Oneiromancy

Oneiromancy (from the Greek Oneiroi) is a form of divination based upon dreams; it is a system of dream interpretation that uses dreams to predict the future.

Ancient Egyptian

A unique exemplar of a book of dream-interpretation survives from pre-Hellenistic Egypt, the so-called "Ramesside Dream-Book", the surviving fragments of which are translated into English by Kasia Szpakowska.^[1]

Biblical

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Dreams occur throughout the Bible as omens or messages from God;

• YHWH speaks to Abram while he is in a deep sleep (Genesis 15);
• God speaks to Abimelech the King of Gerar concerning his intentions regarding Sarah, Abraham's wife (Genesis 20);
• Jacob dreams of a ladder to heaven (Genesis 28);
• his son Joseph dreamed of his future success (Genesis 37) and interpreted the dreams of the Pharaoh of Egypt (Genesis 41);
• Solomon conversed with God in his dreams (1 Kings 3);
• Daniel interpreted dreams (in the Book of Daniel 2 and 4);
• the Magi are told in a dream to avoid Herod on their journey home (Matthew 2);
• Joseph, when betrothed to Mary, was told not to fear taking Mary as his wife (Matthew 1);
• Joseph, now husband of Mary, was directed to flee with Mary and Jesus to Egypt (Matthew 2);
• Pilate's wife suffered in a dream because of Jesus (Matthew 27);
• Paul was told to go to Macedonia (Acts 16)

Deuteronomy 13:1-5 offers instruction about those who claim to have inspired but false dreams. In Acts 2:17 the apostle Peter quotes Joel 2:28 saying that because of the Spirit now out poured "...your old men will dream dreams."

Greco-Roman

Dream divination was a common feature of Greek and Roman religion and literature or all genres. Aristotle and Plato discuss dreams in various works. The only surviving Greco-Roman dreambook, the Oneirocritica was written by Artemidorus (2c.). Artemidorus cites a large number of previous authors, all now lost.

Oneirocritic literature is the traditional (ancient and mediaeval) literary format of dream interpretation. The ancient sources of oneirocritic literature are Kemetian (Aegyptian), Akkadian (Babylonian), and Hellenic (Greek). The mediaeval sources of oneirocritic literature are Āstika (Hindu), Persian, Arabic, and European.

Ancient oneirocritic literature

Kemetian

The only pre-Hellenistic oneirocritic MS hitherto discovered is the Raʻmeššide (19th dynasty) dream-book.

Akkadian

This was a section of the extensive omen-literature.^[2]

Hellenic

These include Artemidoros, Astrampsychos, Nikephoros, Germanos, and Manuel Palaiologos.

Mediaeval oneirocritic literature

Āstika

The pertinent material is included in the several Purāṇa-s, such as the Liṅga Purāṇa.^[3]

Arabic

Here, dreams about specific numbers^[4] or about reading specific chapters^[5] of the Qurʼan are among the chief subjects of prognostication. The most renowned of the Arabic texts of oneiromancy is the Great Book of Interpretation of Dreams.

European

Achmet is an adaptation of an Arabic book to the tastes of a European readership.

Derived from older literature, modern dream-books are still in common use in Europe and the United States, being commonly sold along with good-luck charms.

Cultural

The indigenous Chontal of the Mexican state of Oaxaca use Calea zacatechichi for oneiromancy.

Notes

1. ^ Szpakowska, Kasia : Behind Closed Eyes : Dreams and Nightmares in Ancient Egypt. The Classical Press of Wales, Swansea, 2003. http://texts.00.gs/Behind_Closed_Eyes.htm
2. ^ Nils P. Heessel : Divinatorische Texte I : ... oneiromantische Omina. Harrassowitz Verlag, 2007. https://www.eisenbrauns.com/ECOM/_2M008RL96.HTM
3. ^ Linga Purana. Diamond Pocket Books Ltd. ISBN 8128806793. pp. 60-62
4. ^ Gouda 1991, pp. 296-301
5. ^ Gouda 1991, pp. 402-409

See also

• Veridical dream
• Dream dictionary
• Dream Herb
• Oneirology

References

• AMERICAN ORIENTAL SERIES, Vol. 89 = Noegel, Scott B. : Noctural Ciphers : the Allusive Language of Dreams in the Ancient Near East. New Haven, 2007.
• Oberhelman, Steven Michael : The Oneirocritic Literature of the Late Roman and Byzantine Eras of Greece. PhD dissertation, University of Minnesota, 1981.
• Yehia Gouda : Dreams and Their Meanings in the Old Arab Tradition. Vantage Pr, NY, 1991.

External links

• Dream Interpretation Resources.