99 Interesting Facts
About . . .Dreams
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1. The word “dream” is most likely
related to the West Germanicdraugmus, (meaning deception, illusion, or
phantom) or from the Old Norse draugr (ghost, apparition) or the Sanskrit druh(seek to harm or injure).e
2. You cannot snore and dream at the same
time.c
3. Adults dream off and on, for a total
of about an hour and half to three hours every night.e
4. By the time we die, most of us will
have spent a quarter of a century asleep, of which six years or more will
have been spent dreaming—and almost all of those dreams are forgotten upon
waking.g
5. The average person has about 1,460
dreams a year. That’s about four per night.c
6. Egyptian pharaohs were considered
children of Ra (Egyptian sun god) and, thus, their dreams were seen as being
divine.e
7. In the Chinese province of Fu-Kein,
people called on their ancestors for dream revelation by sleeping on graves.e
8. Scientists suggest that the dreams of
fetuses are mostly composed of sound and touch sensations, given the lack of
visual stimuli in the womb.e
9. Among the six dreams reported in the
New Testament are the dreams that communicate divine knowledge, instruction,
and warning to Joseph, husband of Mary, mother of Jesus.e
10. About 80% of neonatal and newborn
sleep time is REM sleep, suggesting a tremendous amount of time dreaming.e
11. According to Plato, dreams originate
in the organs of the belly. Plato describes the liver in particular as the
biological seat of dreams.e
12. Elias Howe (1819-1867) said one
inspiration for his invention of the sewing machine came from a nightmare he
had about being attacked by cannibals bearing spears that looked like the
needle he then designed.e
13. Modern research has shown that a sharp
decrease in daily calories results in fewer nocturnal ejaculations in men and
an overall decrease in the sexual themes of dreams.e
14. Aside from those who experience
certain kinds of injury, it’s a biological fact that everyone dreams.
However, not everyone remembers his or her dreams.c
15. Most of us dream every 90 minutes, and
the longest dreams (30-45 minutes) occur in the morning.e
16. The scientific study of dreams is
known as oneirology(Latin oneiros: dream, ology: writing).c
17. One West African group, the Ashanti,
take dreams so seriously that they would allow a husband to take legal action
against another man if that man had an erotic dream about his wife.e
18. All cultures and time periods report
nightmares. The word “nightmare” derives from the Anglo-Saxon word mare, meaning demon—which is related to
the Sanskrit mara, meaning destroyer, and mar, meaning to crush. So the word
“nightmare” carries with it connotations of being crushed by demonic forces.b
19. Lilith, who in some accounts preceded
Eve in the Garden of Eden, fled the Garden when she learned that God expected
her to “lay under” Adam. She later becomes an early version of a succubi, or night demon, who causes men's
nocturnal ejaculations in order to feed on the resulting bodily fluids.b
20. Discovered in 1856, the planet Neptune
(which is named after the Roman god of the sea) is considered the planet of
dreams—because, like water, dreams distort and cloud images and meaning.
Additionally, water represents the depths of the unconscious and our
emotional levels in dream imagery, places that our dreams take us.b
21. During REM sleep, the flow of blood to
the brain increases, as does the brain’s temperature. Additionally, both the
penis and the clitoris in women become erect.c
22. Dreams of losing teeth or having teeth
extracted can signify many things, including fears of helplessness or of some
sort of loss in one’s life. Women experience more teeth dreams than men.f
23. Dreams of dirty water may signal that
the unconscious mind is telling the dreamer he or she is not healthy.f
24. The Buddhist exercise practice of yoga
has many benefits, including helping one learn how to control his or her
dreams by controlling the body’s vital energies.e
25. An alien in a dream may indicate that
the dreamer is experiencing difficulty adjusting to new conditions or a new
environment, or that his or her personal space is being invaded.d
26. Cakes in dreams can signify a time to
rejoice at one’s accomplishments, or to celebrate new relationships or work efforts that have been
successful but not necessarily acknowledged.d
27. Finding oneself in a cemetery during a
dream may indicate sadness or unresolved grief. It may also represent one’s
“dead” past.f
28. Chocolate in a dream may symbolize
that the dreamer feels the need to be rewarded and deserves special
treatment. It could also mean that the dreamer has been indulging in too many
excesses and needs to practice restraint.e
29. Standing on a cliff in a dream can
represent that one has a broad view of something or that the dreamer feels
