Prophetic and Self-Fulfilling Dreams. The Interpretation and Meaning of Dreams.

We are such stuff

As dreams are made on, and our little life

Is rounded with a sleep.

W. Shakespeare. The Tempest, (Act 4, Scene 1). 

Hypnos — God of Sleep

Many people wonder how to interpret their dreams and if they really mean something. Well, dreams do have great significance to me and with good reason. I know from personal experience that there’s a kind of alternate reality we can only tap into when our conscience is turned off and instead our subconscious is unleashed.

Loads of books have been written on the meanings of dreams, but I don’t think any manual can help you to decipher yours with minimally acceptable accuracy. First, I’m pretty sure the meaning of a dream varies from person to person, the same object or situation can lead to a wide range of outcomes for different people. There’s a rich palette of possible interpretations and subtle undertones in most dreams.

Sometimes, our dreams are the reflection of our hidden feelings and fears, psychological problems, or simply the inner workings of our brains that, for some reason, we’re allowed to peep into

The purpose of dreams is still a mystery today, although many believe, they could be messages from God or tools of divination, apart from a merely physiological function.

"For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; Then he openeth the ears of men and sealeth their instruction.." (Book of Job, 33:14-16)

Dream of Joseph
 (Daniele Crespi)

Luminaries like Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung identified dreams as an interaction between the unconscious and the conscious, which appears to be both logical and plausible.

When we sleep our brains digest and sort out the information received during the day and some of it even sinks in, while some is discarded, and then the system is reset — it’s like arranging a new consignment of goods on the shop shelves. Dreams are a surrealistic reflection of reality, since our conscious is not there to control it.

There’s a theory, or so I heard, that every living creature, inanimate thing or physical environment carries an inalienable information field, just like any material object casts a shade in a sunny day. It seems that by some mysterious mechanism sometimes it’s possible to tap into these fields, whether by means of dreams (which I consider the most ordinary way) or psychic powers.

Jacob's ladder. (Palazzo Farnese)

Sometimes our brain talks in riddles, and the images in a dream are abstract representations of future events created by association of thought and should be decoded by the same technique. Easier said than done, though, it’s like solving puzzles. Unfortunately, In most cases I can only match my dreams to the events post factum.



Some dreams can be classified as self-fulfilling dreams / prophecies not influenced by “dream incorporation”.

The realization of such dream depends on your next move -- the dream won't come true if you don't decide to make it happen.  

Psychologists’ often babble about memory biases (selective memory for accurate predictions), distorted memory so that dreams are retrospectively fitted onto life experiences and so on, and it is, often the case.

Bear in mind that sometimes ‘a hat is just a hat’, and your dream is just a  jumble of senseless (or not so senseless) motley suite of images.