dreams

DELVING DEEP INTO

the

DREAMS

HONG KUAN (QUENTIN) LI

Fantastic and surreal stories

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DELVING DEEP INTO

the

DREAMS

HONG KUAN (QUENTIN) LI


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DELVING DEEP INTO

the

DREAMS

DELVING DEEP DREAMS

On average, we spend about one third of our lives sleep-ing. During a portion of that time, we are also dreaming. While asleep, we often gain rest and refreshment for our hard day of work.

On average, we spend about one third of our lives sleeping. During a portion of that time, we are also dreaming. While asleep, we often gain rest and refreshment for our hard day of work. Dreams are our method of relaxing and letting our minds drift away into a distant world. While dreaming, we can interact with various people, places orthings. Technically speaking, a dream ismass hallucination, but a dream is not only hallucination, but a fantastical journey in our sleep that either relieves us of stress or tries to detract us from a certain habit or future happening.


DID YOU DREAM LAST NIGHT?

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• FOREWORD ~

• INTRODUCTION ~

The Meaning of DreamsThe Dreaming ProcessCharacteristics of Dreams

• WORKING WITH COLOR IN DREAMS ~

What’s the color of your dreams?Color Meanings in Dreams

• THE THINGS THAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF ~

The Eight Most Common Types Of DreamsInteresting Facts about Dreams

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DELVING DEEP DREAMS

On average, we spend about one third of our lives sleep-ing. During a portion of that time, we are also dreaming. While asleep, we often gain rest and refreshment for our hard day of work.



On average, we spend about one third of our lives sleeping. During a portion of that time, we are also dreaming. While asleep, we often gain rest and refreshment for our hard day of work. Dreams are our method of relaxing and letting our minds drift away into a distant world. While dreaming, we can interact with various people, places or things. Technically speaking, a dream is mass hallucination, but a dream is not only hallucination, but a fantastical journey in our sleep that either relieves us of stress or tries to detract us from a certain habit or future happening.

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FOREW

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INTRODUCTIONThe Meaning of Dreams

The Dreaming ProcessCharacteristics of Dreams

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The meaning of dreams

The average person has about three to five dreams per night, but some may have up to seven dreams in one night. During a full eight-hour night sleep, two hours of it is spent dreaming.

DREAMS are successions of images, ideas, and sensations that occur invol-untarily in peoples’ mind during certain stages of sleep. Contents and purposes of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, as well as a subject of philo-sophical and religious interest.

Dreams are often a response to our daily thoughts, activities and sensations. They are often, then, a reflection of what has consumed our minds in the preceding day or two. Dreams are plainly a requard part of our being. Experiments have been done in which adult subjects were given drugs that progressively eliminated their rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. It is during REM that dreams occur. At times, dreams always occur during other stages of sleep. However, these dreams tend to be much less vivid or memorable. Dreams can last for just a few seconds, or as long as 20 minutes or more.

The average person has about three to five dreams per night. People are often more likely to remember the dream if they are awakened during the REM phase. Often, the dreams tend to last longer as the night progresses. During a full 8-hour night sleep, two hours of it is spent dreaming.

Often, dreams have been seen as a con-nection to the unconscious. They range from normal and ordinary to overly sur-real and bizarre. And, dreams can have varying natures, such as frightening, ad-venturous, exciting, melancholic, sexual, and so on.

The events in dreams are often generally outside the control of the dreamer, with the exception of lucid dreams, where dreamers are self-aware. In addition, dreams can at times make a creative thought occur to the person immediately.

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Well I couldsleep foreverBut it’s of her

If I could

I could forget about

everythingIf I could

sleep forever

I dream

STAGE 4

The deepest sleep of all. This is often the time the dreams occur. The sleeper is al-most impossible to wake now. If there’s a loud noise or if the sleeper is shaken, it’ll take the sleeper a few seconds to wake up. Both the sleeper’s blood pressure and heart rate fluctuate, the sleeper’s brain heats up. Then comes the REM. If the sleeper is woken up during this time, he or she will be able to remember a re-cently dreamt dream. The first REM period will last only about ten minutes. After that, the sleeper goes back into a deep stage four sleep. Again, the sleeper goes into a REM stage after a short period and cycles through REM and stage four until the sleeper is woken up.

