Dreams are an interesting topic because everyone has different dreams at different times that mean different things to them. Much is known about dreams because they have meant something to people across all cultures. At the same time there is a lot to learn about dreaming because scientists have not agreed on the basic nature of dreaming. Dream therapy can be helpful to people who can remember their dreams fully and describe them to dream therapists. Often, people forget their dreams or only remember parts of them, which makes dream therapy sometimes hard to use. .
Background.
Almost every culture has thought dreams carry important messages. The ancient Greeks thought dreams were great healers. When people were sick they slept in special healing temples hoping to receive therapeutic dreams from the Gods. "Plato saw dreams as a release for fervent inner forces. Hippocrates thought dreams were windows on illness and that normal dream content indicated a state of wellness and bizarre content a state if illness. Aristotle believed that the beginning of illness could be felt in dreams before actual symptoms appeared. Likewise, Artemidorus, a physician in the Middle Ages, believed that dreams were like magnifying glasses that detected the small beginning of physical illness." (Dreamwork, 294).
"In the United States, the traditional Iroquois were and still are a people of dreams. Children were taught that dreams were the most important source of practical and spiritual guidance. The people of and Iroquois village began each day with dream sharing. The entire village became involved in dreamwork, especially if a dream seemed to contain a warning of death or disease. "Big" dreams were though to come about in one of two ways. During sleep, the dreamer would have an out-of-body experience and travel to many places, past, present, and future. Alternatively, the dreamer could receive a visit from a spiritual being.