Dreaming as inspiration evidence from religion, philosophy, literature, and film.
This paper presents evidence from the history of religion, philosophy, literature, and film to suggest that dreaming is a primal wellspring of creative inspiration. Powerful, reality-bending dreams have motivated the cultural creativity of people all over the world and throughout history. Examples include the dream revelations of Egyptian Pharaohs, the philosophical insights of Socrates, the dark literary themes of Fyodor Dostoevsky, and the cinematic artistry of Akira Kurusawa. Although the conclusions that can be drawn from these sources are limited by several methodological factors, the evidence gives contemporary researchers good reasons to explore the creative potentials of dreaming and the impact on waking life behavior of certain types of extraordinary dream experience.
Bulkeley
Kelly
K
The Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California, USA.
D003405:Creativity; D004325:Dreams / Q000523:psychology*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000266:history*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D008091:Literature / Q000266:history*; D009040:Motion Pictures / Q000266:history*; D010684:Philosophy / Q000266:history*; D012069:Religion and Psychology