I have just enjoyed another ‘dreamy’ day with Lucia Gahlin at Dillington House – always a winner. For this talk, Lucia investigated the significance of dreams in Ancient Egypt; what they meant, how they were understood and what a bad, or good and happy dream might mean.

To begin we ‘looked upon’ dreams: the religion, literature and politics surrounding their dreams – and at the verbal usage; Sleep was a noun and there was no verb ‘to sleep’.

It was considered that death and sleep was a bridge to the ‘other world’ and how sleepers could see into that world, but were unable to enter it (the ‘Other World’, the ‘After-Life’ being the realm of the dead, not the living).

We learned about Healing and Horrors: the use of dreams in healing; what they could do to ward off bad dreams – they were never to be spoken out loud.

She investigated what it all meant; dream interpretations and the Ramesside Book of Dreams, and, of course ‘The Dream Stele of Thutmose IV’ at the Great Sphinx of Giza.

Having studied so much of the daily and material lives of the Ancient Egyptians, it was very interesting to get an insight into something even less tangible and prescribed.

Thanks again Lucia – I had a great day and a great night!
– And having concentrated to take it in,  I felt the need to go home and: