Philippine Myths on Dreams

Science says dreams are mind plays of the conscious and the subconscious that occur during sleep. They may also occur while awake, too—what they call day dreaming. But Philippine myths on dreams say otherwise. Dreams are more than what they seem to be.

Philippine myth number one is that dreams are actually soul and spirit travels—much like transcendental travels. The sleep gets too deep that body, soul and spirit separate. The body stays in bed but the soul and spirit escape to frolic in some distant dreamland. Dreams are somewhat similar to the real world, except that they are in exaggerated terms—like running can be either too fast as to fly, or too slow as to be in super slow motion.

The Philippine myth also avers that some dreams are travels in the real world. The soul and spirit escape the body and roam around the house or vicinity or a far away but real place. This explains why, says this Philippine myth, lots of people feel they have been in a place they have actually never visited before. The place was visited before in soul and spirit, but only visited now physically.

A Philippine myth on dreams says they are for extraordinary or supernatural communication. It’s a “cyberspace” where one connects through a dreamland “Internet” to talk “online” with someone from another dimension or “website.” Hence, in dreams we talk to animals, strange creatures, odd fellows, dead relatives, cars, the president of the Republic, talking shoes or food, and other mystical beings—not very unlike the real Internet. In dreams, every word is a message other beings from another dimension want to put across to us.

Another Philippine myth says dreams are realities and the real world is actually a dream. So dreaming is actually waking up. And when wide awake, it’s actually a dream. Another myth is that dreams are warnings or hints of the future. So when dreaming of numbers, they’re hints for winning a number gambling game. When dreaming of a car crash, that’s a warning of an impending accident.

Philippine myths on dreams teach that dreams can direct us to a safe future if heeded. They also counsel that dreams give alternatives in life—one may be poor in real life but can be rich in dreams, and vice versa.

Dreams may be a product of mental elements playing tricks on the imagination, but they can be so real to a people with records of unlucky vicissitudes seeking refuge in Philippine myths on dreams.