Connections between dreams and the unconscious

Before I get on the subject I just wanted to say a few things. I dont know if this was ever brought up. I dont know where to post this (my other choices were research and debate youll see why) this is my first thread apart from my introduction to ATS threaf

Anyway ive been thinking for a while about why we dream. Along time ago I learned that its because subconsciously we want something. Thinking back on it now im not so sure. There are times when ive dreamt something and later experience a deja vu type moment. As I see this I think wait havent I seen this before? (thats a deja vu moment) so I guess the point of that is to say can we predict our own futures? (the debate part) and another interesting question does our knowledge come from connections between the conscious and subconscious? Do we know everything subconsciously? And what has research told us about dreams and the mind itself?

Id like to see what you all have to say about this

I just started to learn about astral project...so I think we dream to go back to the astral plane...

reply to post by Edgar806


Dreams are definitely momentary "flash connections" between the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. It is through the medium of unconsciousness that our brains "turn-off" and the two states of consciousness coalesce into one. Of course, this occurrence is brief, and dreams, despite seeming to last for hours, only occur in brief segments, usually only seconds long, 4 or more times a night.

What is happening is that your body is translating biological signals and archetypal symbols into visual stimulation, because that is how consciousness is translated. Consider how we think about things normally: our thoughts appear to us as incomplete images and pictures. It is only through concentration and focus that we can call up our conscience, that little voice in our head which narrates our lives.

What dreams are doing are bringing to light social, sexual, and mental signals and symbols we've witnessed throughout our day, and trying to unravel their meaning and implication in our lives. As we move through our sleep cycles our dreaming states change: from light (mundane dreams), to heavier (sexual dreams), to fleeting (nightmares) which is where we usually are interrupted and wake up. If, however, we manage to fall back asleep again sometimes we get a fourth "coming out of it" stage where another mundane dream occurs.

When we first fall asleep the signals and symbols are mixed in with every-day activities. We may dream events we did that day, but with odd-ball accompaniments: like dinosaurs and celebrity cameos. This is our mind unraveling all of the flighty, day-to-day activities we go through, looking for patterns which will help us relieve stress and anxiety over things we are fearful of.

The second stage is sexual, which, I don't think needs much explaining here. This is where all those wonderful sexual fantasy dreams occur for individuals. Obviously they are a direct response to biological urges and evolutionary desires which human beings have developed and need to satiate.

Finally, the nightmare stage is when the subconscious mind is in full effect, and all of those nasty, hidden, denied, and ignored facets of who we are come floating to the surface. These are often the most important dreams, because they symbolically hint at things which we are otherwise ignoring in our waking life, which need to be faced and dealt with.

Usually, all the stages of dreaming occur smoothly, with "scene like" transitions. Being interrupted can force us out of a stage and back to waking. If we sleep again immediately after, we can often pick up right where we left off.

I cannot say much on precognitive dreams. I have known people who have had them. I never have. And, unfortunately, the people I know do not have them nightly, or even with enough regularity for them to be anything more than ghosts in the machine; flukes of nature. My best guess would be that precognitive dreams have more to do with the psychism of the individual while awake—their connectivity to vibrations and frequencies of human emotions and spirit—than to anything initiated in sleep.

As for astral projection and out of body experiences... again, my own study and attempts in this field have taught me that they do not occur during sleep, but during meditative wakefulness. So, a link between dreams and the astral realm does not exist in my hypothesis, because the astral realm is accessible during meditation and waking life, not during dreaming and sleeping.

~ Wandering Scribe

Definately interested in following this thread because I have ( Or I guess remember) dreams every night and they are usually totally random and out of it
Good thread OP

I just finished reading the Robert Monroe collection and it's an amazing read. If you want to learn about the dream world these books are the best in my opinion.
Journeys Out Of The Body

This is The Monroe Institute.

And this is an old Coast To Coast AM Show with Robert Monroe which is very good.
Coast To Coast - Art Bell, Robert Monroe

It's a vast topic.

I have dreamt, many times, of dying. After one of these dreams my life turned, it changed in some MAJOR way. The type, or "condition" of dream you have designates the type of change coming in your life. For example, once I dreamt that I was in line at an all night gas station to pay for the gas I pumped. I turned around to see this very evil looking man coming torwards us and raising a pistol. He began to shoot and I was the first one hit. I fell to the floor....dead. Two months later my life took a terrible turn.

Another time I dreamt of a peaceful death. It wasn't long before I went into a period in my life where I could do nothing wrong. It was like everything I did turned to roses.

The dreams I love are the ones where I am flying like a bird. I know my life is going great when I have this type of dream.

Here is an interesting thread about how the ancient Babylonian thought about dreams:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by Edgar806


I used to be in the same boat as you about thinking dreams were just part of past experiences until I had one dream that I'm not sure I can call a coincidence.

Check it out.
This happened to me about 3 years ago. At the time, my family's dog who I grew up with had been getting old and running into health problems for the last year of her life. This was an ongoing thing so I was used to it and I also didn't live at home anymore so it's not like I thought about her a lot..

Well one summer night I went to bed like usual and ended up having a very vivid dream about a completely different pet dog that I used to have when I was a kid. This dog had passed away like 10 years beforehand. Now keep in mind that I rarely ever remember my dreams nor do I ever dream about pets or animals. But this dream in particular was so vivid and odd that I remembered it the next day and still remember it like yesterday.

This old dog of mine was laying on her back with her paws up and she was sooo happy. I've never ever seen her that happy before and if you knew this dog you would understand since she was a feisty little thing. So..... I woke up in the morning like usual and didn't really think anything of it. Later that day I got a call from my mom, she's in tears and tells me they had to put down our dog the night before, which was the night that I had my dream...

Definitively the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me and can't make much sense of it. Why would I see my old dog in my dream and not the dog that had just passed away? Is that a connection with my mother/father or something else entirely?

Maybe the dream was meant to help you get through the pets death or maybe it was simply a recollection of that moment. Whatever the reason interesting story. But many of the posts here have gone off the topic. My original question was this: does our knowledge come from connections between the conscious and subconscious minds? Does our subconscious know everything our conscious mind doesnt?