Importance of Dream in Homoeopathic Prescription.docx

 You have to dream before your dreams can come true. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

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IMPORTANCE OF DREAMS IN PRESCRIPTIONS Introduction Homeopaths have used dreams since Hahnemann’s Hahnemann’s time. Our repertories repertories and provings contain many references to dreams, yet there are many questions about how to effectively use dreams to help locate the simillimum.

Delusions and dreams are very revealing of the psychological states produced by homœopathic provings because they are controlled directly by the unconscious. The images seen in delusions, hallucinations and dreams carry archetypal information in the form of symbols.

Fortunately, dreams lie outside our ability to manipulate them. We cannot create a false reality in our dreams or influence them with our will. Material that is suppressed suppressed from the conscious state moves into the subconscious and is frequently expressed through the dream state. Because the dream is an attempt on the part of the organism to heal itself, when used and analyzed accurately, material from dreams can lead to some of the most reliable symptoms in a case. Although they seem ephemeral, dreams are actually objective facts about a person’s mental and physical state.

Homeopathic treatment begins with a thorough investigation into all aspects of the patient’s life. During the initial interview the homeopath routinely enquires about dreams (especially childhood dreams, memorable past dreams, recurrent dreams, and nightmares), because dreams have proven to be helpful clinical indicators in many patients’ cases.

But dreams must be amongst the most contentious, mysterious, and thoroughly unobjective of phenomena! Why, then, are they nevertheless considered valuable in homeopathic diagnosis and treatment? Their value lies in their ability to reveal the true state of the patient and to t o point the way to a confident selection of homeopathic remedy.

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 What is a dream? A dream is an expression of the unconscious and that we go through wishes and emotions in our dreams in a way we don’t allow ourselves in everyday life.

The dream is a very subtle, sensitive and a precise indicator of what is taking place in the unconscious, namely which process is going on there and in what way it is directed. Dreams tell us in an indirect way what the ‘personal’ psychic and emotional tensions are in each of our patients. Moreover, dreams show us the individual processes of assimilation as reactions to these tensions. Dreams often are expressions of unconscious conflicts or emotions which can lead to emotional and / or physical complaints. So dreams are a reflection of the whole person.

Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions & sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.

Dreams: Precious psychic gems or rubble of the mind? One of the enduring mysteries of life is the nature of dreams. Scientists have a relatively poor understanding of the unique physiological states that occur during sleep and dreaming, let alone of the reasons for the bewildering array of dream content that we experience. In any event science does not yet possess a convincing theory that explains why we must, in the first place, sleep and experience dreaming states to function normally and stay alive (prolonged sleep deprivation of experimental animals leads to dire consequences).

The actual content of dreams is normally considered irrelevant or not amenable to the scientific mode of investigation. For example, one theory holds that dreams are simply the mind’s attempt at making sense of the electrical noise produced by brain metabolism: whereas in the waking state these signals find an outlet in miniature muscular contractions throughout the body, during the paralysis of sleep these signals are transformed into thoughts which bring about the dreaming experience.

But science apart and life apart: people of all cultures routinely interpret their dreams, finding patterns of meaning even when reasonably there are none to be found. 3

Psychologists and occult practitioners of all kind investigate the dream world, hoping to offer insight and assistance to their clients through correct interpretation of their dreams.

Many spiritual traditions concur in their view that during sleep our soul leaves the body and locates itself in some other realm in which actions are not bound by physical laws. In the modern world dreams are regarded more conservatively, but not necessarily more accurately, as windows into the individual’s subconscious — a realm beyond the purview of science, governed (if at all) by the mysterious laws of spirit.

