Mideval Dream Theory

The Medieval Era was a time of chivalry, knights, serfs, and Lordship. A time of immobile monarchy were born in a class, and stayed. The Medieval Period was also a time of dreaming. With these dreams came questions that needed answering, and much inspiration. Dreams in Medieval times greatly affected spiritually and Christianity positively, negatively, and acted as a great inspiration and opened the door to many new styles of art including literature, and theatre.
In the Medieval Period, the questioning of dreams was being to arise, as well as Christianity. Some people believed that dreams were a message from God. Other’s were very skeptical about this and dismissed it as an imbalance of humor, or even bad indigestion.
The belief people had in their dreams was often affected by where they fell socially on the feudalism pyramid. Those who could afford to have people come and translate their dreams, or schedule an appointment to see a high priest who would attempt to decipher it were mostly Lords and Kings. The serfs and servants had no possible access to any of those things.
The famous literary hero Chaucer said, “Dreams are, God knows, a matter for derision. Visions are generated by repletions and vapours and the body’s bad secretions of humours overabundant in a wight.” Christianities growth in the lifestyle of most during the Medieval time period gave dreaming a purpose. Many dreams were recorded and held in a very high place in religious culture, especially those that people thought were worthy of interpretation.
“God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets.” (The Holy Bible, Ephesians 3:5) In this verse the reader is told that the Holy spirit revealed things to his apostles and prophets, who are most known for seeing things in a dream or. vision.
Although the thought of the mighty and powerful Lord of all Creation speaking with you through your dreams, there was also the fear of the Devil doing the same. The people at this time began to group dreams into two categories, good, and evil. Those dreams that God provides, like doing the right things, and showing parts of the future. Then there were dreams that Satan put in your head, those of temptation and hate as well as fear, like nightmares.
Among everything that dreams brought to Christianity and spirituality, they also brought to the arts. Dreams created a landscape, an inspiration to those writing stories, or plays; Painting or sculpting, as well as making music. Looking deeper into dreams allowed artists of all types to look beyond reality, and search their minds and imaginations for more surrealistic things, in which fantasy was embraced. People pushed into the far beyond where the limits had stopped and created all new things that could only be explained through the sounds of beautiful music, thoughtful words, or beautiful colors and images. “Dream-poem is a type of work in which medieval poets focused their own consciousness of the activity of creating imaginative fictions, variously and often ambiguously balanced between vision and fantasy.” (A.C. Spearing)
This was also the beginning for the dream vision. The dream vision is a technique used by many writers, and included in many novels, theatrical productions, and films today. In the dream vision there are five steps. First, the dreamer falls into a sleep in the midst of a crisis. Second, they awaken in a beautiful place, like a garden with many flowers. Third, they are introduced to a guide of some sort whom more often than not represents a part of their past. This is followed by the fourth step where the dreamer interrogates the guide, looking for answers with little to no luck and very unsatisfying answers as the guide leads them on a journey, looking deeper into things that they may have missed. Then lastly, step number five, the dreamer wakes up and has the opportunity to change or fix something.
The Medieval period gave birth to many things. The Feudal system, serfdom, manors, and much more. It was also the mother of digging deep into dreaming. Examining them, seeing what they meant, using them as warnings like the apostles did in the Bible, and pushing the envelope. Expanding tastes and minds. Looking deeper into life, and losing reality in paintings and words and stories. Dreaming gave people the ability to leave for a while and just let themselves and their problems go, and today people still say, to dream big.