DREAMS IN THE WESTERN LITERARY

TRADITION WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE

TO MEDIEVAL SPAIN .
A METHOD FOR INTERPRETING ONEIRIC TEXTS
GABRIELA CERGHEDEA
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CHAPTER I
ONEIRIC DISCOURSE: TRADITIONS, TAXONOMIES, AND THEORIES
FROM ANTIQUITY THROUGH THE MIDDLES AGES

The study of the major Western oneiric traditions, taxonomies, and

theories from Antiquity through the Middle Ages is an imperative project to
undertake for it represents the principal foundation for the medieval Spanish
theological, philosophical, scientific, and literary discourses on dreams.
Accordingly, this chapter presents the most representative oneiric views as
discussed by influential authors, within different schools of thought, from
Antiquity to the end of the lSth century. 1 It also argues that regardless of the wide
spectrum of beliefs that seem to have created tension, ambiguity, and ambivalence
among oneiric theorists, the dream functions as the vehicle that connects hwnans
to gods. Equally essential to observe is the classificatory system- a simultaneously
hierarchical and dual scheme- that developed as a response against the purely
dichotomous characterization of dreams. As Steven F. Kruger argues, late-antique
(Neoplatonic and patristic) and medieval dreams can be arranged in a hierarchy

1
This chapter presents a concise summary of the main oneiric traditions from Ancient times to the
end of the 151h century. It is based on various excellent studies on the topic of dreams, all listed in
the Bibliography and footnotes.
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that includes various dream types, a system that stretches from the lowest to the
of dreams"- as dream-figures closely connected with the gods. Jn addition to these
highest category, wliting opposing poles of true/false, divine/mundane,
two central views, but by no means Jess important, is the idea that dreams are
external/internal, and revelatory/non-revelatory dreams. This complex structure
messages from the gods, divine vehicles which enable man to gain access to the
best defines the ambiguous nature of dreams -their doubleness and middleness.2
superhuman world of divine wisdom. This concept plays an exceptional role
Conceptualized as intermediaries that connect the outermost limits of the
throughout the history of dreams.
hierarchical model, dreams make possible the wlion between earth and heaven.
Homer's first significant contribution is that he provides dreams with a
spatial location, a dwelling place, a "village of dreams" even though he does not
1. Dreams in Antiquity and Late Antiquity
trace their ancestry, but rather creates them ad hoe (Newman 11). In Book 24 of
1.1 Dreams and the Literary Tradition:
the Odyssey we are invited to follow Penelope's suitors to this realm of images
Any discussion on dreams should begin with Greek thought and its most 4
and ghosts, by the house ofHades:
important dream families, namely the Homeric and the Hesiodic tradition. These
views and their most relevant characteristics provide the foundation for the later
[Hermes] led them down dank ways
theories, which will borrow and expand on their predecessors' figuration of over grey Ocean tides, the Snowy Rock,
dreams. 3 past shores of Dream [demos oneiron] and narrows of the sunset,
in swift flight to where the Dead inhabit
wastes of asphodel at the world's end. (24.10-14)
1.1.1 The Homeric Tradition.
The Homeric texts illustrate the main oneiric concepts that will remain Dreams inhabit the space beyond Okeanos, the river that, according to Greek

prevalent throughout the Graeco-Latin classical period and in the traditions to mythology, surrounded the "real" world. Beyond this river lies the "village of

follow. The first Homeric trait is the association of the "village of dreams" with dreams", an imaginary place, in close proximity to the land of the dead.
Part of this "village of dreams" is the image of the Twin Gates of Hom
an architectural entity, which possesses the Twin Gates constructed from ivory
and Ivory, through which the dreams passed in order to reach humans. This
and horn. The second significant feature is the description of dreams as "people
Homeric trope that soon became a well-known convention and had great appeal
2
See Steven F. Kruger's important book Dreaming in the Middle Ages for a detailed discussion on
the role .o~ dream~ in philosophical, theological, legal, and literary works, and a complete study on
the onemc theones developed by Neoplatoaic and patristic authors as well as late-medieval
schol~. As already stated in the Introduction, Kruger's idea is adapted for the classification ll!ld
analysis of classical and medieval dream theories.
3
The following section on the Greek concept of dreaming is based on studies by; Francis X.
N~an, "Somnium: Medieval Theories of Dreaming and the Form of Vision Poetry," diss., 4
Miller 14 -18 translates demos as either "village" or "people", since she considers demos to be a
Prmceton U, 1963, 1-60; Patricia Cox Miller, Dreams in Late Antiquity: Studies in the term .that expresses human as well as geographical phenomena. She expands the traditional
Imagination of a Culture (Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1998) 1-73; E. R. Dodds, The meamng of demos oneiron as "shores of dreams" given by Robert Fitzgerald in his translation of
Greeks and the irrational (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966) I 02-108; and A. H. M. Ho~er: The Odyssey (New York: Doubleday, 1963), which I use. I agree with Miller's idea of
Kessels, Studies on the Dream in Greek Literature (Utrecht: HES Publishers, 1978) where he attnbuting both characteristics to dreams.
compares the dreams in the Iliad and the Odyssey.
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among later writers, 5 is still of great interest to scholars. In Homer, dreams are
dreams: the gate of horn represents the eyes and the vision, and the gate of ivory is
either true or false. Their veridical or deceitful character depends on which of the
associated with the teeth, the mouth, and language. Symbolically the objects seen
Twin Gates they come through-horn or ivory, respectively. In Book 19 of the
by Penelope, through the gate of horn, are to be trusted more than those that can
Odyssey, Penelope presents dreams that come from the Ivory Gate as dangerous
only be heard, through the gate of ivory. The images seen are reliable whereas the
illusions, and those passing through the Gate of Hom as dreams that can reveal
words might lie. Both gates are an architectural feature of the fantastic "village of
truth:
dreams"; they are both, as Miller points out, "linguistic and visual events" (17).
The third explanation is based on the metaphor of the transparency of the two
Friend, many and many a dream is mere confusion,
materials: one can see through transparent horn, but not through ivory, which is
a cobweb of no consequence at all.
Two gates for ghostly dreams there are: one gateway opaque. 8 The image of the Twin Gates served as a device to distinguish between
of honest horn, and one of ivory.
true and false dreams.
Issuing by the ivory gate are dreams
of glimmering illusion, fantasies, The second significant Homeric feature of dreams is found in his
but those that come through solid polished horn
presentation of dreams as "people of dreams." The dream, or oneiros, is a dream-
may be borne out, if mortals knew them. (19.560-567)
figure9-either a god or an image (eidolon) created and sent by a deity, or the
Several explanations have been advanced on the reason why Homer chooses ivory ghost/soul of a dead person. Two important characteristics that typify the Homeric
and horn for the Twin Gates. Eusthatius, a It11-century commentator on Homer, dream-figures are their close association with divinity and their physical
7
proposes the following three. The first explanation is a play on words-kraino description. The divine component gives authority and autonomy to the messenger
(to come true) and keras (horn), and elephairomai (to deceive) and elephas and the message delivered in the dream. As figures sent by the gods, dreams in
(ivory)-which makes the gate of horn the source of true dreams, and the gate of Homer are independent of the dreamer and exist objectively in space: dreamers do
ivory the source of deceptive dreams. The second explanation found in Eustathius, not 'have' a dream, but they 'see' a dream (Dodds 104-105). In the following
is discussed by critics who underline the linguistic as well as the visual aspect of
1
According to Eustathius "some say that the true [gate) is of horn, that is, transparent, whereas the
5
false [gate] is of ivory, that is, blurred or opaque, because it is possible to see through horn but not
The description of the city and its inhabitants are tropes widely evoked, copied, and reinterpreted through ivory" (Commentaria 1877.37-39). Amory has a different explanation. For her, the
by subsequent authors. For example Plato, Charmides, l73a; Horace, Odes, iii, 27, 41f; Virgil,
question is the contrasting kinds of transparency of the two materials--ivory is a decorated and
Aeneid, vi, 893ff, and Lucian ofSamosata, A True Story 2.32-2.35.
intricately carved substance, whereas horn is a smooth polished substance. Therefore, both
6 materials reveal the ambiguous and obscure nature of dreams, just as Penelope observed in her
For different views on the Twin Gates see: Anne Amory, "The Gates of Hom and Ivory," Yale
speech. Amory also argues that this distinction between true and false dreams was made by
Classical Studies 20: Homeric Studies, eds. G.S. Kirk and Adam Parry (New Haven: Yale
Eustathius, not Homer, and that Homer did not invent the image of the two gates, but borrowed it
University Press, 1966) 3-57; Kessels, Studies 108-109, Ernest Leslie Highbarger, The Gates of
from existing tradition (22-33). Kessels on the other hand believes that Homer was the inventor of
Dreams (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1940), R.G.A. van Lieshout, Greeks on Dreams
the two gates, they are "a Homeric invention( .•. ) an ad hoe creation by the poet" (Studies 107).
(Utrecht: HES Publishers, 1980) 25-39; Steven M. Oberhelman, The Onierocrlticon ofAchmet: A
Medieval Greek and Arabic Treatise on the Interpretation of Dreams (Lubbock: Texas Tech 9
The Greek word that Homer uses for dream, oneiros, designates a dream-:figure, not a drearn-
University Press, 1991) 25, and Miller 14-22. experience (Dodds I 04, Kessels, Studies 178, and Miller 17). The Homeric trope of the "people of
7 dreams" is appropriated and extended by Graeco-Roman authors, topic discussed later in this
From Eustathius' Commentaria ad "lliadem" et "Odyssearn" 1877.26-39. I use Amory's own chapter.
translation of these passages, 4-6.
I.,

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface by Jose J. Labrador Herraiz. PhD

Acknowledgements v

Introduction

Chapter 1
Oneiric Discourse: Traditions, Taxonomies, and Theories
from Antiquity through the Middles Ages 9

1. Dreams in Antiquity and Late Antiquity

1.1 Dreams and the Literary Tradition: 10
1.1.1 The Homeric Tradition 10
1.1.2 The Hesiodic Tradition 16
1.1.3 The Graeco-Roman Tradition: Ovid,
Virgil, and Lucian 17
1.2 Dreams and the Religious Incubation Tradition:
the Asclepian cult 20
1.3 Dreams and the Philosophical Tradition:
Plato and Aristotle 24
1.4 Dreams and the Medical Tradition: Hippocrates
and Galen 29
1.5 Dreams and Oneiromancy: Artemidorus of Daldis 31
1.6 Dreams and the Neoplatonic Tradition:
Iamblichus, Calcidius, and Macrobius 36
1.7 Dreams and the Christian Tradition: 44
1.7.1 Biblical Dreams 44
1.7.2 The Christian Martyrs and the Church
Fathers: Tertullian, Augustine,
Gregory the Great 45
2. Dreams in the Late Middle Ages 58
2.1 The Dreambook Tradition 58
2.2 Dream theories from the 12th to the 151h century:
Thomas Aquinas, Jean Gerson, and Jacob Sprenger
and Heinrich Kramer 63
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Chapter2
Oneiric Traditions, Taxonomies, and Theories in Medieval Spain 12. Romance de Dona Alda 223
17
13. Romance de/ conde Grimaltos y su hijo 226
1. Oneiric Theories in Spanish Medieval Treatises 78
Conclusions 231
1.1 Isidore of Seville. Sententiarum libri tres 78
1.2 Ram6n Llull. Liber proverbiorum 82
Bibliography 239
1.3 Arnald of Villanova. De somniorum
interpretatione 86
Index 253
1.4 Fray Lope de Barrientos. Tractado del dormir
et despertar et del sonar et de las adevinanr;as et
agiieros et profeclas 96
1.5 Pedro Ciruelo. Reprouacion de /as supersticiones y
hechizerias 108
2. The Treatment of Dreams in Medieval Spanish Legal and
Catechist Literature 113
2.1 Setenario 113
2.2 Lucidario 115
2.3 Libro de miseria de omne 119
2.4 Pero L6pez de Ayala: Libro Rimado de Palacio 122
2.5 Cancionero castellano del XV 126

Chapter 3
Oneiric Discourse in Spanish Medieval Literature 133

1. Cantor de Mio Cid 134

1.1 Primera Cronica General 138
1.2 Cronica Particular del Cid 145
1.3 Cronica del Cid 147
1.4 Mocedades de Rodrigo 150
2. Cantor de los lnfontes de Lara 154
3. Disputa de/ a/may el cuerpo 159
3.1. Vision de Filiberto 163
4. Razon de amor con los denuestos de/ agua y el l'ino 165
4.1 The Goliardic De somnio 171
4.2 The Proven~al cansos by Jaufre Rudel and
Bernart de Ventadom 172
4.3 A Galician-Portuguese cantiga de amor by
Johan Soairez Somesso 175
4.4 A Galician-Portuguese cantiga de amigo 177
5. Libro de Alexandre 180
6. Libro de Apolonio 192
7. Poema de Fernt1n Gonzalez 196
8. Vida de Santo Domingo de Silos 203
9. Vida de Santa Oria 206
10. Libre dels tres reys d'Orient 215
11. Vision de Alfonso X 218
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passage of the Odyssey 4, Homer presents Penelope -who worried about her son
Achilles, face iron destiny, godlike as you are, I to die under the wall of highbom
Telemachus' fate, falls asleep and 'sees' a dream-figure- an image sent by Athena:
Trojans" (Iliad 23.80-83). 10
However, these authoritative and autonomous oneiric figures, while giving
Now it occurred to the gray-eyed goddess Athena
to make a figure (eidolon] of dream in a woman's form - the impression of possessing a real body, are described as dim phantoms, drafts of
Iphthime, great lkarios' other daughter, wind, wavering forms that glide though the strap-slit door, wondering in and out
whom Eumelos of Pherai took as bride.
The goddess sent this dream to Odysseus' house of keyholes (Odyssey 4.824-841). In fact, one should speak of their intangibility
to quiet Penelope and end her grieving. and their airy substance. In the Iliad, the dreamer Achilles, "sees" the ghost of his
So, passing by the strap-slit through the door,
the image came a-gliding down the room dead friend Patroclus, who demands a proper burial, so that he may pass through
to stand at her bedside and murmur to her: the Gates of Hades and rest in peace: 11
"Sleepest thou, sorrowing Penelope?
The gods whose life is ease no longer suffer thee
to pine and weep, then; he returns unharmed, There appeared to him the ghost of unhappy
thy little one; no way bath he offended." (Odyssey 4.795-807) Patroklos all in his likeness for stature, and the
lovely eyes, and voice, and wore such clothing as
The dream-figure is the image of Penelope's sister, Iphthime, created strictly for Patroklos had worn on his body. (Iliad 23.65-68)

this occasion by the goddess Athena. Autonomous, as other dream messengers,

The dream-figure that appears to Achilles is a carbon copy of the living Patroclus,
Iphthirne is not conceptualized as a product of a "personal sub- or unconscious but
resembling him in physical appearance, voice, and clothing. Even though the
rather as visual images that present themselves to the dreamer" (Miller 17). As
image seems very real to Achilles, he finds it impossible to embrace it. Again, like
divine messenger, her words have an authoritative quality, which is never
in Penelope's oneiric episode, here Achilles reaches for the dream-figure but ''the
questioned by Penelope. Furthermore, as the dream-figure informs Penelope that
spirit went underground like vapor, with a thin cry" (lliad 23.95-97).
.~. Athena was the one who sent her with the message, Penelope asks another Nevertheless, these images of airy substantiality stir up emotions in the dreamer.
question. She wants to know if Odysseus is still alive. The answer to this question Their incorporeality and insubstantiality does not rob them of their emotive power
is: "Of him I may not speak at length I whether he is alive or dead I it is an ill and the strong effect they have on the dreamer. 12 For example, after the phantom
thing to speak words vain as wind" (Odyssey 14.835-837). The dream-figure is of her sister glides away into a draft of wind, Penelope awakes in an improved
not authorized to answer this particular question, so she does not. Penelope emotional state, with a warm and comforted heart (Odyssey 4.838-847).
recognizes the celestial aspect of this dream-figure and considers her words as
indisputable truth. Similarly, the close connection with the gods and the dream's 10
Quotes are from Richard Lattimore's translation, The Iliad of Homer (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1951).
autonomy and authority is expressed by another dream-messenger, Patroclus, who
11
not only gives instructions, but also predicts the future. In a dream, the ghost of This is the only dream in Homer that comes from dead people, //iad23.60-83.
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Patroclus tells Achilles that the same ill fate is waiting for him: "And you too See Kessels, Studies 155-156 for more on the airy substance of dreams.
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In conclusion, the Homeric tropes such as the "village of dreams" with its
grim and dank and loathed even by the gods-
specific architecture, and the "people of dreams" with their dream-figure qualities, this chasm is so great that, once past the gates,
function as foundation for the subsequent conceptualization of the oneiric one does not reach the bottom in a full year's course,
but is tossed about by stormy gales;
phenomenon. even the gods shudder at this eerie place. (Theogony 740-746)

1.1.2 The Hesiodic Tradition. Hesiod's new figuration of dreams based on a genealogical standpoint was

During the same period. around the 8th century B.C., another family of continued and further expanded by Euripides. 16 In his plays, dreams are also of

dream myths, namely the Hesiodic tradition, provides dreams with a more detailed chthonic origin- born from the dark earth, the goddess Chthon/Earth. In contrast to

ancestry and geography.1 3 Chthonic in origin, Hesiod's dreams 14 are the children the Homeric "people of dreams" which are full of emotions and reassuring words,

of a female divinity, the goddess Night who is the daughter of Chaos and the sister the Hesiodic dreams assume a more fearful and terrifying aspect. Their birth is
described in Euripides' play Iphigenia in Tauris, where Chthon angrily "bred a
of Earth, Love, and Erebus. In Theogony, 15 Hesiod describes the lineage of
band of dreams I Which in the night should be oracular I To men, foretelling
dreams:
truth" (1259-61). In another play we see dreams frightening and terrorizing the
dreamer: they are horrifying, blacked-winged apparitions ''whose dusky wings
Night gave birth to hateful Destruction
and the Black Specter and Death; trouble, like bats, the flickering air" (Hecuba 70-73). 17 These important features
she also bore Sleep and the race of Dreams. (211-213)
of Greek dream characterization persist and are carried into late-antique thought
and literature.
As the mother of Destiny, Fate, Death, Sleep and the Tribe of Dreams, the
goddess Night is herself an extraordinary character, "one of the most serious and 1.1.3 Dreams in Graeco-Roman literature: Ovid, Virgil, and Lucian
fonnidable powers that the Hellenic imagination was capable of creating" (Brelich The appeal and influence of the ancient ideas on dreams is best
299). Consequently, dreams are associated with a frightening and terrifying world exemplified by three Latin poets of the Graeco-Roman era. Ovid, Virgil, and
of inescapable darkness. Hesiod invites us to the dwelling place of Dreams Lucian, followed the foregoing tradition but at the same time amplified their
situated in gloomy Tartarus. This windswept cave below the earth is dark, predecessors' oneiric views. 18 In Ovid's Metamorphoses Book Xl, dreams dwell

13
The sicussion of the Hesiodic tradition is based on Newman 5-14, Miller 2-23, and Bouchi!- 16
All citations of Euripides'plays are from William Arrowsmith's translation, The Complete Greek
Leclercq, Histoire de la divinalion, 4 vols. (Paris, 1879-82) 281-285. T'ragedies, ed. David Green and Richmond Lattimore, vol. 3 (Chicago: Chicago University Press,
14
1959).
The tenn chthonic will be used in reference to the dream whose origin is the Underworld (the
dark world under the earth) represented by the goddess Earth (Chthon) or the goddess Night, two 17
See Miller 21 and Dodds 11 O for more on the subject of Hesiodic tradition. Also see Walter
figures closely related in the Hesiodic cosmogony. Burkert, Greek Religion, tr. John Raffan (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1985) 199·202.
15 11
Citations are from Hesiod, Theogony. Works and Days. Shield. Introduction, translation and The infonnation on Ovid and Virgil is based on Miller 22-38 and Frederick Ahl,
i notes by Apostolos N. Athanassakis, (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, Metaformations: Soundplay and Wordplay in Ovid and Other Classical Poets (Ithaca: Cornell
l
I 1983). University Press, 1985) 58-101.
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in a cavern under a mountain, close to the river Lethe. The place is near the land
Virgil, in the Aeneid Book 6, places the home of dreams in a horrifying
of the dead and in a fabled dream-world similar to Homer's land of dreams:
underworld, just outside the entrance to the land of the dead. In this chthonic
Far off in remotest Campania, beyond where Cimmerians live realm, Aeneas encounters personified emotions, such as fear, hunger, agony,
in their gloomy caves, is a deeper and even darker grotto, anxiety, death, and grief. Sleep and Dreams, and many other monsters are part of
the home of Sleep, where the Sun can never, even at midday,
penetrate with his faintest beams. (11.587-590) this horrifying world. Like the previous Homeric and Hesiodic tradition, dreams
in the Aeneid are insubstantial. They are an empty semblance of fonn- thin,
Somnus, the "mildest of all gods, soother of souls, and healer of wearied bodyless, floating incorporeal existences, with no substance behind them that
and pain-wracked bodies and minds" (11.620-621) rests in this singular place cling like bats under the huge elm tree that grows in the underworld:
dominated by total silence, mist, fog, and red-headed poppies that radiate sweet
and narcoleptic odors. Somnus is surrounded by his numerous sons, the Dreams- Among them stands a giant shaded elm,
a tree with spreading boughs and ages arms;
whose fimction is to connect the gods with humans by delivering divine messages They say it is the home of empty Dreams
to the mortals. Of an airy substance, dense as thick cobwebs, these simulators of
that cling, below, to every leaf. (6.230-233)

appearance are vain and significant, insubstantial and substantial at the same time.
Virgil adds a more detailed, terrifying view of the dream-world, while
The Ovidian dream-figures have the ability to take different fonns and shapes and
appropriating the basic elements of the Homeric trope such as the Twin Gates of
assume the look of another being. For example, Morpheus knows the secrets of
dreams:
human forms and can assume the look and manner of walk and speech of any
man. Icelos can disguise himself as any bird, beast or serpent, and Phantasos can There are two gates of Sleep: the one is made of horn,
They say, and affords the outlet for genuine apparitions:
look like any inert thing-a tree, a rock, or a river (11.629-639). All sons of
The other is a gate of brightly-shining ivory; this way
Somnus, like the Homeric people of dreams, are insubstantial, airy, and shape· The Shades send up to earth false dreams that impose upon us. (6.894-8)
shifting figures. Nevertheless, their ability "to shift grounds of perception and to
The same ideas are adapted and reworked by the mid-2nd_century writer,
give shape to emotion" (Miller 24) makes them seem real to the dreamer.
Lucian of Samosata, in his A True Story 2.32-2.35. While following the basic
Morpheus, sent by the goddess Juno to appear in Alcyones' dream as her dead
Homeric model, he amplifies the city's architecture by adding two more gates of
husband King Ceyx, delivers the tragic message in such a way that it seems real:
dreams, made of iron and ceramic, two springs called Sleepytime and Allnight,

