Dreams

When I found out that we were going to be reading and talking about dreams, I was really excited. I've always held a profound interest in the dream state for reasons unknown, how and why we have them, and whether or not life itself affects the types of dreams we have. I've also always wondered why I seem to have the same dream many, many times throughout my life. Do the events that happen in a person's dreams hold any specialized context? Do they mean anything? How about those dream meaning books that are available, do the symbols that are listed in these books actually hold meaning?

I don't think I exactly understand Freud's point of view, however, I do like and agree with what Carl Jung believed. It seems to go along slightly with the notion of symbolism in dreams and different types of personalities and individuals that are present in dreams.

I also found the part concerning lucid dreams to be very interesting. I've never experienced or know how to manipulate myself in order to experience a lucid dream; however, it seems like it would be a very interesting thing to do. I also found the part about out of body experiences and the near death experiences to be very interesting as well. Has anyone experienced or know anyone who has experienced these events?