History of Dreams and Nightmares around the world:
In the earlier years, Greeks and Romans saw interpreting dreams as a way of understanding messages from the gods.
Hyponoswas was the Greek god of sleep, his son Morpheo, brought dreams to human beings while they slept.
Clay tables from 2800 B.C.E contained interpretive material from the Babylonian and Assyrian dreamers. Negative dream content was attributed to spirits of dead and malevolent demons.
Other Important artifacts caused my dreams are worldly known works of art and music that were highly influenced by the dreams of their creators. Mozart would say his songs came to him in a dream at times. Others like movies, especially horror movies were influenced by nightmares, but one of the most influential and highly recognized work or art done was the painting "The Nightmare" by Henry Fuseli made in 1781. This painting shows a woman who is sleeping with an evil demon looking creature sitting on her chest which was believed to be a cause of many nightmares in those days. (Refer to Demonology and Nightmares Page) There is also a horse in the foreground, all of these objects lead us to believe that she is having a terrifying dream. The Picture of this painting is shown below.
North American and South American indigenous tribes chose a young man or woman who was then traditionally sent out around puberty on a "dream quest." These dream quests involved a solo journey through the woods with lack of food, sleep, and carried mind hallucinogens. He/she would then have an important dream that will show him a future path. They would also see their guardian spirit or guide in the process to help them.
Native Americans also used dream catchers. It was believed that all bad dreams were to be caught in the webbing, and all good dreams would go through the tiny holes to prevent nightmares. It's main intent was to protect the sleeper from bad spirits causing these dreams. The positive dreams would seep through the tiny holes and glide down the feathers gently falling on the sleeper.
(Left) A Native American Dream Catcher
There were ancient rituals that people used to get rid of nightmares. One example would be sacrifice, where animals or even humans were offered, and certain exercises which had power to "rectify" a bad dream were done. They would repeat this "magical formula" which had the power to avert evil and attract good fortune. Other charms and jewels were believed to have the power to ward off such dreams as well. Jewelry like talismans and amulets were worn to bed. The Muhammadans used pieces of paper covered with verses from the Moran, and different astrological and magical symbols which were sewed in the lining of clothes or bags worn at night on the breast around the neck to ward off evil dreams and entities. Pentacles were also used, which included rolling a piece of small paper into a little ball and swallowing them with water before going to sleep.