Читать книгу Understanding Dreams: What they are and how to interpret them - Nerys Dee - Страница 30

Dreams are memories so in retrospect it is often difficult to be certain if an event really occurred or if it was a dream. One woman was so convinced that she had left her handbag on a train that she even telephoned the lost property office to enquire if it had been found. She was most relieved six months later when she found the handbag at the bottom of her wardrobe; she was also most perplexed when she realised it had been a bad dream and not reality.

Another example of a dream mistaken for reality is when we believe we are awake in the middle of the night, and see a person or ghost standing by the bed. Whoever it is we see is so real, and the memory so clear, that in the morning it is impossible to convince the dreamer that what occurred was actually a dream, and not a visitation. Dreams such as this are known as ‘false awakenings’ and account for many of the ghosts seen at night. But since we do not know everything there is to know about the dream state, who can say that the visitation did not take place, albeit in a way different to what we assume is normal? ‘Things that go bump in the night’ and other strange, unaccountable noises are also heard during false awakenings.