Are Dreams Premontions?????????????????????????

A premonition is an impression, often perceived as a warning, of a future event (from the Latin praemonēre, to forewarn : prae-, pre- + monēre, to warn). It bears similarities to the concept of second sight in that it frequently comes in the form of a paranormal vision or as a vivid dream.
Premonitions are sometimes attributed to the presence of supernatural or paranormal abilities such as those of the prophetess Cassandra. However, the distinction between precognition and ordinary evidence-based predictions is sometimes not made sharply. Premonition is a concept which may or may not include ordinary predictions, resulting in a bias towards supernatural explanations for the phenomenon.

Abraham Lincoln had a very vivid premonition of his death. Ten days before he was assassinated he dreamt he was in the East Wing of the White House where people were mourning. When he asked a soldier who had died, he was told "The President".

Otto von Bismarck predicted the beginning of the First World War, by saying (shortly before he died in 1898) to Ballen: "If there is ever another war in Europe, it will come out of some damned silly thing in the Balkans"

The novelist Mark Twain predicted that Halley's Comet would be seen on the day of his death, just as it was when he was born. Twain died on Halley's 1910 appearance on April 20.

Movies based on dreams and premontions--Final Destination -Premonition

Dream is an experience of envisioned images, sounds, or other sensations during sleep. In dreams we are able to go anywhere and do anything. It seems that we are passengers on a moving train who are unable to control our actions and choose surroundings.

Interpreting dreams date back since 4000 B.C. It has been documented on clay tablets. Primal societies people were unable to distinguish between the dream world and waking world. They thought the dream world to be an extension of reality and was also more powerful world.

The Greek and Romans believed that dreams were direct messages from the Gods or from the dead. They even dictated the actions of political and military leaders through dreams. Dream interpreters in those days even accompanied military leaders into the battle to help with war strategy.

In Egypt, the priests acted as dream interpreters. Egyptians recorded their dreams in hieroglyphics.

In China the people believed that the soul leaves the body to go into this world. If they should be suddenly awakened, their soul may fail to return to the body.
It is a sign of fortunate undertakings and cheerful companions.

Dreams have influenced mighty kings, given insights to world-changing scientists and inspired gifted artists. The importance and power of dreams are well established. From the temples of antiquity to the sleep labs of modern days, humans have tried to understand, explain and apply them.

The earliest recorded dreams are derived from materials dating back approximately 5000 years, in Mesopotamia (Hall, 1991, p. 47).

The Sumerians, the first cultural group to reside in Mesopotamia, left dream records dating back to 3100 BC. According to these early writings, deities and royals, such as the 7th century BC scholar-king Assurbanipal, gave careful attention to dreams. Within Assurbanipal's archive of clay tablets, portions of the story of the legendary king Gilgamesh were found. In this epic poem – one of the earliest known classical stories – Gilgamesh reported his recurring dreams to his goddess-mother Ninsun, who made the first recorded dream interpretation.

His dreams were taken as prophecy and used to guide actions in the waking world. These attitudes recorded in the Gilgamesh epic provide a valuable source of information about ancient dream beliefs.

Ancient Hebrews believed dreams were connections with God. The biblical figures Solomon, Jacob, Nebuchadnezzar and Joseph were all visited in their dreams by God or prophets, who helped guide their decisions. It was recognized and accepted that the dreams of kings could influence whole nations and the futures of their peoples.

The Talmud, which was written between 200 and 500 AD, includes over two hundred references to dreams. It states that "dreams which are not understood are like letters which are not opened."

Ancient Egyptians also gave the dreams of their royal leaders special attention since gods were more likely to appear in them. Serapis, the Egyptian god of dreams, had temples in which dream incubation occurred. Before going to these temples, dreamers would fast, pray and draw to help ensure enlightening dreams.

Chinese considered the dreamer's soul to be the guiding factor of dream production . The hun, or spiritual soul, was thought to leave the body and communicate with the land of the dead. They also practiced incubation in dream temples.

These temples served a political purpose through the 16th century. Any high official visiting a city reported to a temple the first night to receive dream guidance for his mission. Judges and government officials were also required to visit dream temples for insight and wisdom.

The Sacred Books of Wisdom, or Vedas, were written in India between 1500 and 1000 BC. In the Vedas, dreams of violence were thought to lead to success and happiness if the aggression was pro actively handled in the dream, even if the dreamer gets hurt in the process.
If the dreamer remains passive and becomes hurt by his own passivity, however, it was considered a bad omen. Van de Castle (1994) states that these dreams might be more indicative of the dreamer's character than prophecy, since "those who take an active role in their dreams are likely to be more active, and therefore, more successful, in their daily lives" (p. 59).

The Upanishads, written between 900 and 500 BC, articulates two perspectives on dreams. The first maintains that dreams are merely expressions of inner desires. The second closely resembles the Chinese belief of the soul leaving the body and being guided until awakened. It was also thought that if the sleeper was awakened abruptly, the soul might not return to the body quickly enough and the sleeper could die.

The earliest Greek view of dreams was that the gods physically visited dreamers, entering through a keyhole, and exiting the same way after the divine message was delivered. The fifth century BC marks the first known Greek book on dreams, written by Antiphon, an Athenian statesman. During this century, the Greeks developed the belief (through contact with other cultures) that souls left the sleeping body.

The practice of dream incubation was at least as important to the Greeks as it was among Mesopotamians, Egyptians, and Chinese. Aesculapius was a Greek healer who was believed to be the son of Apollo. He was linked with cults that began the practice of incubation. He visited sleepers, miraculously curing them. A shrine to Aesculapius was established at Epidaurus in the fifth century BC. It may still be visited today. There are thought to be around 410 Aesculapian sanctuaries near Athens, generally being active from the sixth century BC until the third century BC.

Hippocrates (469-399 BC), the father of medicine and Socrates' contemporary, wrote On Dreams. His theory was simple: during the day, the soul receives images; during the night, it produces images. Therefore, we dream.

Aristotle (384-322 BC) thought that dreams could be indicators of conditions within the body. He did not believe they were divinely inspired. He hypothesized that external stimuli are absent during sleep, so dreams are manifestations of a profound awareness of internal sensations which are expressed as dream imagery.

Galen, a Greek physician born in 129 AD, emphasized the need to observe dreams carefully for clues to healing. He was so trusting of dream messages that he carried out operations on the basis of his dream interpretations.