Do you believe that dreams have religious significance?

[Reptillian]

I've bee away from Religious Forums for a while and had a dream which I think may have some religious significance for me last night. I've had two other dreams in the past with this sort of theme. What do you believe about this? Can dreams have religious significance for you? Have you ever had a dream with religious significance?

 

[BSM1]

Sure. But I have also had dreams that seem to be a very bad Disney cartoon directed by a drunk Tim Burton. Content may be relative.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Sure, why not? If people are religious then everything they do has religious significance. Maybe I don't understand your question.

 

[Pastek]

I have a book about explanations of some elements in our dreams/nightmares (like fire, death etc)

But i think it's difficult to be sure about the interpretation of a dream.
Sometimes it can mean nothing at all i think.

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

Well studies have shown that animals dream too (or at least exhibit the brain functions that humans exhibit when dreaming). If Human dreams are so wild I wonder what animal dreams are like.

 

[Breathe]

Hi Reptillian, good to see you again.

I believe so. I've had multiple dreams which have had a significant spiritual influence for myself.

 

[Levite]

I've bee away from Religious Forums for a while and had a dream which I think may have some religious significance for me last night. I've had two other dreams in the past with this sort of theme. What do you believe about this? Can dreams have religious significance for you? Have you ever had a dream with religious significance?

I think dreams can have religious significance for the dreamer. They don't all have religious significance, though-- unless God is telling me that I am going to get superpowers and have sex with Natalie Portman. Which, unfortunately, I am pretty certain He's not telling me.

Also, I don't think dreams with religious significance have significance for any but the one who dreams them-- though there have been a few exceptions to this in the storied past, I grant.

I've had a few dreams with religious significance: they helped me clarify some things I was struggling with at the time.

 

[KBond]

I believe God gives dreams of spiritual significance as a call to pray into the circumstance--either in your personal life or for your country.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

I tend to buy into the Jungian idea that dreams are symbols munipulated by our subconscious to affect our consciousness. I mean, it may as well if our brains are going to be active enough to produce imagery.

And even if it's all just random, interpreting them may provide a useful framework for focusing self reflection.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

No ...

 

[Sunstone]

I've bee away from Religious Forums for a while and had a dream which I think may have some religious significance for me last night. I've had two other dreams in the past with this sort of theme. What do you believe about this? Can dreams have religious significance for you? Have you ever had a dream with religious significance?

D.T. Suzuki somewhere writes of a Zen monk, living in the 1800s, who dreamed he was to die towards the end of the month. He sent out 100 postcards to friends and acquaintances telling them he would die on a certain date. As it turned out, he was right, but whether because of some esoteric reason, or just by coincidence?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

In my experience, anything and everything can have religious significance if someone inteprets it as such.

 

[Quintessence]

In some respects, I think how we answer this question depends on how we regard the dreamworld. In Paganism, contemporary or otherwise, it is not uncommon to regard the dreamworld as one of the otherworlds. This basically means it is taken more seriously as a facet of reality, and in this way, you could argue that all interactions with the dreamworld are "religiously significant." It's not uncommon to see dreams and dreamwork mentioned in the Neopagan literature. Dreamwork is typically done to connect with various gods/spirits, but it may also be used for spellcraft. I can't say I've used it for spellcraft, but I've definitely connected with gods/spirits. I have dreams about my otherworldly relations on a fairly regular basis, and some of them have popped on my radar entirely because of dreams. For example an animal guide came to me in a particularly vivid dream - something I would call more of a vision than a dream. There are more tales I could tell... too many, honestly. The otherworlds are a pretty big part of my path, so I pay attention to the dreamscape.

 

[StarryNightshade]

They can, but it depends on the dream.

I once had a dream where I was lost in a blue forest and a sentient/self-aware fire engulfed me in it's flames and burned me. After it was over, I was in a new landscape; one that was light in it's color scheme and extremely peaceful. This was around the time I began questioning my religious upbringing and thus began my journey which has lasted up to this very day. I suppose that could have some religious significance.

However, dreams which are basically "anime-on-crack" and you forget the details almost immediately? Probably not. It's all relative.

 

[Billhuse]

I'm pretty knowledgeable about history

 

[mimpibird39]

Sure. Dreams can have significance, religious or otherwise, but more often than not they are just dreams. Sometimes very vivid and real feeling dreams. I have had a couple of dreams that I feel were religiously significant and have led me down the path I am following now. And I have also had a dream where I was Sailor Moon that felt totally real. Sadly, I'm not Sailor Moon.

 

[Sha'irullah]

To me they are very significant and make me believe in god to begin with. What I feel in a dream is indeed proof of the destruction of physical existence and the reality of non existence.
Without this there is no basis for a god unless you are a pantheist