like he or she is living on the edge or is afraid of failure.e
30. William Shakespeare (1564-1616), like his Greek playwright
predecessors, used dreams in his dramas to help advance plot and develop
characters. For example, dreams in Hamlet, Macbeth, Richard
the III, Romeo
and Juliet, and King
Lear offer key
psychological and symbolic insights into the motives and internal landscapes
of important characters.g
31. Colors in dreams can be interpreted
only in the context of the dreamer’s relationship with that color. For
example, the color red may be experienced as love or sex for one person—but for someone else,
red may denote blood or destruction.e
32. Large bodies of water often symbolize
the unconscious, so dreams of drowning may indicate being overwhelmed by
unconscious, repressed issues. Drowning can also symbolize that the dreamer
is entering a new stage of development and that the old self is “dying.”d
33. Feet in dreams can symbolize
everything from sex to humiliation. They can also represent mobility,
freedom, or a foundation.f
34. Forests, like water, are often symbols
of the unconscious. Traveling into a forest indicates exploration of the
unconscious realm or represents a comforting refuge from the demands of
everyday life.e
35. A house in a dream is often a symbol
of our body, so a mansion in a dream can represent a “rich” or even
exaggerated sense of self. A mansion might also represent our future
potential.e
36. Expectant parents often have dreams
about miscarriages, but this is almost always a symbol of their anxiety about
the baby rather than a prediction. Miscarriage dreams are also powerful
symbols of projects or business deals that have gone wrong.f
37. Being naked in a dream suggests
exposure of self to others, vulnerability, or feeling ashamed. Alternatively,
it can also represent a desire for freedom or being unencumbered.e
38. Vampires are important fixtures in folklore,
and their appearance in dreams can represent our general fears and anxieties
or can embody anxieties about our sexuality.e
39. Because nightmares were thought to be
from menacing spirits, such as witches, folklore suggests placing a knife
under the foot of the bed. Evil spirits were thought to be repelled by the
steel on the knife.b
40. Famous French historian and
philosopher Michel Foucault (1926-1984) asserts in his essay “Dream,
Imagination, and Existence” that dreams are the origin of the human soul. He
also posits that dreams about death are the most important type of dream
because they are the moment life reaches its fulfillment.e
41. As related in the epic Gilgamesh, dreams were highly regarded in
ancient Mesopotamia as omens of the future or ways in which a dreamer could
access other realities, such as the afterlife.e
42. In ancient Greece, dreams were
regarded as messages from the gods. Incubation, or the practice of seeking
significant dreams by sleeping in a sacred place, also was popular,
particularly in the healing cult of Asclepius at Epidaurus.g
43. Female demons known as succubi (sub:under, cubare:to lie) and their male counterparts incubi (to
lie upon, related to “incubate”) are spirits
that sexually molest human dreamers for evil purposes. They also provide
convenient explanations for pregnancies resulting from secret affairs, as
documented in Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Spenger’s 1486 text, Malleus
Maleficarum (“Witch
Hammer”).b
44. Falling dreams typically occur at the
beginning of the night, in Stage I sleep. These dreams are often accompanied
by muscle spasms, called myoclonic jerks, and are common in many mammals.g
45. Many people have made discoveries
while dreaming—such as Friedrich August von Kekule (1829-1896), who dreamed
of a snake biting its own tail and discovered that certain organic compounds
are closed chains or rings.c
46. Vitamin B complex (B6) and St. John’s
Wort have been shown to produce more vivid dreams.e
47. Flying dreams are found around the
world and have existed since ancient times, even before the invention of
airplanes.c
48. The Beatty Papyrus, written around
1350 B.C. and discovered at Thebes, is the oldest dream dictionary existing
today. It describes special dream-interpreting priests called “Masters of the
Secret Things” or “Learned Ones of the Magic Library.”e
49. After the printing press was invented,
a dream dictionary called Oneirocritica (The
Interpretation of Dreams)
by second-century author Artemidorus Daldianus became one of the first
best-sellers, comparable only to the Bible in popularity.e
50. Sigmund Freud’s (1856-1939) landmark
work, The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), which became a milestone in
dream interpretation, sold only 415 copies in the first two years.e
51. Dreams played an important part in the
life of Muhammad (570-632), who received his first revelation during a dream.
