Ancient Theory Mesopotamia – The Sumerians Epic poem: Gilgamesh He had a recurring dream - His dreams were taken as prophecy and used to guide actions in the waking world.

Ancient Theory Ancient Hebrews believed dreams were connections with God. The biblical figures Solomon, Jacob, Nebuchadnezzar and Joseph were all visited in their dreams by God or prophets, who helped guide their decisions.

Ancient Theory The earliest Greek view of dreams was that the gods physically visited dreamers, entering through a keyhole, and exiting the same way after the divine message was delivered. Later, they developed the belief that souls left the sleeping body.

Sigmund Freud Freud theorized that there were two types of dream content - manifest and latent. Manifest (superficial) content, he believed, had no significance because it was a mask for underlying (unconscious) issues of the dream. He believed the latent content contained unconscious wishes or fantasies.

Carl Jung Jung came to believe that dream contents present us with revelations that uncover and help to resolve emotional issues, problems, religious issues and fears. He concluded that symbolic terms are used to represent concepts that we cannot grasp.

20th century dream theorists Adler, Erikson, Maslow and others dreams have important messages and provide opportunities for intrapersonal and interpersonal growth.