“People need dreams, there's as much nourishment in 'em as food.”
-Dorothy Gilman
Perhaps by this time, after filling out a few instances of the DEF, you’ve wondered why questions on food appear? The appearance of food in dreams is one of the most fascinating aspects of the dreaming landscape, in my opinion, and one of the most overlooked in the literature. Eating food is something we do everyday, like many other activities such as using our cell phones, going to the toilet, driving on the freeway etc.. However, the incidence of food in dreams is much higher than any of the other activities listed (roughly 15% of dreams contain some food reference). Which makes me ask – why food? Why does the Dream Maker emphasize food, an everyday activity, but not playing with our cell phones, another everyday activity that occurs with greater frequency for many of us (appearing only 3% of the time in dreams). Aside from one other researcher, ED Kellogg III (whose article and experiment on Food related dreams is a must read if this topic interests you; link below) and myself this question regarding food related dreams has been by and large ignored by researchers.
I believe the answer may have to do with evolution. Food after all is a form of medicine. It is a part of our environment that enters our bodies and has a strong impact on our survival and well-being. The food we ingest each day is either nourishing and sustaining our bodies or destroying them. Ed Kellogg III & I both believe based on our independent investigations that the Dream Maker wishes to provide us feedback with respect to our eating habits in order to promote health and wellness and steer us away from illness and poisoning ourselves.
This is why the DEF includes questions regarding food and the context in which it appears in our dreams. It’s the context of the dream that provides us with direction. For example, during a week where I was late night bingeing on hamburgers, one night I dreamt that I was at a Sunday afternoon barbeque on a beautiful day, a few idyllic cows lounging around me feeding on the lush green grass and pooping. As I was about to bite into a juicy hamburger; just at the moment the meat entered my mouth, it turned into a cow patty! Yuck! Woke me up and left me utterly disgusted. Needless to say my bingeing came to an abrupt end. In a previous pilot study I conducted on Food and Dreams, four themes emerged: food recommendations; food warnings; social eating recommendations; and symbolic references. Next time you see food in a dream, pause, and ask yourself - does this food item have a symbolic meaning or is the Dream Maker trying to inform me about my eating habits and how they’re impacting my health and body…
Further Reading:
Dreaming Your Diet for Optimal Health by Amy Tucker (a quick read):
http://thedreamtribe.com/dreaming-your-diet-for-optimal-health/
Mind-Body Healing through Dreamwork by Ed Kellogg, Ph.D (the full enchilada)
http://www.asdreams.org/psi2007/papers/edkellogg.htm
-Dorothy Gilman
Perhaps by this time, after filling out a few instances of the DEF, you’ve wondered why questions on food appear? The appearance of food in dreams is one of the most fascinating aspects of the dreaming landscape, in my opinion, and one of the most overlooked in the literature. Eating food is something we do everyday, like many other activities such as using our cell phones, going to the toilet, driving on the freeway etc.. However, the incidence of food in dreams is much higher than any of the other activities listed (roughly 15% of dreams contain some food reference). Which makes me ask – why food? Why does the Dream Maker emphasize food, an everyday activity, but not playing with our cell phones, another everyday activity that occurs with greater frequency for many of us (appearing only 3% of the time in dreams). Aside from one other researcher, ED Kellogg III (whose article and experiment on Food related dreams is a must read if this topic interests you; link below) and myself this question regarding food related dreams has been by and large ignored by researchers.
I believe the answer may have to do with evolution. Food after all is a form of medicine. It is a part of our environment that enters our bodies and has a strong impact on our survival and well-being. The food we ingest each day is either nourishing and sustaining our bodies or destroying them. Ed Kellogg III & I both believe based on our independent investigations that the Dream Maker wishes to provide us feedback with respect to our eating habits in order to promote health and wellness and steer us away from illness and poisoning ourselves.
This is why the DEF includes questions regarding food and the context in which it appears in our dreams. It’s the context of the dream that provides us with direction. For example, during a week where I was late night bingeing on hamburgers, one night I dreamt that I was at a Sunday afternoon barbeque on a beautiful day, a few idyllic cows lounging around me feeding on the lush green grass and pooping. As I was about to bite into a juicy hamburger; just at the moment the meat entered my mouth, it turned into a cow patty! Yuck! Woke me up and left me utterly disgusted. Needless to say my bingeing came to an abrupt end. In a previous pilot study I conducted on Food and Dreams, four themes emerged: food recommendations; food warnings; social eating recommendations; and symbolic references. Next time you see food in a dream, pause, and ask yourself - does this food item have a symbolic meaning or is the Dream Maker trying to inform me about my eating habits and how they’re impacting my health and body…
Further Reading:
Dreaming Your Diet for Optimal Health by Amy Tucker (a quick read):
http://thedreamtribe.com/dreaming-your-diet-for-optimal-health/
Mind-Body Healing through Dreamwork by Ed Kellogg, Ph.D (the full enchilada)
http://www.asdreams.org/psi2007/papers/edkellogg.htm
RSS Feed