His initiation into the mysteries of the cosmos occurred during a dream known
as the “Night Journey.” the site of which is now commemorated by the Dome of
the Rock.e
52. In contrast to modern dream
interpretation, which is psychologically oriented, ancient dream
interpretation was concerned with discovering clues to the future.c
53. The Iroquois have an annual
dream-sharing festival in which they act out their dreams, either literally
or in pantomime.e
54. Tertullian, a third-century
lawyer-turned-priest, argued in his Treatise
on the Soul that
the ongoing activity of the mind in dreams while the body was motionless
proved that the soul was independent of the body and, thus, immortal.e
55. The fourth-century Christian writer
Macrobius' text, Commentary on the Dream of
Scipio, was the most
influential dream book of medieval Europe. He appears to be the first person
to introduce incubi and succubi, which were rooted in earlier Jewish
folklore, into Christianity.b
56. The memory-recording processes of the
brain seems to switch off during sleep. In so-called non-dreamers, this
memory shutdown is more complete than it is for the rest. Dreams may be
forgotten because they are incoherent or because they contain repressed
material that the conscious mind does not wish to remember.e
57. Dreams occupy a prevalent role in
movies, including Fritz Lang’s Woman in
the Window (1944);
Hitchcock’s Spellbound, Psycho, and Marnie, and Victor Fleming’sThe
Wizard of Oz.e
58. St. Jerome’s mistranslation of certain
key biblical passages led Medieval Christians to fear their dreams and to
view them as the devil’s invitation to sin.e
59. Abraham, the ancestor of the Hebrew
nation, was one of the most prolific dreamers in the Hebrew Bible. The first
dream in the Bible is in Genesis 15:12-16 and is a dream by Abraham.e
60. According to psychologists,
daydreaming and dreams during sleep may be related, but different cognitive
processes seem to be involved.e
61. Philosopher and mathematician René
Descartes (1596-1650) struggled with the question of whether or not the
mind’s perception of dreams represented reality.e
62. Common dream motifs that transcend
cultural and socio-economic boundaries include falling, flying, nakedness in
public, and unpreparedness. Such shared dreams arise from experiences and anxieties
fundamental to all people.g
63. Psychologists speculate that falling
dreams are rooted in our early experiences as toddlers taking our first steps
on two legs. Some sociobiologists argue that our fear of falling derives from
the experiences of prehistorical ancestors afraid of tumbling out of trees
during the night.e
64. Flying dreams can express both our
hopes and fears in life—we can be “flying high” or “risen above” something.
Freud associated flying with sexual desire, Alfred Adler with the will to dominate
others, and Carl Jung with the desire to break free from restriction.g
65. In general, pregnant women remember dreams more than other
populations. This is largely due to the extreme hormonal changes during
pregnancy.c
66. Until sometime during the sixteenth
century, Chinese society expected prominent political figures to seek dream
guidance periodically to maintain balance and objectivity.e
67. Nicotine patches and even melatonin
(an over-the-counter sleep aid) are reported to increase the vividness of
dreams and nightmares. The nicotine patch in particular is said to intensify
dreams.e
68. Drugs that are used for regulating the
endocrine system, for controlling blood pressure, and for treating
neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease can wreak havoc on form,
content, and frequency of dreams.e
69. The link between hallucinogenic drugs
and dreams has been recognized since the time of oldest societies. Belladonna
was the drug of ancient oracles of Delphi, used to induce trances and dreams.
The early Persians used Haoma for the same general purpose.e
70. The Egyptians had a male god of
dreams, Serapis, who had a number of temples devoted to his worship. These
temples housed professional interpreters or “learned ones of the library of
magic.” Serapis’ likeness was often carved on the headboards and headrests of
Egyptian beds.g
71. Sufferers of epilepsy can have
extremely vivid and disturbing nightmares that immediately precede seizures
during the night.e
72. The archangel Gabriel is considered
the archangel of childbirth, emotions, and dreams.e
73. In Hawaiin mythology, dreams are
called moe’uhane or “soul sleep” because it was
believed the soul left and entered the physical body through
the tear duct, or thelua’uhane or “soul pit” during the night.
Nightmares occured when spirits entered the body while the soul was gone.
It was possible for a mortal to have sexual relations with that spirit
(often referred to as the husband or wife of the night).e
74. Hypnagogic hallucinations are
dreamlike images and sounds that may occur just as a person is falling asleep
or waking up.c
75. “Old Hag Syndrome,” or sleep
paralysis, occurs in as many as 40% of all people. It happens when a sleeper
wakes, recognizes his or her surroundings but is unable to move for as long
as a minute. The folklore explanation is that it is caused by a witch, or an
old hag, who was coming to get you in your sleep.g
76. U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson
(1908-1973) suffered from chronic childhood nightmares about paralysis that
continued into his adult life.c
77. Researchers at New York University
suggest that wakefulness and REM sleep are essentially similar brain states,
differing only in the extent to which they are shaped by sensory stimuli from
the outside world.c
78. Even the occasional use of alcohol can
have a significant impact on sleep and dreaming. Alcohol slows activity in
the cortex, which causes a person to sink into a deep, slow-wave sleep rather
than experiencing REM sleep.g
79. Birth order influences the role of
aggression in dreams. While men typically experience more aggressive dreams
than women, a firstborn male typically sees himself in a more positive manner
than do his younger male siblings. First-born females tend to have more
aggressive characters in their dreams.e
80. Modern studies show that children have
more animal dreams than adults. The animal figures that occurred most
frequently are dogs, horses, cats, snakes, bears, lions, and
mythical creatures or monsters.g
81. Childhood dreams are shorter than
adult dreams and nearly 40% of them are nightmares, which may act as a coping
mechanism.g
82. The Romantic Movement—with its
insistence on the unconscious mind as the source of all creativity, art, and
even dreams—clearly foreshadowed Sigmund Freud’s groundbreaking work on
dreams.e
83. South Asian Hindus developed the idea
that this world is actually a dream and the “real” reality is somewhere else.
