Archive for the ‘Dream Theories’ Category
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
Welcome back guest blogger “Dr. C” to Drem Theories. She’s sharing her in-house know how about the sleeping mind. Today, let’s spook our way through the confused and abnormal disruption (and potential trauma) parasomniacs endure.This is the kind of science I LOVE to play with in my contemporary psychic fantasies. Understanding more about how our brains work in sleep and out, makes me a happy geeky girl ;o) And it opens worlds of plotting happiness for even bigger and more exciting stories about worlds that play out in our minds alone. Bwahahahaha!!!
So read on, then come back to Dream Theories often to hear more of my meanderings about my personal dream research–and more from Dr. C., as she feeds my (and your) imagination about the physiology behind oursleeping brains’ most intriguing, if disturbing, patterns. If you look closely enough, even in today’s post, you’ll see the bones of the “fringe” science on which I crafted the parapsychology of my first two Legacy books. No, NOT Exploding Head Syndrome (though I don’t know HOW I missed that one!).
Don’t forget to ask Dr. C. your strange dream/sleep questions in the comments… She’s SO much fun to talk to ;o)
***
Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives. ~William Dement
Lady Macbeth: Out, damn’d spot! out, I say!—One; two: why, then ’tis time to do’t.—Hell is murky.—Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our pow’r to accompt?—Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him? ~William Shakespeare, Macbeth
What do these two quotes have in common other than being by men named William who like to ponder the weird things people do in their sleep? It is often assumed that parasomnias, or “…unpleasant or undesirable behavioral or experiential phenomena that occur predominantly or exclusively during the sleep period,” (Mahowald & Bornemann, Principles & Practices of Sleep Medicine, 4th ed.) have their roots in some sort of psychological distress, including guilty consciences. However, the cause is more physiological than psychological.
If you’ve learned to drive a stick-shift car or been in a car with a failing transmission, you know how it stalls out or moves jerkily from one gear to another if something is off, either with the driver’s clutch timing or in the transmission itself. Remember that hypnogram from last week showing the different sleep stages? Sometimes the brain doesn’t shift smoothly from one stage to another, or it gets interrupted, and that’s when parasomnias can occur.
(more…)
Tags: dream emotion, Dream Theories, dreams, fantasy, fantasy author, Legacy Series, parapsychology, psychic
Posted in Dream Theories | 1 Comment »
Thursday, December 15th, 2011
Long silence on blog = Anna’s sick. You know that by now, right? I’ve crawled out of my cave. Let’s talk about what the famous people in our dreams mean, before I collapse again. Flu SUCKS, btw. Whine. But I digress. What does it mean when we dream about famous people and fictional characters?
Yeah, I’m going to riff on animated and over-the-top, real-life characters throughout this post. And you’re not going to see any of my recurring dream buddies. Not a chance. I believe too strongly in this topic to pull my cyber panties down and give you a microscope into my psyche!
Well, okay. I’ll give you one real dream character of my very own. But I’m not gonna tell you which one. So, enjoy the side show and try to figure out which of these images really has come out to play, during my nocturnal wanderings ;o) All votes are welcome. You won’t guess it. You’re never gonna guess it… And I’m absolutely not including political or religious “greats” in this post. I may be a sick girl, but I’m not stupid.
Okay, back to business. First of all, we can invite anyone we want to our dreams. So you have to ask yourself who you’ve brought along for the party, and why. Do you feel negative or positive about these characters?
Actually, is there just one famous person and you, or are you in a crowd of those you admire or publicly despise?Are you interacting with them, or standing back to watch. Are we talking tv/movie/entertainment famous, or dead/living politicians, writers, great thinkers, etc? Oh, and where are you all getting together for this shindig?
As I’ve said, the emotions of your dreams are key. They’ll point you to the better understanding you seek of why the people in your dreams do and say what they do, especially your famous guests. Dream analysis will first tell you that these characters may represent aspects of our own personalities that we either aspire to improve or long to negate.
(more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, creativity & inspiration, dream emotion, Dream Theories, dreams, fantasy, fantasy author, parapsychology
Posted in Dream Theories | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
Welcome guest blogger “Dr. C” to Drem Theories. She has great sleep and dream facts and myths to share and bust for us! A PHD in clinical psychology with a specialization in sleep disorders, she’s giving us awesome insight into what’s happening to our minds and bodies as we dream. She’s also a fantasy author and has been a great “real world” resource for me as I write about dreams and parapsychology and metaphysics and all the other “brain” stuff I use as I create my contemporary fantasy worlds.