He spoke these words in the way Ceyx used to speak, the Nightway River, etc. The inhabitants of this Isle of Dreams are now defined
the tones and timbres his, and all the gestures and pauses even more as people:
those of the husband she'd loved. He even wept real tears,
which poured onto her skin and burned like liquid fire.
He seemed so real, she reached out her anns to try to hold him, As for the dreams, no two are alike in either character or appearance.
to embrace him one last time, but her arms enfolded only Some are tall, with good features and good looks, others are short and
agonizingly empty air. (Metamorphoses 11.658-664) ugly; some are golden, others, plain and cheap. There are dreams with
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wings, freakish dreams, and dreams which, dressed up like kings, queens,
gods, and the like, looked as if they were going to a carnival. (A True Story exists in the form of inscriptions preserved at various temples from the Hellenistic
2.34-2.35).
and Roman era. They state that divine dreams were the cause of different religious
acts such as the founding of a new religious cult, or inspired the dedication and
The portrayal of dreams as people with their own identity and appearance suggests
construction of various temples. 19 Besides these important functions of dreams,
the evolution and adaptation of the Homeric/Hesiodic imagery to contemporary
the ancient men also relied on them for healing and therapy. Employed by
taste and sensibility. As the foregoing examples demonstrate, Greek classical
different ancient civilizations,20 oneiric therapy acquired great popularity in the
mythology was indeed "a figurative forecast of the shape dream theory took in
Graeco-Roman world and soon became a well-established and widespread
subsequent centuries" (Newman 16). The ancient Greek view on the oneiric
institution. The various methods used to obtain a divine dream were isolation,
phenomena and its main characteristics can be traced in the literature and thought
fasting, prayer, sleeping on the skin of a sacrificed animal, self-mutilation, and
of the centuries to follow. Most of these tropes were born with ancient Greek
incubation. The technique relevant to this study is incubation, or the ritual of
literature: the distinction between celestial and chthonic origin of dreams, the
sleeping in a holy place in order to receive a dream from a god who would reveal
significance of dwelling places for dreams (for Homer, a place bordering the Land
a remedy for an illness or give an oracular response.
of the Dead; and for Hesiod, a dark cave beneath the earth), the topic of the Twin
Around the end of the 5th century BC, Greek culture experienced the
Gates which allows dreams to be true or false, and the characterization of dreams
revival of this practice with the cult of Asclepius. 21 The suppliants were mostly
as "people", persist in later oneiric traditions. Theorists developed ambivalent
the sick and the maimed. After having taken a purificatory bath, they offered food,
interpretations based on the celestial and chthonic origin of dreams. The first trend
sacrificed animals, recited prayers, sung hymns, and lit candles. They would then
viewed dreams as a source of divine wisdom, of higher knowledge and as a means
lie down on the floor of the temple and sleep, hoping for the god to appear to them
of communication with the divine powers, originating from the heavenly realm.
in a dream. There were two ways in which the incubatory gods would take care of
,_~.
The second group considered dreams as a source of deceptive illusions, "vicious
the sickness during the oneiric experience: directly, with a touch, a word, or
desires" produced by evil spirits or man's own psychobiological processes, and
surgery, and indirectly, by giving a prescription for a treatment that had to be
originating from the "dark earth-bound forces" (Newman 18). Concurrently, the
followed after the devotee awoke. The next morning, if the sufferers were cured,
Homeric and Hesiodic literary conception of the dream as a figure, as an objective
and independent vision 'seen' by passive recipients, is reflected in Greek religious 19
These dedications and constructions of temples are the result of an oneiric experience where a
thought and practice. god demanded that a temple be built in his honor.
10
In Egypt incubation was practiced since the 15th century BC.

1.2 Dreams and Incubation: the Asclepian Cult 11

God Asclepius was known as the healer of diseases and giver of health. His cures w~re
miraculous and took place in his temples during incubation. He was kno~ as the '.'god ofheahng
In his book The Greeks and the Irrational, Dodds argues that the divine dreams and oracles", who possessed divine healing powers and whose mam function_ was to cure
all diseases. He was consulted in medical matters as well as other purposes. For a detailed ~tudy on
dream is a "culture-pattern" dream, which was part of the Greek religious Asclepian cult see Emma J. Edelstein and Ludwig Edel~tein, ~sc/~pius: A Collectw11 011d
Interpretation ofthe Testimonies (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkms University Press, 1945).
experience before it became a literary motif (102). Important evidence for this
 l.,

22
23
they would make offerings to the god, leaving behind meals, garlands, silver
' prescription, and surgical operations performed in dreams by the god Asclepius,
gold, or sacrificial animals. Votive offerings, replicas of the shape of the body Part
that had just been healed, were also left hanging from the ceilings and walls.22 brought hope to the sick and made the healing process true. The patients

Many recorded examples of this incubatory experience are found on the experienced what has been described by Tylor as a "vicious circle: what the

stelae (inscribed columns located in the sacred temples) that have survived at dreamer believes he therefore sees, and what he sees he therefore believes" (II 49).

different Asclepian sites. For example, at the temple in Epidaurus, considered the This idea is supported by Dodds for whom the dream-structure of any given

most respected among the two hundred sanctuaries that existed, one can still read society depends on a "socially transmitted pattern of belief' (103). In this context,
it is clear that the dream conforms to the existing traditional culture-patterns and
the seventy extant tales of divine healing (Miller 110). These stories are
functions as vehicle of divine communication.
testimonies of the truSt and belief that ancient people had in the Asclepian
Aelius Aristides, a great devotee to Asclepius, who lived in the 2"d century
therapy. Usually, they give the name of the sick person, describe the disease and
AD, describes his personal oneiric encounters with the god in The Sacred Tales. 23
the divine cure completed during incubation. The next tale stands as witness to the
Aristides' record of his dreams paints a vivid picture of the strong general belief
importance conferred to the Asclepian experience where divine dreams were
in dream incubation, as well as his own trust in the effective curative devices of
effective curative devices:
the divine doctor. The god Asclepius would appear in dreams and give the
suffering Aristides proper medical advice and his health improved greatly. The
Ambrosia of Athens, blind of one eye. She came as a suppliant to the god.
~s she walked about in the Temple she laughed at some of the cures as god would sometimes command him to take baths, sometimes not to bathe at all
mcredible ~d impossible, that the lame and the blind should be healed by for a period of time, to draw blood from his body, to abstain from certain foods,
merely seeing a dream. In her sleep she had a vision. It seemed to her that
the god stood by her and said that he would cure her, but that in payment drink only certain liquids, to use specific ointments or medication. Aristides
he ~ould ask her to dedicate to the Temple a silver pig as a memorial of followed whatever was prescribed, since everything said in dreams brought to his
her ignorance. After saying this, he cut the diseased eyeball and poured in
some drug. When the day came she walked out soWld. (Stelae 1.4, qtd. in body and spirit "salvation, strength, comfort, ease, high spirits, and every good
Edelstein 230)
thing" (11.73). Here, he describes one of the many dream visits from Asclepius,
where the god prescribes a remedy for stomach and abdominal pain:
The public display of these divine oneiric experiences is indication and
evidence that not only all the devotees, but everyone belonging to that culture, I dreamed that the doctor Asclepius visited me and upon examining me,
shared the belief that these manifestations were real. The Epidaurian stelae served made a poultice of a drug called by the name dittany, and at the same time
prescribed that I use it for thirty days. I used it, and the thirtieth night
as a "witness to patterns of expectation that undergirded the experience of came, and again I dreamed that Asclepius came and removed the poultice
Asclepian dreaming" (LiDonnici 278). The recordings of cures, dream- [ ... ].

23
Aelius Aristides was a wealthy aristocrat from Smynna, a rhetorician and dream extraordinaire.
. for ~ ~i~~ussion on the ritual of incubation and the analysis of different stelae see Lynn R.
21
Due to his poor health he relied on god Asclepius' help provided through the process of dream
Li~nnici, Tale and Dream: The text and Compositional History of the Corpus of Epidaurian incubation. He recorded his oneiric experiences in his book The Sacred Tales. For a discussion
Miracle Cures,'' diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1989. on Aristides' oneiric experiences see C. A. Behr, Aelius Aristides and The Sacred Tales
(Amsterdam: AdolfM. Haklcert, 1968), Miller 34-35, and Newman 20-22.
24
25
And concerning the drinking of the antidote, [ ... ] he ordered me, upon
getting up, to dine and drink this drug and [... ] made this a start for my incubation was flourishing in Greece complex ideas on the nature of the soul were
health. I not only drank it with pleasure, but after I drank it, I was developed and reinterpreted by Plato, who "transformed them from religious
immediately more comfortable and easier.
dictum to philosophical theory" (Newman 37). Plato gives full explanation to the
For six years I have abstained from fish. I do not know how long from concept of the soul as distinct from the body, a belief based on shamanism
24
pork. Again when he allowed it, I used both. Then, in turn, I was kept from
some things, and would use some according to each particular imported to Greece from the north, during the 7lh BC. The shamanistic religious
circumstance. And he has kept me completely from fish sauce, for he said rituals, introduce a new outlook on man's destiny and existence that credits man
that it was not safe for my head, and least of all for my teeth. [... ] And
these are dreams which have recently appeared. (The Sacred Tales II.24-36) with an occult self of divine origin, thus setting the concept of a soul distinct from
the body. The divine knowledge attained in shamanistic rituals2s becomes the
Aristides' indisputable trust in the divine message, delivered by an authoritative platonic metaphysical truth. Even Plato's doctrine ofrecollection26 was influenced
dream-figure, suggests that late-antique dreamers had established a strong by teachings on the transmigration and purification of the soul found in this new
individualized relationship with their gods via the oneiric experience. cultural pattem. 27
It then comes as no surprise that the practice of incubation continued well The emergence of this new concept links the soul with dreams, since
into the next centuries. Christianity appropriated the pagan incubatory practice during sleep, the divine soul is liberated from the body and has the ability to
despite the expected attacks from the Christian authorities who condemned man's predict the future and reach higher knowledge (Dodds 139). Even though Plato's
individualized and direct contact with the divine. The Asclepian cult subsisted in treatment of dreams is found throughout his works, in scattered remarks which are
the cult of saints where Christian holy figures performed oneiric healing via
24
The reinterpretation and adaptation of these shamanistic traits by Greek culture is best described
incubation in the church. The appropriation of a pagan ritual was possible because by the following famous passage from Pindar, Fragment 131: "While the body of all men is
subject to over-mastering death, an image of life remaineth alive, for it alone cometh from the
"the conviction that dreams can heal was too deeply embedded in the cultural gods. But in sleepeth, while the limbs are active; yet, to them that sleep, in many a dream, it giveth
imagination for it to succumb to the vagaries of religious rivalry" (Miller 117). presage of things delightful or doleful". Cited in Susan Pannan, Dream and Culture. An
Anthropological Study of the Western Intellectual Tradition (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1991)
Incubation spread rapidly and was practiced in various sanctuaries of the eastern 23.
25
and western churches. The shaman, priest-prophet-philosopher-poet, had the function to communicate with the other
world by means of visions acquired in a trance, when the occult self detaches itself from the body.
The incubatory dreams, as well as the Homeric and Hesiodic ones This vision will provide the shaman with occult knowledge.

provided a way of transcending the limits of human understanding, and continued 26

In Plato's Republic, Er has a vision of the cycle of transmigrating souls. He describes how the
souls, before assuming a new body, drink from the River of Forgetfulness: those who drink less
to function as a primary means of access to a higher realm. However, side by side
will remember more of the heavenly Truth. The soul still will have to recover the knowledge it
with these religious beliefs appear new metaphysical and rational interpretations once knew, but the body is only an impediment for the soul in its quest for the Truth. This beautiful
myth explains the Platonic doctrine of the divine soul and also that "knowledge is a process of
of dreams. They will be discussed in the section below. recalling truths which the soul possesses by nature, but which are obscured by immersion in the
body" (Newman 38). The soul is considered divine, immortal, self-consistent, invariable, and
possesses eternal wisdom and knowledge.

1.3 Dreams and the Philosophical Tradition: Plato and Aristotle 27

The shamanistic cults, such as the Orphic and Pythagorean cults, emphasized the mind-body
dualism, and therefore insisted on the rituals of purification (catharsis) and food taboos that would
During the 5lh and 41h centuries BC, around the time when the practice of
 26
27
often contradictory, his thoughts seem to progress from viewing dreams "as a
No man achieves true and inspired divination when in his rational mind,
means of reception of divine images, to a philosophical gnoseology, to but only when the power of his intelligence is fettered in sleep.[ ... ] B~t it
enlightened theology" (Oberhelman 29). belongs to a man in his right mind to recollect and ponder the thmgs
spoken in dream or waking vision by the divining and inspired nature, and
For example, in Symposium 203A and Apology 33C, Plato states that true all the visionary forms that were seen, and by means of reasoning to
dreams come from gods or daemones (spirits that inhabit the air), and considers discern about them all wherein they are significant. (Timaeus 71E)

that dreams can be a form of higher knowledge, a way to learn the truth. In section
Plato does not deny the truthfulness of dreams, but believes that besides reason,
IX of the Republic 571C-72B, he affirms that depending on the dreamer's ethico·
the oneiric phenomenon is directly affected by the dreamer's ethical, emotional,
philosophical state, the soul can reproduce dreams in degrees of obscurity and
and physical state: the purer the three states are the more meaningful the dream.
clarity. In the same dialogue, he allows the temperate man, who has cultivated his
An educated person has true dreams (Rep 574Dff; Laws 904C-D), whereas
reason and tamed his passions, to have dreams in which the rational part of the
dreams that come from an uneducated person or are considered biological in
soul will "examine and reach out toward and apprehend some of the things
origin are dismissed (Laws 909D-10E). 28 Ultimately, Plato's scattered comments
unknown to it, past, present, and future" (572A).
accept a diversity of dreams: internal/external, mundane/divine. Dreams can result
In other places Plato describes dreams as divinatory. They arise from the
from waking thoughts and actions, and their reliability is linked to the dreamer's
third faculty of the soul, namely the appetitive. In this lower region of the body,
internal condition (temperate/rational versus intemperate/irascible) before
extending from the diaphragm to the navel, the liver has the function to translate
sleeping. But sometimes, dreams are divinely inspired, and are considered
rational images, sent from the rational part of the soul, into the irrational language
revelatory of sacred secrets. Platonic thought on dreams would be revived by
of the belly: ''the influence proceeding from the reason should make impressions
Neoplatonic thinkers, who resorted to the classical, authoritative model for their
of its thoughts upon the liver, which would receive them like a mirror and give
own explanation and elaboration of oneiric phenomena.
back visible images" (Timaeus 71B). In fact, it is in this region that the seat of
Aristotle's treatment of dreams belongs to the rationalistic tradition which
'' divination by dreams is found, "for our makers remembered their father's
challenged the belief that dreams are objective visions of the supernatural. The
injunction to make the mortal race as perfect as possible, and they tried to set even
great philosopher based his theories on a psychobiological (naturalist)
the baser part of us on the right path in this way, by establishing the seat of
explanation, which he proposed in his short pamphlets- De somno et vigilia (On
divination in this part, so that it might have some apprehension of reality and
Sleep and Waking), De insomniis (On Dreams) and De divinatione per somnum
truth" (Timaeus 71 D). According to Plato, dreams arise in sleep, in the absence of
(On Divination through Dreams) -all part of the collection of short treatises,
the rational faculties, but their true meaning can only be discerned when the
known since late 13th century as the Parva Naturalia. 29
dreamer awakes and reason can take over:
21
All references to Plato's work are from Oberhelman 29-30.
9
2 The discussion on Aristotle is based on Miller 42-44, Oberhelman 31-32, Newman 42-44,
Pannan 25-26 Stephen J. Russell, The English Dream Vision: Anatomy of a Form (Columbus:
help in the purification of the soul and maximize its ability to know the Truth. Ohio State Unlversity Press, 1988) 53-57, and David Gallop's edition and translation, Aris1otle on
 28
29
In De divinatione per somnum, Aristotle dismisses the prophetic character
yet some sort of perception continues to occur (De somno 456a30-bll).
of dreams and their connection with the gods. He argues that since certain lower
According to Aristotle, ':11e sense-objects corresponding to each sense-organ
animals and persons of inferior type also dream, dreams neither have a divine
provide us with perception. And the affection produced by them persists in the
origin, nor are they designed for the purpose to reveal the future. Instead, he
sense-organs, not only while the perceptions are being actualized, but also after
accepts that dreams can be predictive only insofar as they are causes, signs or
they have gone" (De insomniis 459a24-28). What the soul sees in sleep, are
coincidences of events. For example, some dreams may be the cause of a later
residual movements and appearances deriving from the sense-impressions that
action during the day, just as the waking state events are seen in dreams, so the
were perceived when the dreamer was awake. A dream is an appearance that
action seen in dreams may prompt the dreamer to perform that action. There are
arises from the movement of the sense-impressions, while one is sleeping.
also dreams that may be signs of what is occurring in the body. During sleep, the
Dreaming, he explains, is an activity of the faculties of perception and
dreamers may think they are affected by thunder and lightning, when in fact there
imagination (imagination being the process of imagining an actual perception).
is only a faint ringing in the ear. A possible interpretation would be that the dream
These perceptions are sensations produced in the sense-organs and their effects
could be a sign of an incipient disease. Carefully noncommittal when discussing
will remain even after perception has ceased. During the time one is asleep, these
dream divination, Aristotle did not totally deny that dreams could come true, but
sensations and impressions of former perceptions are carried by the blood to the
he believed that if they happen to be fulfilled it is only by coincidence, luck, or
heart where they occur as images. But these images seen during sleep are only
good guessing. He concludes:
appearances produced by the body and the soul. Dreams are traces of waking

As to the divination which takes place in sleep, and it is said to be based perceptions and products of the imagination (De somno 459a25-459b15).
?n ~e.ams, we cannot lightly either dismiss it with contempt or give it Aristotle's psychobiological explanation of dreams confined them to the
tmphclt confidence. The fact that all persons, or many, suppose dreams to
mundane realm. For him, it was important to demonstrate that the soul is not
P?s.ses~ a special significance, tends to inspire us with belief in it (such
d~v~na~on]'. as founded on the testimony of experience; and indeed that separate from the body, and that the process of dreaming is a function common to
'\
?lvma~lon m d~eams should, as regards some subjects, be genuine, is not
both soul and body (De somno 453b24-454al 1). As for divination through
mcred1ble, for it has a show of reason [... ]. Yet the fact of our seeing no
p:obable cause to account for such divination tends to inspire us with dreams, he rejects the idea that dreams come from gods, or have a divine nature
distrust. (De divinatione per somnum 462b. l l-20) (De divinatione 462b20-22). Dreams have no function, no meaning, and no
purpose besides their psychobiological aspect. Aristotle's challenge of the
By not accepting the divine element of dreams, Aristotle had to connect
traditional views on dreaming would be carried on by a handful of late-antique
the phenomenon of dreaming to the physiological and psychic process. Sleep and
dream theorists, but his influence was especially strong during the Middle Ages.
dreams are linked to the digestive process, during which heat moves upward and
downward through the body. Dreaming occurs after falling asleep, when the
1.4 Dreams and the Medical Tradition: Hippocrates and Galen
primary perceptual capacities of the soul, having been 'cooled', cease to function;
Around the 5th and 4lh century BC, medical writers and physicians made

Sleep and Dreams (Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press, 1990).

 30
31
their own contribution to the topic of dreams and their classification. 30 The
Hippocratic Regimen, the earliest extant Greek treatise on dreams and the They say that from some kinds of dreams the physicians ~ven can gather
indications concerning a patient's health, as whether the mternal humors
foundation for all medicine, offers a twofold classification of dreams: medical and of the body are excessive or deficient. (De Divinatione 2.142)
divine.31 The Hippocratic tradition views medical dreams as "diagnostic pictures
The medical theories of Galen, a 2"d·century physician. who employed
of the body's condition" (Miller 46). While the body is asleep, the soul's sensory
dream analysis as a diagnostic guide are of great importance. His ideas based on
and cognitive process can perceive the body's condition. These perceptions are
the Aristotelian and Hippocratic physiologic dream theories, supported the view
dream images, when analyzed by the physician, can detect the symptoms of
that during sleep, the soul can receive and form images that reveal the body's
diseases and could help determine a treatment. The method used to interpret
condition. As argued in his work, On Diagnosis from Dreams, diseases resulted
medical dreams was the body-universe analogy. Earthly symbols such as trees,
from imbalances of the humors, and most dreams had a humoral source and
grass, and rivers are analogous to parts of the humari body, each indicating what
therefore could provide useful clues in the proper diagnosis and treatment of the
has to be cured and in what manner. For example, dreaming of a flood indicates
patient. He explained that a fever would create an image of swimming or bathing
that the body has an excess of liquid that must be removed (Regimen 1.10 and
in hot water, and that if someone had dreamt of ice, he was affected by an excess
3.71). The Hippocratic interest in the medical aspect of dreams coexisted with his
of phlegm, since this humor is cold and wet (103).
acceptance of prophetic, divine dreams.
Galen used a fivefold typology, where dreams: I. can be caused by one's
The majority of subsequent medical theorists and physicians accepted the
daytime thoughts that reappear in images; 2. are the repetitions of one's habitual
medical dream for diagnostic use. Some even expanded the twofold Hippocratic
actions in the waking state; 3. come from the soul's ability to tell the future; 4.
system (medical and god-sent dreams) to a threefold classification: Herophilus,a
arise from the dreamer's four humors; and 5. come as miracle-dreams of the god
3 rd-century BC physician, added to the schema the belief that dreams come from
Asclepius. His ideas on the diagnostic value of dreams and his hwnoral theory of
the soul's ability to predict the future. Cicero, although not a physician, followed
disease continued to be employed by most physicians up to the end of the l 9th
\ the psychobiological explanation on dreams, considering them a naturalistic
century (Kagan 36). The psychobiological theory of dreams, which emphasized
phenomenon. In his treatise De Divinatione, he dismisses the existence of divine
their medical function and also devaluated their divine and prophetic character,
communication through dreams, criticizes the diviners, and sees dream fulfillment
did not receive extensive acceptance among dream-interpreters of antiquity. The
as owing simply to chance or luck. The only positive function he finds in the
diagnostic usefulness of dreams continued to be important among physicians. But
oneiric phenomena is their diagnostic usefulness, as indicators of the patient's
among oneiromancers, these medical dreams had no meaning, since they were not
health:
considered reliable foretellers.