The Vedas, the oldest Hindu scriptures (3,000-4,000 years old) suggest that
people are reincarnated back into this world, which is a dream, and it’s only
after breaking the cycle of reincarnation or “waking up” from this dream
world, that they’ll understand the truth and become complete.c
84. The Raramuri people of Northern Mexico
make their sleeping arrangements so that they can wake during the night to
discuss their dreams with one another.e
85. The quality of dreams depends, at
least in part, on the stage of sleep in which the dreams occur. Dreams during
REM tend to be more bizarre and detailed and have story line. Dreams in
stages 1 and 2 of sleep are simpler and shorter. Deep-sleep dreams tend to be
diffused and may be about nothing more than a color or emotion.e
86. Night terrors, or parasomnia, are not
the same as nightmares. They are episodes of extreme panic that occur in
early sleep and affect from 1%-4% of children between the ages of four and
12. Night terrors are rare in adults and most often occur in those who abuse
drugs or alcoholic or have a sleep disorders such as apnea.b
87. People who are born blind report no
visual imagery in dreams, but they experience a heightened sense of taste,
touch, and smell. Those who become sightless between the ages of five and
seven may have visual images in their dreams, while those who lose their
vision after age seven continue to “see” in their dreams, though images tend
to fade as they grow older.e
88. Men’s dreams are more often set
outdoors, are more action oriented, and involve strangers more often than
women’s dreams do. Women’s dreams usually happen indoors and involve
emotional encounters with people they know and care about. Men are more
likely than women to dream about aggression, misfortune, and negative
emotions such as fear, anger, anxiety, or disgust. Women’s dreams are more
often friendly and positive.e
89. For reasons that are unknown, males
dream of males more often than females dream of males. This sexual asymmetry
is universal and has emerged from at least 29 different comparisons of male
and female dreams—and it holds true for children, adolescents, and adults in
all parts of the world.e
90. The brain waves that occur during REM
and non-REM sleep are found in mammals, birds, and reptiles, but not in
amphibians and fish.e
91. Various famous authors attribute their
classics to dreams. For example, Mary Shelly claimed inspiration for Frankenstein came directly from her nightmares and
Robert Lewis Stevenson accredited his classic Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to
the same.b
92. Those who watched black-and-white
television as youngsters tend to have more monochrome dreams than children
who watched color television.a
93. Ancient Hebrews are unique in that
they did not believe dreams originated in the realm of the dead, but that
they were prophetic messages from God. Therefore, and unlike their
neighboring societies, they did not actively seek to induce dreams. An entire
section of the Talmud is devoted to systematic analysis of dreams,
nightmares, and visions.e
94. One of the most infamous precognitive
dreams in history was President Lincoln's in 1865. The president envisioned
his own demise just a few days before he was assassinated in Ford’s Theater
on April 14, 1865.c
95. Lucid dreaming occurs when there is a
state of partial or complete awareness during the dream state. Researchers
have begun to explore the possibility of using lucid dreaming for the
treatment of nightmares and other therapeutic purposes. Anoneironaut is someone who lucidly dreams. The
first reference to lucid dreaming is Aristotle’s On
Dreams.e
96. Morpheus is the principle Greek god of
dreams and sleep. His name is from the Greek word morphe, meaning “he who forms, shapes, and
molds.” Hypnos, the god of sleep, is his father; Pasithea is his mother; and
Thanatos, the personification of death, is his uncle.b
97. Chronic smokers who suddenly quit
report more vivid dreams than they had when they smoked.e
98. If a dreamer is awakened directly from
REM sleep, he or she is more likely to remember the dream than if awoken
during another stage of sleep or after a complete night’s sleep.c
99. When deprived of dreams, individuals
become irritable and disoriented, hallucinate, and show signs of psychosis.
They will also dream excessively the first chance they get in a phenomenon known
as “REM rebound.”g
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