 Which dreams do we remember? There is evidence that all of us dream. This means that in some way, dreams are useful, since nothing occurs that is not useful. We remember some dreams and cannot remember the rest. Both these types of dreams must have their own utility. One thing to be noted is that people who do remember their dreams usually wake up with a particular mood of the dream, like happiness, fear, etc. Those who do not remember the dreams wake up in quite a normal mood even though they might have gone to sleep on the previous day with anxious thoughts or anger or sadness. We can assume that, in some way, sleep and unremembered dreams restore balance to a troubled mind. In this sense, the unremembered dream completes the day’s business and puts man at peace with himself and the world. This happens especially when the situation is not so intense. I am even tempted to say that the unremembered dream is the body’s way of healing itself of minor disturbances, especially psychological ones. However, when the situation (real or perceived) requires some strong specific feelings in order that the person should adopt the proper posture to combat it, the dreams then force themselves into the waking state also and are remembered along with their specific feelings. The more we consciously do not adopt the posture required by the real or perceived situation, the stronger and more vividly remembered the dreams will be. As a simple example, we may take the case of a student whose survival depends upon his preparing well for the examination, but who tells himself that he has nothing to fear and that he need not study so hard. This student is very likely to get the dream of facing the examination and not knowing the answers. The dream will be remembered and could be useful to him.

We know that disease is delusion, the actual situation may not exist, but the patient perceives the situation to be so. The delusion may be that he is a student whose survival

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depends on his success in the examination, though here, this is not exactly the case. If this patient tries to tell himself that he has no such anxiety, he too will get similar dreams.

Thus, the person who will have the most vivid dreams which will be remembered with their specific feelings is the one who needs to have those feelings or fears the most. In other words, he is the only one whose actions are not intense enough for the real or perceived situation. This could be due to his trying to compensate very heavily for his feelings. Therefore, the more compensated the man is, the more his dreams will be remembered. The more out of touch with his feelings he is, the more his dreams will be remembered. The more intense the situation is, the more his dreams will be remembered.

Conversely, the person who does not remember his dreams will be the one whose behaviour is totally uncompensated, who is in touch with his feelings and does not suppress or deny them to himself.

We may conclude that the person who does not remember his dreams at all is the one whose actions and feelings are in tune with (suitable to) his basic perception of reality (basic delusion).

Hierarchy: Dreams belong, according to Rajan Sankaran, to the level of the ‘delusions’ (level 4), dreams reach the deepest roots of the energetic identity of the person because they bring to surface the deepest sensations of the person. The reason: Our deeper energetic layers are in connection with the entity earth and cosmos, and this bridge is formed via the dreams. Dr. Rajan Sankaran often uses the technique of free association. This technique draws the patient from his original complaint, mostly physical, to bring him finally to an emotionally loaded sphere wherein the verbal expression and body language stand in the centre (level 5 and 6).

While analyzing the dreams, use directed association, starting from the unconscious dream themes of the patient, to better understand the underlying emotions and the nucleus elements of the dreams. From dream research it is proved that if one wakes somebody during REM-sleep and if one then asks the person to make associations, 5

this will happen in a very bizarre and illogical way because at that moment the person is in a hyper-associative state.

So while one is dreaming, one is also in a hyper-associative state. Moreover in the dreams there is no censorship and there is no deception about our feelings. Only when some feelings are painful or taboo for the dreamer, will the dreamer project those feelings onto the opponent person/antagonist in the dream, not being aware that those feelings belong also to himself, namely to his personal shadow.

Psychoanalysis (Carl Gustav Jung) The concept personal unconscious of Carl Jung contains the concepts of Freud, namely his preconscious as well as his unconscious. Jung calls this personal unconscious the shadow. Jung also introduced the new concept of a ‘collective unconscious’, which encloses content that are not specific for our individual ego. This material contains the myriad psychological ways to react and to experience humanity, since the beginning. It is a fact that the human being shares with all other human beings, so that he is unconsciously in connection with all his fellow people. The collective unconscious represents the real foundation of the individual psyche and contains the inheritance to the possibilities of picturing, not in an individual, but in a common human, and even common animal way.

The instincts and the archetypes build the collective unconscious.

