In the preceding pages I showed you how current dreams had come to answer Irina’s recent questions. Incubating a dream still works nowadays as it did in the old times.

I will illustrate this by going back in time and talking about dreams and dream incubation in ancient societies all through Antiquity.

In Asia Minor and throughout the Mediterranean region                                   

We find the same situation.  The study and interpretation of dreams go back as far as the early archeological remains bear witness to it.  7000 to 8000 years ago the inhabitants of Mesopotamia interpreted their dreams. The picture here shows the Sumerian cuneiform tablet where is written the Epopy of Gilgamesh, with the dream of the Deluge. 1000 years later this dream inspired the story of Noah’s Ark in the Bible.

The Sumerians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans and the Hebrews maintained this way of living in contact with their dreams, as attested to by numerous passages of the Bible.

1700 years B.C. Pharaoh called upon a Jew, Joseph, to interpret his dreams and thereby he averted a famine in Egypt. ( Genesis, Ch. 41)

One thousand years later the king of Mesopotamia, Nabuchodonosor II,( 630-562 B C) asked another Jew, Daniel to tell him the meaning of his dreams. Daniel interpreted the dream and explained to the king that his megalomania would result in a psychotic episode in his life.

However, after several years of madness, he would come out of it with humility, recovering his power and glory. And that’s what happened. ( Daniel, Ch. 4)

In the Greco-Roman world

There existed a very famous dream interpreter.  He is better known as the father of Western medicine. His name is Hippocrates who lived 600 years B.C.  He came from a family of dream interpreters dedicated to the god Aesklelpios, the god of dreams and healing ;  they bore the responsibility of three functions, that of priest, doctor and dream interpreter, as the three were considered inseparable.

The temples/hospitals where people came for treatment were numerous. In Antiquity there were 420 of them. The sanctuary of Kos, where Hippocrates officiated, was very famous, such as the one of Pergame, where 800 years later, at the beginning of the Christian era around year 250,  pilgrims still flocked from the whole Mediterranean region.

Incubation and dreams

Praying Aesklepios in Greek, or Aesculapius in Latin, god of dreams and healing.

The pilgrims prepared to dream on a specifically chosen night.  They received a very modern, natural and holistic treatment, prescribed by the priest/doctor : they followed a special diet, took baths, received massages and prayed. Then the priests and the pilgrims met in the temple in a sacred place called Aesclepeion, dedicated to Asklepios. 

They slept there one or several nights, and the priests collected their dreams the next morning.

What dreamers dreamt and experienced during these nights has been reported. It was very well known that the god  intervened in different manners : either he healed immediately, either he manifested his presence in dreams with the image of a snake or a dog.

Western medicine has taken up the symbol of the snake but has forgotten its meaning. 

In the dream the god also explained the treatment to be followed in order to heal.

On site, many ex-votos thank Aesklepios for the healing.

You can see here an ex-voto with a hand, showing a kind of abscess , which was cured after the night spent in the Aesclepeion.

Today, I have spoken about dreams and incubation in Antiquity among Sumerians, Jews, Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks and Romans. Next time we will see a  especialy fascinating dream from Antiquity at the time of Christ.

Illustrations

I thank the artists and photographers, whose works permit me to illustrate my blog.

Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dream

Nabuchodonosor who became mad, by Blake

Hippocrates with a patient

Aesclepeion in the sanctuary of the Kos Island in Greece

Aesclepeion in the sanctuary of Pergame, in Turkey

The god Aesklepios, the god of dreams and healing

The grass snake accompanying the god Aesculapios

The caducei of Aesclepios, with snakes, symbol of healing

Ex voto with a hand, showing a kind of abscess

Sphinx under the moon by the German artist Schinkel , 19th century

In the preceding pages I have introduced you to dream incubation. This practice permits us to receive from the unconscious information that the conscious is unable to have access to.

I showed you how this practice is still valid today as in the ancient times and how to proceed.

Last time, with Irina’s example we saw how her dream answered her and showed her that the lover she was thinking of was not a good prospect.

So again she asks what she could do to meet a suitable partner.

A building 

For the dreamer it’s where the occupants share common habits.

Irina hopes that the dream will show her how to find a suitable partner.

Following the interview technique, now I have to ask what this description reminds her of, in regards to her incubation question.

So I proceed very methodically and say :

- Having asked your dream how to find a suitable partner, what does a building, where the occupants share common habits remind you of ?

- Oh ! says Irina, that reminds me of the singles club where I go regularly.

A cat

For Irina, this animal is an independent male who goes out at night to hunt or chase a “beauty”.  Isn’t that the description of a man?... So the dream, through its symbolism, is  talking about a man, whom Irina  knows well and meets regularly.  Who is this man ?

Now, is the dream giving more precise details ?

She goes to feed this cat.         

What does she feed him with ?  

With flesh?  Who is this man with whom there is contact of the flesh?

Among the many men she dances with at the club, who is the man the dream is singling out ? Let’s examine the next image :  

Every time she arrives, the cat rushes towards her.

 - I see, Irina cries out, that’s Frank.  He always comes to get me when he sees me.  He’d like me to go out with him, but I'm not really attracted to him.

Let’s go through the verifications:  is this man independent?  He sure is.          

So why does this independent man rush to meet her ?  Because she is also independent and he knows that she’s not the “you and me forever” type. 

-  But, remarks Irina, another man also rushes towards me, it’s Stephan.

Frank ? Stephan ?

We haven’t got a clear answer yet. So let’s see if the following part of the dream gives us more precise clues.         

I show Eva a pretty bra which I have just bought 

 A bra enhances the breasts.

It allows a woman to use her power of seduction, it gives a charming glimpse at feminine eroticism.

- As a matter of fact, Irina adds, lately I’ve changed, I’ve bought new outfits, less sober, much more sexy.                                                                    

And so the dream underlines the efforts made by our dreamer to seduce the men around her. 

Irina bursts out in a joyous, refreshing laughter and says:

- You know, Christiane, I am quite popular !

I notice that the cat is slipping away. 

Well, while the pretty woman is savoring her popularity with one and the other, all of a sudden the tomcat is running off.     

Is it Frank or could it be Stephan?

- Ah! It’s true, says Irina ! Frank is turning away from me because I haven’t responded to his advances. 

And what does the dream say?                                                                               

My sister Eva says I have to bring him back.

Well there we are !

Eva, the woman who knows what she wants gives this advice.

-Gosh ! says Irina. Frank ? I would have preferred someone else.  He’s not bad but it’s not love at first sight.

 Yes, but the dream considers Frank a real male, an instinctive virile man, this is quite different from insect infested branches as in the preceding dream. 

Maybe Irina should remember that she wants enjoyable sexual relations and therefore change her point of view.

Well, now we have the indications of the dream.  They are not what Irina expected but they bring something new.  Irina doesn’t know everything, perhaps her view is limited to the surface, the appearances.

- Listen, she says, Christiane, I’ve been working with you interpreting my dreams for a couple of months and everything you’ve told me concerning them has been so exact.  If I had listened to them, I would have avoided lots of trouble. So I’ll see, I’ll go and meet him.

But she has to hurry, he’s taking off.       

You will find the text in french on the french blog

http://christiane-riedel.blogspirit, 12 May 2007, (05 10 2007)

Illustrations

I thank the artists and photographers, whose works permit me to illustrate my blog.

Laughing cat : maxcrabouif.zeblog.com

Cat : fond-ecran-image.com

Cat : pixfr.eu

Cat : naturailes.org

Bra :cannnes.olx.fr