How to be happy though human / by W. Béran Wolfe.
200/400
- Publication/creation
- London : George Routledge, 1932.
- Physical description
- xiv, 374 pages ; 22 cm
- Contributors
- Wolfe, W. Béran 1900-1935.
- Notes
-
This edition was reprinted in 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1946 and 1948.
Copy 1 Note: 1937 reprint. X158203
- Attribution and usage
-
Wellcome Collection
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The image contains the following text:
1. The dream is a metaphor written in phantastic terms.
As such it is always a distortion of reality. The distortion
is designed to bridge the gap between our private pattern
of life and the reality of commonsense. It always
points to the future, but is rooted in the past or in the
present.
2. The dream is often a trial solution of our problems. It
is as if we built a little marionette theatre, arranged the
scenes and sets, and manipulated an effigy of ourselves
along with the other actors. It is an “ as if ” solution of a
future difficulty.
3. The dream is a visual process, and the metaphor must
therefore be stated in visual terms. People who are not used
to thinking in visual terms do not dream much. The dream
is usually built up of the material of everyday life and
experience, which is often treated without reference to
time, space, gravitation or historical relativity. Much of
the material is symbolized in a variety of “ dream-
shorthand ” that anyone can learn with a little experience
in interpretation.
4. The important thing about the dream is not its pictorial,
but its dynamic content. To interpret a dream you must
interpret its “ dynamic drift ”.
5. The purpose of a dream is often to establish an emotional
mood by an illicit use of the dream metaphor. If you wake up
in terror after a nightmare, you need not look for any
causes of the dream. Your unconscious has^ helped you
reinforce your ordinary caution by allowing you to
identify yourself with a dangerous situation, thus the
real meaning of a nightmare or other horrible dream is :
“ Take care ! You are in danger ! ”
6. We forget our dreams because we dare not examine the
hocus-pocus by means of which we created our illusion. The
purpose of our dreams is to establish an unjustifiable
mood by illicit means. We must deceive ourselves before
we can deceive others.
7. No dream can be interpreted unless you know something
of the dreamer s dynamic pattern of life. If his goal is an
escape from reality the dream will mirror that escape and