30
See Oberhelman 32-36, Pannan 28, Russell SS-57, and Miller 42-51 for more on medical
dreams. 1.5 Dreams and Oneiromancy: Artemidorus of Daldis
31 Concurrent with the medical explanation of dreams there are a number of
See Hippocrates. Works. Ed. William H.S. Jones. 4 vols. (London: W. Heinemann and New
York: G.P. Putnam, 1923-31).
 32
33
theorists who investigate the mechanics of dreaming from the perspective of
reveals through its tongue something that is not bad, it announces great
oneiromancy. For Artemidorus of Daldis, a 2°d-century AD dream theorist, as for good fortune that will come directly from the above gods. (Oneirocritica
his predecessors in the oneirological field, divination by dreams was considered 2.13)

"the most prominent fonn of expressed thinking about dreams" (Newman 28). As
Therefore, the dreamer has to decide which of the possible meanings suits him/her
a professional dream-interpreter, Artemidorus32 gathered more than three
better: the king, time, wealth, possessions, or good fortune from the gods. All
thousand dreams in his Oneirocrilica, a collection of five books. The most
these meanings are related to one oneiric signifier and accurately describe the
important characteristic of his work is that he developed allegorical and
interpreter's almost impossible task to attach only one meaning to a particular
taxonomic methods for the interpretation of the oneiric images. His analysis of
image. However, when Artemidorus considers the methods crucial to interpreting
dreams is empirical, based on fieldwork, and the collection of data from a wide
dreams, he is insistent on two points - the cultural context and personal context of
geographical range and diverse social strata. His system of classification is
the dreamer. He advises the interpreter to give special attention to the customs of
therefore the result of copious observation and significant accumulation of
the land of the dreamer (1.8) as well as to the life and habits of the dreamer, such
material. His conviction that there is logic behind the many dream images helped
as age, birth, family size, occupation, social position, health, economic means, etc.
him create a complex system of classification. For Artemidorus it was imperative
(1.9). Aware of the multiple signification of one oneiric image, Artemidorus uses
to connect oneiric images to the real world of the dreamer and to make sense of
the dreamer's gender and social position as a technique for controlling the
the '"web of metaphor" separating the dream imagery from its existential outcome
different meanings attributed to one signifier. He explains:
(Price 13). Artemidorus' main contribution to the extensive literature on dreams is
exactly his enterprise to logically explain the oneiric imagery and tie it to the real Necklaces, chains, earrings, precious stones, and every kind of woman's
world. neck-jewelry mean good luck for women. They prophesy marriage for
those who are unmarried, children for those who are childless and an
The following extract33 is an example of the multiple signification of one increase of property and great wealth for those who already have husbands
dream image: and children. For just as women are adorned by their jewelry, they will be
adorned the same way by their husbands, children, and wealth.
(Oneirocritica 2.5)
A serpent signifies a king because of its strength. It also signifies time
because of its length and because it casts off its old skin and becomes The passage is typical of the Artemidorian system of classification-to dream of
young again. It also means wealth and possessions, since the serpent
guards treasures. Whenever a serpent approaches and gives, speaks, or jewelry means good luck for women. However, the meaning changes according to
the woman's social status. If she is not married, she will soon be. If she is already
32
Artemidorus was born in Ephesus. He was a professional seer who also wrote on augury and married, she will have children. For women who are married and have children,
palmistry. For more information on Anemidorus see Oberhelman 38-41, Russell 58-60, Parman
36-37, Miller 77-79, Hayden White, Tropics of Discourse: Essays in Cultural Criticism jewelry signifies more wealth. Conversely, dreaming of jewelry does not carry the
(Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1978) 1-12 and Claes Blwn, Studies in the
Dream-Book ofArtemidorus (Upsala: Almqvist & Wiksells, 1936). same good fortune for men: "For a man, they signify deceit, treachery and serious
33
All references to Oneirocritica are from Robert J. White's edition, The Interpretation of complications in business affairs" (2.5). In other words, the catalogue for jewelry
Dreams. Oneirocritica by Artemidorus (Park Ridge, N.J.: Noyes Press, 1975).
34
35
is extensive in its possibilities for meaning, but, in this instance, it is limited by
the dreamer's gender and social status. It is equally important to collect accurate in real life. Here, image and event correspond and the dream comes true

data of the entire dream experience without omitting any detail, since each oneiric immediately ( 4.1 ). The oracular dreams are god-sent, have divine significance,
and "foretell some future good or misfortune" (1.6). Since the first two types
image is only a part of a complex totality (4.28). The interpreter has to be sure that
predict the future unambiguously and need no further interpretation, they present
all data is reliable and should use his common sense rather than rely on dream
little interest to Artemidorus. It is to the last category of dreams, the allegorical
books (l.12).
type, that Artemidorus dedicates most of his Oneirocritica. They signify one thing
Despite his effort to give interpreters and dreamers a manual for
by means of another, use symbols to predict the future, and disclose their meaning
deciphering the meaning of dreams, Artemidorus' system found itself at a
through riddles. In them "the soul is conveying something obscurely by physical
disadvantage when faced with the polyvalence of the oneiric images. As Miller
means" ( 1.2). In other words, one needs to interpret this kind of dream, which will
observes, "Artemidorus' decoding of dreams amounted in effect to a recoding, a
come true after a lapse of time. It is subdivided in five groups: 1. personal, or
piling up of metaphor upon metaphor. Thus while he attempted to chasten the
dreams that concern the dreamer; 2. alien, or dreams that pertain to a person other
riddling fantasies of the night by writing rules of order, he was caught in their
than the dreamer; 3. social, or dreams that concern both dreamer and others; 4.
snare nonetheless" (91).
public, or dreams of civic importance; 5. universal., or dreams that predict natural
Most of the Oneirocritica is devoted to examples of dream images, their
disasters, such as eclipses or earthquakes (l.2-4).
meaning, and the rules of interpreting dreams. Nonetheless, Artemidorus includes
The Artemidorian fivefold oneiric classification can be presented in a
a classification of dreams, not only according to the oneiric images appearing in
hierarchy,34 progressing upwards from the lowest/non-predictive (enhypnion and
dreams, but also according to the type of dreams. In his typology he divides
phantasma) to the highest/predictive dreams (allegorikos, chrematismos, and
dreams into two groups: non-predictive (enhypnion) and predictive (oneiros). The
theorematikos). The classical dual system of true and false dreams expands to a
first type consists of non-meaningful dreams of no prophetic value, since they
schema that can be arranged in ascending order,35 connecting the mundane to the
have risen "from the irrational desire, an extraordinary fear, or from a surfeit or
transcendental realm:
lack of food" (1.1). They only represent a man's physiological and psychological
higher/predictive theorematikos
state: "it is natural for a lover to seem to be with his beloved in a dream and for 8 chrematismos
allegorikos
frightened man to see what he fears, or for a hungry man to eat" (1.l). The phantasma
apparition (phantasma) belongs to this category of dreams that cannot predict the lower/non-predictive enhypnion

future, since they only reflect the dreamer's daytime preoccupations. 34

As I have already stated at the beginning of this chapter, I ad~p~ and use throughout this. bo~k the
The second type of dream, the oneiros, or the predictive, revelatory dream oneiric typological system proposed by Steven F. Kruger in h1~ mval~able book Dreaming in the
Middle Ages. He describes it as a simultane?u~ly dual ~d. h1erarch1cal sch.e~a that allows the
can be divided into three kinds: 1. theorematic (theorematikos), 2. oracular existence of a variety of dreams within its set hm1ts of predictive and non-pred1ct1ve dreams.
35
(chremalismos), and 3. allegorical (allegorikos). The theorematic dreams predict In order to easier differentiate between the two types of dreams, the predictive dreams will be in
bold characters when presented in a schema.
the future clearly; what the dreamer sees in his dream is what he will experience
 '·

36
37
Artemidorus' classification of dreams is important for later interpreters
experience of dreaming, exemplified by another school of thought that influenced
who searched for a schema that would translate "dream-images into useful bodies
the medieval interpretation of dreams: the Neoplatonists.39 Beginning with the
of knowledge" (Miller 75). Copies of his book circulated in Greek around the 4'
3rd century AD, Neoplatonists like Iamblichus (died c. 330), Calcidius (4th
century, but it was the Arabic translation of the text, done by Hunain b. Ishaq in
century), and Macrobius (early 5th century), tried to revive and preserve the
873, that revolutionized Arabic dream science and had a great impact on the status
classical arts and sciences by giving coherence to the material inherited from the
of oneirocriticism in the Latin West (Fahd 359). Even though Artemidorus' work
past. Their commentaries on classical authors became an important source of
was mostly known indirectly during the Middle Ages,36 his system of
Greek and Latin thought throughout the medieval years: "their rudimentary
classification and interpretation remained the main source for subsequent
compendia were to hold a central position in the inte1lectual development of the
oneirocritic writers, who depended heavily on his text. His Oneirocritica also
West for nearly a millennium" (Stahl 10). Their erudition was displayed in the
contributed to the proliferation of medieval drearnbooks and dream-key
many subjects discussed, such as mathematics, music, astronomy, geography, and
manuals. 37 By the 161h century, Artemidorus' guide to dream interpretation turned
philosophy. Interestingly, the discussion on the significance and the origin of
out to be Europe's most widely circulated dream-manual. The numerous
dreams was part of their encyclopedic study. Neoplatonists assigned dreams an
translations and editions in Latin, French, Italian, and English suggest its
important position and created a complex system for describing this fascinating
continuous and renewed interest among dreamers and oneiromancers.38 The fact
experience. They provided an answer to the intellectual dilemma that centered
that the interest in Artemidorus survived throughout the Middle Ages well into the
around the question: are dreams divine or mundane, are they true or false? In fact,
late Renaissance is proof that professional oneiromancy and its focus on the
they solved the debate over the origin and nature of dreams by not necessarily
prognostic character of dreams continued to be a popular form of dream
siding with these opposite extremes. 40 Instead, most Neoplatonists accepted the
interpretation.
possibility that under different sets of circumstances, both kinds of dreams can
occur: the divine/predictive (externally-inspired) and the mundane/non-predictive
1.6 Dreams and the Neoplatonic Tradition: lamblichus, Calcidius and
(internally-stimulated). At the same time, they underlined the function of the
Macro bi us
dream as an actual event granting men philosophical insight of a higher truth, as a
Late Antiquity offered more than one response to the complicated
way to experience the divine.
In On the Mysteries of the Egyptians, Cha/deans, and Assyrians,
36
Artemidorus' Oneirocritica was translated by Pascalis Romanus into Latin and included in his
Liber thesauri occulti in the latter half of the 12111 century. It also served as the main source for ,, For a d.1scuss1on
. on Neoplatonic oneiric theories see Kruger 17-34, Newman 59-80 and
Achmet's Oneirocrilicon (around the 1011i century).
Oberhelman 30-32. '
37
Fi~~er considers Artemidorus' Oneirocritica as the ultimate source for the medieval Somnialt
Th~ debat~ over th~ divine or the mundane character of dreams, their internal or external
40
Damelu, an extremely popular dreambook, which circulated in Latin and then in vernacular
languages throughout Europe (The Dream S-8). causauon, their proph~tic o~ non-proph~tic value, was based on the ancient controversy on dreams,
represen!ed by the Ar1stot~han and Stoic theories. The fonner assigned dreams a psychobiological
31
A~cording to Richar~ L. Kagan, Lucrecia 's Dreams. Politics and Prophecy in Sixteenth-Century explanau.o~'. the latte~ assigned dreams to the divine realm. These opposed views accepted only
Spat~ ~e~eley: Uruvei:sity of California Press, 1990) 186, a Spanish translation of the one poss1b1hty and rejected the other completely.
Onetrocr1t1cowas not available until 1918.
 I
~.,

'

38
39
Iamblichus discusses dreams and divides them into two groups: human and
Calcidius argues that each gives only a partial explanation, therefore embracing
divine. 41 The human dream is given a psychological explanation - it comes from
Plato's ideas on dreaming. Admitting both mundane and divine dreams as
the daily thoughts or perceptions, it arises "excited by the soul, or by some of our
possible, he rejects a system that confines dreams to only one realm. For
conceptions, or by reason, or by imaginations, or certain diurnal cares" (115). The
Calcidius, internally-stimulated and divinely-inspired dreams coexist, as opposed
divine dream is caused by the soul's capacity to separate itself from the body and
poles that are part of an even larger structure that distinguishes between different
participate in the intellectual life. According to Iamblichus, in divine dreams the
types of dreams. Spanning between the mundane and divine realms, his
soul is able to foresee the future, unite itself to the gods, and give access to the
classification depicts a hierarchy of dreams that clearly distinguishes between
dreamer to apprehend "the most genuine principles of knowledge" (119). His
lower and higher type of dreams. - dreams produced by: l. physical or psychical
acceptance of two completely opposed explanations into one inclusive system is
causes; 2. divine omnipotence; 3. heavenly powers; 4. celestial powers, which
advanced by other Neoplatonic dream theorists.
present the future in an enigmatic fonn; and 5. the divine power that reveals the
Cakidius goes one step further and expands the two-fold system by
future and secret things. Calcidius' diversity of dreams is summarized in the
describing the oneiric phenomena in simultaneously hierarchical and opposite
following schema, which resembles Artemidorus' taxonomy of dreams. The
terms. In his Latin Commentary on Plato's Timaeus 42 he starts his discussion on
system45 is also a graded hierarchy that advances from the non-predictive to the
dreams by presenting the two important opposing theories on dreaming current
predictive, from falsehood to truth, from internal to external causation. In its
during this period. First he comments on the psychobiological tradition, which
continuous succession upwards, each type of dream is linked to the next, allowing
considers dreams as purely mundane, a product of internal processes. 43 And
the connection of extremes by various types of oneiric experiences:
second, he explains the Stoic tradition where dreams are considered a divine
experience that emanates from the transcendental realm and reveals higher,
higher/predictive revelatio
prophetic truths to men. 44 Rather then siding with one of these extreme theories, spectaculum
admonitio
vis um
For more on .lamblich~ see Oberhelman 37, Newman 66-67 and Kruger 19-21. I quote from
41

Thom'.15 Taylor s translauon, lamblichus on the Mysteries of the Egyptians Cha/deans, and
lower/non-predictive somnium
Assynans (London: Stuart and Watkins, 1968). '
42
Calci'd'ius P~0bably used Philo Alexandrinus' De Somniis as source of his classification of Lowest in his scale are the internally-stimulated dreams: the somnium, that
dre~ according to their origin. The expression "Hebraica Philosophla" which he uses when he arises from remnants of waking sensory and emotional disturbances and the
cl ifi .the . origin of the
mentions . theory hc exposes, refers to Ph1lo's
· '
work ·
on dreams. Phllo's
1has~ cation 15 based on literary dreams. All dreams arc God-sent, but their source is different visum, that arises from the rational part of the soul and can search for the higher
cl:S~o~ !o~s, the soul of the dreamer, or God (A. H. M. Kessels, "Ancient Systems of
trans~~~uotca1 ".~"! 0?'ne S IV 22 (1969): 389-424. I use infonnation from Kruger and his
ions o c1 1us Commentary on Plato's Timaeus. (17-49). radical union that exists between human and divine reason, all dreams derive from the divine
world. He also .asserts that dreams are predictive of the future, and allow humans lo understand
The psyc~o?iological theory, based on Aristotle's explanation reiected the possibility of the
43
truths not accesstble to humans (Kruger 24-26).
revc 1atory, divine dream. ' '
45
.. schcma fiollows directly Kruger's analysis ofCalcidius' dream classification. (27-32).
0 nemc
=a~~ S~i~ view on dreams: the body is an impediment for the soul. Only when the body is asleep
e tvine part (rational) of the soul approach the gods. Heraclitus argues that because of a
 40
41
truth. The divinely-inspired dreams are: the admonitio, a revelatory dream, where
the celestial powers give counsels and orders; the spectaculum, the highest type,~ Macrobius' insomnium and visum do not conceal any truth, nor allow for

a revelatory vision in which a celestial power presents itself to those who are interpretation. They have no prophetic value and are described as such: the

awake, and orders or prohibits something clearly in a wondrous form or voice; insomnium, or the nightmare "may be caused by mental or physical distress, or
and the revelatio is the direct divine communication of future events and secret anxiety about the future: the patient experiences in dreams vexations similar to

things. Calcidius' simultaneously hierarchical and dualistic oneiric system unifies those that disturb him during the day" (I.iii.4). The insomnium, the lowest on the

two opposite worlds and mirrors the Neoplatonic view of the Wliverse, which scale, is produced by "some condition or circumstance that irritates a man during

posits a gradual movement from earth to heaven. the day and consequently disturbs him when he falls asleep" (l.iii.5). These
46 dreams are provoked by everyday situations in the waking life: "they are
Like Calcidius, Macrobius presents a hierarchical classification of
noteworthy only during their course and afterwards have no importance or
dreams that includes a wide range of possible oneiric experiences. In his
meaning; "they flee when [the dreamer] awakes and vanish into thin air" (I.iii.5).
discussion on dreams, part of the Commentary on the Dream of Scipio, he
The visum, or the apparition "comes upon one in the moment between
proposes an inclusive approach: According to Kruger, "Macrobius moves beyond
wakefulness and slumber, in the so-called first cloud of sleep" (1.iii.7). The
dualistic description to range dreams on a continuwn stretching between and
dreamer finds himself in this "drowsy condition" and thinking he is fully awake,
connecting the mundane and the transcendent" (21). His five-fold system
"imagines he sees specters rushing at him or wandering vaguely about, differing
includes two types of dreams that are considered non-predictive (insomnium and
from natural creatures in size and shape, and hosts of diverse things, either
visum), and three other types (somnium, visio and oraculum) that are predictive:
delightful or disturbing" (I.iii. 7). The dream is not provoked only by physical and
psychological causes, but it also suggests a movement beyond the self,
higher/predictive visio true (prophetic vision)
oraculum true (prophetic dream) "suggesting, if only faintly, the transcendence of the purely mundane-the contact
'
,, ".
!.
r- • somnium true (enigmatic dream) with the spiritual (spectral) realm-that will characterize higher, revelatory
visum false (apparition)
lower/non-predictive insomnium dreams" (Kruger 22).
false (nightmare)
The remaining three types are revelatory and through them, says
46
Macrobius (early .5111 century) was a !ate Roman Neoplatomc
. gramrnenan
. and philosopher
. wbo Macrobius, "we are gifted with the powers of divination" (I.iii.8). The highest on
wrote several eclectic works that were much read in the Middle Ages He belonged to the small
group of _encyclopedis~ ~ greatly influenced medieval scholastic ~ovement and science, and the hierarchical schema is the prophetic vision, or the visio, in which the dreamer
:-as c_onsiSde;e~ ~e prmc1pal authority on dreams in the Middle Ages. His Commentar/i in
.,ommum . thc1p1oms
b ,, ex .Cicerone [Commentary on I he Dream of Scipio by Cicero] is a commentary sees an event that will come true in daily life exactly as dreamed: "for example, a
on the six oo.. of C1cero's De Renubr Th b"bl"
onl abb . . " ica. e 1 1ography on Macrob1us · ·is extensive.
· 1 ·mclude
man dreams of the return of a friend who has been staying in a foreign land,
!danc1· revi~;edd ~tst: Spearing8-11, Kruger 17-34, C. S. Lewis, The Discarded Image. An
1
1n.. o u ion to,.,, 1eva and Rena·
199 ) _ L . r· · ·
iss~ce 1terature (Cambndge: Cambridge University Press. thoughts of whom never enter his mind. He goes out and presently meets his
4 60 69
York: C lwiili· ~ ~· ~omdike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science, vol. 2 (New
L . M~ 18
mv~rsity Press, 1934) 544-545, Ernest Curtius, European Literature and the friend and embraces him" (I.iii.9).
atm iddle Ages (Prmceton: Princeton University Press 1973) 443-445 and Alison M Peden,
"Macrobius and Medieval D L" • · ' '
William Harris S , . ream. iterature '.A!ed1um Aevum 54 (1985): 59-73. Also invaluable IS
· · The second type of dream in order of importance is the oraculum, or the
. (N y _,, tahl s introduction and ed1t1on of Macrobius' Commentary on the Dream of
Sc1p /o ew 01 "· Columbia u · · Pr . I use for my citations.
· mversity ess, 1952) 1-77, which
 42
43
prophetic dream, "in which a parent, or a pious or revered man, or a pries~ or
direct access to a higher truth. The revelatory dream is seen as a way to bestow
even a god clearly reveals what will or will not transpire, and what action to take
or to avoid" (l.iii.8). The oraculum is a direct prediction, or warning that reveals
gnosis, the esoteric wisdom that cannot be otherwise acquired.
Neoplatonic dream theories emphasize the divine aspect of dreams,
the truth and delivers knowledge to the dreamer from beyond the mundane realm.
especially the higher dreams "through which man comes to gnosis" (Newman 77).
The authority of this type of oneiric experience is emphasized by the presence of a
They admit the validity of the reductive rationalist dream theories, but consider it
relative, or a venerable, important personage, such as a priest or even divine
of no significance. For them, the dream is a form of revelation which confers the
figures, that communicate the message from the other world.
kind of wisdom that is both esoteric and moral. Esoteric wisdom is the granted
The third kind of revelatory dream is the enigmatic dream, or the
wisdom transcending that which is reached in ordinary situations; the dreamer, as
somnium. This type of dream "conceals with strange shapes and veils with
Macrobius states, is "initiated into the wonders of the heavens, the great celestial
ambiguity the true meaning of the infonnation being offered, and requires an
circles, and the harmony of the revolving spheres, things strange and unknown to
interpretation for its understanding" (I.iii.10). The somnium gives an indirect
mortals before this" (Commentary I, iii, 13). The dreamer also learns the secrets
representation of a meaning that could only be understood through interpretation
of nature (I, iii, 16), the secrets of the heavens, which are sacred abodes of
and is considered the framework of allegory. Following Artemidorus, Macrobius
immortal souls (I, i, 8). Morality initiates man into a way of life that brings him
divides somnium into five subcategories, which represent the dreamer's degree of
closer to divinity, for "the souls of those who serve the state well are returned to
involvement in his own dream: propium (concerning oneself), alienum
the heavens after death and there enjoy everlasting blessedness" {I, iv, 1).
(concerning someone else), commune (concerning both oneself and someone
Scholars have studied and compared Artemidorian and Neoplatonic
else), publicum (about public place or event) and generale (universal, about
systems, but a one-on-one correspondence seemed impossible. 48 A common
heavens and earth).
ground they do share is that they reserve the highest place to the divine, revelatory
:
:.
r· "
Even though the Macrobian classification was not the only one available to
dream that predicts future events and gives access to higher knowledge. This
'..:ii the Middle Ages, it was his oneiric taxonomy that was considered the ultimate
particular trait will shape the dream configuration of the Church Fathers.
source for majority of the writers. 47 His five-fold schema was followed, cited, and
used as the main authority on the subject, serving as the basis for the dream
typology that will prevail throughout the next centuries. Macrobius also
emphasized the idea that men can gain divine knowledge through divine dreams.
For him, the soul is the ''true man" (II.xii.I 0), trapped in the prison of the body.
When the body is asleep it is through the soul-which has independent noetic
powers that derive from the dualism of body and soul- that the dreamer can gain 41
For a commentary on the different oneiric typologies, sec Claes Blum, Studies won l~e ?,ream
Book ofArlemidorus (Upsala: Almquist and Wiksells, 1936) and A. H. M. Kessels, Ancient 389·
47 424.
Calcidius' discussion on dreams, even though less central and not as popular as Macrobius' has
its own influence on the medieval attitude toward oneiric experience (Lewis, Discarded 49-60).
 44
45
1.7 Dreams and the Christian Tradition: 49
sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder which he tells you come to pass,
1.7.1 Biblical dreams.
and if he says, "Let us go after other gods," which you have not known,
Apart from its importance in all aspects of medieval daily life, the Biblical "and let us serve them," you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or
that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you, to know
heritage stands at the center of all medieval ideology. Divine revelation through
whether you love the Lord your God with all your heat and with all your
dreams occurs frequently in the OldS-O and New Testament.s 1 Biblical dreams are soul.
said to come from God, who brings special knowledge and sends important
In another instance, God reveals to Jeremiah that false dreams are propagated
warnings and prophecies to men.s 2 In the Bible, dreams are actual events and
through false prophets, and tries to warn people against them:
experiences that function as a means of conununication between God and humans.
Dreams connect the divine and the secular. As in Jacob's famous oneiric
For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God oflsrael: Do not let your prophets
experience, the dream functions as a vehicle, as the ladder that makes possible the and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the
human-divine communication (Genesis 28: 12-13). The many references to dreams which they dream, for it is a lie which they are prophesying to you
in my name; I did not send them, says the Lord. {Jeremiah 19:8-9)
celestial dreams show the importance and strong reverence towards this unique
experience. People are warned against false prophets and the dangers of interpreting dreams.
But, even while dreams were venerated, they were also criticized. Indeed, They were dissuaded from divination by dreams since it could cause deception
dreams were also believed to be deceitful, nocturnal illusions that could lead to and deceit {Jeremiah 14:14).
temptation and even heresy. Due to their importance, dreams could cause false The many references to God-sent dreams vis a vis the false/non predictive
prophets to manufacture false dreams and false interpretations in order to meet ones created an ambivalent treatment of the oneiric phenomenon. Some
their own needs. For example, in Deuteronomy 13:1-3 there are warnings against individuals experienced divine revelations, where they are told the course of
the false prophets: action to be taken take, or the future is revealed directly or metaphorically to them
If a prophet arises among you, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a while others were dangerously deceived by dreams. Nevertheless, these two
conflicting attitudes {acceptance or rejection) co-existed and co-habited
49
Information based on Oberhelman 41-45, Newman 60-80, Kruger 35-56, Parman 37-46, and simultaneously throughout the Middle Ages.
Jacques Le Goff, The Medieval Imagination (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1988)
193-275.

