Dreaming describes an enormous variety of spiritual beliefs and not a single unified systems; it refers to all that is known and understood by aboriginal. It is central spiritual concept, determines not only beliefs and values and religions with people and the environment…
This research paper examines the influence the Moravian missionaries had on the Inuit culture. The main goal for the Moravian missionaries was to spread Christianity among the Inuit in Labrador. Over the course of the past two hundred years the missionaries succeeded in doing so. They helped improve the Inuit culture from all the hardships that was faced because mainly of the land in Labrador. This paper includes a lot of history about the Moravian missionaries because they are the ones who introduced a new way of life for the Labrador Inuit and besides archaeologists- they are the ones who documented much of the history about the Labrador Inuit.…
S. Freud’s The Future Illusion and P. Tillich’s Religion as a Dimension in Man’s Spiritual Life carry on about an important question of what religion really is, what is its meaning in a cultural, psychological and scientific aspect and how it relates to a society and an individual. In this paper I will try to prove through an analysis and comparison of both texts that although their approach to the subject is different they both regard religion as an important aspect of human life. Freud in Illusion touches on things that to some may be an unquestionable truths; a meaning of life, a reason to be a good citizen - a good human being. Freud strips religion of its “holiness” but not of its power over a culture and a human life. He argues that religion in its essence is nothing more than an illusion - a wishful thinking based on a subconscious hope for a reward (the afterlife). According to Freud, religion is an aspect of culture - civilization, defending us against nature and each other. Civilization is a necessity that was socially constructed in order to explain and control the unknown and scary forces of the world but more importantly to cage our primal desires of: incest, murder, cannibalism which lay deeply in our unconscious. Therefore, to save humanity civilization created laws. At first the forces of nature were given human characteristics to make the assimilation easier and simpler to comprehend. The so called totemism was clear and understandable serving a purpose of control and protection from the environment and ourselves. But who would obey the laws if there was no fear of punishment for doing wrong and a reward for doing good. That is when religion came in handy.…
Throughout history, humans have strived to understand the mystery and meaning of dreams. The interpretations of dreams widely vary throughout different cultures, however the majority of early societies viewed dreams as spiritual visions, forms of guidance, and sources of inspiration. Humankind’s fascination with dreams has led many scientists to develop theories on why they occur, however no theory has been proven thus far, therefore the exact science as to why they take place continues to be a mystery.…
The psychological approach is based on a more Freudian idea. Freud believed that dreams were repressed desires and impulses. Many Psychologists today, though they do not all embrace Freud's theory entirely, believe that dreams are in fact related to our day-to-day lives. There are many studies that support these sorts of theories. There have been studies on Universal dreams and dreams of recovering alcoholics that prove dreams are related to experience. There have also been studies done on the Senoia people. These people are an aborigine people that have dream rituals. They believe dreams are very important. They work on controlling their dreams. Psychologists call dreams that we can control lucid dreams. Patricia Garfeild has done studies on universal dreams. Universal dreams are defined as dreams shared by all people. There are some dreams that are most commonly shared by all. These dreams include dreams of death, death of a loved one, running in terror from someone or something, or being naked in public. Everyone, regardless of spoken language, shares these dreams. Everyone will have these sorts of dreams at some point in their life. Though these dreams are universal their details can…
Sigmund Freud is the first modern psychologist to look at dream. He developed “his psychological theory of dreams, from his experience with his troubled patients and his own life events” (Moorcroft pg. 200). According to Wayne Sproule, Freud argued that a dream is like a safety valve that harmlessly discharges otherwise unacceptable feelings. He believed that dreams had hidden meanings that can be showed through symbolic images and even puns. Dream was seen as a language of its own. Freud’s theory of dreaming has three basic aspects (Hunt, 1989): why dreaming occurs, (2) how dreams are formed, and (3) a method of dream interpretation (Moorcroft 173). Freud believed that all behavior, including dreaming, is motivated by powerful, inner, unconscious…
Sigmund Freud was a philosopher and psychologist. When he was young he was interested in science. He first started in medical practices and then transferred over to treat victims of traumatic effects. Over the course of a few years, Sigmund started to produce books about his theories developing a following (Diamond).…
