Out of the many stories and ideas covered in the second chapter of The Power of Myth titled, “The Journey Inward”, there were three specifically that I felt intrigued by the most. All in which can be related to our lives and sense of self in relation to God and the world we live in. The first message that resonated with me was Campbell’s idea that our dreams are ultimately the result of the conflicts we internalize. He says that a dream, “talks about permanent conditions within your own psyche as they relate to the temporal conditions of your life right now”. He also mentions that the dreamtime has two levels, which consist of a personal and general problem, which we can associate with popular myths and troubles that many others experience. Our dreams “manifest in symbolic and metaphorical images”, says Campbell. Since I am an avid dreamer and sometimes wonder why I dream what I dream, this section of the chapter made me want to follow Campbell’s advice and try and keep track of storylines, symbolisms, and …show more content…
One question Campbell then asks that stood out to me was when he says, “who are we to judge?”. When speaking of affirmations, beliefs, inner self, and our countless decisions between everyday dualities, predominantly good and evil, who are we to judge? Moyers then speaks of Christian teachings that can glorify an eternity in heaven, and deem human life on earth as a place in which we constantly need absolution from our sins. However, Campbell makes an important comment on this subject and tells us that eternity is not only present in the afterlife and in the heaven we hope to all wish to reach someday, but eternity is the “functions of life” that we experience each day living on this earth. I found this to be a powerful message and a great way to end a chapter that spoke to many penetrating
After Campbell studied a lot of the great myths and realized this pattern, he published his findings in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Ever since then, authors have used “The Hero’s Journey” as an outline to tell their stories. “It is important to note that not all of these individual steps are present in every hero’s tale, nor is it important that they be in this exact order” (Vogler 20). The Hero with a Thousand Faces gives a sense of significance as it looks into the inner mind and soul. The author, Joseph Campbell, performs two extraordinary accomplishments: compelling his readers that myth and dream, those are the most effective and everlasting forces in life and a unification of mythology and psychoanalysis with a gripping narrative.
Everyone in life must find, and know themselves from the stories they tell. In Robertson Davies’ Fifth Business Dunstan Ramsey tells us his life’s story, from a small-town kid, to battling in the war, growing into old age and his struggle to capture and understand his personal mythology. Personal mythology is ones life story and inner self, whether they’re conscious of it or not. It’s shaped and created by experiences, moments, people, beliefs and stories. Throughout his life Dunstan is molded and influenced by different events, people, stories and his inner-self that make him better understand and make his own personal mythology. However, Dunstan’s – like most other’s – personal mythology must be set on course by a trigger event that sends
A common definition of dreams according to “Patterns for College Writing” is “the symbolic representation of mental states”, but this sparse definition does not begin to encompass the complex mechanisms behind dreams and its effects on human culture around the globe. Dreams have long been the topics of folklore and urban legends. Since human beginnings, people have sought to uncover the origin of dreams. The ancient Greeks believed dreams came from the God Oneiroi. The Chinese believes that dreams happened when the hun or spirit leaves the body for the land of the dead. The Ishi Indians believed that dreams were sacred messages from the Gods. Yet even now, with the current technological and intellectual advancements, scientists and psychoanalysts have still to find the true reasons and meanings of these dreams. Some argue that dreams are the products of overactive subconscious minds while others argue that dreams are solely randomized emotions from the limbic system during sleep. Despite these contrasting theories, the truth of the matter is that the topic of dreams and the reasons behind them remain a mystery.
The following book of Peter Kreeft’s work, The Journey, will include a summary along with mine and the authors’ critique. As you read the book it is a very pleasant, symbolic story of always-existing wisdom as you go along the pathway of what knowledge really is. It talks about Socrates, someone who thinks a lot about how people think, from Athens, is a huge part in this book. This book is like a roadmap for modern travelers walking the very old pathway in search of reality. It will not only show us the pathway they took, but the pathway that we should take as well.
Matalon, Nadav. "The Riddle Of Dreams." Philosophical Psychology 24.4 (2011): 517-536. Academic Search Complete. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
There are many facts that are unknown about dreams and their meanings. For centuries, philosophers and scientists have tried to understand the meaning of dreams. They have all been fascinated by the fact that the content of dreams may have meanings relating to one's life. Are dreams just thoughts in people's minds, or are dreams in fact representations of different areas in people's lives? Dreams represent many different areas of one's life in physical, emotional, and mental ways. Dreams can relay to people facts about their lives that they are not even aware of. There are also many ways that dreams can help cure different physical, emotional, and mental problems in one's life. This paper will discuss dreams and their meanings, and ways of interpreting a dream using such methods as hypnotherapy and psychoanalysis therapy that can help a person in physical, mental, and emotional ways. The first fact that will be discussed is what dreams are and how they work for people in allowing the person to discover more about himself. Dreams can be defined as "a conscious series of images that occur during sleep" (Collier's, vol. 8). Dreams are usually very vivid in color and imagery. They reveal to the dreamer different wishes, concerns, and worries that he or she has. Dreams usually reflect every part of who the dreamer is. The content of the person's dream is usually made up according to how old the dreamer is and how educated the he or she is (Collier's, vol. 8). Dreams are not planned out or thought up. The unconscious part of the mind brings out bits and pieces of information in the dreamer's mind and places them together. According to Encarta, dreams are almost always visual. Forty to fifty percent of dreams have some form of communication present in them and a very small percentage of dreams give the dreamer the ability to use his or her five senses (Encarta). Dreams allow one to take a closer look into his mind and himself in a quest for self-discovery. Dreams can be used to solve all different types of problems. In Sigmund Freud's book, The Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud states: "As regards the dream, all the troubles of waking life are transferred by it to the sleeping state […]" (Freud 113). They relay things about a person that the person may not be able to see.