As the instincts bring the human beings to a specific way of living, so the archetypes force the perception and the concept into specific human shapes.

So the collective unconscious encloses primal images or ‘archetypes’.

According to Jung these primal images or archetypes are inherited material which is present in the brains. The archetype can best be compared with a basic thought or an immaterial idea that already exists before its material shape can be seen. Archetypes thus are an arranging principles of the unconscious part of the human psyche. They are centres of power and fields that rearrange material that is sunken in the unconscious. This is a 6

process that hides itself from our field of consciousness, but that is of vital importance for all our doings.

In human beings there is from time immemorial a dualistic attitude toward snakes. Placing snakes in a negative light is seen particularly in Western culture. The biblical story of Creation is the prototype in which the snake, the first friend of Eve, becomes the personification of all evil and deprives the human race of its near absolute freedom. Also, the snake appears frequently in dreams, even in people who never were confronted in reality with a snake. Here the snake motif often functions as an archetype image and refers not necessarily to a homeopathic snake remedy. So the snake can be related as much to good as to evil, as to anxiety and night (as it was the case in Old Egypt) and can also refer to the mother figure or to the girl 5.

Dream and Symbolism in Homoeopathic Practice Connecting with the Two-million-Year-old Man (by Jane Tara Cicchetti)

Over two million years ago the first humans walked the earth. In the twenty-first century, someone with at least that number of years of cellular memory comes in for homeopathic treatment. The homeopath must, according to classical training, perceive what needs to be healed in this individual and match it to a dynamized substance that will stimulate healing. What a daunting task! To perceive what needs to be healed in an individual who is the end product of millions of years of development. It doesn’t matter if the individual is 9 or 90 years old; they are still the most recent development in a long and ancient lineage. Carl Jung referred to this as the two-million-year-old man within.

“He is the two-million-year old man in us. And that fellow is by no means a legend, he is a fact which you can see in every detail of your anatomical structure even. Study your hands, your nose, your ears, your brain; in each case it is the result of long differentiation, and traces of all the stages are still there, though of course somewhat transformed. Our nervous system is a marvelous picture of the past, it contains all the stages through which we have come, layer after layer of differentiation has been added. And that is true of our psyche. We don’t know whether our psyche is material or immaterial, because we don’t know what matter is, so we cannot say there is any difference between the psyche and the body, or whether they are the same historically. 7

So the two-million-year-old man is in our psyche too if we count that as the age of man – as long as the tree of life has existed. Traces of this existence are still a part of our reality, contained in the darkness of the collective unconscious; our unconscious is just a thin layer on top of the ocean depths of history.”

Given this, in the relatively short time allotted for the homeopathic interview, how is it possible to understand enough about an individual to perceive what needs to be healed? Contemporary homeopaths are very much aware of this dilemma and have developed various methods to accomplish this difficult task. Depending on the case, it may be useful to look at family analysis, sensation, or other methods. No matter what method is used, knowledge of how to use dreams is an important aspect of case analysis.

Dreams and their symbols connect us to the archetypal realm where the “two billion-year-old man” can speak with us. They are a portal into the ancient realm of the collective unconscious, and are a wellspring of knowledge that cannot be tapped through the intellect. These symbolic messages must be linked with the totality of symptoms in a case, in order to be useful for homeopathic prescribing, for no dream or symbol will lead to the correct remedy outside of the context of the anamnesis.

The symbolic realm is not a shortcut; it is a rich and complex way to delve deeply into the underlying structure of individual reality and into the collective unconscious. It is the way the psyche communicates with us, but, in order to benefit from these messages, we must learn to pay attention to its symbolic language.

Entering the symbolic realm of dreams In order to effectively work with dreams, it is essential to step out of the way as much as possible and allow the essence of the vital force to emerge in its fullest. Working with dreams takes both the practitioner and client out of the realm of ego and into the symbolic realm, an arena that is bigger than both of them. It connects the individual or ego self with a more universal and ancient reality. Dream analysis when done in a way that allows for intimate and personal exploration of the symbolic content, creates a broadening and deepening of conscious mind, which lets us think outside the box. In this expanded awareness, connections that can’t be seen with our literal minds   become obvious.