Read on for some sleep basics (types and stages and helpful hits about sleeping better yourself). You’re sure to learn something new. Ask questions, get her talking about all that she knows, heckle, or whatever else entertains you ;o) I know I’m going to!
Next week: more of my Dream Theory insights based on the research I’ve done for my Legacy series. Dr. C will be back in two weeks, with all her knowledge and confirmation that I’m a quack and that she’s the sleep expert, and that you should all be listening to her instead of me ;o)
*********
Thanks, Anna, for inviting me to do this series of guest blog posts!
People do weird things in their sleep. It’s one reason I love being a sleep psychologist – I rarely hear the same stories twice. Also, I feel I can make a huge and almost immediate difference for my patients, and I get to be a “Myth-buster” of sorts. Yes, there are lots of myths going around about sleep and dreaming, so for my first post, I wanted to take the opportunity to “bust” some common misconceptions. All of these have been said by several of my patients.
Myth #1: If I don’t remember my dreams, I must not be having any.
To address this one, we need to back up a bit and talk about some sleep basics. We have different stages of sleep from lighter to deeper, and when you go in for a sleep study, the doctors and techs can tell what stage you’re in by the kind of squiggly lines your brain is putting out on the EEG channels. There are two main types of sleep: Rapid Eye Movement sleep and non-Rapid Eye Movement sleep. We progress through non-REM to REM in cycles. Here’s a hypnogram to illustrate how we do it:
Here are the stages within types.
Non-REM sleep: (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, creativity & inspiration, Dream Theories, dreams, fantasy, fantasy author, Legacy Series
Posted in Dream Theories | 2 Comments »
Monday, November 28th, 2011
Do falling dreams predict an incident to come? No. Well, maybe, for some of us who feel the energy of our dreams in our waking worlds. Bwahahaha… For others, you could simply be “falling” into sleep. Or, there might be deeper psychological meanings. Let’s take a look!
Do you fall or fly, surrounded by vivid imagery and wrapped up in a story line? Are you feeling anxious or soaring? These are key indicators that you’re mind’s processing how you’re feeling about something that’s happening or about to happen in your life that you’re worried about. And if you’re always falling and never hit bottom? Maybe you’re feeling out of control, with no sense that you can take charge. You’re, quite simply, taking a leap of faith.
Far from crashing into the ground meaning that you’re going to die, it can often mean that you’re ready to make the choice you’ve been avoiding. (more…)
Tags: contemporary fantasy, creativity & inspiration, dream color, dream emotion, Dream Theories, dreams, fantasy, fantasy author, Legacy Series, lucid dreaming
Posted in Dream Theories | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
Dogs are best friends. Wolves are wisdom. Seals are over-the-top aspirations…Three of the animals readers asked me to share after my last Dream Theory post. But generic symbolism is just the beginning. It’s not you. Do you dream about your dog, friendly or ferel wolves, swimming or land-locked or tame seals?
Ok, some linky links to start the day off right:
That said, let’s talk about you ;o)
Depending on the strength of what you’re feeling about those golden retrievers in your dreams, you could be celebrating a growing friendship or mourning a relationship that’s in trouble. (more…)
Tags: dream emotion, Dream Theories, dreams, fantasy, fantasy author, Legacy Series
Posted in Dream Theories | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011
Animals in dreams are our subconscious, our desires, our fears, our feelings, ourselves. “Uh, yeah.” You’re rolling your eyes, because everyone knows that. “But what does that mean for ME?” Well, scoot over, hold onto your knickers and give me a minute.
My last Dream theories post introduced the animal theme that’ll take the rest of November to explore.
That was back at the end of August, then I took a blog sabbatical so I could explore my world and return, recharged and raring to entertain (alliteration is my new zen, BTW). So click back through it and catch up. I wouldn’t want to leave anyone behind, because I let my brain out on holiday…
Our instincts have an animal component to them. You already knew that, too. We possess animal traits and urges and desires. In our dreams, these otherwise unconscious ways of processing and dealing with life bubble a little closer to the surface, showing us facets of ourselves we don’t take time to see when we’re awake.
But can we understand what our minds are showing us through animal imagery? Can we meet these animals in a more literal way and learn from them/ourselves? If we do find a way to be more lucid and interactive about our dreams, starting with remembering them as much as we possibly can, what do our animal inspirations tell us?