'°Le Goff lists forty-three dreams in the Old Testament (Medieval 229-231 ). 1.7.2 Christian Martyrs and The Church Fathers: Tertullian, Augustine,
'
1
There are 9 dreams in the New Testament: five in Matthew, and four in the Acts of the Apostles Gregory the Great
(Le Goff Medieval 194).
The first centuries of Christianity inherited ambivalent views toward
2
' In most of the dreams God appears directly to Abimelech, to Jacob, to Solomon, and to Daniel dreams which were based on the pre-Christian oneiric theories and Biblical
In others he speaks through an angel (St. Matthew and St. Paul). Nevertheless all dreams are
considered divine: Abimelech (Gen. 20:3); of Jacob (Gen. 28:12; 31 :10); of Solomon (IllK. 3:5· accounts. Relying on these sources the Church Fathers tried to classify the many
15); ofNabuchodonosor (Dan. 2:19); of Daniel (Dan. 7:1); of Joseph (Mat. 1:20; 3:13); of St. Paul
(Acts 23:11; 27:23). See Le Goff; Medieval 195-231. types of dreams and resolve the existing conflicts so that they accord with
 ~
.....

46
47
Christian doctrine. While echoing earlier authoritative treatments of dreams they
the privileged Christians, whose dreams were accepted as prophetic, but these
bring important changes in regards to dream theory. Their contribution does not
martyrs had the right to request prophetic dreams and converse directly with God.
consist in the invention of a completely new system, but in "the changed
In the narrative of her martyrdom-Passio /11-X or The Passion of St. Perpetua, 54
emphasis, freshness of adaptation, and new applications, that we are able to
the young woman recounts the dreams she experienced in prison. before her
distinguish classical from patristic dream thought" (Newman 90). The patristic
execution. She knows that as a future martyr, she is empowered by God. 55 She
view of dreams is a product of the cultural/religious milieu that treated the oneiric
describes her strong position in the community: ..the soldier in charge of the
phenomenon with both approbation and suspicion.
prison began to show us great honor, realizing that we possessed some great
During the first four centuries A.O., before Christianity was recognized as
power within us" (117). Her confidence in her ability to speak to God directly is
an official religion, there is vivid interest in the prophetic dreams. In this period,
shown in many instances: "Faithfully, I promised that I would, for I knew that I
dreams are conceptualized as "the paradigm of the open frontier" (Brown 651
could speak with the Lord, whose great blessings I had come to experience" (113).
since via dreams, humans are granted direct access to the divine world. The
Her brother in Christ also acknowledges her worthiness of demanding and
search for divine connection is not a new phenomenon and is best illustrated by its
receiving divine dreams: "Honored sister, you already possess such great merit
employment in almost all Christian aspects of life, especially in conversion and
that you are worthy of asking for a vision, and you will be shown whether it is
martyrdom. 53
martyrdom or release that awaits us" (111-113). In the same dream, Perpetua is
The role of dreams as a means of reaching God and gaining prophetic
reassured of her salvation and reunion with God in the heavenly garden. She sees
knowledge is mentioned by various writers of that epoch, who see a clear
herself climbing a bronze ladder that reaches the heavens. Then, she enters an
connection between dreams and conversion to Christianity. For example, the
immense garden where she is welcomed by a gray-haired man dressed in
famous Church Father, Origen, speaks of such conversions that resulted from
shepherd's clothes. He is surrounded by thousands of people dressed in white and
dreams: "Many came to Christianity in spite of themselves, a certain spirit having
welcomes her with the words: "I am glad you have come, my child". After he
turned their hearts from hatred of the doctrine to resolution to die for it by
gives her milk to drink, everybody around says "Amen!". She, then wakes up with
presenting them with a dream or a vision" (Contra Ce/sum 1.46). For instance,
the sweet taste still in her mouth. (111-113). According to Salisbwy, the sweet
Augustine's own conversion to Christianity results from his mother's dream.
Martyrs, "the Christian heroes par excellence," as Le Goff refers to them ,. In the year 203 AD, while imprisoned with a small group of martyrs, Pe1J1_Ctua and Saturus k~pt a
(Medieval 204), fonn another important group that can experience celestial dairy of their last days. Perpctua includes an account of the four prophetic dreams she rec~1~ed
before her death. Saturus describes his only dream. The recorded dreams are proof of the divine
communication through dreams. They were considered by their contemporaries as connection between the dreamers and God. In dreams, the martyrs received a divine sign, an
answer to their questions and prophecies regarding their terrifying death.
having been selected by the Holy Spirit to die defending their faith. Due to their
55
For an excellent discussion on Christian martyrdom, the importance of onciric experiences and
sacrifice, virtue and spiritual perfection, these future martyrs chosen by God an extensive bibliography on the topic, sec Joyce E. Salisbury, Perpetua '.s Passion: the Death and
Memory of a Young Roman Woman (New York: Routledge, 1997) and Peter Dronk~, Women
experienced revelatory dreams of the future and the afterlife. Not only were they Writers of the Middle Ages: A Critical Study of texts from Perpe~ua .'o M~erite Porete
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984). I use Herbert Musunllo s translation from The
53
See Le Gort: Medieval 203-205 and Oberhelman 49-SO. Acts ofthe Christian Martyrs (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1972).
 48
49
taste she experiences represents the Holy Communion, where the newly baptized
The vivid interest in dreams that characterized the first centuries of the
were given milk and honey, so they can taste the sweetness of heaven that waited
Christian era, ''the paradigm of the open frontier" as Brown refers to it (65),
for them in the afterlife (103). Saturus also records his prophetic vision of the
started to change to skepticism in the following periods. Any heretic could claim
splendid heaven promised to all martyrs. He tells Perpetua: "This is what the Lord
to understand dreams, therefore eliminating the Church's role as an
promised us. We have received his promise", to which she answers: "Thanks be to 58
intermediary. Dreams, the vehicles that provided direct contact between the
God that I am happier here now than I was in flesh" ( 119-123). Through dreams,
faithful and God, came to be considered dangerous elements, exactly for this
God revealed his divine presence to Christians. As Salisbury explains, "in a world
unique characteristic. Surrounded by disparate ideas, theologians and clergymen
hungry for spiritual certainty, the strength of the young confessors was
had to reinforce their control and exclusive authority over the lay population, by
impressive", (137) and the longing for the divine was satisfied by dreams.
ensuring that dreams were given a negative valence. They founded their negative
Early Christian writers supported the idea that through dreams one could
attitude on Biblical authority and dissuaded Christians from dream divination by
gain divine knowledge and direct contact with God. Tertullian, 56 in his treatise on
repeating the prohibitions and warnings of the Old Testament.59 They condenmed
dreams, De anima, discusses how dreams are a way to reach God: "Most men owe
the superstitious tendency to observe dreams and consider all of them prophetic. 60
57
their knowledge of God to visions" (47.2). Saint Cyprian also indicates that
While acknowledging the existence of the divine and prophetic dreams,
through dreams men can have access to God. Those who received God's word are
the Church Fathers had discovered a strong connection between dreams and
privileged and favored by God: "the Holy Spirit [ ... Jmakes us see with our eyes,
heresy, between dreams and the evil demons.61 The old doubts concemmg
. the
hear, and speak the admonitions and instructions that God makes us worthy to
receive" (Epistle 9, PL 4.253). For him, God makes Himself present to humans 51
Different religious sects that were later considered heretical by the Church, used dreams .and
visions as a way of communicating directly with God and foretelling the future. Le Goff mentions
by way of dreams. some of the influential Gnostic sects, the Nazarenes, the Valentinians, the sect of Capocrates, and
the Montanists, whose constant use of dreams, visions, and ecstasy "helped to discredit dream
interpretation among orthodox Christians" (Medieval 207). Th~, as soon ~.the C~urc~ began
relating dreams with heresy, the place of dreams began to shift to susp1c1on, d1sbchef, and
56
Tertullian (c.155-220 A.O.) was born in Carthage and practiced law in Rome. He is on~ ~f~
uncertainty.
greatest Western theologians and Miters of Christian antiquity. He converted to C~s~~Jty
around 193 AD, then in 207 AD joined the Montanist sect, and later return to Christtam~. 59
Tertullian Mote many theological treatises, of which Apo/ogeticus is his most farno~s on~ for ii People were repeatedly warned against giving "heed to their dreams. which they dream" ~Jer.
29:8). The Ecclesiastes also says: "dreams follow many cares" (5:2), since "they have deceived
defends Christianity against pagan charges. His treatise. De. anima includes a d1scuss10.n .on
dreams. He greatly influenced the later Church Fathers Ill his attempt to formulate Chnstian many, and they have failed those that put their trust in them" (34:7).
theological concepts. <http:J/encarta.msn.comfindex/concisejndex> (Encarta Online, June 2001, 60
Online Encyclopedia, 1997-2001). The prohibition to observe dreams is expressed in Lev. 19:26 and Deut. 18:10: "Let there be no
one that consults soothsayers, or observes dreams, or pays attention to omens. [ ... ]And wherever
they are, let them be corrected or condemned". There arc also warnings against ~ting in the
57
Saint Cyprian (c. 200-259 A.D.) a convert, a highly educated an~ wealthy member ofC~age's
pretended dreams of false prophets: "Behold, I am against the prophets that have lymg dreams,
elite. In 248 AD, two years after his conversion, he was elected bishop. He saw the salvation of
said the Lord" (cf. Zach. 10:2, Jer. 23:32; etc.).
the Church in hierarchy and organization. Also he urged Christians to be united and value peace,
hannony, and unanimity. He is regarded as one of the most authoritative of the Ch.urc~ Fathers, 61 Daemones in Graeco-Roman thought arc aerial beings that populate the intermediary regions of
especially because of his exposition of the hierarchical organiz.ation of the church, Ill his On the
the cosmos • the region of the moon. They function as message-bearers and mediators, connecting
Unity of the Catholic Church. He was beheaded during the persecutions of 259 AD, conducted
the divine with the human realm. While in ancient thought they were considered simply agents that
under Valerian. < http://encarta.msn.com/index/conciseindex> (Encarta Online, June 2001,
enabled the humans to reach the gods via dreams, the Jews, and the early Christian writers divided
Online Encyclopedia, 1997-2001).
daemons into two bands of evil and good forces. This dichotomy between demonic and angelic
 I.,

so
51
origin of dreams had to be solved Wld the need of a system that would help
differentiate angelic from demonic dreams was indispensable. According to Le inspired, edifying, and inductive to virtue" (47.2). These divine, prophetic dreams

Goff, the main difference between Classical and Christian dream typology is the can reach everyone, even pagans, since God is impartial. It is from dreams, argues

first group based their interpretation on the structure and content of dreams, while Tertullian, that the majority of people get their knowledge of God (47.2). The

the Church was more concerned with their source: divine or demonic (Medieval existence of divine dreams is supported by Tertullian, since he considers the
dream as an "accident" of the divine, immortal and active soul, who can not rest
238). The patristic association of dreams to Satan is the major change made
when the body is asleep and continues its movement in ecstasy and towards higher
during this period. Christian oneirocriticism was aware of the power of temptation
knowledge (45.2). Dreams of the third type are produced by the soul itself in
the Devil exerted during one's sleep and the uncertainty to discern between
response to circumstances, and they stem from the natural power of the soul to
angelic and demonic activity. The difficulty posed by the entrance of the Devil to
form images (47.3). To the fourth category, or ecstasy, belong dreams caused by
the realm of dreams and his powers of transformation and deception left
the withdrawal of sense perceptions, which happens during the time the body
theologians with the difficult task of establishing guidelines that would help
sleeps while the divine and immortal soul is in continual movement.
determine the truth or falsehood of dreams. In their quest for answers they also
Tertullian followed the tripartite pagan typology (daemons, gods, and
emphasized the moral aspect of dreams.
soul), but he modified the classical model by adding ecstasy as the last category.
The Christian ambivalence toward dreams is best defined by Tertullian,
Clearly, for the Church, the presence of the Devil as a source of vain and delusory
who in his treatise De anima,62 dedicates several chapters (45-49) to their
dreams "would seem to offer a more satisfactory explanation of this fact than
analysis. He was the first late-antique Latin author who tried to define Christian
would the disordered rumbling of the belly or the restless churning of the mind"
attitudes toward oneiric experience (Miller 67). In chapter 47, he divides dreams
(Newman 96). The dichotomy between good/angelic and bad/demonic daemones
according to their originator: Devil, God, the soul itself, and ecstasy. Dreams that
is already evident before the first Christian centuries. These aerial beings were
.
63
emanate from the Devi1 could sometimes be true and favorable to us, but they
,,~. now split into two: demons and angels, where the daemones became the agents of
. ',:} are mostly ''vain, deceitful, vague, licentious, and impure" (47.l). The second
Satan, who afflict the human beings with imaginings. This replacement of the
category consists of dreams that come from God and are "honest, holy, prophetic,
daemones with a troupe of devils constitutes the main Christian addition to the
basic classical schema of its predecessors. As Lane Fox explains, ..to the Jews,
inspiration of dreams, transformed the daemones into demons (agents of evil and dec.eit) and
angels (agents of true dreams). The Christian writers linked demons with dreams and magic, when demons were not ambiguous intermediaries whom pagans placed between gods
in need of a weapon against heretics, and at the same time would connect dreams with the angelic
figure when defending a theological ideal (Le Goff Medieval 210-212, Miller 55-59).
and men; they were outright agents of evil, the troupe of Satan himself' (327).
Moreover, the association of the Devil with the oneiric experience leads to
De anima was written between years 206-210 AD. Tertullian's discussion on dre~ ~
62

considered to be the first Christian treannent of dreams (Salisbury 95-97). I use Ter1ull!on. an incipient correlation between individual morality and the nature of dreams.
Apologetica/ Works, and Minucius Felix: Octavius, translated by Rudolph Arbesmann, SiSI~
Emily Joseph Daly, and Edwin A. Quain. The Fathers of the Church, v. 10. (New York: Fa~~~-~ This would be further developed by later patristic figures. In Tertullian, however,
the Church, Inc., 2950). Also I have consulted the translation and corrunentary by J. H. Wa=iuo,
De anima (Amsterdam: Meulenhoff; 1947). the dreamer is not to be blamed for what he dreams: "In our dreams, any good
63
The Latin reads "Defmimus enim a daemoniis plurirnum incuti somnia"(47. I), in Waszink (65).
 52
53
actions we perform are without merit and our crimes are blameless" (45.4). The
dream content is not directly related to the moral state of the dreamer, since
· to the heaven, which we see above the earth and from which shine forth the

anyone can be tempted and deceived by the Devil: ''just as the mercy of GOO luminous bodies and stars" (De Genes/ XII.30.58). The spiritual vision is

abounds for the pagans, so the temptations of the Devil attack the saints" (47.2). described as arising from the "ordinary course of our daily life" and also sees

The external agents are the ones influencing human beings, who find themselves images that are truly divine and are revealed by angels (XII.30.58). The third type

in the complicated position of having to discern between angelically of vision, the intellectual vision, is one through which we see abstract ideas in the
11
demonically-inspired dreams. soul or even in God Himself (Xll.31.59). The Augustinian model is a hierarchical
classification that expands itself from the body to the intellect, from the mundane
Another very important figure in the ancient Western Church is
64 to the divine.
Augustine. His theory of dreams is elaborated in his De Genesi ad litteram,
From the three types of visions, Augustine underlines the importance of
Book XII. But the difference in Augustine's analysis lies in his discussion of the
the intermediate space, the middle category- the spiritual vision. It is in this space,
relation of dreams with other two types of human visions. His main concern is to
between the body and mind, between the corporeal and the intellectual that
explore the place of dreams in the broad range of human perception (Kruger 36).
dreams exist: "it is the spiritual nature of the soul [... ] that is affected when
In De Genesi ad litteram, he elaborates a tripartite classification of visions. the
dreams come in sleep, either with or without a meaning" (XIl.23.49). Augustine
corporeal, the spiritual, and the intellectual:
argues that all dream experiences have a spiritual character. They all work through

Let us call the first kind of vision corporeal, because it is perceived though images and the imagination and can provide a route to knowledge. But Augustine
th~ .body and presented to the senses of the body. The second will l:e goes on to classify dreams in different types. He explains:
sp~tual, for w~tever is not a body, and yet something, is rightly called
spmt; .and c:rtainly the image of the absent body, though it resembles a
body'. is not itself a body any more than is the act of vision by which it~ Dreams are sometimes false, and sometimes true, sometimes troubled, and
perceived. The third kind will be intellectual, from the word "intellect• sometimes calm; and true dreams are sometimes quite similar to future
(Xll.7.16, p. 186) events or even clear forecasts, while at other times they are predictions
given to dark meanings, as it were, in figurative expressions. (De Genesi
The corporeal vision is one that perceives corporeal objects from "earthly bodies XII.18.39)