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The opening of this realm can be overwhelming, so it is preferable to take a more linear style case in the beginning, letting the person speak until they don’t have anything more to say, asking “What else?” until there is nothing else. Get as complete a case as possible. Then one can ask about dreams. If we wait until there is a fuller understanding of the case, it is then possible to see how the dream fits into the whole picture.

In dream analysis another level of reality emerges. A symbolic but parallel universe is revealed that fleshes out the first part of the case taking. After telling a dream, a person may begin to relate to the homeopath on a level that is much more personal and intimate. It is here that they may tell their deepest desires especially if the dream has been one that has been remembered from childhood. Dreams and visions remembered from childhood often contain some of the most useful symbolic information. Associations to these symbols may lead us to the remedy or to understand the individual more deeply. Many times, however, the symbolic content from these early years is only understood much later in treatment and must be preserved in our notes so it can be used in the future. Such symbolism may actually be a blueprint for the unfolding of an individual’s life. In it, one may see the unfulfilled potential that has been blocked. On seeing this it may be possible to find the remedy that stimulates the realization of that potential.

When working with dreams it is essential that we depend upon the dreamers association because a true symbol, as opposed to a sign, has no fixed meaning and can never be entirely understood by the rational mind. This is the problem with most, so called, dream interpretation books. They reduce the symbolic content of dreams to signs, that is, something that can be known in a literal way and whose meaning is pretty much the same for everyone. Using symbols and dreams in this way is not at all helpful for the homeopath. A more useful method is to reveal the meaning of a dream, by asking the dreamer about each symbol. For example, if the dream is about elephants bathing in a waterfall, ask what elephants mean to the dreamer. Then ask about the waterfall. Do this for all of the symbols in the dream.

Because most dreams indicate the dynamics within an individual psyche, it is also helpful to explain that the symbols may be about the dreamer’s inner self. Then you can ask for his or her comments on the dream contents from that perspective. This method will provide very personal information from the dreamers psyche and avoid the pitfall of interfering with outside interpretation.

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Dreams lie outside our ability to manipulate them so we cannot create a false reality in our dreams or influence them with our will. Mental states that are hidden from consciousness, physical symptoms, suppressed through medication, or the very early stage of disease, are frequently expressed through the dream state. Because the dream is an attempt on the part of the organism to heal itself, when analyzed accurately, the resulting material can lead to some of the most reliable symptoms in a case. Although they seem ephemeral, dreams are actually objective facts about a person’s mental and physical state.

Carl Jung has said that the most likely reality is that there is no such thing as body and mind but rather that they are the same life, subject to the same laws. This relationship is already quite clear to homeopaths on one level, however, we often use dreams in a way that misses this connection. We use the dream as if it were a separate symptom out of the context of the entirety of the case. We need techniques that will help us use dreams in a way where they enrich the “red thread that runs throughout the case”. When the dreamer’s associations to her dreams are seen as an integral part of the whole case, it is possible to get a symbolic representation of pathology on the physical as well as the mental and emotional levels.

Dreams can also be a rich source of information for prognosis. At some point during therapy what Jung referred to as an initial dream may appear. So called because it indicates the beginning of deep change within the individual; it predicts a change that may come at any point during therapy. This could be in a week or in years of work. Whenever it comes, the initial dream indicates the beginning of deep healing and can be very helpful in determining that the correct remedy was given.