STAGE 1

The first stage of sleep. It is a very light sleep. It usually lasts just a few minutes. If the sleeper is not disturbed by anyone or thing, he or she will quickly journey into the next stage sleep.

STAGE 2

This is a much deeper sleep than stage one. Dreams start to brew around stage two. Although there are no clear images, vague thoughts and ideas drift through sleepers’ mind. If sleepers remain undis-turbed, they will drift off into stage three.

STAGE 3

A deeper sleep than stage two. Sleepers’ muscles are all relaxed by now, and their heart rates have slowed down. Their blood pressure is also falling. Their breathing is steady and even. Sleepers are very dif-ficult to wake now. Only two things can wake the sleepers now, a loud noise or an repetitious calling of the sleepers’ name.

The sleep cycle consists of four individual stages, and the length of each cycle varies from person to person, but every human being experiences all four stages of sleep every night.

The dreaming process

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Well I couldsleep foreverBut it’s of her

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Characteristics of dreams

“Dream characteristics may behave normally or indulge in the most absurd, improbable or impossible actions in set tings either familiar or bearing the faintest resem blances to those of real life.” —Allan Hobson

DREAMS ARE OFTEN DISORGANIZED AND ILLOGICAL

Dreams are full of discontinuities, and in-consistency, but sometimes these things can lead to many downright bizarre dream content. One of the hallmarks of dreams is “illogical content and organization, in which the unities of time, place and person do not apply, and natural laws are disobeyed.” Some instances of illogical dream content includes flying, time travel, talking animals, sudden transformations of both people and objects and sudden shifts in setting.

DREAMS CAN ALWAYS FEATURE INTENSE EMOTIONS

Usually, one of the major characteristics of dreams is that the emotions experi-enced in dreams can be intense, painful and acute. People often report dreaming about deeply embarrassing situations and profoundly terrifying events. In some instances, these emotions can become so intense that they interrupt the dream or cause the dreamer to wake abruptly. To most people the most common emotions that become intensified by dreams are anxiety, fear and surprise.

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I live my life inside a dreamonly wakenwhen I sleepI would sellMy sorry soulIf I could have it all —Marina Lambrini Diamandis

Time, motion and wine cause sleep



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DREAMS ARE SOMETIMES DIFFICULT TO REMEMBER

While memory seems to be intensified within the context of the dream, access to the information contained within dreams diminishes rapidly once the dreamer wakes. Dream researchers estimate that almost 95 percent of all dreams are for-gotten entirely upon awakening.

PEOPLE OFTEN EXPERIENCE BIZARRE SENSATIONS IN THEIR DREAMS

While memory seems to be intensified within the context of the dream, access to the information contained within dreams diminishes rapidly once the dreamer wakes. Dream researchers estimate that almost 95 percent of all dreams are for-gotten entirely upon awakening.

OFTEN STRANGE DREAM CONTENT IS ACCEPTED WITHOUT QUESTION

The odd events and content that occur in dreams are typically accepted with-out question by the dreaming mind. Ac-cording to Hobson, the unquestioning acceptance of dream content is due to the strength of our internally generated emotions and perceptions. Within the dream, these strange and illogical events, perceptions and objects are not seen as being out of place. If the dream is remembered upon waking, the content of the dream is seen as odd or even difficult to explain.


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“Sleep, sleep, beauty bright, dreaming in the special joys of night; sleep, sleep; in thy sleep little sorrows sit and weep.” —William Blake

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WORKING WITH COLOR IN DREAMSWhat’s the color of your dreams?

Color Meanings in Dreams

What’s the color of your dreams?

Not everyone dreams in color. The type of television you watched as a child may has a very profound effect on the colour of your dreams.

ABOUT 12 percent of sighted people dream exclusively in black and white. However, the remaining number dream in full color. Studies from 1915 through to the 1950s maintained that the majority of dreams were in black and white. Many recent researches have suggested that those changing results may be linked to the switch from black-and-white film and TV to somevivid color media. How-ever, the tide turned in the sixties, and many later results suggested that up to 83 percent of dreams contain vivid colour.

Since this period marked the transition between black-and-white film and TV and widespread Technicolor, the explanation was that the media had been priming the subjects’ dreams. However it was always controversial and differences between the studies prevented the researchers from drawing any firm conclusions.

