Strange Texts

 Taken from AMERICAN HEALTH July/August 1987. How to problem-solve in your dreams -----------------------------------   Your dreams are "written" in your own private vocabulary; that's why their menaing is often unclear (and why dream books you buy at the corner newsstand won't explain your own visions). Moreover, the language of dreams is sensory and visual, whereareas the language of daily life is verbal. You need to translate a dream much as you would a foreign language.   Unfortunately, the same force s that make us disguise problems in our dreams are likely to hinder our recognizing them whne we're awake. Even Freud had trouble with self-analysis. So an impartial listener - atrained therapist - can help. "It's a collaborative process," says New York psychoanalyst Walter Bonime, author of the classic text, THE CLINICAL USE OF DREAMS (Da Capo Press, $29.50)   But that doesn't mean you shouldn't explore your dreams alone or with a partner. ...

  Design Your Own Dreams [THIS FEATURE IS PART OF AN EXPERIMENT BEING SPONSORED BY OMNI TO HELP SCIENTISTS REFINE CERTAIN DREAM TECHNIQUES NOW BEING STUDIED IN THE LAB. THE FULL EXPERIMENT APPEARS IN THE APRIL OMNI MAGAZINE. THE EXERCISES PRESENTED HERE ARE FOR THOSE WHO MIGHT WANT TO ATTEMPT A LITTLE LUCID DREAMING ON THEIR OWN.] Most people don't realize they've been dreaming until after they've awakened and the dream has come to an end. Some people, however, are conscious that they're dreaming. These people -- called LUCID dreamers -- can literally direct the content of a dream, scientists have discovered, deciding perhaps to talk physics with Einstein, woo and marry a movie star, or assume the powers of Superman. For those who have acquired the knack of lucidity, the benefits can be enormous: Lucid dreaming gives one the chance to experience unique and compelling adventures rarely surpassed elsewhere in life. ...