It has been said that the patient in therapy dreams a dream for the therapist. The psyche of the client knows what symbolism the therapist will understand and when it is safe to dream it. An individual in Freudian therapy will have dreams a Freudian can understand, someone in Jungian analysis will have symbolic and archetypal dreams that are a part of that school and a homeopathic client will have dreams that are related to homeopathic remedies and processes. The more the homeopath is in tune with dreams and symbols, the more likely the client will share their most intimate dreams during the interview. A helpful method of getting comfortable with the dream state is to keep a dream journal. It is interesting how having a dream journal along side of one’s bed, with the intention of recording dreams, will activate dreaming. Writing down a dream is similar to telling it to someone; it stimulates associations that can bring meaning and 10

awareness to what the dream is trying to tell us. It is even better if it is possible to tell the dream to someone. A dream has three parts, the dreaming, the telling of the dream and the analysis. As long as our dreams are not analyzed they are incomplete and represent some part of us that remains unfulfilled.

Dreams and Homeopathy Dreams and their symbolic language are an essential part of the anamnesis. While Hahnemann recognized the importance of dreams in the homeopathic interview, he predated the modern understanding of the psyche. His view, therefore, did not include an appreciation of symbolic language. Just as contemporary homeopaths have updated their knowledge of physical medicine, it is essential that they bring the knowledge of the psyche into the twenty-first century.

Learning to use dreams as a vehicle for listening to messages from the patient’s psyche provides the homeopath with a powerful tool. It allows him or her to access deeply hidden information that can help lead to the discovery of the simillimum in complex and suppressed cases.

How do homeopaths make use of dreams? Insofar as homeopathy is a spiritual science, its relationship with dreams ought to be genial yet cautious, welcoming yet not fanatical. Accordingly, homeopaths tend to approach dreams in a pragmatic and down-to-earth manner: they fully accept the legitimacy of dream material (along with the legitimacy of all subjective phenomena), but tend to eschew dream interpretation. Even if homeopaths may engage in dream interpretation as part of their therapeutic approach, dream interpretation is not a reliable foundation for homeopathic diagnosis. Homeopaths usually employ dreams either as (i) symptoms just like any other homeopathic symptom, or as (ii) pointers to the true mental state of the patient:

(i)

Dreams are ordinary homeopathic symptoms

Dreams can be incorporated into the diagnosis simply as ordinary homeopathic symptoms alongside other symptoms. Examples of such rubrics are: • 

Dreams – children 11

• 

Dreams – dogs

• 

Dreams – dancing

• 

Dreams – war

as well as dream qualities such as: • 

Dreams – obscene

• 

Dreams – pleasant

• 

Dreams – vivid

In a patient with a clear history of dreams, the homeopath can quickly narrow down the field of possibilities and concentrate on a smaller set of potential remedies. This way of regarding dreams as reported phenomena (along with any other mental and subjective symptoms) is universally accepted among classical homeopaths.

(ii)

Dreams point to the true state of the patient

Raw dream reports may also provide a starting point for a deeper comprehension of the patient’s mental state, but dream translation has to be done both skillfully and conservatively, lest it devolve into speculation. For this approach to succeed, two assumptions must hold true: that dreams in general are meaningfully related to the person’s state, and that they echo this state at least as well as does the patient’s waking state. Unsurprisingly, homeopaths differ in their opinion about the legitimacy of using dreams in this indirect manner. Those who consider it legitimate to venture into the dream world claim to find in dreams a highly reliable gateway to the psyche. When correctly handled, dreams offer a precise view of the hidden dynamics that motivate the patient’s life, frequently leading to a correspondingly precise diagnosis and prescription. Others argue that this approach promotes error and speculation. In my mind, the key to success lies in treating any inferences made from raw dream reports as speculative, unless and until they are corroborated by the remaining clinical history, or at the very least assimilated within it without incongruity.

Dreams can further be exploited as starting points for drawing out psychological material that the patient is aware of yet does not wish or is unable to divulge directly. From their dream reports, patients can be led rather craftily to reveal aspects of their persona that they are either reluctant to discuss or which they incorrectly consider 12

irrelevant for the homeopathic interview. When used by the homeopath with the pure intention of helping the patient, this approach creates no harm and facilitates a precise diagnosis even in an uncooperative patient.

