History of Dreams
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Dreams have appeared in written history as far back as ancient Egypt. Hieroglyphs reveal that the Egyptians selected gifted dreamers and provided in-depth dream interpretation training to predict future events for the court. They believed that in a dream state, transformation took place. Dreams would take them to actual places that existed in other realms of consciousness, which a person could revisit in their sleep or in a deep trance. The Egyptians taught their court dreamers to shape-shift and to travel in other dimensions where useful information could be gained. In fact, dream interpretation exists in almost all countries and cultures, where the information is harvested for guidance and wisdom.
Native Americans used dreaming as an important way to keep in touch with the spiritual world. In Australia, the Aboriginals believed dreaming helped us recognize that we’re part of a greater whole, and that dream states are in the realm of Great Spirit. As an important part of their schooling, the ancient Greeks had ‘dreaming temples’ to master their awareness of better living, and believed that sleepers were collaborators in what goes on in the universe.
Ancient Bible scriptures, in both the Old and New Testaments, describe dreams as surrendering ourselves to the Divine. Dreams were a favored tool that the Divine used to guide us in our daily lives.
In spite of the Biblical Joseph being maligned by his brothers for his dreams, his gift of dreaming eventually changed history. And later, when their little brother was in a position to save them from starvation, the brothers learned to be grateful for Joseph’s dreams. There are many biblical references to show that God’s spirit will be given to all people to dream, see visions, receive prophesy and that God’s direction will be revealed through these vehicles.
The Prophet Mohammed refers to Allah as having created the dream not only as a means of guidance and instruction, but also as a window on the Unseen; and that if one does not believe in true dreams, one does not believe in Allah.
Finally, Tibetan holy books instructed Monks on how to dream themselves into higher being.
