Question

The dream of my life and how i am going to achieve it.

Answer 1

17th century[edit]

Philosopher and physician Sir Thomas Browne (1605–1682) was fascinated by dreams and described his own ability to lucid dream in his Religio Medici, stating: '...yet in one dream I can compose a whole Comedy, behold the action, apprehend the jests and laugh my self awake at the conceits thereof'.[9]

Also, Samuel Pepys in his diary entry for 15 August 1665 records a dream, stating: "I had my Lady Castlemayne in my arms and was admitted to use all the dalliance I desired with her, and then dreamt that this could not be awake, but that it was only a dream".[10]

19th century[edit]

In 1867, the French sinologist Marie-Jean-Léon, Marquis d'Hervey de Saint Denys anonymously published Les Reves et Les Moyens de Les Diriger: Observations Pratiques('Dreams and the ways to direct them: practical observations'), in which describes his own experiences of lucid dreaming, and proposes that it is possible for anyone to learn to dream consciously.[11][12]

20th century[edit]Frederik van Eeden and Marquis d'Hervey de Saint Denys, pioneers of lucid dreaming.

In 1913, Dutch psychiatrist and writer Frederik (Willem) van Eeden (1860–1932) coined the term 'lucid dream' in an article entitled "A Study of Dreams".[4][5][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]

Some have suggested that the term is a misnomer because van Eden was referring to a phenomenon more specific than a 'vivid' or 'lucid' dream.[19] Van Eden intended the term lucid to denote "having insight", as in the phrase a lucid interval applied to someone in temporary remission from a psychosis, rather than as a reference to the perceptual quality of the experience, which may or may not be clear and vivid[20]