Dream Incubation
“How often dreams have come to my assistance in the composition of my writings! They aided me to put my ideas in order and my style in harmony with my ideas; they have made me expunge certain expressions, and choose others . . . a god warned me in my sleep, censured my writings . . . brought me back to a natural style.” --Synesius of Cyrene from ancient Greece
Not only do dreams provide a rich reservoir of potential writing content, but they can also be instrumental in solving writers’ problems. But how and why it happens is another story. Many dream researchers theorize that the process of dream incubation is the key. Dream incubation has its origins in ancient times among many cultures. The method generally involved “the practice of going to a sacred place to sleep for the purpose of obtaining a useful dream from a god” (Garfield 44). Temples were erected solely for this purpose in ancient Greece, China, Egypt and other civilizations. Historians speculate that dream incubation was originally used for curing sterility and infertility. The tradition evolved to general problem solving like personal concerns and healing the sick. But is dream incubation really effective in solving problems? If so, can it be used for creative purposes?
Dr. Deirdre Barrett of Harvard Medical School conducted an experiment to study dream incubation and problem solving. She wanted to discover if subjects could use their dreams to solve personal problems. The 76 participants were asked to write down a “problem of personal relevance with recognizable solution(s).” Then they were instructed to follow dream incubation instructions nightly for a week, or until they thought they received a satisfactory answer to their problem. Nearly half of the participants recalled a dream that they believed was about their problem. Of those subjects, 70% percent felt that their problem was solved. Many of the perceived solutions were ones that dreamers had not consciously considered or thought of. The dreams addressed problems and solutions both metaphorically and literally. One of the findings was that those who incubated problems of a personal nature (like relationship problems and educational decisions) were more likely to believe that their problem had been solved than other participants who incubated academic problems.
Barrett’s study suggests that intense involvement with a subject is more likely to lead to a dream about that subject and that “dream interested persons incubating problems can often dream what they feel to be solutions of which they are not consciously aware.”
Barrett also points out that “the solutions seemed to be in line with the subjects’ waking abilities.” Thus, accomplished writers build on their talents; dreams do not make them complete literary geniuses overnight.
Read more:
Introduction--The Committee of Sleep
Dream Incubation
REM--Making the Connection
REM--The Royal Road to Metaphor
Hypnagogic Dreams
Writer's Block
The Little People
Suggested Readings
Links
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