Augustine's bifurcated system includes predictive and non-predictive

S~ ~u~us!ine (354-430 AD) was born in Tagaste, Numidia, in North Africa. He converted to
64
dreams, arranged in a hierarchy that corresponds to Macrobius' and Artemidorus'
C_hrist1amty ~n 38!, and soon after he was ordained a presbyter in 391AD taking the position as
bishop ?f ~ 1P~ ~ 396 AD, position which he held until his death. The drucial role thal dreaJDS typology, ranging from the lowest/false to the highest/true type of dreams: 65
p~ayed ID h~ hfe IS P_re~en!ed in c_onfessions, where he recalls his mother's dream that predicted
his con~ersion to ~hris~1an1ty. Besides forecasting the course of his life, the dream also attended ID
the ~d~cal reconsideration of his own beliefs and his own self-definition. Therefore his interest in
examm~ng, dr~ams is based on an autobiographical event. Important commentaries and studies Oii
Augustme 5 view on dreams are found in: Kruger 35-56, Parman 47-56, Miller 92-95, Russell 84-
94, and Newm'.111110-116. For a detailed study on his treabnent of dreams see Martine Dulaey,.U
reve dans la vie et I~ pens_ee de SainJ Augustine (Paris: Etudes Augustiniennes, 1973) and Pie~
6'1 follow Kruger's system of classification, where he presents Augustine Macrobius and
Courcelle, Late Latin Wrllers and their Greek Sources (Cambridge Mass . Harvard University Calcidius' dream typology (39). ' '
Press, 1969). ' ··
 54
55
Augustine Macro bi us Artemidorus
pure soul that has a desire to reach what is more perfect and is able to control the
higher
dreams similar to future events visio horama sinful desires while awake, will be more likely to experience worthy, meaningful
clear forecasts oraculum chrematismos dreams. Here, it is clear that Augustine associates moral purity with the content
predictions given in figurative
expressions somnium oneiros of the dream. He gives the perfect ex~ple of Solomon, whose soul's merits
manifested itself even in sleep:
lower
calm or disturbed dreams visum phantasma
reminiscence of daily residues insomnium enhypnion Solomon even while asleep preferred wisdom to all else and begged it of
the Lord without a thought for the rest; and, as Scripture attests, this was
In addition, the Augustinian dream typology can also be presented as a pleasing to the Lord, and He did not leave this good desire long without a
fitting reward (XII.15.31).
phenomenon caused by internal or external agents. The mwidane dreams, arising
from purely internal causes, such as hunger, thirst, or daily thoughts are of no A similar treatment of dreams is developed by another patristic figure,
prophetic value (XII.30.58). The externally-caused dreams are those inspired by Gregory the Great (540-604 AD), in his Dialogues IV.50-51. 66 His typology of
God, the angels, or the demons. The divinely-inspired dreams can direct the spirit dreams is based on the origin of dreams, both internal and external factors.
of the dreamer towards an extraordinary vision. The demonic action, on the other According to Gregory, dreams are produced by physiological causes or daily
band, might seem to reveal the truth. but its ultimate purpose is to deceive the thoughts, by the devil, and by divine revelation. He divides dreams into six
dreamer (XIl.14.29). Augustine is aware of the power of the evil spirit to categories: 1. ventris plentitudine (full stomach, overeating); 2. ventris inanitate
transform himself into the angel of light, and once he has gained his victim's (empty stomach, hwiger); 3. inlusione (illusions); 4. cogitatione simul et inlusione
confidence, he may then lure his victim into his snares (Xll.13.28). For most (our thoughts combined with illusions); S. revelatione (revelations); 6. cogitatione
people it is difficult to recognize a demonic dream before it has achieved its simul et revelatione (our thoughts combined with revelation). The first two
destructive purpose, and has already "led someone on to what is contrary to good causes, overeating and hunger are derived from the physiological dream theories,
morals or the rules of faith" (XIl.13.28). While understanding the devil's role in where the body is the origin of dreams. The third type is caused by demonic
the formation of dreams, Augustine does not forget the importance of the moral action. The fourth type is the dream caused by both our thoughts and demonic
purity of the individual. Men, he states, do not suffer any hann from mistaking a action. The fifth kind is the revelatory dream caused by angelic agents. The sixth
divine for a demonic dream, so long as they "do not deviate from the true faith or type of dreams is stimulated both by our own thoughts and divine forces. Like the
lose the integrity of intelligence, by which God instructs those who are obedient to Neoplatonists and other theologians, Gregory's taxonomy can be arranged in a

him" (XII.14.30). The dreamer's soul is not banned by this error, if it did not 66
This section on Gregory follows the discussion in Newman 89-97, Kruger 57-82, Le Gotf223-
consent to an evil suggestion. Augustine is aware that in sleep it is very difficult 227, and Lisa Bitc:I, "In Visu Noctis: Dreams in European Hagiography and Histories, 450-900,"
History of Religions 31.l (1991): 39-59. An almost identical treatment on dreams in found in his
to control one's thoughts, so a sinful dream does not necessarily make the dreamer Mora/ia in Job V!Il.14.42 -43. All quotes are from Odo John Zimmennan, Gregory the Great.
Dialogues, The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 39 (New York: Fathers of the Church
a sinner. He concludes that men who have no vain and sacrilegious thoughts, but a 1959).
56
57
hierarchy that spreads from the lowest to the highest type, but concurrently
distrust them:
includes various intermediate classes of oneiric experiences:

The dreamer stands in a precarious position, between a potential good and

higher/external revelatione (5)
a potential evil that are essentially indistinguishable. The realm of dreams,
inlusione (3) poised between truth and fiction, is also tom between good and evil; it
cogitatione simul et revelatione; 4. cogitatione simul provides a ground on which both benevolent and malevolent forces work,
et inlusione (6) and in relation to which human beings must make complicated
ventris inanitate (2) decisions-decisions with crucial implications for their moral lives.
lower/internal ventris p/entitudine ( 1) (Kruger 53)

Dreams that arise from purely internal causes (ventris p/entitudine and In conclusion, the Fathers emphasize that divine dreams are prophetic and
ventris inanitate) are at the bottom of the schema and are considered meaningless. true. At the same time they accept there are dreams, originating with the Devil,
The mixed dreams (cogitatione simu/ et inlusione and cogitatione simul et which are deceptive and vain. The general comments on the oneiric experience
revelatione) are internal and external at the same time. They arise from the range from a metaphor for the highest contemplation, which belongs to the
dreamer's thoughts in addition to the demonic or angelic forces. They can occupy revelatory dream, to a metaphor for sin, ignorance, and death which is associated
a middle space, since they are ambiguous. The next two types of dreams are with the lower type of dreams (Newman 118-119). But their main concern is the
caused solely by external agents, whether demonic (inlusione) or divine revelatory dream and the vital role it plays in the acquisition of sacred knowledge.
(revelatione). The former are considered false and deceptive, and the latter As a vehicle of divine communication, ''valued for its oracular potential, [...]the
represent true, divine, and prophetic dreams and occupy the highest place in the dream, becomes a restructuring principle of epistemology at once inaugurating
oneiric hierarchy. and exceeding the delimiting powers of knowledge, [...] disclosing the infinitely
For Gregory the Great, as for Tertullian and Augustine before him, the complex nature of Christian reality" (Karczewska 123).
question of individual morality is related to the nature of dreams. When deciding As Kruger argues and successfully defends throughout his book Dreaming
if the intentions behind the dreams are good or evil, Gregory includes the in the Middle Ages, dreams are depicted as a simultaneously dual and hierarchical
categories of hybrid dreams, where the dreamer's "thoughts" begin to play an structure. Their doubleness and middleness, as the author defines their unique
important role. The demonic dreams present concerns, since it is extremely characteristic, allows dreams to incorporate a wide variety of experiences and at
difficult to discern them from the divine ones. Only a few people, the saints, have the same time unite, in a hierarchical order, two opposing poles. This complex
this special gift and can distinguish "true revelations from the voices and images system, he points out, resembles the Neoplatonic universe, where the immortal
of illusions through an inner sensitivity. They can always recognize when they creator stands opposed to his mortal creation (17-34). Macrobious describes it
receive communications from the good Spirit and when they are to be faced with clearly:
illusions" (Dialogues IV.50.6). But the majority of Christian dreamers are left to
decide on their own between prophetic or false dreams, and when to believe or
 58
59
Since Mind emanates from the Supreme God, and Soul from Mind, and
Soul, indeed, forms and suffuses all below with life, and since this is the The dreambooks had a wide audience among all social groups. The
one splendor lighting up everything and visible in all, like a countenance ' interest and condemnation of dream divination went hand in hand and were. by no
reflected in many mirrors arranged below in a row, and since all follow on
in a continuous succession, degenerating step by step in their downward means, a result of a chasm between the educated and the uneducated, the rich and
course, the close observer will find that from the Supreme God even to the the poor, the folk and the Church, the pagan and the believers. Kruger argues that
bottommost dregs of the universe there is one tie, binding at every link and
never broken. (Commentary I.xiv.15) ''the same social groups, even the same individuals, were drawn toward and, at the
same time, backed away from a belief in the predictive significance of dreams"
Indeed, the Neoplatonic model of the cosmos is a system where two opposing (16).
extremes -heaven and earth-, are connected by a never-to-be-broken chain, with Three types of dreambooks were used in the Middle Ages: I. the "dream
each link arranged in a continuous succession, degenerating step by step in its alphabet" or "chance book", 2. the "dreamlunar" and, 3. the "dreambook proper."
downward course. I agree with Kruger' view that dreams also occupy the middle The earliest Latin manuscripts date as early as the 9th century. Their tremendous
space between divine and worldly realm: ..neither wholly of this earth nor of the popularity is reflected in the extant manuscripts and printed copies found by
heavens, dreams, like soul, are able to navigate that middle realm where various investigators, who list not only the numerous Latin versions but also the
connections between the corporeal and incorporeal are forged" (34). 67
vernacular translations that survived.
As this discussion has pointed out, late-antique oneiric discourse, The first two groups of dream manuals were related to other prognostic
irrespective of the various schools of thought it represented, conceptualized and superstitious works, such as horoscopes, lists of lucky and unlucky days,
dreams as mediators between the mortal and immortal worlds. which implied that neither God nor man could control the future events. These
books maintained that the cosmos worked through a random process. This view
2. Dreams in the Late Middle Ages was, of course, attacked and condemned by the Church. The first kind of medieval

.
.· ~.~
2.1 The Dreambook Tradition divinatory manuals, the "dream alphabet" or the "chance book" is of Greek origin,
Alongside the ambiguous attitudes towards dream-interpretation given by and was sometimes referred to as Somniale Joseph. 68 In these texts, the content of
the Church Fathers or the Neoplatonic writers, there existed a great variety of the dream is not important - the dreamer, after having said a prayer, opens at
manuals of dream interpretation. They are historical and (auto)biographical random the Psalter or any other book. Then, the first letter he sees written on the
accounts of dreams and literary depictions of the oneiric experience. Even though page is compared to an alphabetical list of interpretations. For example:
oneiromancy never ceased to exist, it is only in the mid-9th century that dream
books began to proliferate due to the phenomenon described as the 67
For more infonnation on the topic see Kruger, 7-11 and Fischer 26-32. For the Latin and
vernacular manuscript and printed editions of these dreambooks consult Thorndike, II 290-306 and
"democratization" of dream interpretation (Oberhelman 16). The dreambook
Max F1!rster, "Das" 40.
tradition has a long, popular and literary tradition behind it, but according to 61
There are thirteen extant manuscripts copies of the dream alphabet, in Latin. See Thorndike, II,
Forster, the medieval dream divination books derive mainly from the Greek 294·295 for vernacular versions in Middle High Gennan, Old and Middle English, Old Romanian,
Welsh, Old French, and Italian.
sources probably translated into Latin around the 7th century (58-62).

~;;
 60
61
A signifies a fortunate journey, and a successful way.
B signifies lordship among the people.69 Danielis derived from the Greek tradition. 73 The first two categories presented the
medieval public with a wonderful compilation of Graeco-Arabic material on
Thus, the meaning of the dream depends on the letter that catches the dreamer's dreams. But the most popular of all medieval prophetic dream books is the
eye randomly. Somniale Danielis, a collection of self-perpetuating topics stemming from the
The second method of divination during the Middle Ages was the ancient tradition (Fischer 29). This type of divinatory manual relies on the
interpretation of dreams according to the phases of the moon, and it is found in the dream's content. For example:
"dream lunar" books. Here, the significance of a dream is restricted to the
particular period of the phase of the moon during which the dream occurs: Arma is somniis portare securitatem significat.
Nuber videre significat discordiam.
Poma colligere, molestiam significat. 14
Whatever you may have seen on the first moon [of the month], will have
its outcome in joy; even if you have seen yourself conquered, nevertheless Arranged in alphabetical order, the Somniale offers the dreamer a list of
you will conquer your enemies.
possible consequences of each particular dream. The vivid interest in this type of
If you have seen a dream on the second moon, it will have no effect; nor manual is proven by the numerous extant Latin versions,75 and the vernacular
should you reckon in your mind on either a good or a bad effect. 70
translations, 76 which reach hundreds of texts. Their popularity continued well into

All dreams predicted the same outcome for all dreamers, if dreamt on the same Oneirocritica and Achmet's Onerirocriticon, translated by Leo Tuscus into Latin in 1160, date
night. The dreamlunars, which stem from a Greek-Byzantine tradition, were first advocated by Oberhelman 13.

translated into Latin and later into Middle English, Italian, Proven~al, French,
73
The Greek tradition is Artemidorus' Oneirocritica, which circulated in Greek around the 4111
century (Martin, "The Earliest" 131). Translated into Arabic in 873, the Oneirocritica was the
German, and Middle Welsh. 11 Again, we encounter a dreambook where the main soUrt:e for the subsequent dream manuals {Oberhelman 15).

content of the dreams is not significant, and the future is predicted at random. 74
In Steven R. Fischer, The Complete Medieval Dreamboolc. A Multilingual. Alphabetical Somnia
Danielis Collation (Bern: Peter Lang Publishers, Inc., 1982).
The third group is the "dreambook proper" and it forms the largest existing
"Martin, Somniale 13-62, lists 73 Latin manuscripts of the Somniale Danielis, dating from the 9111
corpus of medieval dream texts. Three subcategories comprise this group: I. the
century to the 16111 century. Forster, "Das" 60, is not specific about the number, but mentions the
compendium of Eastern dream lore, the Liber thesauri occulti by Pascalis existence of hundreds of texts. In Spain, there is a fragment of the Pseudo Daniel. Interpretationes
somniorum, included in the Ms. 2262, at the Univeristy of Salamanca, in Latin and in Spanish, fol.
Romanus;n 2. the Arabic dreambook of the Pseudo-Achmet; and 3. the Somniale 276-277 (also at Col. de Cuenca 306, and Madrid: Palacio VII H 3, 2 i 3, 1108). The manuscripts
date from the IS 111 century and contain among other medical treatises, Alonso de Chirinos' Menor
dailo de la medicina, and G6mez de Salamanca's Compendio de medicina para Alvaro de Luna,
69
Translated in Kruger 8. in Guy Beaujouan, Manuscrits scientifiques medievaux de l'Universite de Salamanque et de ses
"colegios mayores" (Bordeaux: Bibliotheque de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes Hispaniques, 1962):
10
Kruger8. 130-185. A 13di century Latin Somniale Danielis is located at the Biblioteca Nacional (Ms.
10063).
71
Thorndike II, 29+295 and Forster, "Mittelalterliche", 204 list a number of over twenty Latin 76
manuscripts, the first dating as early as the 9111 centwy. As early as the 11 111 century the The translations of Sominale Danielis were into Old and Middle English, Old French, Italian,
dreamlunars are translated into vernacular languages. Old Norse, Welsh, Irish, and Middle High German (Martin, Somniale I). According to Maurice
Helin, La clef des songes (Geneva: Sllatkine Reprints, 1977) 91-99 there were many incunabular
72
Pascalis Romanus writes his Liber Thesauri occulti around 1176. It is based on Artemidorus' editions: twenty-eight in Latin, four in Italian, three in German, two in French. These numbers

L
 "I

62
63
the late Middle Ages.
2.2 Dream theories from the 121h to the 151b century: Thomas Aquinas,
All these medieval manuals were widely used in exploring and interpreting
Jean Gerson, and Jacob Sprenger and Heinrich Kramer.
the meaning of dreams. Their popularity, proven by the many surviving
The attraction for the classical and late-antique dream authorities increased
manuscripts copies and printed editions, did not erase the Church's disbelief and
during the Renaissance of the 12th century, when writers turned to these valuable
condemnation on dreams and divination. In order to gain more credibility among
models as sources of knowledge. Even though the Neoplatonic and Christian
its readers and especially the priests, these manuals tried to associate themselves
dream theories cannot be fully interconnected, their similar hierarchical and
with the Holy Scripture, Biblical events and even claimed biblical authorship.
inclusive character is an essential element to the medieval treatment of the oneiric
The Somnia/e Joseph and Somnia/e Danielis were supposedly authored by two
phenomena. From the 121h century onwards, resort to this complex system when
famous dream interpreters. But despite all this, the Church continued its
presenting their own explanation of dreams. Along with the late-antique models
traditional negative view of dreams. Important figures, such as Gratian, denied
and the desire to reconcile pagan and secular thought, they also had to take into
any religious association or authority of these dream books. 77 He also condemned
account the newly accessible sources of Aristotelian thought. The recently
their methods of predicting the future, by using calendrical and astrological
translated scientific Arabic and Greek texts78 begin to challenge the traditional
methods and the divinatory observation of the moon:
views on dreaming, that concentrate attention on the divinely-inspired type and its
ability to predict the future, to connect humans with divinity, and to reveal higher
Those who through Pythagorean necromancy search for prosperous or
adverse future things, or who pay attention to dreambooks written down truths. What is clearly perceived beginning with the 121h century and continuing
and entitled with the false name of Daniel, and to those lots which are into the late medieval period is a shift in emphasis towards the non-revelatory
called the lots of the blessed Apostles, and to the omen of the birds, let
them know that they have committed a crime against the Christian faith dreams and their somatic component. The focus is placed on the psychobiological
and against baptism, and that they have gravely incurred the ire of God for aspect of mundane dreams and their bodily causes, such as digestion, imagination
eternity, wtless, corrected by ecclesiastical penitence, they will be
reconciled with God. (Decretum 2.26.7.16) and burners. However, the quick integration of the new theories to the medieval
treatment of dreams does not completely exclude the importance of the revelatory
This ambivalent attitude toward dreams persisted throughout medieval experience, where the higher dream is still a strong component of the oneiric
times and beyond. The conflicting views generated new approaches of system. For most intellectuals, science and theology are both acceptable
interpreting, deciphering, and categorizing the inaccessible oneiric phenomena explanations of the phenomena. In her book The High Medieval Dream Vision:
From the 12'h century on, the conventional code is given a different emphasis that Poetry, Philosophy. and Literary Form, Lynch argues that the dream "embodies
will engage theorists in a remarkable discourse on dreams.
78
Aristotle's De anima becomes available in Latin during the 12111 century. The translations of
Arabic material such as Pscudo-Achmct' dream book by Leo Tuscus in the I 170's; Gerard of
show the popularity and interest in the Somnia/e Danielis. Cremona's (c.1167-87) translation of Al-Kindi's text on dreams as Liber de somno et visione and
Avicenna's Liber canonnis; and Pascalis Romanus' Liber thesauri occulti (c. 1165) become the
77
See Gratian's Deere/um 2.26.7.16 that represents the core of late-medieval canon law and was sources of the new dream theories based on scientific material. For a detailed study of dreaming in
compiled in the 12 111 century (c. 1140). It condemned dream divination by associating it to other the Middle Ages and the 12111-century theorists, see Kruger 57-122.
forbidden divinatory practices.
64
65
perfectly the paradox of a God, whose force can be simultaneously immanent and
Beauvais in Speculum naturale, Raoul de Longchamps in In Anticlaudianum
supramundane" (70). Dream, she continues, is "the ideal metaphorical vehicle to
A/ant commentum, and Boccaccio in Genealogiae deorum gentilium. 81 Similarly
convey the fine collaboration between nature, whose revelations the psyche must
influential on medieval thought is Calcidius' dream theory, from his Commentary
strive after, and grace, whose revelations are as freely given as the dream itselr
on the Timaeus, found in Adelard of Bath's De eodem et diverso, Guillame de
(71). Like their late-antique predecessors, medieval authors79 tend to recognize the
Conches' De philosophia mundi, and Pascalis Romanus' Liber thesauri occulti. 82
validity of both divinely-inspired and physiological dreams, slowly allowing tht
From the Patrisitc authorities, the medieval oneiric theorists adopt the
psychobiological treatment of dreams to infiltrate deeper into the structure of
moral aspect of dreams, the existing demonic and the angelic agents, the
oneiric classification. Thus, throughout this period from the 12th century onwards,
malevolent and benevolent forces that make the dreamer an object of their actions.
the pervasive attitudes, while still strongly indebted to Neoplatonic and patristic
Even though their late-antique predecessors, such as Tertullian and Augustine, did
thought, become increasingly Aristotelian in emphasis.
not directly connect the dreamer's moral state to the type of dream he/she
As Kruger persuasively has argued in his book, the great Neoplatonic
receives, the medieval authors are highly concerned with the moral aspect. Now,
influence is best exemplified in the works of Macrobius and Calcidius, Ytilich
there is a close correlation between the type of dreams one receives (true/false or
became standard medieval reference textbooks. Their oneiric system and typology
divine/demonic) and the inner moral quality of the dreamer. 83 The authoritative
were incorporated, fairly early, into the medieval corpus. According to scholars,
involvement of the Devil as one of the causative agents of the oneiric experience
Macrobius' fivefold classification of dreams, found in his Commentary on the
leaves all dreamers in a "state of moral suspension" (Kruger 52). This is an
Dream of Scipio, was transmitted across the centuries starting as early as the 9i
uncertain position, since they cannot be certain if the causes were demonic or
century in the Latin West. 80 His system is used directly or indirectly, his schema
divine. The Church Fathers, represented by Augustine and Gregory the Great,
quoted and reproduced by various important dream theorists, such as: Onulf in
were well known and read as early as the 7th century and remained important well
Vita Popponis, John of Salisbury in Policralicus, Pascalis Romanus in liber
into the late Middle Ages. Their dream theories and classifications were
thesauri occulti, Albertus Magnus in Commentarius in Danielem, Vicent de
11 I cite directly from Kruger's excellent study and bibliography on Macro~ius' influe~ce in th~
79
Dreams are discussed in Pascalis Ro111l1Jlus' Liber thesauri occulti, Guillaume de ConchC!'
Middle Ages, 62-69. The list is longer, but here are some examples: The Vita P~pp~ms. p..311,
Policratus, book 2, eh. JS; Liber thesauri occulti, book I, eh. 8-14; Commentar1us m Dame/em
G/osae super Platonem, Hildegard of Bingen's Causa~ eJ curae, ~o.hn ?f Sali~bury'~ Po/ic~llM,
Alain de Lille's Summa de arte praedicatoria, and Gilbert de Po1t1ers De discret1one anunat, XVlll; Speculum nalurale, book 26, eh. 62, cols. 1876-77; In Anticlaudianum Alani commentum,
spirilus el mentis, among many other writers.
eh. 50-58; and Genealogiae deorum gentilium book I, eh. 13.
12 for more references on various texts influenced by Calcidius, see Kruger 64-67, who gives a list
'° For bibliography on extant manuscripts on Macrobius' Commentary consult Th~mdike, I, ~44,
of works; some examples area: De eodem et diverso, p. 13; De phi/o.sophia mundi, PL 172, col.
Peden 61 and Stahl 60 whose lists identify texts from the 9111 to the 16111 centunes. Especial~
important' for this stud; is Karl Manitius, Handschriften. antiker Aut?re~ in mitte/a/ter/ic~en 94; Liber thesauri occulti, book I, eh. 3, 7, 11.
Bibliothe/rskatalogen. Zentra/blall for Bibliothekswesen Beihefte 67 (Leipzig: Otto Hamssowi~
1935. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1968) 227-32, who lists twenty-two Gennan, twenty-s11
Hildegard of Bingen, for example, correlates the importance of the ~oral s~te of the dre~mer
13

French, twenty-one British, sixteen Italian, and six Spanish references (Ripoll, Cuenca 1273; and the quality of her/his dream. The individual morality is closely associated with the demonic or
Benedict Xlll· Ferdinand I of Aragon). For Calcidius' Commentary on the Timaeus, also see divine nature of dreams that he/she has (Causae et curae 82-83, 143). Richard of St. Victor also
Manitius (176) who lists three Spanish references. Kruger's extensive bibliography on the topic saw a connection between the purity of the soul and the dreams' quality. Discussed in Kruger 76-
should also be consulted. 77.
 .,
·i .

