Discusses the development of theories relating to dreams and the techniques used for discovering their meaning, reviews the findings of dream science in the areas of psychology, neurology, and biology, looks at how dreams are formed, and provides advice on how to decipher them.
A groundbreaking history of the human mind told through our experience of dreams—from the earliest accounts to current scientific findings—and their essential role in the formation of who we are and the world we have made. "A resounding case for the mystery, beauty and cognitive importance of dreams." —The New York Times What is a dream? Why do we dream? How do our bodies and minds use them? These questions are the starting point for this unprecedented study of the role and significance of this phenomenon. An investigation on a grand scale, it encompasses literature, anthropology, religion, and science, articulating the essential place dreams occupy in human culture and how they functioned as the catalyst that compelled us to transform our earthly habitat into a human world. From the earliest cave paintings—where Sidarta Ribeiro locates a key to humankind’s first dreams and how they contributed to our capacity to perceive past and future and our ability to conceive of the existence of souls and spirits—to today’s cutting-edge scientific research, Ribeiro arrives at revolutionary conclusions about the role of dreams in human existence and evolution. He explores the advances that contemporary neuroscience, biochemistry, and psychology have made into the connections between sleep, dreams, and learning. He explains what dreams have taught us about the neural basis of memory and the transformation of memory in recall. And he makes clear that the earliest insight into dreams as oracular has been elucidated by contemporary research. Accessible, authoritative, and fascinating, The Oracle of Night gives us a wholly new way to understand this most basic of human experiences.
If you are interested in understanding the meaning of your dreams, The Mythology of Sleep explores the similar healing themes from our ancient myths. The Mythology of Sleep: The Waking Power of Dreams is a groundbreaking look at the hero's journey through the dreamscape. Just as myths are stories about heroes in search of their destiny, the fantastic landscapes and cryptic symbols appearing in dreams present clues about our real identity. Discover the 3 parts of every dream that reveals the conflict, cause and it's resolution and how dreams describe the future. As if some aspect of the mind has an understanding that transcends time and self-awareness, the journey always awakens us to our full potential. Approaching dreams as the hero's journey through a landscape of wellness, this self-help book makes healing an adventure, and presents a new dimension in the study of dream interpretation.