Oniromancy
Oneiromancy is the divinatory art that consists of interpreting dreams as carriers of messages, signs or information about the future, the past, or the dreamer's psychic dynamics.
Origin and etymology
The word comes from the Greek oneiros (dream) and manteia (divination). The interpretation of dreams is one of the oldest known divinatory practices. Babylonian Mesopotamia of the 2nd millennium BCE compiled oneiromancy manuals on clay tablets. Ancient Egypt practiced incubation in temples, notably in Memphis and Saqqara, where the consultant slept in a sanctuary to receive an oracular dream. Ancient Greece dedicated temples to Asclepius for therapeutic incubation (Epidaurus, Pergamon). Artemidorus of Daldis wrote in the 2nd century CE Oneirocritica, the oldest complete Greek treatise on dream interpretation that has come down to us.
Evolution and tradition
Oneiromancy has a rich medieval Islamic tradition, with Ibn Sirin in the 8th century, whose dream keys remain in circulation. Medieval Christianity distinguishes divine dreams, diabolical dreams and human dreams, following Macrobius in the 5th century. The psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud (The Interpretation of Dreams, 1900) and the depth psychology of Carl Gustav Jung (notably in Man and His Symbols, 1964) transformed oneiromancy into a tool for exploring the unconscious rather than for prediction. This psychological reading dominates contemporary practice, without entirely eliminating the more traditional divinatory uses present in popular dream dictionaries.
Practical use
Contemporary oneiromancy generally begins with keeping a dream journal: noting upon waking the images, emotions and events of the dream. The interpretive work then proceeds through free association, identification of personal and cultural symbols, and putting these in relation with waking life. On Tarotoui, resources on oneiromancy are available among the divinatory practices. The popular dream dictionary, which assigns a fixed meaning to each symbol (dreaming of water = emotions, dreaming of death = renewal), is a standardized approach. The Jungian approach, more nuanced, values the dreamer's personal associations.
Going further
Popular oneiromancy (dream dictionaries) and psychological oneiromancy (Freud, Jung) are two different paradigms that should not be confused. The dream dictionary assigns a fixed meaning to each symbol. The psychological reading articulates cultural meaning and personal associations. Note also that contemporary neuroscience describes the dream as a process of memory consolidation and emotional regulation, which does not contradict its symbolic interest.