The mirror., 1922-06-01

The Father OF his Country did not deal
in hope from the dream-books.
There is wisdom, almost genius, in the
phrase, "before breakfast" Though now
adays "before your morning exercise" or
"before the cold shower" would serve as
welD. Washington meant to hold off all
revelations until some worth while event
occurred to Danish sleepy phantoms from
the mind. Few of our countless petty
dreams ever survive his test of endurance
Only the inspired visions and interpre-
tations that have endured in religion and
literature transcend this rule of conduct
The vital spark has kept them alive. Jacob
and his ladder, Joseph in the court of
Pharaoh, and Saint John revealing the
splendor of the Holy City, are familiar ex-
amples; though should never have dared
to tell some of the Old Testament dreams
to Washington, before breakfast or after
There is a certain consideration for
others in not telling your trivial dreams,
"even to your most intimate friends" and
the habit may well be cultivated along
with the other social graces. 1t seems
intolerant however, to censor friendly
communications, and the point need not be
pressed; but by all means, from purely
selfish motives, heed this warning: Tell
rot your dreams to Freud, or to any of
his disciples.
Distrust them all, because they have an
axe to grind. They are too eager to demon
strate that every dream, from Nshadowy
fancy to nightmare, reveals suppressed
passionate desires, thwarted sex-impuses,
childhood perversions, neurotic emotions,
subconscious cravings, or dark unwhole-
some secrets of prehistoric races.
To support these theories, they have de-
veleoped>a "a fantastic technique of interpre-
tation, which leads them infallibly, though
OBVIOUSLY, to their goal. There is an un-
pleasant suggestion of vivisection in the
whole process, and heartless sang froid
(if one may venture bi-lingual pun) in
their public lectures and writings
However valuable this technique may be
in studying the abnormal images OF
diseased minds, why apply the same treat
ment to the every-night dreams of a nor
NAL being? The method seems less than
scientific for it is not impartial.
1t is too near that of the caricaturist
who starts with the portrait of a man, then
in successive sketches adds line here,
erases there, distorts this curve and twists
that outline, until by gradual stages the
original subject is turned into hyena or
a buzzard This process is interesting and
often entertaining, if it illustrates ones
own views or prejudices, but it is not
science. The chief requisite for this
technique" is to decide in advance the
final picture of the series, and to make
enough alterations to bring it about.
To understand the ordinary dream that
does not cause perpetual misery, incite to
murder, or produce insanity, follow Berg
son rather than Freud. The French psy
chologist has that beautiful dispassionate
attitude of the true scientist and under
stands and explains simple dreams in ma
tural terms. "In natural sleep our senses
are by no means closed to external i'm
pressions-it is out of real sensation that
we fabricate the dream"
To illustrate, if we slept with our clothes
on, we would not have the common dream
of promenading in our bare skins-our