66
67
incorporated, directly or indirectly, into the influential works of medieval writers. '
Propositions were condemned. 87 The irreversible change in the intellectual climate
For example, Gregory's system of classification appears in Isidore of Seville's
influenced the direction medieval critics took in discussing dreams. The natural
Sententiarum /ibri tres (early 7th century), Tajo of Saragossa's Sententiarum libri
explanation given by Aristotelian theories on dreaming and the involvement of
quinque (1'\ Onulf s Vita Popponis (ll th), Albertus Magnus' Commentarius in
physiological and psychological aspect shifted the view on dreams towards this
Danielem (13th), and William of Vaurouillon's Liber de anima (15~."
new discourse. But the new emphasis on psychobiological causes, despite its
Augustine's three-fold typology of visions would be adapted by Isidore of Seville
undeniable impact, was not the norm, "it was the exception rather than the rule"
in Etymologies and various authors of the 12th and 13th centuries, such as Richard
(Kruger 87). While some writers unquestionably follow Aristotelian dream theory,
de St. Victor's In Apocalypsim, and Thomas Aquinas' Summa theologiae. 85
the majority continues to propagate both late-antique (both Christian and
Indeed, throughout the Middle Ages, the quintessential model of oneiric
Neoplatonic) and Aristotelian authority, recognizing the existence of both divine
classification is partially indebted to Neoplatonic and Christian dream theory. But
and mundane dreams. 88 By allowing various influences to intermingle, their
a more important change occurs starting with the 13th century when the principal
typology closely resembles their predecessors' dream hierarchy - stretching from
authority, in all aspects of thought, is Aristotle. Medieval thinkers had already
earth to heaven. In general, the treatment of dreams preserves its essential
started to closely examine the newly translated or revised Aristotelian texts,16
structure and most writers, while accepting their divine character, simultaneously
which define the thought of the High Middle Ages. It makes sense that in an age
criticize their employment in divination. Authors of this era express their
confronted with the dispute between the truth of science and the truth of theology,
skepticism about the prophetic uses of dreams. Warnings against oneiromancy,
the harmony that existed between reason and faith was no longer possible.
false prophets and diviners are present in Aristotelian followers as well as in
Ironically, the attempt to reach a synthesis of the two led to the dissolution of the
Christian authorities.
earlier world view. What was considered, and indeed was for a certain period a
The medieval theological discussion on dreams has to include Thomas
possible, meaningful dialogue between Aristotle and the Bible, between
Aquinas' views. He presents his ideas on dreams in Question 95 of his Summa
authorities of opposed perspectives engaged in explaining the same truth, ended in
theologiae, which deals with divination (foretelling the future) and its various
the final rupture of 1277, the year when 219 Aristotelian and Averroistic
kinds. For Aquinas, dreams can be divided into two main groups, according to
their causes: internal and external dreams. To the first category of intemally-
14
See Kruger 58-61 on Gregory's popularity and influence found in: Sententiarum libri tres, PL
83, coL 669; Sententiarum libri quinque, PL 80, cols. 919·921; Vita Popponis 310·311; cause dreams belong dreams that arise from the daily thoughts and affections that
CommenJarius in Danie/em XXXV; Liber de anima, 276-17.

"See Kruger 61-62 for Augustine's system and its incorporation into oneiric discussions, such as: 17
Etymologiarum libri XX, PL 82, col. 286; In Apocalypsim, PL 196, cols. 686-687; Summa This year marked "the effective end of an independent realm of philosophy in matters that
theologiae II.q.173. belonged to theology" (Gordon Leff25).

Even though the emphasis on the lower, somatic dream and its ps~chological -~d physiological
11
16
The Aristotelian texts are: De somno et vigi/ia, De lnsomniis and De divinatione per somnu~
that were translated anonymously at the beginning of the thirteenth century. For more on the topic aspect most of the medieval thinkers do not compl_e~ely den~ the existence o~ d1vme dreams. The
see S. D. Wingate, The Medieval Latin Versions of the Aristotelian Scientific Corpus, with Special Parisian Condemnation of 1277 includes propositions statmg the explanation of dreams only
Reference to the Biological Works (London: The Courier Press, 1931). through natural philosophy. Kruger 86-89 discusses more in depth the "natural" treatment of
dreams.
68
69
the dreamer had while awake, and which recur to the imagination while asleep
reserves a place for dreams caused by demons: "Sometimes the appearance of
(animalis). The second subtype includes dreams that originate when a bodily
certain images to persons in their sleep is the work of demons, and then some of
stimulus sets off a reaction in the imagination (corpora/is). For example, if a man
the future may be disclosed to those who have made an unlawful compact with
dreamt of water or snow, it is a reflection that his bodily temperature is below
them" (95.6).
normal. This is a medical dream89 that helps physicians discover the dreamer's
As far as divination is concerned, he is critical and suspicious of those
state of health.
who have made a diabolical pact so they can seek higher knowledge: "if the
The second group consists of the externally-caused dreams, which arise
foretelling [of the future] comes from the disclosure by demons with whom a pact
from: 1. bodily causes (corpora/is)-when the dreamer's imagination is affected
has been made, whether express, by invoking them, or tacit, by seeking
by celestial bodies (stars, planets); 2. spiritual causes (spiritua/is}-either from
knowledge out of human reach, then this is superstitious and unlawful divination"
God/angels, heavenly bodies, or demons. Aquinas' typology can also be arranged
(95.6). This type of divination by dreams is unlawful. Conversely, if dreams are
in a hierarchy, ranging from the lowest/internal/non-revelatory type of dreams to
divine revelation, they can foretell future events and are not to be condemned.
the highest/external/predictive dreams:
Thus Aquinas, like most of his contemporaries, accepts the possibility of
prophetic dreams and their function as instruments of divine revelation along with
higher/external God/angels
the psychobiological explanation. Later theologians followed his position on
demons
heavenly bodies dreams, but were still left with the confusing, unanswered question of how to
bodily stimulated
differentiate between divine and diabolical dreams.
lower/internal residues of daily thoughts
Despite the advances made towards a better definition of the oneiric
In other words, Aquinas presents dreams as either intrinsic or extrinsic, following phenomenon, the last decades of the 14th century still had not found a definite,
Aristotle's psychobiological explanation as well as the patristic dream theory. The reliable criterion for distinguishing the divine from demonic dreams. The
five-fold division allows the oneiric experience a full range of possibility-from elaborate late-antique and Christian classifications and their simultaneously
the natural to the demonic and to the divine. While depending in part on the new hierarchical and dual systems, the introduction of natural philosophy as a new
scientific explanation, Aquinas does not deny the existence of divine dreams, and perspective and the extensive literature on dreams illuminated the medieval mind
connects them to the supernatural realm: "dreams are sometimes from God, who for the most part. However, these elaborate classifications failed to answer their
reveals things to men in dreams through the ministry of angels" (95.6). He also most crucial question on how to discern between God and Satan as the sender of
dreams. The issue became even more in need of an immediate schema when,
19
Aquinas follows the Aristotelian tradition, where dreams can be: I. causes of future events, 2. from the end of the 14th century onwards, Europe witnessed a great number of
signs of the future, or 3. are related to the future merely by chance or coincidence (De div 463a).
AU these dreams are significant in so far as they predict the future by natural means and serve as private revelations and prophecies (Boland I).
diagnostic tools. The medical treatment of dreams is also seen in other medieval authors who
embraced the new medical and scientific theories, such as Pascalis Romanus in Liber thesauri This increased number in visionaries elicited a gro\ving interest in
occulti, book I, eh. 9, p. 157.
 '•,

70
71
90
establishing a nonn for differentiating between the divine and demonic dreams.
the method of discerning spirits a close examination of the dream in all its details.
But this fundamental question was not solved until the first decades of the 15~
The dream had to be determined as chaste, peaceful, in harmony with all other
century, when Jean Gerson91 wrote his two treatises, De distinctione vera111111
things, full of mercy, without judging, and without dissimulation before deciding
visiorum afalsis (1401) and De probatione spiritum (1415). In De distinctione,
its origin (De probatione 26).
he argues that the only way to be sure of the source of dreams is to test the spirits,
Since the causes of dreams are multiple (internally caused by daily
to identify their source. Gerson proposes four ways of testing the spirits: I.
preoccupations and physical distress, as well as externally caused by God, angels,
academic, which is acquired from the study of the Holy Scripture; 2. empirical,
and the Devil) one has to be cautious when analyzing dreams, and examine all
based on interior inspiration effected by supernatural illumination; 3. official,
signs in relation to one another. Any negative sign in a dream, (if it contains
which is conferred through an ecclesiastical office by means of special interior
anything contrary to good morals and decency and if it manifests hidden sins), is
grace; 4. based on the union of academic and practical knowledge: Also, as part
proof that the dream originates not from God but the devil and the evil spirits (De
of a better investigation he recommends that the following questions be answered:
divinatione 63-87).
Who is the dreamer? What does the revelation itself mean, to what does it refer?
In general, Gerson advises that dreams should be neither rejected nor
Why did it take place? To whom was it presented for advice? What kind of life
accepted. Instead they should be considered as reminders to avoid evil and always
does the dreamer have? Where does the dream originate? 92
do good deeds. During the 15t11 century these two manuals were central to the
Gerson also demands a careful judgment of the dreamers, their
confessor or the inquisitor; they were considered the vademecurn on the topic of
personalities, educational backgrounds, habits, and their physical, mental and
distinguishing between dreams (Kagan 40). Gerson's writings later greatly
spiritual conditions. He also adds a five-fold test to be applied to the visionaries,
. thewitc
influenced the Malleus Maleficarum (1486), amanu al agamst . h es.93
which consists of the testing of humility, discretion, patience, truth, and charity
While the Late Middle Ages adopted their predecessors' perspective on
(De distinctione 19). Once this part is concluded and the recipient of dreams has
dreams, which included a wide range of possibilities, each writer focused his
all five moral qualities, the dreams had to be examined by an ecclesiastical figure,
attention on a preferred aspect of the oneiric treatment by using his own different
whose own qualifications, knowledge of Scripture, prudence and moral qualities
~ere especially positive (De probatione 41). Furthermore, he includes as part of
approach. Along with a system of classification that shared many similar ·
characteristics, the medieval thinker inherited ambivalence, hostility, fear, and
distrust toward the oneiric experience. The constant importance the dream held in
'° The ecclesiastical doctrine of discrelio spiriluum or the means of testing whether visions wcrt
truly of divine origin was vital for medieval visionaries. society throughout the centuries, its power of prognosis and conversion, its divine
9
1 Jean de Gerson (1363-1429) French churchman and theologian, remembered for bis efforts lo character that provides direct communication with God, led to ambivalent
settle the Great Schism and for his writings on contemplation. In 1395 he became Chancellor at the
University of Paris. See Paschal Boland, The Concept of Discretio Spir~t~um in Joh~~ attitudes toward dreams and divination. Despite the numerous theories about
Gerson's "De Probatione Spirituum" and "De distinctione Verarum Vis1onum A Falsu
(Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1959).
3
9 Also in 1516, during the Fifth Lateran Council the same rules are used to investigate all those
92Tu, quis, quid, quare /Cui, qualiter, unde, requiere (De probatione 18). You should seek who, who claim prophetic knowledge based on divine revelation.
what, why I to whom, what kind, from whence.
72
73
dreams in this period, Cuny basically concludes that, "among philosophers,
The first is when a person uses dreams so that he may dip into the occult
astrologers, medical men, and theologians there are neither essential differences of with the help of the revelation of devils invoked by him, with whom he
opinion nor grounds for controversy. There is only a variety of emphasis" (271· has entered into an open pact. The second is when a man uses dreams !or
knowing the future, in so far as there is such virtue in dreams proceeding
218). However, by the end of the 15th century, dreams are associated with other from Divine revelation, from a natural intrinsic or extrinsic cause; and
divinatory practices, and considered crimes. Though the abundance and diversity such divination would not be unlawful. So says S. Thomas. (I, 16)

of texts on the topic of divination is irrefutable, the Malleus Malejicarum is the

The first type is described as unholy, since the witches make an open pact with the
perfect example that illustrates how the Inquisition attacked the topic of
devil so they can find out the future through dreams. Secret things about the
oneiromancy.
future are revealed to them by the devil: "if they seek to know some secret, either
Considered the most prominent and most authoritative text on witchcraft,
for themselves or others, they learn it in dreams from the devil, by reason of an
the Malleus Malejicarum94 written by Jakob Sprenger and Heinrich Kramer, two
open, not a tacit, pact entered into with him" (1.16). This open pact with the devil
Dominican inquisitors, is first and foremost a manual on witchcraft. It includes
is considered a crime, since the witches have to offer their soul and body to the
reasons, arguments and methods for persecution, rules for initiating legal action
devil "by sacrilegiously uttered and purposed abnegation of the Faith" (1.16). The
that will convict and later sentence the witches. But for the purpose of this study
practice of invoking the devils so they can reveal the future through dreams,
the interest lies in the discussion on divination, included in this treatise on
sometimes involves killing their own or other people's children.95
witchcraft. In Part I, question XVI, divination is considered a form of superstition
But Malleus Mallejicarum does not only allow the existence of
since it expressly invokes the devil. There are three kinds of divination. The first
demonically inspired dreams, but firmly links them to witches. If the devil is not
is a direct invocation of devils. The second is a silent consideration of the stars,
invoked, then they are pure diviners (sortilege). Heretical diviners are "those
the days, or the hours. The third is the consideration of some human act for the
whose art involves some worship of or subjection to devils, and who essay by
purpose of finding out something hidden. Oneiromancy, along with Necromancy,
divination to predict the future or something of that nature; which manifestly
Sorcery, Oracles, Geomancy, Hydromancy, Aeromancy, Pyromancy, and
savours of heresy; and such are, like other heretics, liable to the Inquisitorial
Soothsaying, belongs to the first form of divination, that is, the open invocation of.
· court" (lll.197). The invocation of the devils for the purpose of revealing the
devils (I, 16). According to Malleus Malejicarum, and based on Aquinas'
treatment of dreams, oneiromancy may be practiced in two ways. First, one can
.. future is what makes oneiromancy heretical. The topic of the devil and his way of
tempting men is presented in Question 7. One of the methods used by the devil to
directly invoke the devil. And second, it can be practiced by divine revelation, or;
incite men to sin is to appear in their dreams. Just as the "apparitions" in dreams
by natural intrinsic and extrinsic causes:
proceed from "the ideas retained in the repository of the mind through a natural

9
' for the witches to be tried by the Inquisition, they had to be accused of heresy. Otherwise their
crimes would be punished by the Civil Court or by the two Courts together. Theref~rc the
Inquisitors did not concern themselves with artificial diviners and sooth~ayers, who ?on 't !n~oke
94 the devil in their practice. The Inquisitors would only be interested m the heretical d1vmers
The translation used is by Rev. Mantague Summers, The Mal/eus Ma//eficarum (New York:
Dover Publications Inc., 1971). (Malleus lll.197).
 74
75
motion caused by the flow of blood to the first and inmost seat of their faculty of
dreamer's body condition: "those dreams and visions are not causes, as was said
perception", so can the devils excite the inner perceptions and humors, inducing
in the case of Angels, but only signs of that which is coming to a man in the
men to imagine what they see as truth. Thus, the demons can instigate men to sin
future, such as health or sickness or danger" (1.16). Thus, if a man dreams of fires,
by affecting their inner powers of the mind. Since devils have learned that their
it is a sign of his choleric disposition; if he dreams of flying, it is a sign of a
success in tempting hwnans depends on the men's disposition and humors, they
sanguine disposition; if the dreams involve water, it is a sign of his phlegmatic
incite those who are already predisposed to a certain passion. For example, a man
disposition; and lastly, if he dreams of earthly matters, it represents a melancholic
who has a body predisposed to anger is more apt to surrender to it when he ~
disposition. Dreams are associated with the four bodily humors,98 and function as
aroused (I. 7).
diagnostic tools for the physicians, helping them determine the dreamer's health.
The second type of divination is considered lawful, since it is used for
They have no prophetic significance and are therefore dismissed as revelatory.
knowing the future by natural means. It includes divine revelation, and natural
The treatment of dreams in Malleus Malleficarum serves as perfect closure
intrinsic or extrinsic causes. The divinely-inspired dreams come to humans via
to the history of dream traditions. This introductory commentary to the unique
angels. The system presented in Mal/eus Mal/eficarum is not far removed from
oneiric discourse has explored the ambiguous and ambivalent views generated by
the inherited structure of classification. Kramer and Sprenger include in their
dreams from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. A necessary prerequisite to the study
oneiric typology the revelatory dream through which true prophecy and higher
of Spanish medieval dreams is the oneiric system of classification proposed and
knowledge is attained. Here, the angels are divine beings that connect the
developed by Kruger-a simultaneously dual and hierarchical scheme-for it
mundane with the transcendental world. Their actions c~ be influenced by the
provides the tools and the model to the foregoing analysis of dream theories in
dreamer's level of morality and knowledge of divination. 96 But not all people can
Spain.
receive the angelic message the same way. The majority of dreamers receive
Throughout this chapter the analysis of the oneiric phenomenon has
divine messages only at dawn, after digestion is completed. 97 However, there are
provided an engaging discussion on the topic. Some concluding remarks on the
also dreamers who are better people and whose minds have already received
medieval treatment of dreams should suffice. In fact, its structure reflects the
oneiric revelations; for them, ''the Angel can at any hour reveal things, whether
medieval model of the universe, which had built in it the pattern of hierarchy and
they are awake or asleep" (1.16).
opposition. The medieval metaphysical, theological, social, and moral order, were
The Mal/eus also emphasizes the psychobiological, natural dreams,
structured on the celestial hierarchies. The oneiric system was a medieval
strongly influenced by Aristotelian theory and its continuous dissemination
"attempt to imitate the modus operandi of the universe" (Lewis 60), which treated
throughout medieval times. These dreams are diagnostic signs, they predict the
everything in a hierarchical scale, stretching from body to spirit, from earth to
96
See Hildegard of Bingen's connection between dreamer and their moral state (Causae et curae 91
82-83, 143), already mentioned in this chapter. The involvement of the body in the process of dreaming was discussed. by Galen, Cice~o,
Gregory of Nyssa, Pascalis Romanus, and Boethius of Dacia, among other wnt"."5 that emphas1ze
97The importance of morning dreams and their truthfuln~ss is als.o expresse.d by Avicenna, the somatic component of dreaming. Also the Arabic works A~gazel's ~fetaphys1cs and Av1cenna s
0

Avicenna latinus: Liber de anima, II, part 4, Ch.2. Also m Tertulhan De Amma,. c~. 48 and works translated into Latin in the t 2111 century focused therr attention on the mundane, non-
Adelard of Bath, De eodem et diverso, 82-83; see Kruger 72-73 for commentary and bibliography. revelatory dream. See Kruger 70-73 for bibliography and discussion. ·
76

heaven, and from man to God. The best illustration of the medieval structure of
the universe is offered by Bakhtin, in Rabe/ais and His World:

In the medieval picture of the world, the top and bottom, the higher and
lower, have an absolute meaning both in the sense of space and of values.
Therefore, the images of the upward movement, the way of ascent, or the
symbols of descent and fall played in this system an exceptional role, as
they did also in the sphere of art and literature. Every important movement
was seen and interpreted only as upward and downward, along a vertical
line. (401)

In the medieval hierarchical world, as well as in the previous eras, the CHAPTER2
dream would represent a link between opposing extremes. The dream would be ONEIRIC TRADITIONS, TAXONOMIES,
the intermediary that will move upward and downward the vertical line, AND THEORIES IN MEDIEVAL SPAIN
connecting the mundane and the divine.
And even more significant is that despite the various typologies and
theories that surged as a result of the complexity of the oneiric experience, the Chapter J has discussed how dream traditions from Antiquity throughout
preferred place is given to the revelatory dream. The divine dream is the one that the Middle Ages undergo a complex process of change corresponding to the shift
interested medieval people: "most of them were concerned with conceiving an in emphasis found in theological, philosophical, and scientific discourse.
epistemology that would explain how one can reach the divine realm, how can Furthermore, it has argued that the common denominator among these different
one ascend from practice to theory[ ... ] from matter to spirit" (Lynch 56-59). schools of thought is that dreams could be organized according to their origin -
either inside or outside the dreamer, in a binary system that was described as a
simultaneously dual and hierarchical scheme 1 that allowed the existence of a wide
variety of dream types within its strict limits.
This second part focuses on the oneiric traditions, taxonomies, and
theories in medieval Spain and their relation to the prevalent oneiric views by
bringing together a diverse range of texts and authors from the 7fh through the l 6rh
century.

