Sigmund Freud's Recall / interpretation

**Choi** · 09-11-2011 07:37 PM

What I have learned in my two years of lucid dreaming is that dreams are built of:

*Memories
*Associations
*Expectations

Today I read Sigmund Freuds Book "The Interpretation of Dreams" and I learned what dreams are BASED on.

Freud categorizes aspects of the mind into three parts:

Id - centered around primal impulses, pleasures, desires, unchecked urges and wish fulfillment.

Ego - concerned with the conscious, the rational, the moral and the self-aware aspect of the mind.

Superego - the censor for the id, which is also responsible for enforcing the moral codes of the ego.

When we are awake the id's impulses and desires are surpressed by the Superego.
But when we dream we can get a small insight of what our id truely want.
But sometimes our desires can be so disturbing and even psychologically harmfull that something translate that content into a symbol.

According to Freud, the reason to why we struggle with rembering our dreams is because our superego is at work and protect the conscious mind from the disturbing images and desires from the unconscious.

He also sais that events from our days takes form in our dreams.
---
Although awareness of the dreams will make you remember them.
Why? I have no idea. But now when you read through someones Dream Journal you are technically reading their unconscious (wish fulfillment. Issues of power, lack of control, or unsatisfactory love) disguised by symbols.

Anyway my point is that if you are aware of what those mean to you, you might become more aware of your dreams. But it's just a theory.

To see what your dreams mean to you try his association technique:

Find something that seems like it could have something to do with your id, then use association. See what automatically comes to your mind first.
Continue doing this and see where it leads.

**flagstone149** · 11-13-2011 04:41 AM

You're on the right path. But i wouldn't spend too much time with good ol' Freud. He channeled his own sexual frustrations into his theories, painting our mind as an incestuous and stool obsessed child. But he was a pioneer. fyi i think he revised his description of the id as organic drives (more politically correct).

Your three point triangle of dreams hits the nail square on the head. Though I think it misses the more intangible/spiritual/ethereal aspect of dreams. Sure our 2d perceptual understanding of what we dream can be summed up by associations, memories, and expectations but that's it. And you have to admit that there are too many things that cannot be explained scientifically (especially when concerning dreams) to box ourselves in the ideologies of a coke head like Sigmund.

**Choi** · 11-13-2011 11:51 AM

Thank you for being the first showing interest in this old thread

And yes I realise that Freud was ehrm.. special, but I will also look into his counter part Carl Gustav Jung.

**Linkzelda** · 11-24-2011 07:22 PM

So I guess mantras that convince the superego to let go of protecting us from hidden desires would be beneficial in a way.

Thanks for the topic! Very interesting

**MissLucy** · 12-01-2011 08:51 AM

Well I *know* there's day time residue in dreams. My friend mentioned the movie "Paul" to me, that night I dreamt about Simon Pegg, but he was called "Paul". Dead giveaway, that one. And still silly little me had NO idea and just went happily along with it XD

I often question Freud's ideas. Sure, he laid the basics for a lot of philosophical debate and ideas, but.. ..not so sure about his sanity to be honest. But yeah, he had some great views, like this one. Every person on this planet, everyone, has at one point in their life wondered what dreams are. Of course, most just leave it at that. Philosophy is there to ask questions, not to find answers, that's what science is for.

So, I think we'll just have to wait until some scientist gets some philosophical ideas and comes up with the answer. Or.. ..do we really *want* to know?