Prof Akers, your question is more than interesting. It was posited by certain thinkers that what our minds cannot conceive cannot possibly exist... And I remember reading somewhere that a certain group of people from a remote culture were unable to "see" a new object that was brought to them. Because their mind could not imagine it.
So, when we apply this to dreaming, it makes your question a valid one.

But then, how do we explain premonitory dreams such as someone from the 15th century dreaming about a car? So they wake up and they tell their dreams to a friend: "Oh I dreamt of a strange kind of carriage. It moved on its own... as if pulled by invisible horses!"

I need to think about this a little more...

Not only are our symbols made up of those of our own culture, but also from our own very unique life experiences, which is the reason that dreams evolve and grow with us (something easy to see for someone in close contact with their own). By this I mean that my symbols are probably inappropriate for my neighbor's dreams, no matter how close our culture. So, obviously, you are right in saying dream books are hard to apply to far away countries. In fact, I find any dream books hard to apply in any case.

For example, take two children who have grown up in the same house. One is an animal lover while the other was bitten once and has a deep fear since then. If both dream of a dog, how can their dreams have the same meaning? Probably one will wake up smiling happily while the other will cry for his mum, right?

The only "good" thing about dream "dictionaries", as some are called, is that we have to do no thinking of our own, so they are an easy "way out". Since most people do not take dream messages very seriously anyway, it becomes a sort of parlor game, which is fine in itself, but that will hardly get you very far in self knowledge.

What we need to learn, if we are really interested in the meaning of our dreams, is to make the right questions so that the right answers will pop to mind. I also find it useful to talk to people who have been in close contact with their own dreams for a long time, because they can tell you what to expect and how to make the most of them, without imposing their own interpretations.  

I am merely considering this question from several different alternative viewpoints, and leaving it up to the member concerned to determine which is the more relevant and useful one in their situation. One theory or viewpoint is not therefore in itself necessarily superior to any other in an open discussion such as this one.



Probably not, but there are certain universal dream symbols or dream archetypes that appear to span all cultures and belief systems.

A butterfly just happens to be one of them (represents rebirth, reincarnation and the spirit flying free of it's physical prison).

Therefore it is still theoretically possible since every person on Earth is able to draw upon the contents of the Universal Mind which connects us all, that an Eskimo can dream about a butterfly, even if he has never seen one in his waking life.

See "Universal Symbols"

http://www.adwizards.com/dreamers/symbols.htm

Regards,

eye_of_tiger

I agree about the universal symbols but did these evolve spontainiously or were they subject to outside influences - we'll never know. I grew up in a city in England and my family business employed all women of most of whom came here as refugees.
They were usually from Eastern Europe but we had one Italian lady and few English.
They spent hours discussing dreams (along the failings of their husbands and sex) and if one lady felt very strongly about a dream and it's meaning then the rest tagged along. But they didn't have access to written interpritations, only what they were brought up with and it's always been interesting to me that large differences were evident, even within the same speech group i.e. Polish and Ukranian.

Yes, I also find this particularly interesting, but hardly surprising when all the people in question may have in common is their country of birth, especially if they or their family emigrated from the mother country many years before.

I strongly believe that the language of our unconscious minds in which our dreams are written is almost as unique as we are, although universal symbols do suggest that some unconscious symbols are "hard wired" into every human being, regardless of their nationality or culture.

EOT