Finally, dreams can reveal the psychic makeup of children who are old enough to retell their dreams but not yet intellectually capable of answering more abstract enquiries into their mental state.

Dreams are valuable because they bypass compensations Psychological restraint and alteration of maladaptive behaviour is a cardinal ingredient of any civilized society, but it makes diagnosis more challenging. For example, a person with violent impulses might take up Tai Chi, cultivating the peaceful, meditative aspect of the art and speaking at length about values such as inner calm and forgiveness. If asked directly about violent tendencies – say if the homeopath were to suspect this from the patient’s appearance or vibe –  such a patient might answer in denial. Yet a reported violent dream might reveal what lies hidden beneath the peaceful outward demeanor.

In the final analysis, the key reason for the diagnostic importance of dreams is that the conscious reporting of the patient is reflective in part of his or her compensated state (compensation involves the funneling of thoughts and behavioural impulses that are inappropriate to the situation, toward more productive or socially acceptable outcomes). Dreams may thus offer a glimpse beyond the veil of compensation and reveal the patient’s underlying state of being.

Dreams reveal uncompensated feelings In a dream most of our feelings and actions are uncompensated. In our waking state, most of our feelings and actions are compensated. This was the main difference. The reason is simple. Compensation involves an act of will. In the waking state, our feelings are also censored by the barrier between the conscious and the subconscious. We do not allow our feelings any expression many times, even to ourselves, but in the state of sleep, when our will is not so active, the barrier is lowered and our feelings and actions find expression in an uncompensated way.

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This much understanding led me to utilize the dreams, since one of our biggest problems in Homoeopathy is to demarcate the difference between compensated and uncompensated symptoms. It can be really difficult to know which is the compensated feeling, since the form of compensation depends on various factors like social structure, beliefs and rules, and methods of upbringing and training.

I think dreaming is somewhat like going on a holiday, since, in the dream, things appear exactly as we like to see or feel them in the waking state, whereas in the waking state, we do not allow ourselves to experience and react in the manner we would like to. The disease (false perception about our situation) exists in the dream as well. Disease is not only in the waking state or in dreams, it exists throughout. But what we see in dreams are reflections of the feelings we experience towards various things as well as our uncompensated reactions to them.

Dreams as delusions The other section of the Repertory we can use for the dreams is the one on delusions. For example, “Dreams of snakes” can be taken as synonymous with the “Delusion of seeing snakes”, because they are similar. Delusion is seeing what does not exist. Dreaming too is to see what does not exist. A delusion is to see things in a different way and a dream also is to see things in a different way. Yet, to take delusion instead of dream is also not good enough. What is important is to get the reaction whether it be a delusion, a fear or an anxiety.

Dreams come closest to delusions Since there is little or no compensation in a dream, it will show you a situation for which the feelings and actions would be appropriate. The situation in the dream comes close to the original situation from which the state comes (delusion), but the dream will never show you the original situation itself. If we had the knowledge of that situation (even subconsciously), then we would be cured, but the dream shows us something very close to the situation, and it reveals our naked feelings and reactions. So, when we see in the dream that our father is a devil, having horns, large teeth and blood flowing from his mouth, we react with terror. We cannot say that this was the original situation. Of course not. But our feelings towards our father in an uncompensated form and our reaction to these feelings in an uncompensated form can be seen in the dream, and we can come close to the situation from which this whole reaction and feeling must have arisen. 14

The father must have been viewed/perceived the way we saw him in the dream; not exactly that, but something like that, which occasioned our feelings towards him in this manner. The situation which causes the feeling is not known, but the feeling is clear and the reaction is clear. So, the dream comes closest to our deep, but hidden, feelings. Therefore, from the dream, we are able to glean the pure, naked feelings and reactions. When we use these in the repertorial way, and look into the remedy that has these deep feelings and pure reactions, we are very likely to come close to the remedy. You can often hit on the remedy solely from the dreams.

