Dreams in Kabbalah

In Kabbalah dreams are divided into three categories.

The first type of dream is concerned with immediate events. This means those involving the three triads centred upon the Yesodic-ego that often carry over into sleep the momentum of mundane activities, such as dreaming that one is still driving a car after a long journey.

The second order of dream is of a deeper nature and is focused upon Tiferet-Self. Here issues of the soul and the individual's integrity are brought out of the unconscious and projected into the screen of Yesod during sleep so that the ego's attention is awakened to the problem. These dreams are more complex to interpret.

The third order of dream, in Kabbalah, is called prophetic dream. The greater prophets were considered to be awake when they were given these visions. (Today also called “Luciod dreaming”). According to tradition, the soul, during sleep, is free to wander in the World of formation, although the physical connection is never broken. Many dreams have the quality of 'astral travel'.

Individuals of a greater development ascend to the upper face of Yezirah and the lower face of Beriah or the transpersonal realm of the Spirit. Here the most highly evolved individuals commune with the Divine during deep sleep and receive revelations 'face to face', as the Bible puts it. However, as in everything Kabbalah urges balance, for to become too preoccupied with dreams is to live in the wrong world ... and therefore only those dreams that are naturally remembered should be noted. This was the psyche's original intention. To examine every dream can become obsessional, like X-raying our alimentary canal every time we have a meal.