on a brave face
DESERTS
: Deserts symbolise a lack of meaning to some part of your life right now
FATHERS
: One meaning of fathers in dreams is the need to be practical
GUN
: Guns can symbolise things that we focus our attention on
UNKNOWN MALES : males in dreams can link to restrictions and delays in our
life
KINGS
: Kings can link to issues involving abuse of power
LITTLE
GIRL : Little girls tend to symbolise naivety and an over idealised view of
life
MANSION
: Mansions symbolise your own personality in the wider setting of the world
in general
MOTHERS
: Mothers dreams may link to a need to show care and concern
NAKED
: Nakedness may suggest that something is obvious
POLICE
: Police in dreams link to a need to maintain order in your mind
RAPES
: Explore some of the varied symbolic meanings of rape
SEX
: Sex in dreams may symbolise something that you find attractive in the sexual
partner
SNAKES
: Snakes tend to symbolise traps and problems of any kind
SWIM
: Swimming suggests emotional change and effort
WITCH
: Witches symbolise women who are selfish, evil and manipulative
-----------------------------------------
DREAM TIP If dreams are linked to the brain and the need to sort through
our emotions then most dreams will be about issues alive in our minds from
the day before the dream. Dream studies have shown that dreams are about issues
from the previous day. They are about the relationships that are in difficulty,
the health problems that we are monitoring, our strategies towards work and
intellectual matters and just general paranoia. This is extremely helpful
to know if you are decoding a dream. Dreams are more likely to be about a
little argument you had with a coworker on the previous day than some sordid
sexual experience you had years before.
------------------------------------
OTHER ARTICLES
Confronting
fear in nightmares By Dorian Paul
Disturbing
dreams Children and nightmares
Hypnopompic
and hypnogological imagery Hallucinations and dreams
What
is the function of dreams Why do we dream?
Lucid
dreams What are lucid dreams?
Communication skills Dorian Paul on left and right brain issues?
"Shattered"
TV reality sleep deprivation show.
Individuation
Working with a dreamer to understand their dream
-----------------------------------------
ON-LINE BOOK
: Hundreds of real dreams
A BASIC INTRO to what dreams are about
BASIC
TECHNIQUES to interpret dreams
DREAM
DICTIONARY A to Z of symbols complete with essays on symbols in everyday real
uses
BASIC SYMBOLISM - DREAM
SYMBOLS : Basements
- Your boss
- Best friend
- Babies/pregnant
- Brothers
- Cafes
- Cars
- Castles
- Children
- Creative dreams
- Clothes
- Churches and cathedrals
- Deaths
- Demons,witches and goblins
- Dogs
- Drink and drugs
- Farms, gardens and plants
- Factories
- Fathers
- Faucets/taps/pipes
- Food
- Earthquakes and volcanos
- Foreign Countries
- Grandparents
- Guards
- Guns and knives
- Horses and animals
- Hauntings
- Hospitals
- Hotels + huge buildings
- Houses
- Locks
- Men(unknown)
- Military -
Money
- Mothers
- Monster
- Mountains
- Movies
- Music
- People
- Police
- Phone
- Politics
- Planes and flying
- Prison -
Rivers
- Rapists and intruders
- Railways
- Roads
- Schools
- Sea
- Sex
- Shops
- Sisters
- Skies in dreams
- Skyscrapers and tall buildings
- Snakes and spiders
- Space
- Sports
- Street
- Teeth
- Tidal waves
- Time
- Toilets in dreams
- Towns and streets
- Trees
- Water
- Weddings and engagements
- Windows
- Work
OTHER
SUBJECTS: external
causes of dreams : Music
in dreams :
Premonitions :
Telepathy : Specific
dreams :
Synonyms in dreams :
Children's
dreams and dreams about your child :
Recurring dreams CASE STUDIES :
1
2
3
4
-----------------------------------
DREAMS ABOUT FIGHTING AND CONFLICT:
FIGHT
: Aggression and assaults in dream analysis
GUN
: Dream symbolism and guns in modern dream analysis
GUY(unknown male) : Modern dream interpretation and the strange or unknown
man
INTRUDERS
: Intruders as symbols in dreams
KNIFE
: Dream analysis and the symbolic meaning of Knives
MURDERS
: Dream symbolism and killing
POISONS
: The dream meaning of poison in modern dream interpretation
POLICE : Police and their dream symbolism in dream interpretation
DEATH
: Dream analysis and deaths
FATHERS
: Dads as dream symbols