Oneiromancy

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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.

[edit] 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 Szakowska.^[1]

[edit] Biblical

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

• 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;
• Daniel interpreted dreams (in the Book of Daniel);
• the Magi are told in a dream to avoid Herod on their journey home (Matthew 2).
• Joseph, husband of Mary, was directed to flee to Egypt (Matthew 2);
• Paul was told to go to Macedonia (Acts 16).

[edit] 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, ʕarabic, and European.

[edit] Ancient oneirocritic literature

[edit] Kemetian

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

[edit] Akkadian

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

[edit] Hellenic

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

[edit] Mediaeval oneirocritic literature

[edit] Āstika

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

[edit] ʕarabic

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

[edit] European

Achmet is an adaptation of an ʕarabic 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.

[edit] Cultural

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

[edit] Notes

[edit] 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.

[edit] See also

• Veridical dream
• Dream dictionary
• Dream Herb
• Oneirology

[edit] External links

• Dream Interpretation Resources. Ancient Astrology and Divination on the Web (Tim Spalding).