A nightmare suggests to the dreamer to be careful of health and diet, to relax his whole body, to sleep with his arms down and keep plenty of fresh air in the room.
He sums up the foregoing with a thousand similar dream incidents, and is led to believe certain dreams possess an element of warning.
There are three pure types of dreams, namely, subjective, physical and spiritual. They relate to the past, present and future, and are influenced by past or subjective, physical and spiritual causes. The latter is always deeply prophetic, especially when it leaves a vivid impression on the conscious mind. The former, too, possesses an element of warning and prophecy, though the true meaning is hidden in symbols or allegory. They are due to contingent mental pictures of the past falling upon the conscious mind of the dreamer. Thus he is back at the old home, and finds mother pale and aged, or ruddy and healthy, and the lawn withered or green. It all augurs, according to the aspect the picture assumes, ill or good fortune.
Physical dreams are more or less unimportant. They are usually superinduced by the anxious waking mind, and when this is so they possess no prophetic significance.
Dreams induced by opiates, fevers, mesmerism and ill health come under this class. A man who gambles is liable to dream of cards; if he dreams of them in deep sleep the warning is to be heeded; but if it comes as a reverie while he sleeps lightly he should regard it as worthless. Such dreams reflect only the present condition of the body and mind of the dreamer; but as the past and present enter into shaping the future, the reflections thus left on the waking mind should not go by unheeded.
We often observe matters of dress and exterior appearance through mirrors, and we soon make the necessary alterations to put our bodies in harmony with existing formalities. Then, why not study more seriously the mental images reflected from the mirror of the soul upon our minds through the occult processes within us?
Thirdly, the spiritual dreams are brought about by the higher self penetrating the soul realm, and reflecting upon the waking mind approaching events. When we put our animal mind and soul in harmony with our higher self we become one with it, and, therefore, one with the universal mind or will by becoming a part of it. It is through the higher self we reach the infinite. It is through the lower self we fall into the whirlpool of matter.
These dreams are a part of the universal mind until they transpire in the life of man. After this they go to make a part of the personal soul. Whatever has not taken place in the mind, or life of man, belongs exclusively to the impersonal mind. But as soon as a man lives or sees a thing, that thing instantly becomes a part of his soul; hence, the clairvoyant, or mind reader, never perceives beyond the personal ego, as the future belongs exclusively to God or the universal mind, and has no material, subjective existence; therefore, it cannot be known except through the channels of the higher self, which is the Truth or the Word that is constantly striving to manifest itself through the flesh.
Our psychical research people give us conclusive proof of mental telepathy or telegraphy between finite minds. Thus communications or impressions are conveyed many miles from one mind to another. This phenomenon is easier when one or both of the subjects are in a state of somnambulence or asleep.
In thought transference or mind reading it is absolutely necessary to have a positive and a negative subject. Through the same law that mental impressions are telegraphed from one finite mind to another a man may place himself in harmony with the infinite mind and thus receive true and healthful warnings of coming evil or good. Homer, Aristotle and other writers of the ancient classics thought this not improbable.