Let’s see ;o)
(more…)
Tags: contemporary fantasy, creativity & inspiration, dream color, dream emotion, Dream Theories, dreams, fantasy, fantasy author, Legacy Series, lucid dreaming
Posted in Dream Theories | 1 Comment »
Monday, August 29th, 2011
It’s going to take a few Mondays to cover animal themes in dreams. It’s one of the most frequent symbols I’m asked about. There’s so much to study when you try to analyze animal dreams: your age, gender, current life circumstances, as well as the animal content itself. Ready to dive in?
Monday Sept 12th (after we break for Labor Day in between), we’ll do specific animals, so come back in two weeks for fun imagery tips and trade secrets. But before we get into categories of animal symbols, let’s talk about you.The dreamer. Who are you, what in your life is calling these animal images out of your subconscious and into your dream states, and how might even your age be shaping what you see when you sleep?
Did you know that research shows children’s dreams are more likely to reference animals than adult’s? Those who follow my Psychic Realm posts have heard me say that in metaphysics many believe animals are the closest beings on this earth to pure spirits, and that children have a closer connection to spiritual realms/dimensions than adults. Could this be playing out in our young one’s dream cycles? Also, we haven’t gotten to “familiars” in my Psychic series (where I’m researching parapsychology, etc. for a future fantasy series), but in general the theory goes that we all have a totem/animal spirit that’s most attached to us. We tend to gravitate toward these creatures as pets. Is it significant, then, that the majority of animal dreams amongst children (dreams being where our spirits often feel most free) tend to be about their pets? Hmmmm…
A less spiritual way to look at animals dreams is to consider that we’ve grown up associating certain traits, behaviors and emotions to the animals we see and read about. You’ve heard the cliches: stubborn as a mule; sly as a fox; sneaky as a snake. (more…)
Tags: animal dreams, Anna DeStefano, contemporary fantasy, creativity & inspiration, Dark Legacy, dream color, dream emotion, dream interpretation, dream programming, dream science, Dream Theories, dreams, fantasy author, gender dreams, Gestalt, Legacy Series, lucid dreaming, lucid dreams, Secert Legacy
Posted in Dream Theories | No Comments »
Monday, August 22nd, 2011
Ever shock yourself in a dream by realizing that you’re experiencing that night’s vision as the opposite sex? Why do we do that? What is our mind’s agenda? Is it more important to focus on the physiology of what we “are” in our dreams, or the psychology of how we’re thinking and behaving differently? Let’s find out–you know, beyond Freud’s obvious interpretation ;o)
Let’s face it, these can be bizarre dreams. First of all, what’s going on in all the grey matter that we’d even notice something so strange and disorienting as seeing/experiencing/walking through the world in a different body? You know, it’s our body, but it’s different. We’re different. Almost as if the “me” we know is disappearing and being replaced with someone else. And maybe that’s our first clue.
Could this be an imbalance bubbling to the surface, begging us to take notice? A mask we need to drop? Another part of our personality (masculine of feminine) that needs to take a stronger hold? That’s what I meant with my question about whether the gender change you notice has more meaning to you emotionally, than it does physiologically. In gender-switching dreams, be on the look out for what parts of yourself might be fighting their way out of obscurity. This tends to be so much more important than the outward, glandular appearance of something being different.
The strong emotional reaction we have to a shocking dream like looking down and noticing that our bodies are changing before our eyes can be an opportunity to explore and change and grow. And NOT just in the phallic, penis envy way that Freud and his cocaine addiction would have us believe. (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, contemporary fantasy, creativity & inspiration, Dark Legacy, dream color, dream emotion, dream interpretation, dream programming, dream science, Dream Theories, dreams, fantasy author, gender dreams, Gestalt, Legacy Series, lucid dreaming, lucid dreams, Secert Legacy
Posted in Dream Theories | 1 Comment »
Monday, August 15th, 2011
It’s Monday. Time for another dream theory post, based on the research I do for my sci-fi/fantasy Legacy series. What’s one of the scariest types of dreams I get asked about most? What does it mean when my teeth fall out in my dreams? I’ve had personal spooky moments with this theme myself, and it always gives me the creeps! Shudder. But what does it mean? You know, once I’ve raced to the mirror to make sure everything’s really okay…
First, as soon as you wake (or those of you who find yourself lucid while you’re dreaming, focus as soon as you become aware), ask yourself: were your teeth crumbling, breaking, falling out one by one? The momentum with which you’re losing them can be key. How rapidly, violently, emotionally is the loss happening?
