![The Dream Dictionary from A to Z [Revised edition]: The Ultimate A–Z to Interpret the Secrets of Your Dreams - Theresa Cheung](/cover_481431.jpg "The Dream Dictionary from A to Z [Revised edition]: The Ultimate A–Z to Interpret the Secrets of Your Dreams - Theresa Cheung")
Past-life Dreams
If you dream of being in an historical setting, some believe this is evidence of past-life recall. Most dream theorists dismiss the existence of past-life or far-memory dreams, or genetic dreams (when you assume the identity of an ancestor) as evidence for past lives.
Physiological Dreams
These dreams reflect the state of your body, so, for example, if you have an upset stomach you may dream that you are being violently sick. These dreams may highlight the progress of serious physical conditions, or in some cases predict the onset of them. Alcohol consumption can also affect your dreams, increasing the likelihood of vivid but often disturbing dream images. (Sometimes these types of dreams are called ‘Healing Dreams’.)
Psychic Dreams
The great majority of dreams are symbolic and interpreted psychologically, but a tiny percentage of dreams may fall into an utterly unique category of psychic dreams or night visions. Psychic dreams include dreams of departed loved ones and dreams that are precognitive and offer glimpses of the future or warning signals. Other dreams which fall into this category are dreams that appear to be empathetic or even telepathic, in that the dreamer seems to be somehow sensing what is happening to someone else. Shared or mutual dreams – in which people describe dreaming the same dream – dreams of unborn children, and dreams where your spirit brings spiritual help or healing to others are other types of psychic dreams, or dreams that can bring healing and comfort but which experts struggle to explain rationally. Distinguishing features of psychic dreams is that they often feel real and have no plot or storyline. They also are the kind of dreams that bring great comfort and reassurance and you are likely to remember them for days, weeks, months, or even years after you have had them. See also Can You See the Future in Your Dreams?, here.
Psychological Dreams
These are dreams that bring things we would rather not think about to our attention. They make us face an aspect of ourselves or our lives that might be hindering our progress. They are often about our fears, anxieties, resentment, guilt, and insecurities. For example, if you dream you are running round and round on a hamster wheel in a cage, unable to stop, this could suggest that in your waking life you are taking on too much and not giving yourself enough time to relax.
Recurring Dreams
Dreams that recur typically happen when the dreamer is worried about a situation that isn’t resolving itself in waking life. When the trigger in waking life is dealt with, the dreams usually end. Recurring dreams can also occur when a person is suffering from some kind of phobia or trauma that has been repressed or not resolved. If this is the case, the unconscious is urging the dreamer to consciously acknowledge the issue and deal with it.
Sexual Dreams
In dreams, sex can reflect a desire for companionship or sexual frustration in waking life. But it is more likely to represent a hoped-for reunion with a part of ourselves that we are not yet expressing but need to integrate or acknowledge within ourselves to become whole.
Signal or Problem-solving Dreams
These occur when you have gone to bed mulling over a problem and found the answer in your dreams. This could be because your unconscious has already solved the problem and ‘sleeping on it’ gives your unconscious a chance to express itself. Many famous inventions were allegedly prompted by a dream. For example, Scottish engineer and inventor of the steam engine James Watt (1736–1819) dreamed of molten metal falling from the sky in the shape of balls. This dream gave him the idea for drop cooling and ball-bearings. The model of the atom, the M9 analog computer, the isolation of insulin in the treatment of diabetes and the sewing machine were all ideas that sprung from dream inspiration.
Telepathic Dreams
This is the kind of dream when someone you know appears in your dream in acute distress, and you later learn that that person was experiencing a real-life crisis at the time – such as extreme unhappiness, an accident or even death. It is thought that telepathic and empathetic dreams are a meeting of minds between two people who are close to each other emotionally.
Vigilant Dreams
These are processing dreams that involve your senses. For example, if your cell phone rings or a picture falls to the floor while you are asleep, the sound may be incorporated into your dream but appears as something else, such as a police siren or a broken window. The smell of flowers in your room may also become a garden scene in your dreams.
Wish-fulfillment Dreams
These are the kind of dreams in which we quite literally ‘live the dream’: we might win the lottery, date a celebrity, ooze charisma, or simply go on a long vacation. In these kinds of dreams our unconscious is trying to compensate for disappointment or dissatisfaction with our current circumstances in waking life.
Walking and Talking in Your Sleep
Sleepwalking or moving about while asleep is an attempt to put a dream into action. Most likely you have grown out of the habit – if you ever had it – but if an occasion arises which is very stressful, you may, like Lady Macbeth, re-enact the nightmare in this way. Talking in your sleep springs from similar causes to sleepwalking. It is an attempt to carry a dream on verbally. You are more likely to walk, talk, or move in your sleep when you are under mental pressure. Most of the time this is totally harmless, but some sleepwalkers and talkers can put themselves in real danger. Precautions should therefore be taken. Make sure windows are closed and, if stairs are a hazard, doors locked. If you’re really worried about your sleepwalking, seek advice from your doctor. If someone you live with sleepwalks, don’t try to wake them – just guide them quietly and gently back to bed.
Can You See the Future in Your Dreams?
For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see, saw the vision of the world and all the wonder that could be.
– Tennyson
Déjà vu dreams involve dreams of a person, place or thing and then, the following day or a few days afterwards, you encounter whatever featured in your dreams. Precognitive dreams are similar in that they offer glimpses of the future, but they differ in that they predict real-life events the dreamer is typically not familiar with or can have absolutely no conscious awareness of. Déjà vu dreams, in contrast, could be explained as simply being highly likely scenarios because the people, things, and situations you later encounter in your waking life are ones that you are personally familiar with.
Precognitive dreams are rare but there have been many instances when people claim to have dreamed of events they couldn’t possibly have guessed or known about before they happened. For example, many people reported dreaming about 9/11 before it occurred. Other people tell of canceling trains or flights because of a foreboding dream, only to later hear that the train or plane has crashed. There are even reports of people who dreamed the winning numbers of the lottery.
Research suggests that up to 30 percent of people have had precognitive-type dreams. Most dream researchers dismiss precognitive dreams as coincidences, but in recent years a select group of scientists have warmed to the theory that dreams might actually be able to offer us a view of our future or a potential future. Their theory is inspired by the scientifically proven phenomenon of ‘presentiment’: bodily signals, such as a raised heart