Basic dream and situational dream The situational dream  is one which occurs only as a reaction to a particular situation in one’s life. So, you had an experience today and the way you felt about that experience occurs in your dream; that is a situational dream. For example, you had to appear for an examination and you felt very shaky about it; and then you had a dream that you are on a mountain and you are trying to come down. It is a bit dangerous and you are trying to keep your balance; at last you come down and you are safe. The theme of that dream is: – Fear of high places; – Fear of going downwards; – Fear of falling; – Fear of losing control; – Ailments from anticipation.

All these are symbolized by the mountain and the need to come to a safe place and cross the danger. Fear of high places is fear of dangerous places; going downwards towards a safe place is fear of downwards motion. This is how exams seem to the dreamer and it is the theme of Gelsemium. But, just as a delusion can be a basic delusion or a situational delusion, in the same way a dream can also reveal the elements which are basic to a person and the elements which express the basic nature in a particular situation. For example, we have “Fear of failure” shown in the dream but it is not necessary that the remedy is Gelsemium. We have to examine more deeply. Why is this person having such a fear of failure? Underlying this fear may be anxiety about one’s image, or fear about achievement, or a great sensitivity to reprimand, or even a fear of poverty. So, dreams that come up as a response to a particular situation, even though they are uncompensated feelings in that particular situation, may not represent the basic nature of the person; they may represent only the expression in a particular situation.

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Basic dreams are:   

Those dreams that are repetitive; Those dreams that come without any situation on that particular day; or Those dreams which can in no way be connected to the existing current situation.

When we ask the patient about his dreams, we must try to see if they are basic dreams. Only through repeated unexplainable dreams can we infer their significance and understand the feelings behind them. These feelings have to be confirmed as part of the patient’s basic state, and not merely something that appears in one or two situations; they should be found in the patient as a part of his personality in a chronic case, even if in a heavily compensated form. The dream will give you the hint to look for this symptom, whether in compensated or uncompensated form, and to examine various situations in his life, especially situations of stress; and also to examine his sociocultural background, so that you can get some idea of the compensated aspects of his life.

Symbolic dreams In such dreams, absolutely no feelings are involved but one symbol appears again and again, for example water. There is no feeling, there is no fear. They may see snakes, but there are no feeling. In the earlier dream there was the theme of protection. This is not there now – just snakes. The dreams may be of houses, fruit, dead bodies, of funeral or of weddings. When we find these symbolic dreams, especially the ones where there are no associated feelings and this symbol is repeated again and again, then they are a part of the universal symbols. We may not fully understand them and there may be many theories about them. However, these symbols are available directly in the “Dream” chapter and can be used without theorizing. Unless the dreams are of this type – symbolic dreams.

Dream and their Homoeopathic Diagnosis Homeopath David Nortman discusses how dreams are best approached for homeopathic diagnosis. The process of homeopathic treatment begins with a thorough investigation into all aspects of the patient’s life. Subjective phenomena usually provide the majority of clinical matter for the homeopath to work with, and dreams often prove useful for securing a correct diagnosis. Their main value lies in their detail and specificity – since the body’s ability to communicate its suffering is not as refined as the mind’ s – and in their ability to reflect the innermost state of the patient. In addition, changes in sleep and 16

dreaming patterns are sensitive indicators of the progress of healing once homeopathic treatment has begun. Yet dreams are amongst the most contentious, mysterious, and thoroughly subjective of phenomena.

