Guide Note

Dream interpretation is the process of assigning meanings to dreams.

In some cultures, dreams have been considered a means of supernatural communication. In contemporary Western cultures, dream interpretation has been largely influenced by the work of psychologists Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, who both identify dreams as an interaction between the conscious and unconscious mind.

Fast Facts

1. The Ancient Greeks and Romans believed that dreams were messages from the gods or deceased family members
2. The Christian Bible has more than seven hundred references to dreams
3. Humans spend approximately 6 years of their lives dreaming
4. Some psychologists use dream interpretation as a way to understand their patients' subconscious minds
5. "Dream dictionaries" apply meanings to symbols and events in dreams
6. Many artists and inventors claim to have been inspired by their dreams

1. "To have a truly comprehensive understanding of dreams, you have to be bilingual. You have to speak the language of the mind and the language of the brain."—Glen Gabbard, professor of psychoanalysis and psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine
2. "If you're going to understand human behavior, here's a big piece of it. Dreaming is our own storytelling time--to help us know who we are, where we're going and how we're going to get there."—Rosalind Cartwright, Chairman of Psychology at Chicago's Rush University Medical Center