Dreams, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

It’s said that everyone has hundreds of dreams every night. Normally we just don’t remember them is why it’s so hard to believe. Some folks think dreams foretell the future or that maybe they are compiled of the dreamer’s hopes and fears. Then there’s other people that think the sleeping mind uses symbols that translate into warnings.

Things like a dreaming of a donkey would mean you’re a stubborn person. Or a dreaming of a dragonfly means things are going to change in your life. Maybe a birthday cake has appeared in your dreams, that could mean all your wishes are about to come true.

Some theories suggest that ones dreams are showing you the opposite of what will come to pass. For instance if you have a dream that you’re crying, it may mean you will soon be happy.

There’s hundreds of interpretations for dreams, but does anyone truly know what they mean. Do you think it’s possible they don’t really mean anything for certain. That maybe dreams are simply made up of bits and pieces of what we already know? If all our knowledge and memories were thrown into a basket and shaken up, wouldn’t that make for a pretty strand and unusual episode? I know mine sure would! lol

Problem Solving in Your Sleep

There are many accounts of people claiming to of been enlightened with answers to long sought problems during their sleep.

A German chemist named Friedrich August Kekule worked diligently to discover the structure of the molecules that made up benzene. In 1865 he fell asleep while thinking about the atoms that made up each molecule of benzene. He claims that during his sleep he began to dream of these atoms twisting in front of him until they became an ouroboros. That the round symbol of a snake in a circle biting ahold of it’s own tail. But then upon waking, he was left with the knowledge he sought of how the benzene molecule was formed, in a circle of course.

Elias Howe was faced with a problem as well. During his creation of the lock stitch sewing machine he was struggling to perfect his design. But after his dream of being attacked by cannibals and thrown into a boiling pot, he discovered his answer. The cannibals had spears with holes in the tip, after noticing this he knew he had to put the thread at the tip of the needle to make it work properly.

Pretty much an famous mind that has worked in science or invention has found help while dreaming. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein are just a few familiar names they are said to of found answers while sleeping.

Writing in Your Sleep

Not only have many people found answers to complex mathematical and scientific problems through their dreams, but also many writers have found inspiration as well. Many of Charles Dickens’ characters were born during his dreams.

It’s said that Robert Louis Stevenson would dream up complete chapters for his books while dreaming. Upon waking up, he would write them down and compile them into his work. “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, one of his most famous books was subject to this kind of inspiration. In the book, Dr. Jekyll discovers a way to separate his good side from his bad side. But Stevenson was perplexed as to how Jekyll would achieve this. The concoction that Dr. Jekyll drinks to change into Mr. Hyde was part of a dream Stevenson had.

A couple of more modern works that were inspired by dreams are Twilight and Misery.

Stephenie Meyer had a dream that featured a young couple laying in a meadow having a discussion as to why their relationship could never work. She says that the couple consisted of your average everyday girl and a beautiful, sparkly vampire of a young man. This dream sparked the inspiration for her Best Selling book Twilight.

We all know Stephen King, and his book Misery is among my favorites. King’s story was discovered while he slept during a plane ride. He started to dream of a crazed fan kidnapping her favorite author and holding him hostage. He said he was so excited to start work on this Novel that he couldn’t even leave the airport. He sat right there in the airport and wrote the first 40 or 50 pages of his Best Selling novel Misery.

Dreams that Predict the Future

There have been many people famous over the years for supposedly being able to foretell the future through their dreams. And some that have premonitions claiming to absorb details of things to come. These are usually catastrophic events, wars and even the apocalypse.

Although many have reported having dreams and premonitions of destructive events, they still can not be avoided. Normally these “visions” don’t come with an exact time, date and location. So if you think about it, nearly any terrible event in the future could constitute as a confirmed event.

In 1980 psychic Alex Tanous predicted a famous rock star was going to die at a young age and in a very unusual way. Shortly after his premonition the Beatle’s singer John Lennon was murdered by gun shot outside his New York city apartment complex.

June 28, 1914, Monseigneur Joseph de Lanyi had a dream that he was going to receive a letter from a former student. This letter stated that the student and his wife had been murdered. Of course this dream shook de Lanyi up a bit, so he began praying for them. Then as expected, he received a telegram informing him that they had both been shot!

Of course no one really knows just how much weight our dreams have on reality. But I never seem to be able to remember many of mine. It’s rather strange, because if I’m not able to write them down or take note of them somehow immediately after waking up, I’ll forget. It’s like they are just ripped from my conscious mind never to be seen again.

It would be interesting to compile a short journal of the dreams you could actually remember. Who knows, maybe when they were all put together, they may tell either a horrific nightmare or a wonderful story of great things to come in your life. Until next time, sweet dreams everyone!