Oneiromancy (from the Greek όνειροϛ oneiros, dream, and μαντεία manteia, prophecy) is a form of divination based upon dreams; it is a system of dream interpretation that uses dreams to predict the future.
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Biblical oneiromancy
Dreams occur throughout the Bible as omens or messages from God;
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 offers instruction about those who claim to have inspired but false dreams. In Acts 2:17 the apostle Peter quotes Joel 2:28 saying that because of the Spirit now out poured "...your old men will dream dreams."
Oneirocritic literature
Oneirocritic literature is the traditional (ancient and medieval) literary format of dream interpretation. The ancient sources of oneirocritic literature are Kemetian (Aegyptian), Akkadian (Babylonian), and Hellenic (Greek). The medieval sources of oneirocritic literature are Āstika (Hindu), Persian, Arabic, and European.
Egyptian
The oldest oneirocritic manuscript hitherto discovered is the "Ramesside dream-book" now in the British Museum. A unique exemplar of a book of dream-interpretation from pre-Hellenistic Egypt, the surviving fragments were translated into English by Kasia Szpakowska.
Mesopotamian
The Epic of Gilgamesh reflects heavily on the belief that our ancients looked to our dreams to predict, roughly, our future, by Gilgamesh's persistence to "sleep on things" and gather information from his dreams before making decisions. The story has been retold countless times.
Akkadian
This was a section of the extensive omen-literature, the most notable exemplar of which was the “Dream Book,” Iškar Zaqīqu.
Greek
Dream divination was a common feature of Greek and Roman religion and literature of all genres. Aristotle and Plato discuss dreams in various works. The only surviving Greco-Roman dreambook, the Oneirocritica, was written by Artemidorus. Artemidorus cites a large number of previous authors, all now lost. These include Artemidoros, Astrampsychos, Nikephoros, Germanos, and Manuel Palaiologos.
Āstika
The pertinent material is included in the several Purāṇa-s, such as the Liṅga Purāṇa.
Arabic
Here, dreams about specific numbers or about reading specific chapters of the Qurʼan are among the chief subjects of prognostication. The most renowned of the Arabic texts of oneiromancy is the Great Book of Interpretation of Dreams.
European
Achmet is an adaptation of an Arabic book to the tastes of a European readership.
Derived from older literature, modern dream-books are still in common use in Europe and the United States, being commonly sold along with good-luck charms.
Japanese
Sei Shonagon refers to having her dreams interpreted in The Pillow Book.
Modern oneirocritic literature
Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, and other psychoanalysts focused this idea and formed theories, experiments, and terminology around oneiromancy, most famously in Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams.
Other oneiromantic traditions
The indigenous Chontal of the Mexican state of Oaxaca use Calea zacatechichi, a flowering plant, for oneiromancy by placing it under the pillow of the dreamer. Similarly, Entada rheedii is used in various African cultures.