The Importance Of Dreams, Their Spiritual Meanings, And Why Sleep Is Crucial For Our Health.

Dreaming is the gateway to other realms…

Since the beginning of human history, dreams have been honored as powerful messengers. Long before modern science, our ancestors understood that when the body rests, the soul travels through gateways to other realms to gather important information to bring back to us in the "waking dream". Dreams were not dismissed as imagination or random image, they were respected as guidance, healing, and communication between the physical and the unseen worlds.

Across ancient cultures, including the Egyptians, Greeks, Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Australian Aboriginals, and many others, dreams were considered sacred experiences. People believed the spirit traveled during sleep, gathering wisdom, receiving instruction, or reconnecting with ancestors and the natural world. In temples dedicated to healing, individuals prepared for “dream incubation” through fasting, prayer, herbs, and cleansing rituals, entering sleep with intention in hopes of receiving insight or healing through their dreams.

Dreams have always served as bridges to help us understand this 3D realm and help guide us to expand our consciousness. They move beyond time and logic, speaking instead through symbols, sensations, and emotion. This is why dreams often reveal truths we may overlook or avoid while awake. They can offer comfort during grief, clarity during transition, warnings during imbalance, and reassurance when we feel disconnected. Dreams remind us of who we are beneath the noise of daily life.

As civilizations shifted and rational thinking became dominant, dreams were slowly pushed aside. During the Middle Ages, dream interpretation was discouraged, and later, during "The Enlightenment"(an intellectual and cultural movement that flourished in Europe and its colonies from the late 17th century to the late 18th century, often referred to as the Age of Reason. It centered on the belief that reason is the primary source of authority and legitimacy, advocating ideals such as liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government, and separation of church and state". Anything that could not be scientifically measured was considered irrelevant. Yet even then, dreams never disappeared, they just waited for us to come back to our senses! (And spiritual selves).

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, psychologists like Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung brought dreams back into conversation. Freud believed dreams are meaningful expressions of the unconscious, not random images. He taught that dreams are disguised fulfillments of unconscious wishes, often shaped by early life experiences. Freud described two layers of dreams: the manifest content, which is the storyline we remember, and the latent content, which holds the hidden meaning. Through a process he called dream-work, using symbolism, condensation, and displacement. The unconscious masks deeper desires so the mind can remain asleep. While Jung saw dreams as honest messages from the unconscious that guide personal growth and balance the psyche. Rather than wish fulfillment, Jung believed dreams compensate for what the conscious mind ignores or suppresses. He distinguished between personal dreams and archetypal dreams, which arise from the collective unconscious and feature universal symbols like the Shadow, Anima/Animus, and Self. Jung viewed dream symbols as meaningful images rooted in human history and mythology. For him, dreams support individuation, the process of becoming whole and fully oneself.

Modern science now confirms what tradition has long taught. Deep, restorative sleep supports the nervous system, immune health, hormone balance, memory, emotional regulation, and overall vitality. Dreaming is an essential part of this process. During dream states, the brain processes emotions, integrates experiences, and releases stored stress. When sleep is disrupted or undervalued, both the body and spirit can suffer.

In today’s fast-paced world, sleep is often treated as optional, and dreams as meaningless. But the body remembers. The soul remembers. When we slow down enough to rest deeply, dreams naturally rise to the surface again, offering insight, healing, and direction.

Reconnecting with your dreams does not require special training, just simple practices like setting an intention before sleep, keeping a dream journal by your bed, drinking nervine and calming herbs, and honoring rest as sacred time. This can reopen an ancient line of connection. When we nourish our body with the right herbs, foods, hydration and decluttering the mind we can assist our sleep better so we can have clear communication with our higher self, ancestors, and guides in our dream space.

Dreams, to me, are not random stories the mind makes up at night, they are living messages from a deeper layer of consciousness. They show us what we are integrating, what we are releasing, and what is asking for our attention. When we learn to listen to our dreams, we begin to live more consciously while awake, recognizing patterns, trusting intuition, and moving with greater alignment in our ability to manifest in our waking life.

I, also, see dreams as a bridge between the unseen and our everyday lives. A space where consciousness expands beyond time and linear thinking. In this dream state, we’re not just processing our past to heal in the now but we’re often sensing what is still unfolding. Prophetic dreams arise to give us more insight, offering glimpses of possible futures, warnings, or confirmations long before they appear in waking life. These dreams don’t always arrive as literal events but through symbols and feelings that prepare us energetically for what’s ahead. I have had many prophetic dreams, mine are always a glimpse into the next day reminding me I'm still on the right path or I've already been in that time and space. Which is so powerful to me and gives me comfort in my waking life. When we really pay attention to our dreams, we sharpen our intuition and strengthen our trust in our inner guidance. They remind us that we are not separate from the flow of time, (or flow of quantum space) but active participants in it, capable of sensing, shaping, and responding to what is coming next with awareness and clarity.

A final note, I LOVE TO SLEEP! And I wish good rest & sleep to you. I hope you are learning and expanding through your dreams too. ♡

Much Love and Happy Dreaming,

Jemaa🌺