The Bible,
as well as other great books of historical and revealed
religion,
shows traces of a general and substantial belief in dreams.
Plato, Shakespeare,
and Napoleon assigned to certain prophetic and
cognizant
values. Joseph saw eleven stars of the Zodiac bow to himself,
the twelfth
star (Genesis 37). The famine of Egypt was revealed to
the Pharaoh
through a dream, first of fat and lean cattle, and then
in a second
dream of plump and thin corn (Genesis 41).
The prophets
and those who have stood nearest the fountain of
universal
knowledge used dreams with more frequency
than any
other form of divination.
Profane,
as well as sacred history is threaded with incidents
of dream
prophecy. If Julius Caesar had been less incredulous
about dreams,
he would have listened to the warning which
Calpernia,
his wife, received in a dream. Plato conceived in the
general
idea prevailing in his day that there were divine manifestations
to the soul
in sleep. Joan of Arc even predicted her own death in a dream.
People dream
now, the same as they did in medieval and ancient times.
All through
history dreams have played an important role in guidance
as well
as inspiration. Shouldn't we, today, take time to stop, listen,
and understand
our own dreams?
