ABSTRACT
The traditional interest in dreaming is to be found in the folk beliefs of dreamers who apparently were intrigued by their nocturnal experiences and sought an explanation for them (Lincoln, 1935). In most circumstances beyond their control, the ancients invoked a supernatural explanation. It was believed, in many traditions, that the will of God, or of the Gods, was revealed through dreams. The interpretations offered by the Biblical Joseph to the Pharaoh that explained the meaning of the seven fat kine (cows) followed by the seven lean kine led to his release from prison and elevation to high office. Joseph attributed the dream interpretation not to his skills but that God had interpreted the dreams (Hertz, 1976). The revelations of the Prophet Mohammed, recorded in the Koran, came to him in dreams where he was visited by the Angel Gabriel who spoke to him of God’s will (Dawood & Wyatt, 1991). The early church fathers became concerned about their congregants viewing all dreaming as a message from God (Sanford, 1968). They worried that the Devil might use the dream experience to mislead the believer. They recognized a distinction between dreams from above, from God, and dreams from below, from the Devil that could lead the dreamer astray (Van de Castle, 1994). To avoid the dangers of being misled by evil forces, the church fathers early on turned against dream interpretation and dream interpreters and vigorously discouraged any attention to the dream and especially to experiencing the dream as a revelation (Kelsey, 1968).
