Are dreams our own personal myths?

No. Dreams I believe are the mental equivalent of using the water closet.

The myths we choose to believe are our own personal myths. Kind people believe Jesus washed the feet of prostitutes. Self absorbed people believe they are job-creators when they lay people off. Big difference between personal story-telling and dreams.

Dreams are our subconscious mind’s way of revealing things to us that our conscious mind is blocking us from seeing. Every dreamer has his own ‘dream symbols’ that are indicative for the individual (although some dream symbols are universal). You need to keep a Dream Diary or Dream Journal in order to understand what your dreams are telling you. I think you might be surprised to find how much information that you can receive from your dreams.

@imadethisupwithnoforethought It is a little ironic that you use the water closet analogy. Our waste products actually can be very informative. Often when you go to the doctor they ask you about your output. And sometimes test it. It is how we diagnose multiple health conditions.

@Linda_Owl I do value dreams sometimes. What I was interested was the universal themes of them and then on the same note the universal themes of myths. I was wondering if there was a link and what it was.

Sadly I don’t dream journal but I can tell you several of my memorable dreams and what they meant to me. Though I know you aren’t interested. : ) I learn about myself in these dreams and sometimes about the world.

In myths there are usually morals or an observation about the way humans interact. They seem to teach even when though their messages aren’t literal.

How to explore that link and what could be gained by it?

How can people be so cut off from it?

I’m unsure what you mean by personal myth.

Nope. Dreams are just random thoughts and emotions visualized.

Ok, @Imadethisupwithnoforethought I have to ask… what is a water closet?

@rosehips Good observation about examining output. Dreams are like that sometimes and can be informative.
I like @Linda_Owl‘s note that dreams show us emotional content that’s below our conscious levels. Sometimes that’s just fluff and sometimes it’s interesting.

No, they’re just snapshots of our unconscious mind…unless you’re daydreaming, which kinda makes you a waster…kinda.

I have about a three-day window for dreams that fall under the category of daily input visualized. I have been extremely interested in dreams all my life, for many of them fall outside that category. I have noted a sort of connection to myths of the world. If you are up on those symbols, here is an old dream that suggests that connection: a woman of the ‘pure virgin’ (flowing white Romanesque gown) type is being chased down into a large ‘underground cavern’ by a ‘gorilla’, who in turn is being chased by a ‘whirlwind’.

I have looked and looked, but found sources on dream interpretation to be inadequate. For me, works by such people as Freud, who claim all dreams are sexual in their symbols, are just wrong.

Surprisingly, I found quite by accident, that my dream symbols and the symbols for chivalry and coats of arms are almost identical.

Those beliefs which are mine alone (which I do not normally share, and which may qualify as a ‘personal myth’) do show up in my dreams. I dreamed once of shooting the Antichrist. I have slain a three-headed dragon. I have dreamed the end of the world. Etc.

On another note, there are dreams which seem quite common, like walking down a street in a parallel life. I return to such dreams often, and am of the opinion that the mind is able to interact with these alternate realities.

No, I don’t think dreams mean anything. They’re just manifestations of our bodily workings, coupled with things that we actually see/hear/know in our waking life. Sometimes they’re altered by drinking/medications/stress/spicy foods, but they still do not mean anything.

@Plucky a bathroom

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies Love your name I had trouble wording this. I will try one more time. Myths have a function, but often they are a fusion of religion, culture and sprituality, also people’s understanding of science. Being that we are all individual’s dreams could be more pertinent or representative to the individual but have the same function?

@Pachyderm_In_The_Room How disappointing, I know you are a writer I assume not of fiction though. I am of the belief that ‘fiction teaches us how to be humans.’ Imagination and random visualizations are art and art can be meaningful and evocative.

@Plucky I had to think about the wording on that one as well. Such a discrete word choice.

@dabbler You are better at cutting to the heart of matters, perhaps you should have crafted the question.

@ucme A waster? Please clarify. Once again I would say snapshots can be fun and useful.

@starsofeight Interesting, I do agree about the freud thing. Maybe all his dreams were about sex, but that is more telling of him then us.

So a challenge, I know less of you then some of the others so this will be rough.

I will add that you can be any or all of the characters in your dream, what emotions the individual components evoke is important and telling. The girl in white is probably vulnerable, blank or pure. Most likely the gorilla feels the need to protect her, whether this is actually true or not is irrelevant. The girl is a symbol not necessarily a girl or family member, it could be an aspect of you or an ideal. Something you fundamentally defined yourself by, perhaps?

Gorillas are family oriented, also their intent is usually misunderstood.. i.e. king kong. They can be fierce when protecting the one’s they love.

The whirlwind is the problem, probably feel it’s out of your control. Being that it is a natural force. It evokes fear most likely and the flight response. Remember though that while natural disasters can’t as of yet be prevented they can be mitigated with preparation.

The cavern is underground which could mean that the danger is unseen or below the surface. It could also be that it is an issue tha weighs heavily on you, is pressing in. It also tells me that you feel it is mysterious and unexplored as well as there is a good chance you will come to the end and be “trapped” having to face the turmoil eventually.

Any way I am no expert, so like I said rough and admittedly vague. I assume by 3 day window you mean reoccuring dreams? Nothing like figuring those out. It is such a relief, one I had for a years, tough less and less frequently and it took me over 5 years to figure it out.

@Kardamom It is apparent we disagree. Actually I will be more precise and say yes dreams come from those reasons but not all of them do.

However while I don’t understand your point of view you are more then entitled to have it.

Huh after reading @Symbeline’s question I see that a lot of people who put no significance on dreams think they are unpleasant or don’t understand their intended function and how to read them.