Only 5 percent of the under-25s’ dreams were black and white. The over-55s who had had access to colour TV and film during their childhood also reported a very low proportion of just 7.7 percent. On the other hand, the over-55s who had the access to black-and-white me-dia reported dreaming in black and white roughly a quarter of the time. Even though they would have spent a few hours a day watching TV or films, their attention and emotional engagement would have been heightened during this time.

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Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

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“Television and films which by their very nature are interest-ing and emotionally engaging and even dreamlike. So when you dream you may copy what you have seen on the screen.”

—Eva Murzyn

The findings suggest that the moment when Dorothy passes out of monochrome Kansas and awakes in Technicolor Oz may have had more signif icance for our subconscious than we literally ever dreamed of.

Eva Murzyn, a psychology student at Dundee University who carried out the study, said: “It’s a fascinating hypothesis.”It suggests there could be a critical period in our childhood when watching films has a big impact on the way dreams are formed. “What is even more interesting is that before the advent of black and white television all the evidence suggests we were dreaming in colour.”

Even though they would have spent only a few hours a day watching TV or films, their attention and emotional engage-ment would have been heightened during this time, leaving a deeper imprint on their mind, Miss Murzyn told the New Scientist. “The crucial time is between three and 10 when we all begin to have the ability to dream,” she said.

Miss Murzyn concedes it’s still impos-sible to verify whether the dreams are actually in black-and-white, or whether media exposure somehow alters the way the mind reconstructs the dreams once we wake.

The below color associations in dream interpretation should be thought of as loose guides. First, think about what personal color associations you might have.

RED

Red can symbolize passion, courage, or your emotional relationships, but it can also be the color of danger. You will need to think about what your personal associations are with red and look at the context of the rest of your dream to find out if you’re seeing love or danger. Often they go hand in hand.

ORANGE

Orange symbolizes sociability and friend-liness. This color could be showing you new interests that are warm and friedly towards you, or maybe your thoughtful-ness towards a particular interest.

YELLOW

Like most colors, yellow has both positive and negative connotations. It can be sym-bolic of intellect, energy, happiness, and wisdom, or if the dream is an unpleasant one, the color could represent cowardice and sickness.

GREEN

Green often symbolizes positive change, growth, healing and peace. Moreover, it can symbolize your efforts to gain rec-ognition or establish your independence. The other side of green often represents greed and jealousy.

Color meanings in dreams

Is a vivid dream you had last week still on your mind?

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“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” —Edgar Allan Poe

BLUE

Blue symbolizes truth, wisdom, and open-ness. This could represent your optimism for the future or your trust in a particular thing. Blue may also be a metaphor of

“feeling blue” or sad depending on the content of your dream.

VIOLET

Darker shades of violet may denote a person who feels misunderstood or has obstacles to overcome. It too is a spiritual color, and brighter shades help inspire and stimulate, especially in relation to dream activity.

BLACK

Because black is often regarded as the col-or of death, its appearance in our dreams may represent the death of old ideas or change. Another possible explanation is that it represents a hidden or rejected aspect of the dreamer. It is the color of mystery, the unconscious, and sometimes even protection.

WHITE

White is often regarded as the color of pu-rity and truth. Seeing this in your dreams may be a message from your subcon-scious telling you to regard the truth of a certain situation. It is also the color of completeness and innocence.

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“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.”

—Edgar Allan Poe

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THE THINGS THAT DREAMS ARE MADE OFThe Eight Most Common Types Of Dreams

Interesting Facts About Dreams

The eight most common types of dreams

there are often telltale signs within each dream to help you discern whether it is releasing negativity, embrace your shadow side, predict the future, receive inspiration from your higher self, or create a life of your dreams.

DAYDREAMS

Daydreaming is a short-term detachment from a person’s immediate surroundings, during which the person’s contact with reality is blurred and partially substituted by a visionary fantasy, especially one of happy, pleasant thoughts, hopes, imag-ined as coming to pass, and experienced while awake.

NORMAL DREAMS

The normal dream constitutes the most common type of dreaming. It’s the dream in which the dreamer is unaware that what he or she is experiencing is a fabricated reality: a dream in which the dreamer’s brain does not distinguish between the dream world and the real world.

LUCID DREAMS

Lucid Dreams are dreams in which you know you are dreaming and have vary-ing levels of control over it, and they are highly vivid, and it is easier to slip back into the unconscious state.

FALSE AWAKENINGS

False awakenings are dreams that seem like waking life, until you get out of bed and fall down a bottomless chasm. True story. False awakenings can be frustrating, terrifying, and may even begin to impact your daily life.

