Article: Dream interpretation: Valuable insights or psychological garbage?

More than 100 years ago, Sigmund Freud published "The Interpretation of Dreams."

He claimed that the surreal imagery of dreams -- nude public strolls, running from piano-playing snakes or cities of chocolate -- were actually shameful desires, couched in metaphor, that we censored from our waking thoughts.

"I think Freud kind of scared everybody," says dream interpreter Cynthia Pearson, of Point Breeze, laughing. "I think people started feeling like their dreams might be shameful so they kind of got worried about talking about it."

Freud wasn't the first to ascribe meanings to dreams, of course. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks interpreted dreams. In the Old Testament, dreams often were ...

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