As long as humans have existed, we have always questioned and attempted to interpret our dreams--but at what point did dreams and religion become one?
In religious history, it was often believed that dreams were connections with God, or the Divine. Many religious leaders and philosophers claimed to be able to accurately interpret dreams. Dream interpretation is an old practice, believed to have started with the Egyptians in the 5th century B.C.E. The Egyptians believed dreams to be signs of the supernatural. In 8th century B.C.E., the Greeks began to study dreams and concluded that these visions were reflective of a person's overall health. The first comprehensive book on the interpretation of dreams came from the Romans in 150 C.E.: The Interpretation of Dreams. It wasn't until the sixteenth century C.E., however, that real progress was made in the field of dream interpretation.
A man named Chen Shiyuan compiled a text called The Lofty Principles of Dream Interpretation, which addressed a new question: How do we separate dreams from reality, and how do we know when we are awake and when we are dreaming?
It is written in the Chouang-tzu,
"Once Chuang Chou dreamed that he was a butterfly. He fluttered about happily, quite pleased with the state that he was in, and knew nothing about Chuang Chou. Presently he awoke and found that he was very much Chuang Chou again. Now, did Chou dream that he was a butterfly, or was the butterfly dreaming that he was Chou?"
People began to consider that dreaming may be an alternate reality to consciousness. From there, Dreamology was born.
Unlike many major religions such as Christianity, not much recorded history has been provided as to the development of Dreamology. It is common belief by experts that such documents were destroyed by religious powers when discovered. We do know, however, that Dreamology was very much fostered by aboriginal peoples of North America. These cultures introduced the idea of spirituality to the religion, as well as the concept of a dream catcher (or Ojibwe).
The history of Dreamology is a clouded one, however it is steadily becoming a major religion in North America. With close to one million followers today, the religion is favoured by many because of its flexibility, its originality, and its acceptance of all followers. For more information on any of the content within this post, please refer to the provided links:
http://library.thinkquest.org/11189/nfhistory.htm
http://www.spellsofmagic.com/coven_ritual.html?ritual=2112&coven=519
