Drifting in a river in a dream

The Language of Dreams: What Does Our Mind Tell Us?

Dreams are one of the most mysterious and interesting phenomena of the human mind. Questions such as what dreams mean, how they are formed, and how they can be controlled have intrigued people for centuries.

In the depths of sleep, our mind opens the doors of our subconscious and shows us various dreams. These dreams are visual and emotional adventures that sometimes open up to fantastic and surreal worlds, and sometimes reflect our emotional experiences in real life. So, what is the meaning behind dreams? How do dreams form? Is it possible to control dreams? In this blog post, we will discuss the scientific and symbolic aspects of dreams and provide a perspective on what our mind tells us during sleep.

Historical and Cultural Traces of Dreams

Different cultures have interpreted and given meaning to dreams in various ways throughout history. From ancient civilizations to modern societies, dreams have often been accepted as prophecies, messages, or spiritual experiences.

In ancient Egypt, dreams carried important religious and cultural contexts that went beyond personal experiences and aimed at predicting the future or receiving messages from the gods. Dreams were interpreted by priests and kings and used to communicate with the dead. In ancient Greece, dreams were seen as a mirror reflecting people's inner world. This belief was discussed in psychological and philosophical terms by thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle.

In medieval Europe, Christianity accepted dreams as a means of communication from God. Thinkers such as St. Augustine believed that dreams carried God's messages by attributing spiritual meaning to them. During this period, dreams were accepted as an opportunity to understand God's will and receive guiding messages. Although dreams began to be addressed from a more rational perspective during the Renaissance, they continued to carry symbolic meanings. During this period, dreams were a means of reflecting one's inner world and expressing one's creativity.

Dreams also have a special place in Eastern cultures. In religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, dreams are associated with spiritual enlightenment and inner experiences. In these cultures, dreams are interpreted with an understanding of the individual's inner world and spiritual development. Dreams are considered as an opportunity for a person to understand themselves better and find inner balance.

Discovering the Meaning of Dreams

Dreams are affected by many factors such as the events we experience, emotions, thoughts, dreams, fears, desires and messages from our subconscious. In order to decipher the meaning of dreams, it is necessary to understand the symbolic language of the dream. The objects, people, colors and events we see in dreams have special meanings for each person. In order to find this meaning, it is necessary to take into account the context of the dream and personal interpretation.

There are many methods and resources for interpreting dreams. However, interpreting dreams outside of their context can be misleading. Dreams are shaped according to the person, the life and culture the person is in. The best interpreter of dreams is the person who sees the dream. In order to understand the language of dreams, it is necessary to remember, write, analyze and creatively interpret the dream.

Freud and the Psychoanalytic Approach

Sigmund Freud thought that dreams were a kind of subconscious expression and shaped modern dream analysis with his studies in this field. With Freud's work, dream analysis became popular in the field of psychoanalysis and the idea that dreams are an expression of our subconscious became widespread. According to him, dreams have symbolic meanings and through dreams, hidden thoughts and desires in our subconscious emerge.

Freud defines dreams as the noble path (via regia) to the subconscious. According to Freud, dreams are the process of transforming repressed desires and motives into acceptable open content in the unconscious process. Freud divides dreams into two as latent and manifest. Latent content is symbolic and corresponds to the dreamer's underlying desires. Manifest content is the way the dream is seen and is used to cover up the latent content. For example; if a person sees himself flying in his dream, this is manifest content. Latent content symbolizes this person's desire to be free or his desire to escape. This approach emphasizes that dreams reflect people's inner world in a psychological and emotional context. According to Freud, the interpretation of dreams is an important tool for understanding a person's psychological structure. Psychoanalytic theorists such as Freud argued that dreams are an area where our subconscious is revealed and popularized dream analysis.

Jung's Criticisms and the Collective Subconscious

Freud's dream theory has also been criticized a lot. The most important of these criticisms comes from Freud's student and colleague Carl Gustav Jung, who has done important work in the field of psychoanalysis. Contrary to Freud, Jung argued that dreams originate not only from the individual subconscious but also from the collective subconscious. According to Jung, the collective subconscious is the archetypes that are the common heritage of humanity.