Why? Because dreams about teeth tend to be about control, power, and what’s stopping you from exercising one or both of them in your life. So it follows that the momentum and circumstances surrounding your dream teeth loss might give you insight into the significance of whatever’s triggering the symbol’s appearance.
There are a variety of interpretations about teeth dreams. They’re one of the most common dreams, overall. Pretty much everyone’s experienced it at one time or another:
- Freud would like us to believe they’re about…wait for it…castration anxiety. WhatEVER (I’m NOT a big Freud fan when it comes to dream interpretation. He always leads with his dangly parts. Someone along the way should have suggested he get a handle on his fixation. Literally.).
- As far back as Artemidorus’ Oneirocriteria (The Interpretation of Dreams) it was suggested that loss of either the top or the bottom teeth can indicate upheaval in your household.
- Calvin Hall found that not only do men tend to have teeth dreams more than women (Wow. Really? Just like men have more naked dreams? Hmmm….), but that the prevailing emotion he detected associated with teeth dreams was loss or misfortune. He took a more content approach to his study. Think about it. We lose our teeth spontaneously throughout our lives, through no fault of our own. It’s a loss we have no control over. So, is that the emotional dynamic our minds are working through when they call up this particular type of dream?
- In Chinese and other cultures,baring your teeth is a sign of aggression/warfare, so losing them in your dreams can symbolize a loss of power.
- Others have thought that, depending on the type/size of teeth you dream about losing, you could be experiencing a fear of aging (are you losing small/baby teeth or larger/older teeth?). Is it a fear of maturity or responsibility playing itself out in your nighttime fantasies?
But having said all that, and back to my original questions above (HOW are your teeth falling out in your dreams), a more modern interpretation suggests that that teeth dreams are about communication (or realization) of core issues in your life. (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, contemporary fantasy, creativity & inspiration, Dark Legacy, dream color, dream emotion, dream interpretation, dream programming, dream science, Dream Theories, dreams, fantasy author, Gestalt, Legacy Series, lucid dreaming, lucid dreams, Secert Legacy, teeth dreams
Posted in Dream Theories | 1 Comment »
Sunday, July 24th, 2011
We’ve talked about examining, grouping, and interpreting your dreams. Now that I’m back from Summer break, let’s get specific and have a little fun. Starting with getting naked ;o) The most common take on being naked in dreams is that these images represent the dreamer’s fear of being vulnerable. Remember, dreams are all about emotions/feelings. Except, not every culture views nakedness as something to be ashamed of, and not every dream about taking our clothes off in front of other people is about exposing ourselves to ridicule…
Yes, in North America, nudity is most often forbidden, even illegal in some situations. So it’s a normal, literal interpretation to think your naked dreams are about being embarrassed or mortified. And, yes, studies have told us that men have more naked dreams than women. Which, metaphorically, could mean that men have a greater fear of being exposed.
Still, remember that dreams are often not quite as literal as we think they are. What if naked dreams are telling us we’re tired of covering up, and that we’re wanting people to notice something we’ve been hiding too long. What would that say about the men (and women) in our society who dream of letting it all hang out ;o)
In a lot of naked dreams, we discover ourselves standing in front of strangers, rather than keeping parts of ourselves hidden the way we often do in our everyday lives. So, if we feel anxious and cover up, or if we feel proud and confident in front of faceless or nameless onlookers in our dreams, what does that mean?
We’re all born naked and learn to feel embarrassed by our exposed bodies based on cultural and social norms . But in the right places, even in conservative societies, being without clothes is the goal–say when we’re having sex. Naked doesn’t always mean safe. Our naked dreams can be about no longer needing to protect ourselves so closely. They can be about wanting to experience a more natural lifestyle. Which would be a good thing, right?
The types of clothes you dream you’re taking off (or staying in) can be significant, too. Cool, huh? Okay, maybe it’s a girl thing, (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, contemporary fantasy, creativity & inspiration, Dark Legacy, dream color, dream emotion, dream interpretation, dream programming, dream science, Dream Theories, dreams, fantasy author, Gestalt, Legacy Series, lucid dreaming, lucid dreams, Secert Legacy
Posted in Dream Theories | No Comments »