1
The simultaneously dual and hierarchical oneiric scheme proposed Steven F. Kruger has already
been discussed in Chapter l, where it has served as model for the organization of dreams from
Antiquity throughout the Middle Ages. l will use it also in this chapter for the organization of
Spanish medieval dream theories.
78
79
The works of Isidore of Seville, Ram6n Llull, Amald of Villanova, Fray
nevertheless adding one new category: dreams that come from the individual's
Lope de Barrientos, and Pedro Ciruelo, also the legal and catechist sources that
own thinking (ex propia cogitatione). Like his predecessors, Isidore's typology is
have been selected for analysis represent various contemporary treatments of the
based on the two-partite origin of dreams: internal and external. The lowest on
theme, which will enable us to better comprehend the phenomenon of dreams in
the scale are dreams that arise from internal processes, either from excessive
its own ideological, cultural, and interdisciplinary context.
eating or inanition: 1. ex ventris plentitudine and 2. ex ventris inanilate. Dreams
The study of these texts offers a counterbalance to modem dream theories
that arise from the individual's .own thoughts are another type of internal dreams:
by providing scholars with the much-needed medieval theoretical discourse. The
3. ex propia cogitalione. The middle ground is occupied by the next category,
familiarity with the medieval attitudes towards dreaming and the systematic
hybrid dreams, produced by the dreamer's own thoughts as well as external
application of these theories in the analysis of the Spanish oneiric phenomeon in
forces: 4. ex cogitatione simul et revelatione and 5. ex cogitatione simul et
the Middle Ages could help us conceptualize dreams as the medieval theorists and
illusione. Here the emphasis is placed on the dreamer's thoughts and their power
critics understood them at the time.
to moderate the purely external dreams, which have their origin outside the
dreamer. These purely external dreams can be demonic (6. ex illusione) or divine
1. Oneiric Theories in Spanish Medieval Treatises:
(7. ex revelatione). Dreams caused by demonic action incite and tempt humans to
1. 1 Isidore of Seville. Sententiarum libri tres. 2
sin, while dreams arising from divine source are prophetic.
At the beginning of the 7111 century, Isidore of Seville included his views
Isidore recognizes the close relation between the dreamers' inner moral
on dreams in chapter VI of his Sententiarum libri tres. His treatment of the oneiric
state and the quality of the dream they receive. The saints, for example, might be
phenomenon recalls the Neoplatonic and patristic classifications:
attacked during dreams by demons, but because of their virtues and devotion to
God they can resist the Devil's temptation. Also, a person whose soul is pure and
higher/external 7. ex reve/atione
6. ex illusione whose conscience is free of sins will have peaceful dreams and sometimes can
5. ex cogitatione simul et revelatione; and
even have a mystical or occult experience. This type of dreamers will not be as
4. ex cogitatione simul et illusione
3. ex propia cogitatione bothered by nocturnal nightmares or demonic appearances as those who have
lower/internal 1. ex ventris plentitudine 2. ex ventris inanitate committed a sin:

Evidently, the main influence on Isidore's oneiric typology is Gregory the Great's Quienes tienen conciencia de que nunca o raras veces ban delinquido, no
six-fold division of dreams.3 Isidore reproduces the Gregorian system verbatim. estan fatigados por los miedos noctumos jamas, antes bien descansan con

2
For the Latin version, see Isidore of Seville Sententiarum libri Ires, PL 83, cols. 669-738. I~
the Spanish translation of the work by Juan Oteo Uruftela, Sentencias. en Ires libros (Madrid: 3
Gregory the Great's six-fold dream classification from his Dialogues IV.50.2 ( I. ex ventris
Ediciones Aspas, 1947), and all citations refer to these pages. Also see i::11mo/og!as· Book 7, ea~. 8 plentitudine; 2. ex ventris inanitate; 3. ex revelaJione; 4. ex cogitatione simu/ revelati~ne; 5: ex
Sabre /os ap6stoles. where Isidore includes a classification of prophecies, nammg seven ~pes. L
fn/usione; 6. ex cogitatione simul inlusione}, is also incorporated, mostly by way of Isidore, mto
ecstasis, 2. visio, 3. somnium, 4. per nubem, S. vox de caelo, 6. para~o/a, 1. r~p/e110 sanct1 many other influential medieval works, from the 7th up to the l Sth century.
Spiritus. There are also three kinds of visions: corpora/is, espiritua/is and mtelectua/is.
80
81
suefio tranquilo, y alguna vez contemplan y ven cosas ocultas y mfsticas. "
(Sentencias 32) No es pecado cuando somos burlados por noctumas imagenes sin quererlo,
mas entonces es pecado cuando antes de que seamos burlados preceden en
nosotros los afectos pensados. Porque las imagenes lujuriosas de los actos
Conversely, those who have sinned will be more susceptible to the power of que se practicaron frecuentemente se presentan a la imaginaci6n; pero no
Satan. They will never be able to rest because their conscience has been stained by hacen dai'io, de no ser que ocurran por haberlos deseado. (Sentencias 34)
many vices, and their fear will produce terrible images that will appear in their
In sum, while echoing the Gregorian classification of dreams, Isidore also
dreams:
addresses the difficult question of the impossibility to discern false from true

Mas quienes mancharon sus corazones con vicios mas graves, ilusionados dreams and demonically from divinely-inspired experiences. Like other late-
por el pavor de la conciencia, ven figuras terribles. Porque una fugaz antique authors before him, Isidore sets up a hierarchy of dreams that stretches
imagen burla las mentes de los infelices con diversas figuras; y a los que
en vigilia encaden6 con los vicios, los fatiga en el suefio para no dejarlos from the mundane to the divine realm, and advances a complex system where
descansar jamas con seguridad. (Sentencias 32) dreams are of various kinds-results of the individual's internal process as well as
products of external transcendental forces. While he accepts the existence of
Isidore further explains that those who have sinned cannot stop thinking of
divine dreams and their veracity, his skepticism toward this phenomenon is
the severe punishment waiting for them. This state of fright and the thoughts
clearly greater. Satan, he argues, has the power to trick men by transforming
about the final judgment accompany the sinner not only in the waking-life, but
himself into the Angel of Light and then deceive and lure humans into temptation:
also in his dreams. For in dreams, horrible truths are presented:

Por tanto no se debe dar facil credito a los suefios, no sea Satanas
Y con tal impresi6n del animo somos sacudidos con horrible pavor hasta transfigurandose en angel de luz, engafie a alglin incauto y le induzca a
en el suefio, y en el sue.i'l.o contemplamos tambien con mirada mental cuan ' caer en alglin fraude. (Sentencias 35)
graves son los pecados que hemos cometido y cuan duros los castigos que
tememos. (Sentencias 33)
For this 7th-century Christian writer, dreams continue to be considered
The author is fully aware that the dreamer's own immoral thoughts can lead to extremely dangerous due to their ambiguous nature and uncertain origin. In
terrifying dreams. Like Tertullian, Augustine, and Gregory the Great before him, conclusion, he asserts with confidence that dreamers should not easily give
Isidore is interested in the moral purity of the dreamer. If the dreamer's own credence to their dreams: "Aunque algunos suefios son veraces, con todo no hay
thoughts are not involved in producing a sinful dream, Isidore does not hold the que darles credito facilmente, porque se originan de diversas especies de
dreamer responsible for it. He understands the difficulty in discerning demonic pensamientos, y es dificil discernir de d6nde ban venido" (Sentencias 35). The
dreams from divine ones, but once again, the dreamer's thoughts are considered a Isidorian view on dreams is incorporated into the later medieval tradition, where it
crucial factor when addressing the question of morality in dreams. An individual will coexist with the new, secular constituent: natural philosophy.
whose thoughts are pure and has unfortunately experienced lustful dreams cannot The I2'h-, 13th_ and 14th-century treatises on dreams interweave two
be hold morally culpable. The purity of one's soul is reflected in the content of traditions-the Aristotelian and the theological conceptions. On the one hand,
one's dreams:
 l..-
!

82
83
these texts transmit the ancient medical knowledge of the Hippocratic/
species, just as the mule is a third species, a mixture between horse and donkey.
Galenic/Aristotelian theories; on the other, they incorporate biblical, patristic and '
He then explains dreams as arising from the state of each individual's humors,
medieval theological explanations. Beginning with the Renaissance of the 12'" associating oneiric experiences to the four humors in the human body. For
century and continuing into later centuries, the newly translated Aristotelian
example, if the dreamer is choleric, he will dream of hot and yellow objects: "Qui
scientific treatises and the newly available Arabic and Greek medical works,
est cholericus, saepe somniat res calidas & croceas." If he is sanguine, he will see
brought an increased interest in presenting dreams as a natural process, as a
humid and red: "qui ~st sanguineus, res hurnidas & rubeas." If phlegmatic, he will
psychobiological phenomenon. Surrounded by a different intellectual milieu, the
dream of water and cold and white objects: "qui est phlegrnaticus, aquas & res
late-medieval dream theorists had to reconcile Christian views with pagan
frigidas & albas", and if melancholic, he will see things that are black and dry:
thought, and thus balance late-antique material (patristic and Neoplatonic) with
"qui est melancholicus, domos & res nigras & siccas" (XCVI. 5). This somatic
the new available theories (Aristotelian and medical). However, these authors
explanation of dreams was especially popular among l 3th-century physicians who
began to adhere heavily to Aristotelian doctrine. For them, the scientific, natwal
gladly emphasized the psychobiological theory based on ancient authorities on
explanation for the oneiric phenomenon was central to their discussion of dreams. . s
drearmng.
The Philosopher's denial of the existence of divine dreams and his strong
The category of internal dreams also includes a section on the human
emphasis on the psychological and physiological nature of the phenomenon
faculties, the five senses, and the close connection of both to dreams. Llull
challenged the older system and thus produced a new discourse regarding dreams.
discusses how according to one's dominant humoral complexion and the greater
Most often, the medieval treatment of dreams emphasized the physical and
or lesser involvement of the five senses, one has dreams about the things desired
somatic processes.
by those specific senses and hwnors. For example, if vision is more powerful the
eyes desire to see colors, and dreamers, especially if they are of sanguine
1.2 Ramon LluU is a late 13th-century writer interested in the topic of dreams.
complexion, will dream beautiful things when they are about to awaken; but if
In his Liber proverbiorum, 4 he takes a strong Aristotelian position in presenting
they are of a melancholic disposition, they will dream in the middle of the night
the processes by which dreams operate. As with most of treatments of dreams
and see ugly things:
from that epoch, Llull relied on both the Aristotelian and Christian authorities.
But in his analysis of the phenomenon he presented a hierarchy greatly dominated
Si oculi sunt in magna abundantia videnti, appetunt videre colores, & per
by natural philosophy. From the beginning, he connects dreams to purely natural illum appetitum homines, maxime si sint complexionis sanguineae,
somniant prope vigilationem pulchras res; sed, si oculi magis participant
processes and bodily hurnors, recognizing the importance of the internally·
cum complexione melancholica. hornines somniant circa profundam
originated dream. Llull defines dreaming as a confused act between sleep and noctem videre turpes res. (XCVI.8)
waking, "somniare est confusus actus ex vigilare & dormire" (XCVl.2), or a third
5
Ancient physicians viewed dreams as indicators. of the bo~y's condition. ~ccording to
Hippocrates and his followers, Rufus, Galen and Aristotle, t?e •.mages pre~ented 1n dre~s ai:e
4
In Raymundus Lullus, Opera. vol. 6 (Frankfurt: Minerva, 1965) 368. See chapter XCVI ofb~ influenced by the four humors in the body. If the dreamer IS sick, that will be releaved m his
Liber proverbiorum written in 1296. dreams, and the physicians can use the dreams for diagnosis and treatment.

!
l
84
85
But if dreamers are more inclined to the sense of hearing, dreams will echo words
Llull ends his chapter by mentioning three important external causes of
similar to those heard during the day. But he will dream with pleasure only ifhc dreams: angels, demons, and God. According to Llull, through dreams a good
is of sanguine complexion, and with hatred ifhe is ofa melancholic disposition:
angel induces a good deed on awaking, an evil angel (ma/us ange/us) an evil
action. God reveals many truths to humans while they sleep, because while asleep
Si homo de die audivit multa verba, propter consuetudinem audiendi, cum men are more innocent than when they are awake:
donniet, somniabit aliquas similitudines illorum verborurn; & si in ipso .
1
regnat sanguis, somniabit cum placito, & si in ipso regnat melancholia,
somniabit cum taedio. (XCVl.9) Bonus Angelus aliquando facit homines Somniare ad faciendum aliqua
bona opera, ut illa procurent facere, quando vigilabunt. (XCVI.18)
For Llull, the dream is also influenced not only by the sensitive and the
Malus angelus facit homines somniare ad faciendum malurn, ut illud
vegetative powers, but also by the higher human faculties. The imaginativa, the
faciant, quando vigilabunt. (XCVl.19)
memoria, the intellectus, and the vo/untas au play an important role in thek
DEUS in somniis revelat multas veritates hominibus, quia in dormiendo
connection with dreaming. The faculty of imagination is the center of dreaming, sunt magis innocentes, quam in vigilando; & idea bonus Angelus melius
where the memory sends the images it has better retained. Since the rational potest participare cum hominibus in dormiendo, quam in vigilando, & illis
revelare veritatem ex parte DEi. (XVI.20)
faculty (intel/ectus) can understand more clearly when the body is asleep, it helps
the imaginariva to better perceive the images. It depends on the voluntas what one By combining religious with scientific dream theories, Llull creates a
will see in a dream, for it determines which desire is stronger in the dreamer.
complete system where dreams are connected to internal (natural) as well as to
Even though Llull's discussion of dreams is mostly indebted to the new
external (supernatural) factors. His system can be arranged in a hierarchical
scientific explanation-where dreaming is essentially an internal phenomenon
classification that extends from the corporeal to the incorporeal, thus advancing a
caused by the interconnection between the physiological and psychological
wide range of possible dreams:
process6-he does not reject the existence of divine dreams. The Llullian dream
classification exemplifies the trends of the epoch, in which the majority of oneiric
higher/external God
theorists adhere to an inclusive position that allowed the coexistence of religious angels
demons
and scientific explanations of dreams.
daily thoughts
lower/internal bodily stimulated

In conclusion, while Aristotelian theories were in vogue in the 13th

century, God and his court of good and evil angels still occupied the highest place
in the hierarchical oneiric system. Even theorists such as Ram6n Llull, who
6
Llull's psychobiological theory is based on Aristotle's views on dreams fond in De somrw
emphasized the psychobiological explanation of the phenomenon, did not totally
456a30-b 11.
86
l
87
annihilate the divine presence. Dreams remained the only vehicle that made
explains how for the ancient philosophers dreams were a means of foretelling the
possible divine communication between mortals and God. Medieval men, like
future and gaining insight into the condition of the soul after death. 8 According
their predecessors, had no replacement for God- the only one who could
to Arnald during sleep the soul is less disturbed by the bodily processes and can
prognosticate the future and provide humans with divine knowledge. Thus the
gain higher truths via the rational faculty. The soul is influenced by four main
oneiric scheme had to include the celestial realm, for without it the mortal's
external causes while the body is at rest: 1. the First Cause (God), 2. the movers of
longing for the truth would not have been satisfied. Dreams in this context still
the heavens and the planets (the Intelligences), 3. the heavens themselves, and 4.
functioned as the only link between the two worlds: the corporeal and the
the bodily elements (1,3). These four causes can produce prophetic visions of the
incorporeal.
future, especially if experienced just before dawn when digestion has been
completed, or during the temperate seasons of the year, spring and fall:
1.3 Amald of Villanova, a celebrated 13 111-century physician whose medical
writings and theological have intrigued historians of science as weel as scholars
Pero esta pertubaci6n acontece en el suei'io al filo del alba y habiendo
interested in his apocalyptic views, also wrote a treatise dedicated entirely to hecho la primera digesti6n. Asf pues, ciertfsimamente se nos aparecen
dreams and their interpretation. 7 In his De somniorum interpretatione he first visiones de cosas futuras y se producen en nosotros fantasrnagorias
significativas de rnuchas cosas futuras. (1.4)

7
Arnald's origin has been disputed by critics who believed it to be France, Catalonia, or Valencia. But since the human soul can be easily influenced by the four external
According to D. Ricardo Centellas, Amald (1240-1311) was born in Villanueva de San Martin,
(today Villanueva de Jiloca) close to Daroca, in Aragon. For Amald's Aragonese origin, see the factors mentioned above, the oneiric experiences may perceive and receive
facsimile of the Speculum Medicinae (Espejo de la medicina) written around 1308, from the
Manuscrito Pincus 3, folio 48, Private Collection, Beverly Hills, CA. The marginal note reads: "H celestial truth in different ways:
iMentiras! porque fue oriundo de Villa Nueva de San Martin, cerca de la ciudad de Daroca, en los
confmes del reino de Arag6n, cerca de la frontera de Molina [de Arag6n] donde todavfa viven sus
afines y los de su parentela, donde algunos de sus escritos y sus coses todavla se encuentran; cuyo Pero encontramos que la fuerza predicha, moviendose de manera multiple,
disclpulo fue cl maestro P. Celler de Daroca". See: htto://www.daroca.jnfo/DarocaComarca/
nos mueve a su vez seglin las diversas maneras en que nos disponernos a
vat vill/villanueva(arnaldo/amaldo hoja6.htm. He was well known for bis theological, scientific,
and prophetic ideas, as well as for bis activity as dream interpreter. Arnald served as personal ser movidos. Pero si queremos enterarnos de !as fonnas qque son puestas a
physician at the Papal court, as well as the court of Pedro UI and James II of Aragon, Robert of prueba en nosotros, llegamos a la conclusi6n de que la fuerza mencionada
Naples, and Frederick II of Sicily. According to Juanita A. Daly in her article "Amald of varfa principalmente en siete grados. (1.5)
Villanova: Physician and Prophet," Essays in Medieval Studies 4 ( 1997): 29-41: "Amald was the
outstanding physician in Europe during the thirteenth centwy. His translations and commentaries
on the works of Galen, Avicenna, Al-K.indi, and Hippocrates helped lift European medical practice
out of the realm of folk art and connect it with classical Greek and Arabic medicine. His original
1
works represented a singular advancement in the diagnostic theory of the time" (31). Nevertheless, The treatise, which survived in seven manuscripts, attributes authorship to three different people:
he was also known for his theological writings. In 1299, be was arrested and jailed under the one manuscript ascribes it to Amald of Villanova (Wien, Ms. 5313), the second to William of
charge of heresy when he announced the coming of the Antichrist and predicted the end of the Aragon (Paris, Ms. !at. 7486), and the third to Albertus Magnus (Erlanden, Ms. 434); the rest are
world around 1378, in his tract De Tempore Adventu Antichrist/ that was presented to the Parisian anonymous. Jose Francisco lvars translates a Toulouse 1485 edition, De somniorum
theologians at Sorbonne. He was spared imprisonment, and until his death he continued to defend interpretatione, (Madrid: Editorial Labor, 1975) that also ascribes it to Amald of Villanova.
and write his most important apocalyptic works, that were posthumously condemned, in 1316, by Roger A. Pack, "De pronosticatione sompniorum libellus Guillelmo de Aragonia adscriplu.s."
the Inquisitorial Council of Tarragon. Fortunately, the were saved, and together with his scientific AHDLMA 33 (1966): 237-92, and Thorndike (History 11.301) are in favour of an ascription to
corpus have been considered of great interest among Amaldian scholars who, as Daly suggests, are William of Aragon, who was a physician and writer residing at the court of Aragon around the
left with the task of comparing his religious theories with his theories of philosophic medicine 1330's. The authorship is not discussed any further in this chapter. I follow Ivars' translation and
(32). assign the work to Amald of Villanova.
 ----
\
88
89
The result is a seven-fold system, organized according to the dream's
Both the second and the third kind of dreams involve metaphorical representations
degree of intensity, clarity and truthfulness. Also important is the exertion the
of the truth-either through an image contrary to reality and the truth, or via an
heavenly powers exercise on the faculties of the soul. Amald's scheme could be
appropriate metaphor that can be reliably interpreted: "el tercer grado es cuando
arranged in a hierarchical, ascending order- a scale that moves up from a minimal
aparece el futuro no confusamente ni a traves de la forma contraria a la cosa
celestial presence, found in the lowest kind of dreams, to a maximal presence of
venidera, sino que es designado a traves de una metafora adecuada" (I.5). As one
divine powers, expressed by the highest oneiric experience, moving upwards from
ascends the Amaldian oneiric scale, the images presented in dreams become
1-7:
clearer, involve higher faculties of the soul, and more celestial power. The fourth
dream type is a clear vision of the future, expressed in images of what will
7. dreams that are direct illwnination. The mind attains a higher truth.
(1.5) 9 actually occur, "las cosas futuras son vistas bajo su propia forma, sin el disfraz de
6. dreams where the images are interpreted by the figure seen within metMora alguna" (l.5). In the fifth and sixth dream types someone who appears in
the dream.
the dream presents the future. This figure can explain the meaning of the dream
5. dreams that are presented and explained by a figure who appears in metaphorically or provide a direct and clear interpretation of the oneiric account:
the dream. However, the explanations are given in metaphorical
and enigmatic terms.
4. dreams that reveal the future via images that represent what it will El quinto grado es cuando alguno no ve las cosas futuras por si, sino por
actually occur. otro. Por esto, en este grado le parece al softador que alguno le propone la
3. dreams that are shown in appropriate metaphors that can be cosa venidera; sin embargo, no con claridad, sino bajo enigmas y
interpreted. metaforas con alguna semejanza.
2. dreams in which the cognitive faculty is partly involved, and the
future is presented as the opposite of what will happen. El sexto grado aftade a este que el asistente propane la cosa futura de
I. dreams that arise in part from the heart or the motive faculty. manera precisa no ocultandole con metaforas (l.5}.

