Through the ages, all people have been fascinated with dreams. The earliest recordings of dreams date back 5000 years to Mesopotamia. Since then, different cultures have different explanations of what they are and some even have special ways to try and evoke dreams. Ancient Egyptians gave special attention to dreams in which gods appeared. They even had temples where dream incubation occurred. Before going to these temples, people would pray and fast to promise dreams with gods. Chinese also had temples which leaders had to enter whenever they visited cities to receive wisdom on their missions (Bixler-Thomas, 1998). So, why the big fascination? Do dreams provide insights into the unconscious, are they mirrors of what has happened during the day, or are they merely changes in the brain? How are dreams interpreted and what do they really mean? Of course no one can answer any of these questions without a doubt, but advances are being made about how our dreams relate to our waking life.
             When trying to gain knowledge of dreams, a good place to start is an exploration into some types of dreams. Daydreams are defined as a level of consciousness between sleep and wakefulness. These dreams occur during the hours that we are awake. It is estimated that 70-120 minutes of a day are spent daydreaming (Author Unknown, 2000-2001). Lucid dreams are dreams in which a person realizes that he/she is dreaming. A person then has the option to wake up and discontinue the dream or still sleep and have an effect on the outcomes of the dream (Weiten, p. 215). Nightmares are disturbing dreams that often cause the dreamer to jump up in bed and be filled with anxiety that the scenario will come to life. Nightmares are often a response to a real-life trauma and research has frequently shown that people with a family history of psychiatric problems are most likely to have nightmares (Weiten, p. 194). Recurring dreams are dreams that repeat...