Opinion of an Azerbaijani Psychologist – Zarina Ismayilova
“I dreamt of something I could not have known — and it came true.”
We have all heard such stories. Sometimes we even wake up ourselves with the unsettling sense that a dream has “predicted” the future. For some, it feels like a sign from above; for others, pure coincidence. Psychology, however, offers another view: so-called prophetic dreams may not foretell the future, but rather reveal what we already sense — yet have not consciously admitted.
Dreams in Myth and Tradition
Across cultures, dreams have long been seen as portals to other realms.
Ancient Greece: pilgrims slept in temples of Asclepius seeking healing visions.
Egypt: priests kept “dream books” for divine predictions.
Celts and Druids: dreams were gateways to meet ancestors and gods.
Native Americans: dreams were sacred conversations with spirit animals.
Australian Aboriginals: the “Dreamtime” was the mythic era of creation.
Scandinavia: dreams were messages from the Norns, weaving human fate.
Humanity has always turned to dreams for guidance when the visible world seemed uncertain.
Freud and Jung: The Psychology of Night Visions
Sigmund Freud called dreams the “royal road to the unconscious.” He argued that every dream has a visible storyline and a hidden meaning: suppressed wishes, conflicts, and fears. For him, a “prophetic” dream was a clever puzzle assembled from unnoticed fragments of reality.
Carl Jung, meanwhile, believed dreams tapped into the collective unconscious — archetypes and symbols shared across cultures. For Jung, a dream could indeed anticipate events, because the brain acts like a sensitive receiver, catching subtle cues — a tone of voice, an unspoken word, a shift in atmosphere — and translating them into symbolic images.
How the Brain “Builds” a Prophetic Dream
Modern neuroscience sees no mysticism — only perception and memory at work.
Signal Gathering – The brain stores countless micro-impressions we overlook in waking life.
Night Processing – While asleep, the rational “censor” relaxes, and the subconscious mixes these fragments into stories.
Emotional Anchoring – Shocking or vivid dreams stick in memory more than calm ones.
Selective Recall – We remember the few dreams that “come true,” forgetting the thousands that don’t (confirmation bias).
Thus, coincidence feels like prophecy.
Premonition or Coincidence?
Premonition arises when the brain connects unnoticed real cues (colleague’s fatigue, offhand remarks) into a predictive image.
Coincidence is when a random dream overlaps with reality (a fire in a dream, then news of a fire elsewhere).
We confuse them because the emotions they provoke — fear, awe, wonder — are equally intense.
Why We Believe in Prophetic Dreams
Desire for control in an uncertain world.
Pattern-seeking instinct (apophenia).
Cultural traditions that value dream narratives.
Emotional vividness — dreams feel more real than reality.
Practical Guidance
Keep a dream journal to track both “hits” and “misses.”
Look for details: the more specific the dream, the more it might reflect real cues.
Check your fears: many “prophecies” are projections of anxiety.
Sharpen observation during the day — it refines how your subconscious builds stories at night.
Should We Trust Them?
Prophetic dreams are not magical forecasts. They are messages from our own subconscious, written in a symbolic language. Sometimes they reveal fears, sometimes hidden desires, and occasionally they illuminate truths we ignored while awake.
Dreams are night messengers: some whisper, some shout. Ignore them, and you may miss important inner warnings. Interpret them, and you may find they are less about fate — and more about you.
