title: Religious dreaming: a viewpoint.
abstract: Religious dreaming is as universal an experience as dreaming. But, unlike the ancients who interpreted their religious dreams in context of their religious views, contemporary man has been too shackled by scientific materialism to fully appreciate religious dreams. I have presented a review of some contemporary observations on religious dreams, and presented two clinical cases and current dream material to show that we still can harness the power of religious dreams. Religious images and symbols in dreams can provide a source for growth and health today as they did in ancient times. When the outer religious symbols of groups lose their effectiveness in our lives, inner religious symbols as seen in dreams can become more effective in human life. The need to work with religious images and symbolism is indicated.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004325:Dreams; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009228:Mysticism; D011573:Psychoanalytic Interpretation; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D013561:Symbolism