The breadth and diversity of psychology can be seen by looking as some of its best known thinkers. While each theorist may have been part of an overriding school of thought, each brought a unique and individual voice and perspective to the field of psychology. A study that appeared in the July 2002 issue of the “Review of General Psychology” created a ranking of the 99 most influential psychologists. The rankings were mostly based on three factors: the frequency of journal citations, introductory textbook citations, and the survey responses of 1,725 members of the American Psychological Association. (About.com, 2015)…
The writings of Freud and Jung and their theories of dreaming and the unconscious became of particular interest and a natural segue into understanding the difference between the dream state and religious doctrine vs. religious beliefs and how they affect our reality through dreams.…
This theory suggests that dreams are used to process the day’s events. Although my dream is not a memory, I can see how it can be inspired from my everyday activities. Usually this dream occurs when I am feeling overwhelmed, thus when I sleep, my mind processes the stress and worry from that day and portrays it in a dream. Through this dream, my brain is processing my anxiety and putting it into a more tangible form. This theory explains how dreaming is an opportunity for one’s mind to handle information that is subconsciously on our mind, and otherwise unable to be…
1. a) The topic of dreams is certainly a complex and interesting subject to further investigate, having many different aspects and meanings to it. There are many theories and ideologies regarding why dreams occur in the first place, such as wish fulfillment theory, activation synthesis theory, as well as cognitive development, information processing, and physiological function. Freud suggested wish fulfillment theory, and it refers to the belief that dreams provide a sort of psychic protection gate to dismiss unacceptable feelings that one may feel. Dreams have manifest content as well, that also have symbolic feelings, (latent content) which further signify unacceptable feelings. (For example, if one dreams about an accident at sea, that would potentially symbolize a fear of a relationship break-up.) Activation synthesis theory proposes that the brain engages itself in a lot of random neural activity, and dreams make sense of these actions. Cognitive development, which is a theory argued by many researchers, which saids that we dream in order to further mature our brain and cognitive abilities. Information processing assumes that dreams sift through our daily recollections and occurrences in order to put it in our memories. Lastly, physiological functions states that dreams supply the brain with periodic stimulation to instigate and preserve neural pathways, as a result of the neural systems quickly developing and requiring more sleep in conclusion.…
I found the connection between dreams and ancient religions to be the most intriguing part of the reading. It certainly does make sense that dreams might have inspired animism and other forms of religion and the way that the ancients interacted with dreams seems to share many similarities with how we interact with dreams. Similar to what happens in a Seneca Dream Guessing ceremony, people today analyze their dreams and interpret them in various ways, although it is not always in a spiritual light and there are many more resources now besides for friends, family, and other tribe members to offer ideas of what dreams might mean. Additionally, just as people in ancient times might have interpreted their dreams according to their religion, considering dreams to be visions or proof of possession by some higher power, people today may do the exact same thing. Considering how odd dreams can seem and how we still don’t seem to have much knowledge on their causes today, this comes across as unsurprising.…
What is the origin of your theories and what evidence do you have to back them up?…
In the past, there were many theories and myths regarding sleep, dreams, and the possible symbolism in dreams. “Ancient peoples, among them the Egyptians and the Greeks, believed dreams were messages sent by the gods to sleeping minds.” (Editors of Time-Life Books, 1990, p. 22) There are many references to dreams as being prophetic or having an important message in the Bible. Famous Biblical dreams include the prophet Daniel’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream, Jacob’s ladder and a warning dream to Joseph to flee Egypt. Some North American Indians believed that the soul left the body to roam around the world during sleep and awakening was the signal that it had returned. (Lavie 1996) Themes developed, with variety in each culture, as to the meaning of certain recurring symbols in dreams. For example, in India it was believed that having a dream of riding an elephant was lucky, while riding a donkey was unlucky. (Van de Castle 1994) Beliefs about dreams, their significance and origins, changed over the years. “In later times, people believed that dreams resulted from the effects of physical or external stimuli on the sleeping brain and therefore perceived dreams as having a diagnostic value insofar as the physical condition of the dreamer was concerned.” (Lavie, 1996, p.…
The significance and meaning of the Dreaming is central to Aboriginal spirituality. Each Aboriginal group is connected with the Dreaming and is aware its unique identity is derived from it. Aboriginals today, continue to emerge from the Dreaming, yet they are still intensely connected with it till this day. The Dreaming includes all aspects of Aboriginal life, and because of the vast scale it encompasses, it is a challenging task to link it entirely to a specific typology in the study of religion.…