MIASM IN DREAMS Significance of miasms in dreams:

The miasm which is the defensive trait of the body has to reflect on mind, body, disease tendencies, likes, dislikes etc. All these are conscious aspects of the human being. If it goes through and through the same defense tendency, or miasm it has to reflect in the dreams which are a part of our subconscious self. More often than not, the 'dreams' or the subconscious mind is a forerunner of things to come. On the other hand, the 'dreams' can be the result of the state of mind too. An individual dreaming of snakes biting him or terrorizing him is a bad sign. This invariably indicates that the individual is going to develop or has already developed auto-immune or an incurable disease. A dangerous dream of fire, accidents, mutilation can indicate a Syphilitic disease existing in the body or else about to invade the body. A dream of accumulation or construction can indicate that some Sycotic disease is in the offing. Psoric dreams are dreams of work, anxiety, irritation etc. This often helps us in assessment of the follow-up of a case and which tells us whether it is following Hering's Law or not. Psoric dreams:

Dreams of daily activities ex.: Cooking, fishing, flowers, home, household affairs, music, etc. Dreams of efforts being done, whether or not success is achieved ex.: Ascending a height, aspiring, climbing a step, failures, looking for someone and failing to find him, train-trying to catch etc. Dreams associated with emotions ex.: Affectionate, emotional, grief, vexations etc. Any Dreams of Anxiety, pleasant Dreams ex.: Country beautiful, driving car, flying in plane, new scenes, pleasant, rainbow, spanning the sky, swinging., wonderful etc. 17

Sycotic dreams:

Dreams of collection, gatherings, construction ex.: Assemblies, being large, balls being at, buildings, child birth, of computers, of fruits gathering, gardens, body parts swollen etc. Dreams related to business and money ex.: Business of, busy being, calculating, companies, interviews, large of growing, money, etc. Frightful dreams emotion related ex.: Danger, death of, embarassment, emotion suppressed, jealous, job related, deceitful, political etc. Dreams related to concealing ex.: Hiding, masks etc. Syphilitic dreams:

Dreams of accidents ex.: Crash of Plane, explosion, fatal etc. Destruction dreams ex.: Bitten, bloodshed, body parts burning, bruising himself, cruelty, churchyard, funerals, offensive pus, spitting, violence, ghosts etc. Perverted dreams ex.: Woman married to many Dreams of wild animals ex.: Birds, large black, bugs, enormous, dragons, snakes, vampires, wasps, wild etc. Clairvoyant dreams etc.

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Conclusion The dream shows on all levels the sensation of the dreamer. Dreams show us in an early stage exactly where the energetic function is blocked, as seen under a magnifying glass. This energetic dissonance shows itself by means of a mental or emotional delusion (in the dream) that is a mirror image of the energy in disharmony. Practice proves that almost any dream is worthwhile and useful to the homoeopath! This is contrary to what is often lectured. The main reason why dreams are very useful, is that dreams are carriers of powerful primary energetic information of the patient because censorship of the conscience has fallen away. note: The pure energy only can be controlled by means of its energetic reflection at the height of the acupuncture points and meridians, and via their associated muscles. In a common homeopathic interview, without paying attention to dreams, the unconscious underlying motives of the person normally are difficult to fathom. Dreams are a letter from the unconscious to the conscious (cf. S. Freud) and open a world of different feelings and motives of the individual that otherwise would not be touchable. Moreover a dream contains a lot of unconscious personal and collective data that are connected with the essence of the homeopathic remedy to be prescribed.

The man rowing the little boat on a lake is the conscious part of the individual. Everything under the water‘s surface belongs to the unconscious part of the individual, which consists of different layers from where all kinds of pulsations rise to the surface in the form of symptoms and dreams. So elements of the unconscious can become conscious to man. The unconscious roots in different layers. It can be compared with the bottom of a lake, which consists of mud, waste, earth, gold, pearls, … and which also roots into a much deeper subsoil, namely the ‘whole’ earth from which it is part.

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Bibliography

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Spirit of homoeopathy, Dr. Rajan Sankaran

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Sensation in Homoeopathy, Dr. Rajan Sankaran

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Predictive-Homoeopathy-Part-3, Dr. Prafull Vijayakar

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Dreams come to the rescue, Dr. PrakashVakil

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Dreams, symbols & Homoeopathy, Jane Cicchetti

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Hpathy.com

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