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NIGHTMARES

In the western world, nightmares are often considered to be normal types of dreams with a very scary twist. In night-mares, you do not even know you are dreaming so the subconscious mind can take everything on board as if it were really happening. Some nightmares can be so vivid that the sensory system is triggered and you feel certain types of pain. It can also be very unnerving.

INTEGRATION DREAMS

You dream that you are acting out in an extreme way that you either greatly admire or seriously judge. What this dream is trying to teach you is that this character or behavior is a vital aspect of you, and in embracing it you become more whole. In other words, the behavior you’re busy judging may be a part of yourself you’re afraid to embrace.

PROPHETIC DREAMS

Prophetic dreams are like your own per-sonal Burning Bush that can, if you heed their messages, reveal more than any psychic ever could. How they work: you dream of a wise, loving being and you feel that you’ve been given a gift or taught a life lesson.

RECURRING DREAMS

Your recurring dreams are like a Secret Agent on a mission. Their mission: to deliver a message to your conscious mind that will enhance your well-being and happiness, should you choose to accept it. Until the mission is accomplished, the agent will try again and again until the message is received and decoded com-plete successfully.

“Dreams are the touchstones of our characters.”—Henry David Thoreau

Interesting facts about dreams

Dreaming is one of the most mysterious and interesting experiences in our lives. Here are some interesting facts about dreams—enjoy and what is most important, think about what do we actually know about dreams?

YOU FORGET 90% OF YOUR DREAMS

Within five minutes of waking half of your dream is forgotten. Within ten, ninety percent is gone.

BLIND PEOPLE ALSO DREAM

People who became blind after birth can see images in their dreams. People who are born blind do not see any images, but have dreams equally vivid involving their other senses of sound, smell, touch and emotion.

EVERYBODY DREAMS

Every human being dreams (except in cases of extreme psychological disorder). If you think you are not dreaming—you just forget your dreams.

IN OUR DREAMS WE ONLY SEE FACES THAT WE ALREADY KNOW

Our mind is not inventing faces—in our dreams we see real faces of real people that we have seen during our life but may not know or remember. We have all seen hundreds of thousands of faces throughout our lives, so we have an end-less supply of characters for our brain to utilize during our dreams.

DREAMS ARE SYMBOLIC

If you dream about some particular sub-ject it is not often that the dream is about that. Dreams speak in a deeply symbolic language. Whatever symbol your dream picks on it is most unlikely to be a symbol for itself.

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Without dreams, there is no reality. —Luis B. Couto

Life Is A Goddamned

Beautiful Dream.

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The Dream ThatNever Ends.

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BODY PARALYSIS

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is a nor-mal stage of sleep characterized by rapid movements of the eyes. REM sleep in adult humans typically occupies 20 –25% of total sleep, about 90 –120 minutes of a night’s sleep.

During REM sleep the body is paralyzed by a mechanism in the brain in order to prevent the movements which occur in the dream from causing the physical body to move. However, it is possible for this mechanism to be triggered before, during, or after normal sleep while the brain awakens.

EMOTIONS

The most common emotion experienced in dreams is anxiety. Negative emotions are more common than positive ones.

YOU CAN HAVE FOUR TO SEVEN DREAMS IN ONE NIGHT

On average you can dream anywhere from one or two hours every night.

ANIMALS DREAM TOO

Studies have been done on many differ-ent animals, and they all show the same brain waves during dreaming sleep as humans. Watch a dog sleeping sometime. The paws move like they are running and they make yipping sounds as if they are chasing something in a dream.

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DREAM INCORPORATION

Our mind interprets the external stimuli that our senses are bombarded with when we are asleep and make them a part of our dreams. This means that sometimes in our dreams we hear a sound from reality and incorporate it in a way. For example you may be dreaming that you are in a concert while your brother is playing a guitar during your sleep.

MEN AND WOMEN ALWAYS DREAM DIFFERENTLY

Men tend to dream more about other men. Around 70% of the characters in a man’s dream are other men. On the other hand, a woman’s dream contains almost an equal number of men and women. Aside from that, men generally have more aggressive emotions in their dreams than the female lot.

“Dreams are stories made by the dreamer, and each dreamer has his or her own folds to open and knots to untie his or her story.” —Siri Hustvedt

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