Dreams, the Final Frontier

  Citation : Kramer, M. Insights from the “Dream Book” of the Babylonian Talmud [200–500 ce].  Sleep Vigilance   2,  79–85 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41782-017-0012-y Summary : The Babylonian Talmud (also just called "The Talmud") is a central Jewish text. Part of it is the oral tradition of the Old Testament written down, and the other part is commentary and opinions from many rabbis. "The Dream Book" is an extensive review of all the dreams discussed in The Talmud and the various opinions given on them. There is comparison to Freudian dream theory. Where Freud focuses on dreams representing the past, The Talmud indicates that dreams represent the future, and must be interpreted as such. Regardless, not all the rabbis agree with that, and many still agree with Freud's version of dream interpretation. There are many mentions of symbolism and what certain objects represent in dreams. There is a discussion about good vs bad dreams, and a part which...

Citation:   Kaplan, Robert. “Soaring on the Wings of the Wind: Freud, Jews and Judaism.”   Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry , vol. 17, no. 4, Informa UK Ltd, 2009, pp. 318–25, doi:10.1080/10398560902870957. Summary: This article discusses the life of Sigmund Freud and his relationship with Judaism. Freud was raised in a jewish community in Vienna and lived in a Jewish community all his life despite considering himself a "godless Jew." He attended Jewish schools and was able to speak a moderate amount of Hebrew. Freud came from Hasidic roots, married a woman from Hasidic roots, and none of his children married gentiles, nor denied their Jewishness. Many of Freud's psycho-analytical theories such as his Oedipus complex, sublimation, and his dream interpretation actually originate in a book of Jewish mysticism called the Zohar. Many other Jewish people looked up to Freud as an authority figure, even a sort of rabbi because of his theories which wer...

  Citation: Frieden, Ken.  Freud's Dream of Interpretation , State University of New York Press, 1990.  ProQuest Ebook      Central , https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rutgers-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3408353. Summary: Ken Frieden writes a summary of and commentary on Sigmund Freud's own book, "The Interpretation of Dreams." He focuses on Freud's reactions to instances of dream interpretation mentioned in the Old Testament, particularly Joseph and Daniel. The work is also critical of Freud's theories, as Frieden points out that the whole point of Freud's work was to establish dream interpretation as a legitimate practice, and he sometimes seems to contradict himself.  Author: Ken Frieden is  a professor of Judaic studies at Syracuse University. He is involved in the Departments of English, Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, and Religion. Frieden writes about Jewish literature.  He has written and published several of his own works...

     There are several different classes of thought on why we dream. How do different cultures, religions,  and scientific theories explain dreams? Do any cultural explanations match up with current scientific explanations?  Citations:   Frieden, Ken. Freud’s Dream of Interpretation. State University of New York Press, 1990.  Jung, C. G. “The Language of Dreams.” The Undiscovered Self, Princeton University Press, 2015, pp. 83–95, doi:10.1515/9781400839179-012.  Parsons, William B., and William B. Parsons. “Big Dreams, Religion, and the Transformational.” Pastoral Psychology, vol. 66, no. 5, Springer US, 2017, pp. 691–97, doi:10.1007/s11089-016-0750-0.

       There's plenty of scientific information on dream, and that can all take up a paragraph or two easily. But I'm more interested in the sociological and symbolic side of dreams; what they mean across cultures. When googling "dreams" or looking them up in a database almost strictly scientific theory comes up, along with dozens of possibilities about why we dream. I still found a few sources for the more abstract side of dreaming.                                                                                     https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/03/04/the-psychiatrist-who-believed-people-could-tell-the-future  is an article about a modern man of science who believed that dreams could be premonitions of the future (thanks professor!).  ...