Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-21

it were fact.
Drsamers are trying to find solu-
tons to their daily pre- bemS, but ones which
will not make any new demand on them. That
Is why they spin nighttime tales that will dispose
of their difficulties without necessitating undue
effort on their palt. Dreaming, in short, is like
cheating at solitaire. You blk no one but
yourself.
Alan Porter, New York psychologist who
studied with DR.. Alfred Adler, famous Viennese
psychologist, gives this and other Illuminating
interpretations to dreams-those motion pic
lures of the night which most people enormously
believe are meaningless easily translatable
via the old "D!eambook" methods.
After MIR. Porter, who is a graduate of oxford
and lecturer on individual psychology and
social research in New York, finishes dssecting
a dream scientifically and psychoanalytcally,
the dreamer stands before him stripped of all
pretense and self-delusion. He will know some
extremely revelatory facts about himself. And
Mr.. Porter will have learned about all there is
to know about the man; his fears and anxietieS.
His sacrifices and cowardice. His courage His
ambition and his Self-conf1dence or his over
whelming lack of it. The psychologist will
know whether the man is optinist or pes
SimiSt, muscular or visual type, a man OF
action or a dreamer in all that the word
implies
A DREAM is always a story that some one
Weaves for himself in an attempt at self
deception, declares Mr.. Porter, one-time editor
of the London Spectator, slender, dark
haired. dark-eyed young man, with aquiline
features and marked British accent.
"The dreamer" continues Mr.. Porter, tells
the tale to himself in the night in order that
in his waking hours he may act as though it
were a fact That is why most people forget
their dreams, for otherwise they would act
instead of inventing a yarn for themselves
Let us suppose that man dreams he is
surrounded by wild animals and is fighting
them off, What that man is actually telling
himself is this: face dangers They are in
store for me, and must be very careful how
act That man if he encounters a new job or
a decision of Importance will not face it. The
extremely cautious person is likely to have this
sort of dream preceding some crisis in his
affairs He is probably disappearing the
risks and dangers that lie before him, exag-
gerating them, emphasizing them.
Although every one forgets his Dreams the
mood which inspired them remains. While
the ephemeral and Shadcwy night images
vanish in the light of day, the mood of fear or
peSSimism, optimism or terror in the dreamer
the moods originally responsible for the dreams
stay with the dreamer. So it is that q dream
only occurs when individual has particular
problem to solve. He need not admit to himself
that he has problems in order to dream. In
fact, he doesn't. If he did it is quite likely
that he would not dream at ALL
Sometimes the structure of q dream Is very
clearly defined, and this occurs when the
dreamer'S need is very urgent. But whether
the dream is distinct or misty and disccn-
nected, it is serving the selfsame purpose, self
deception.
IN IHAT actually happens when q man
wv dreams is that he is trying to solve
Q problem that has to do with real struggle
Of life. He is not prepared to answer the