The end for McCandless was a well lived, experienced soul that had seen a lot in the years that he had lived for. He had done great things, and because of that, he will be remembered for a long time. His life was about finding what he wanted most, and doing great things along the way. He had found enlightenment, and discovered tons of things that many people do not know that exist.
Many different cultures around the world and through out time feel that dreams are bigger; more important than our brains just continuing the thought process while we sleep. One example of cultural differences on why people dream, and what they mean; “The ancient Egyptians used dreams to make predictions about the future. They thought dreams were messages from the gods, which contained vital wisdom and prophecies,” (Turner). This allows researchers to think there may be deeper purposes for the brain to create these mini movies in peoples minds, while at rest. This paper will take a further look into two theories of why we dream, and what people dream about; emotions/trauma, and problem solving. Then taking a look at what lucid dreaming is, and controlling dreams and how they coincide with emotions and trauma, and with dreams being problem solving actions of the brain.
IV. (Preview Main Points) Although we have experienced countless dreams in our lifetime, do we ever stop to think: how dreams occur? How dreams affect our lives? Do dreams even mean anything? Today in my informative speech about dreams, I hope to enlighten you about dreams forming in our minds, the importance of dreams, and lastly the interpretations of dreams.
Oprah Winfrey once said, “The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don't know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened.” But, what actually is a dream and what do dreams really have to do with one’s everyday life? In essence, a dream is a series of mental images and emotions occurring during slumber. Dreams can also deal with one’s personal aspirations, goals, ambitions, and even one’s emotions, such as love and hardship. However, dreams can also give rise to uneasy and terrible emotions; these dreams are essentially known as nightmares. In today’s society, the concept of dreaming and dreams, in general, has been featured in a variety of different mediums, such as literature, film and even music. While the mediums of film and music are both prime examples of this concept, the medium of literature, on the other hand, contains a much more diverse set of examples pertaining to dreams and dreaming. One key example is William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While the portrayal of dreams, in general, plays a prominent role in Shakespeare’s play, the exploration of many aspects of nature, allows readers to believe that dreams are merely connected to somewhat unconventional occurrences.
In society, dreams can evoke lots of fascination; furthermore for many years philosophers and scientists have tried to resolve the riddle; why do we dream? As human beings we devote so much time to dreaming, so much so that we don’t remember many of our dreams that get disoriented in the realms of us sleeping. Chances are of those dreams we do remember, tend to be difficult to understand; therefore, leading us to wonder why we even dream at all? Throughout the progression of time, many theories have been presented, the two most famous ones being: the psychoanalytic theory of dreaming and the activation synthesis model of dreaming. The psychoanalytic theory of dreaming by Sigmund Freud’s suggests that dreams are nothing but our unconscious longing, judgment, and incentive. On the other hand the activation synthesis model of dreaming by J. Allan Hobson suggests that dreams are a result neural impulses that occur during your dreams, that trigger different areas in the brain which result in dreams that he claimed to be the “most creative state” we as human beings take part in. Based on my own series of dreams, my own personal theory is very similar to that of Sigmund Freud; conversely, I believe dreams strive to do what we as human beings struggle to do, which is make up our minds. Dreams serve as little flares that clarify our conflicts; likewise to Sigmund Freud our dreams do include our unconscious desires, but these are only present to show us as human beings that the answers to our conflicts are already present; present in the back of our minds, secluded from everything else.
I chose this book to explore whether our dreams do mean anything, and whether it does symbolise and influence our past and future. The points that I will be talking about The Interpretation of Dreams in my review is the theories of manifest and latent dream content, dreams as wish fulfilments, and the significance of childhood experiences.
Throughout our lives we have experienced the activity of dreaming, but have we ever wondered if there was a hidden meaning behind it? We go to sleep, than dream, than wake up and not even remembering the slightest parts of our dreams. After a while we just seem to accept it as a normal thing and not look deeper into it any further. Dreams can be mysterious even frightening because it can change suddenly with unusual elements, but understanding the meaning of our dreams can be very insightful. Like the famous psychologist, Sigmund Freud stated that dreams are a representation of unconscious desires, thoughts, emotions, actions and motivations. I believe that dreams are a road to the unconscious mind and are a way of discovering oneself. Not only do we dream for wish fulfillment, but also to solve problems more effectively in our daily lives.
Over the two weeks in which we logged our dreams and sleep schedules, I made some very interesting discoveries and self-revelations. Many of these ideas come from related symbols each dream share. Before we can start to dismantle these dreams, their relations to one another and myself, allow me to tell you about each one.
Dreams can be defined as “a conscious series of images that occur during sleep” (Collier’s, 1984). Dreams are usually very vivid in color and imagery. They are said to reveal to the dreamer different wishes, concerns, and worries that he or she has. Dreams may reflect every part of who the dreamer is. The content of dreams depends on “how old the dreamer is and how educated the he or she is” (Collier’s, 1984). We have no control over that which we dream about, but we do know that they are influenced by situations ...