The external factors which shape the faculties of the soul exert their In the highest dream type, the truth is presented to the intellect of the
influence in seven degrees of intensity. The first dream type, the lowest on the dreamer without images: "el septimo grado es cuando ya los conocimientos se
scale, arises mostly from internal bodily processes: muestran al intelecto verdaderamente" (1.5). Out of these seven classes of dreams,
only three need interpretation: the second, the third, and the fifth. The various
El primero de ellos se advierte s61o en la intimidad del animo, por lo que symbols seen in dreams can be deciphered by relating them to what surrounds us
mueve a hacer alguna cosa por un cierto impulso de las virtudes motoras
in nature and also factoring in the dreamer's social and economic position (l.9). 10
fuera de todo signo recibido por las virtudes cognitivas. (1.5)
The ascension is gradual, moving from the motive to the imaginative, and then to

9
Amald of Villanova heavily relies on Albertus Magnus' De somno et vigilia, who lists thirteen
kinds of oneiric experiences. The first seven are almost identical to Amald's scheme. Also of great 10
influence are Aristotle's De divinatione per somnum, Aquinas' Summa theologiae 95.6, and System adopted from Arternidorus' Oneirocrilica 1.8-9.
AviceMa's De anima 4.2.
90
91
the intellective powers of the soul, ultimately climbing upwards towards the
rojas con otras que pertenecen a la ira" (1.6). Arnald gives specific examples of
celestial truths, while receiving the influence of the environmental factors.
dreams that served as diagnostic tools and guides for a bodily disorder. For
Amald of Villanova recognizes that besides the external influences on the
example, he recounts that a doctor had a reccurring dream in which a black dog
soul's capacity for receiving veridical dreams, it is crucial to study the body's
was biting his right foot. A few days later, a black cyst appeared on his leg, and he
responsiveness and involvement in the oneiric phenomenon. He embraces the
later dies:
new Aristotelian science that promotes a physiological and psychological
explanation, where emphasis is placed on the "natural" dream. In fact, he is
[...] en sueftos se le aparecia frecuentemente un perro negro que le mordia
mostly concerned with the influence of the dreamer's temperament, whether el pie derecho; pronto le sali6 en el pie derecho una pustula negra, a partir
de lo cual vivi6 poco. (1.6)
choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic, or melancholic (I.6). An individual's
responsiveness depends on the dominant hwnor. For example those of choleric
According to this physician, oneirocriticism and medicine are such closely
tendency will have clearer visions in old age, whereas the phlegmatic have them
related fields that a dream-interpreter should be a physician and a physician might
in their youth, "los colericos tienen visiones mas frescas y perfectas en la vejez, en
as well be a dream-interpreter. A doctor should take into account his patient's
tanto que los flematicos en la juventud" (I.6).
dreams and interpret them in a proper manner to identify the disease:
The association of the four hwnors with the patient's health and their
effect on dreams has a long history in dream theory. As discussed in chapter one,
De estas cosas se deduce que no debe juzgarse superfluo que el interprete
physicians such as Hippocrates and Galen used dreams as a diagnostic tool and de las visiones sea el medico, o que estudie la intemperancia de la visiones
cuando convenga que se traten todas !as circunstancias con juicio unico y
solved medical problems by interpreting the patient's dreams. 11 Also for Arnald
verdadero. Es util al medico prever tales cosas para pronosticar por medio
of Villanova, dreams are signs of physiological disorder, and can prognosticate de la interpretaci6n de los suei\os !as disposiciones del cuerpo. (I. I 0)
future diseases in the dreamer. Individuals of a choleric constitution have dreams
Thus in general, the bodily disposition is an important element in the
of fires and burning stars: "si abundara la c6lera en el cuerpo apareceran incendios
process of dreaming. A true oneiric experience can only be experienced by
y estrellas ardientes y chiporroteos" (I.6). Those who have an abundance of
someone who has the adequate body complexion, good health, moderate eating
melancholy dream of terrible, giant, black things: "si abunda la melancolia
and drinking habits, devotes some time to exercises, and lives a balanced life:
aparecenin terribles cosas enennes de colores negros" (1.6). Too much phlegm
will cause dreams of being soaked by the rain: "si abunda la flema [ ... ] se ve en
La disposici6n de una complexi6n atemperada en la salud, por la
suei\os mojado por la llluvia" (1.6). Those who have a sanguine constitution, templanza en la comida y en la bebida y el ejercicio practicado en su
dream of red things that pertain to hate, "si abunda Ja sangre apareceran cosas momento adecuado y lugar conveniente, es muy buena disposici6n de
cuerpo para las visiones expertas. (1.6)

11
For dreams and their relationship to the four humors see Aristotle's De divinatione per somnum
463a406, Albertus Magnus' De somno et vigilia lll, 2,1, Aquinas Summa theo/ogiae 95.6,
Boethius of Dacia's De somniis 314, Pascalis Romanus' Liber thesauri occulti 1,1 among many
others.
92
93
But just as the body can be influenced by external and internal causes, so
Another criterion is to allow a month for each hour of the night, so that the
can the soul be affected by both - nature (heavenly bodies) and the purity of the
dream dreamt three hours before dawn will come true in three months: "si la
soul. First, depending upon the dominant star under which one is born, the soul
visi6n se tuviera tres horas antes del dia. aparecerla lo previsto al cabo de tres
acquires that planet's characteristics. But that is not done directly. It is through
meses" (1.11). A different method is to observe the position and motion of the
the movers of heavens (the Intelligences) that the celestial influences shape the
moon in conjunction with the zodiac signs. Depending on their location and
faculties of the soul. For example, the influence of the planet Mercury is directed
meeting point, one can predict the time the dream will come true: "si la luna hace
toward the individual soul through its mover, who will impart the planet's
un curso lento y en un signo fijo tardfo, sobre todo en Acuario y en la hora y dia
dominant traits to the soul of the person born under that specific star. The second
de! mismo Saturno, pasaran tantos afios cuantos grados haya pasado hasta
factor that can influence the soul's capacity for receiving true dreams is the purity
entonces la luna por el signo (I.11). But, one also has to consider the dreamer's
of the soul. Those who can control their passions are more likely to have divine
age and the appropriateness of the dream to it. For example, a young dreamer will
dreams than those v.nose soul is influenced by sensual, worldly matters:
have to wait a long time for the dream to be fulfilled:

La doctrina dispone cuanto descansa en el alma sin las costumbres

adquiridas por las pasiones, pues entonces esta esta preparada para !as un niiio que prevea en un sueiio algo grande que no es propio de sus edad,
cosas inteligibles y ninguna fantasia torpe la perturba. (1.6) como leemos de Jose, que habfa soft.ado que el sol y la luna se inclinaban
contra el con doce estrellas. Afinno que no puede ocurrir tal previsi6n en
ese tiempo, a causa de la ineptitud de las cosas o personas, que repugnan la
The dream's veracity depends on the level of influence that the planets brevedad de dicho tiempo. (1.11)
have on each soul. The impressions left on the soul by the external powers affect
AU these factors, the nature of the dream and dreamer, the hour, the month
the type of dream one has so the dream's clarity correlates with the condition of
and the position of the moon, have to be seriously considered when trying to give
the dreamer's body and soul, and the degree to which they are affected by the
an exact time for the dream to eventuate (1.11 ).
spiritual world.
In the second part of his treatise, the author presents twelve categories of
Amald of Villanova then offers different formulas that will provide the
dreams in twelve chapters. In each of these 'houses" of astrology that correspond
dreamer with an approximate time frame between the oneiric experience and its
to the zodiac signs, he discusses one type of dream, covering a variety of topics
occurrence in life. As a general rule, dreams experienced on a Sunday, Monday,
such as the birth, life, death, fortune, religion, honor, kingdom, property, family
Tuesday, or Wednesday will come true very soon, whereas dreams seen on
matters, and change in social or economic status of the dreamer himself or his
Thursday, Friday, and especially Saturday will eventuate at a later date:
brothers, sisters, parents, offsprings, friends, and enemies. He gives examples of
specific dream occurrences (Joseph's, Socrates', Nero's mother and Caesar's
Pues, como ya es conocido del que presta atenci6n, las cos~s previ~tas en
domingo, Junes, martes o miercoles ocurren pronto; pero, s1 en ~l Jueves, wife, etc.) and their respective significance. Three dreams that do not refer to any
no tan pronto; las cosas previstas en sabado no ocurren pronto smo tarde. known figures should suffice in illustrating his method of interpretation. The
(1.11)
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95
method recalls Artemidorus' explanation of oneiric imagery where each metaphor
produce dream stimuli and the human psychology that receives those stimuli more
finds its logical significance when connected to the events and personal data of the
or less clearly" (Kruger 121). His oneiric classification can be easily rearranged to
dreamer. The first is concerned with acquiring fortune by honest means. A man
fit the Macrobian fivefold typology. The psychobiological dreams that arise from
dreamt he was fishing, but for a while he was catching only small fish. He then
the internal bodily processes, the four humors, and the dreamer's confused
went on to another river where he caught an abundant number of fish. The
imagination correspond to the Macrobian insomnium and visum. Dreams that are
interpretation was that he would become rich by his own struggle and work, since
presented in metaphors can be associated with the Macrobian somnium. Those in
the water signifies work and the fish represent the fruit of his work (11.2). The
which an authoritative figure presents the dreamer with a message that he later
second deals with dreams of the future of the offspring. A queen dreamt that an
explains, correspond to the oraculum. The last type of dream is one that expresses
army oflions, carrying arrows, was approaching her son's palace. When she woke
its meaning in images showing what will actually occur, and it corresponds to the
up, her dream was interpreted as follows: lions in her dream mean that both her
Macrobian visio. The oneiric schema can be arranged in the follov.ing hierarchical
son and his kingdom will be destroyed. Soon after, war was declared and her son
structure:
died and lost the kingdom (II.4). A dream can also foresee a change in religious
status: a woman dreamt that she was accompanied by her parents to church, was
higher/external visio
given a cross by the priest, and then she was united with Christ. That same year oraculum
she became a nun. Amald of Villanova constructs a "librito sobre la somnium
visum
interpretaci6n de los sueiios" (I.I), in which he lists not only the various kinds of lower/internal insomniurn
dream experiences and the multiple origins of dreams, but provides the reader
with a method for interpreting prophetic dreams: The late 13 th -century depiction of dreams- sometimes an amalgam of late-
antique, Christian and Aristotelian theories-is presented by Arnald of Villanova

Conviene que se hagan muchos libritos con esta intenci6n, y puesto que as a natural phenomenon arising from either psychobiological or spiritual forces.
estas cosas ban sido transmitidas por la practica y sin metodo, me placi6 While he accepts the existence of divinely-inspired dreams, the author presents a
(sic) componer este librito. En el ofrecere razones generales y particulares,
poniendo ejemplos de visiones dignas de menci6n y hechos anunciados hierarchy of dreams indebted to late-antique authorities and also to the new
por visiones. (1.1) teachings, where natural philosophy dominates the discourse. In his dream
classification, there is no mention of demonic dreams. The daemones that
He presents the public with a manual that will help them interpret dreams,
inhabited the patristic dreams are not included in this particular medieval structure
a treatise indebted both to the new Aristotelianism via Albertus Magnus as well as
for the presence of the Devil is not necessary. Condemned by the Church, the
to late-antique dream theories, such as Artemidorus' Oneirocritica, Achmet's
demonic dream is entirely excluded from his oneiric scheme. By presenting
Oneirocriticon, and the dreambooks Somniale Danielis.
dreams as a natural phenomenon, and thefore licit, Arnald allows the medieval
In its general structure, Arnald's system "emphasizes the process by which
man to continue his journey towards higher truths or towards gaining knowledge
dreams come into being, articulating the universal, natural movements that
 I
96
97
of the immediate future. The treatise De somniorum interpretatione recognizes a
impresiones de las cosas sensuales, que son parte de fuera; e entonce la
full range of dreams, where the emphasis is more on their revelatory character fantasia ofresce a los sesos las figuras e imagenes de !as cosas conservadas
than on their power to deceive. e retenidas en la memoria, por ta! manera que sensiblemente paresce que
ve e siente propiamente las cosas cuyas son aquellas imagenes e figuras.
(24)
1.4 Fray Lope de Barrientos.
In the Tractado de/ dormir et despertar et de/ sonar et de /as adevinallfas Later, he presents a detailed explanation of the two main causes of dreams:

et agiieros et profecias, 12 Fray Lope de Barrientos, Dominican friar and Bishop internal and external. Identical to Aquinas' explanation found in Question 95.6 of

of Cuenca, 13 studies the different causes and categories of dreams. He also his Summa, Barrientos' discussion illustrates the main trends of the 15th century.1 5

devotes part of bis discussion to the usual agenda of questions regarding oneiric The complex medieval oneiric system is heavily indebted to patristic and

phenomena. He answers the most controversial questions on the epoch following Neoplatonic authorities, as well as Aristotelian "natural., theory. Barrientos'

the general view on dreams, especially basing his analysis on the Aristotelian treatment of dreams stresses the somatic aspect of the majority of dreams.
Nevertheless, he admits the possibility of revelatory, divine dreams. Although his
tradition and its representatives Aquinas and Albertus Magnus.
Barrientos starts bis treatise by offering the traditional Aristotelian system of classification cannot be identically correlated to the late-antique oneiric

definition of the dream as a vision or an apparition caused by the movement of schema, it does promote the same hierarchical and dual structure inherited from
them.
images while one is asleep. 14 He emphasizes their mundane origin and connects
In discussing internal causation, Barrientos, like his predecessors, provides
them to the psychobiological process. Dreams are images produced by the
a psychobiological explanation of the oneiric phenomena. Dreams, he argues, can
imagination while reason is asleep:
have two internal causes: they can originate from daily preoccupations, or from
the bodily disposition. The first type of dreams occurs as a result of the dreamer's
Suefio es visi6n o aparec1m1ento, el cual dormiendo se causa de !as
imagenes, de !as que sentimos cuando velamos. Las cuales figuras e daily thoughts while awake: "cuando durmiendo ocurre o se representa a la
imagenes se retienen e conservan en la memoria por cuanto, segUJ1 dijirnos
fantasia del hombre algunas cosas en que se ocup6 su entendimiento, cuando
en el capitulo de dormir, cuando el hombre duerme enajenanse los
sentidos, e atanse, como dicho es, por ta! manera que no puede rescibir estaba despierto" (25). The second type of internal causation is due to imbalances
the four humors produce in the body. These dreams, according to the medical
12
All citations arc from Luis G. A. Gctino's study of the author's life and works, Vida y obras de
fray Lope de Barrientos (Salamanca: Anales Salmantinos, 1927).
tradition, reflect the state of the body and provide useful clues for the proper
diagnosis of the patient: "los fisicos discretos juzgan en las dolencias y se gu!an
u Fray Lope de Barrientos (1382-1469) was appointed confessor of Juan II in 1434. According to
Cuenca Mulloz most of his works belong to the years 1445-1469, when he was Bishop of Cuenca. en sus curas por algunos suel\os de los enfermos" (26). For example, if a man sees
Even though ther~ is no exact dating of these documents, she proposes the following chronological
order: the first written was the Tractado de los sueifos, followed by the Tractado de la divinanfa. the color red in dreams, it is an indication that an excess of blood provoked the
Her argument is based on Barrientos' own references to the Tractado de los sueflos in the prologue
and chapter 2 oftbe Tractado de la divinanfa (29-30).
14
Aristotle, De somno et vigilia 457b. is For Aquinas' dream typology that distinguishes between the internal and external causation of
dreams and their subtypes see Chapter 1.
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99
disease. If the dream involves white objects it means the patient was affected by
Connecting the mundane and the transcen~ental world, Barrientos' classification
an excess of phlegm and will suffer from high fever (26). Here one easily
distinguishes between various dream types. The first two kinds of dreams depend
recognizes the association of non-prophetic dreams with the bodily hurnors, a
upon the dreamer's physical state or thoughts; they belong to the mundane realm
theozy based on the Galenic, Hippocratic and Arabic medical tradition that
and have no prophetic value. The next three types of dreams -the externally
became rapidly incorporated into many Spanish medieval treatises. These somatic
motivated ones-are either angelic or demonic, or arise from the movement of
dreams are connected with the psychobiological explanation and thus have no
celestial bodies. From these last three types, the revelation, the highest on the
prophetic value.
scale is considered as prophetic and true.
The externally-caused dreams can be divided into two major classes:
Medieval theologians concerned with religious questions, recognize both
bodily and spiritual ones. Dreams that occur in the dreamer's fantasy, as a result
demons and angels as causative agents of dreams. Barrientos, like the patristic
of the movement of the heavenly bodies, fall into the first category: "cuando
writers before him, explains the origin of dreams by referring to the bifurcated
ocurren a la fantasia algunas cosas conforme al movimiento de los cielos" (26).
Christian view of the spirit world, split between good and evil forces. Thus, he
The spiritual dreams can arise from divine or demonic intervention. The divinely-
ascribes external dreams to the demonic and divine agents. As discussed above,
inspired ones occur when God reveals future occurences through the benevolent
Tertullian, Augustine, Gregory the Great and Isidore's classification of dreams
spirits: "cuando Nuestro Seiior por mediaci6n e ministerio de los espiritus buenos
includes a similar system that distinguished between dreams caused by divine
revela a los hombres en sueiios algunas cosas advenideras, seglin se averigua por
actions and those that come from demons (De anima 47.1-2, De Genesi, XII,
aquella autoridad que esta escrita en la Sagrada Escritura: qui fuerit inter vos
Dialogues IV.50.3, Sententiae III). Conversely, the Neoplatonic system, while
propheta Domini in visione apparebo ei" (27). Dreams of demonic inspiration
making a distinction between internally and externally inspired dreams, does not
arise when the future is revealed to men who made an illicit pact with the Devil:
divide the external agents into malevolent and benevolent spirits. For example,
"por operaci6n de los malos espiritus algunas veces aparecen algunas fantasias a Calcidius and Macrobius place their higher/external dreams in the divine world
los bombres dunniendo que con los dichos espiritus tienen algunas connvencias e and the internal type in the mundane realm. The causes for both categories are
tratos ilicitos; en las cuales fantasias les revelan algunas cosas adevineras, segiln diverse but never include the Devil's influence.
lo detennina mas largamente Santo Tomas" (27). The medieval fivefold division While the system that Barrientos advances has several resemblances to the
parallels the already existing scheme, where between the two extreme poles of the
many oneiric classifications previously studied, it depends greatly on the Patrisitic
mundane/internal and divine/external realm, stand a variety of intennediate
and medieval dream theory, which recognizes the Christian as well as Aristotelian
oneiric experiences forming a graded system of dream classification:
elements. Dreams that arise from waking thoughts or actions and the bodily
disposition are an internal dream experience, since they come from the purely
higher/external God/angels
Devil mundane realm. Such dreams don't reveal any type of divine truth for they
Heavenly bodies affect the body originate solely from the individual's psychological and physical state. The
Remnants of daily thoughts/actions
lower/internal Bodily stimulated/4 humors
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101
higher dreams, the externally motivated ones, emanate from the transcendental
no podemos pecar ni tampoco merescer" (Ql2, 48). Nevertheless, the thoughts
realm and can be either divine or diabolic. Relying on both Aristotelian and
one has while awake can indicate his moral state. If the dreamer has decent
Christian authorities, Barrientos depicts a hierarchy that stretches from the
thoughts during the day, they will be reflected in his dreams, and vice versa.
mundane to the divine, from the mortal to the immortal, and includes a wide range
Dreams can be a sign of sin or merit, but the dreamer is not held responsible or
of oneiric phenomena.
rewarded for his dreams. 17
Therefore, Barrientos does not deny the existence of divine dreams, but
Of interest to our discussion are Questions 11 through 14, which deal with
advises the dreamer to pay close attention when deciding its origin. Only a person
the dual character of dreams: mundane and divine. Barrientos does not deny the
well versed in this art can discern its divine or diabolical origin: "para lo cual es
existence of divine dreams but insists that majority of dreams have natural
necesario juicio e consejo de gran sabio, que sepa juzgar e discemir de que parte
causes: "Por lo cual paresce que no todos los suef'ios son revelaciones divinales;
proceden los sueiios tales" (27). It is interesting to find the 15th·century dream
mas por lo mayor parte proceden de causas naturales" (30-32). Here and in the
theorists returning again and again to the same oneiric classification and the same
next chapters, he accepts the Aristotelian position, found in Aquinas and Albertus
unanswered questions regarding dreams. Barrientos chooses to answer sixteen
Magnus, and many other medieval oneiric theorists. 1n Question 13, Barrientos
questions he considers of vital importance for a total understanding of the oneiric
argues that even though the future can be predicted by dreams it is only insofar as
phenomenon (33-34). 16 The aim of most of these questions, and especially the
they are causes, signs or coincidences of future events, "los sueiios algunas veces
answers, is to correct deviant beliefs and provide laymen and the clergy with basic
son causa e algunas veces seiiales de las cosa advenideras, e algunas veces
knowledge about dreams and dream divination. The issues discussed by the acescen por caso e fortuna" (51). The knowledge of the future through dreams is
Bishop of Cuenca indicate that certain topics, even though never neglected, were based on a purely natural order of causes and effects. 18
still not totally solved and continue to be a priority for the Church. Firs~
However, in Question 14, Barrientos accepts the existence of divinely-
Barrientos deals with the question of sinning while dreaming. He says that since inspired dreams and their prophetic character:
reason is tied up in dreams, men do not commit a sin: "resulta que en los suei'ios

(... ]no hay hombre que alguna vez que no le venga algtin sueiio que sea
16 The following are the 16 questions discussed by Barrientos: Q1: Por que algunas veces sof\amos,
sefial demostrativa de algun bien o mal advenidero; e los tales suefios
e otras veces no; Q2; En que tiempo suellan las hombres mas, e cuando suei\an menos; . Q3:
como estos no proceden de la naturaleza del hombre, mas antes proceden
Cuales son los hombres que suet\an m!s, e cuales menos; Q4: Por que algunos sueJlos se olv1dan,
e otros se recuerdan; QS: Por qut! a las veces soJlamos cosas que nunca vimos ni oimos; Q6: Por
qut! a las veces sonamos cosas adversas e apartadas, que no concuerdan las unas con las otras; Q7: 11
As for Tertullian and Augustine, the dream content is not related to the moral state of the
si son suenos las alteraciones e argumentaciones que facen los hombres cuando duermen; QS: CuAJ
dreamer. Plato, on the other hand, mentions the importance of the ethical, physical and emotional
es la causa por qu6 algunos dunniendo sueftan e se levantan a fin de obrar lo que. sue~an;. Q9:
state of the dreamer and its direct relation to the reliability and importance of the dream. Also
C6mo pueden Jas potencias sensitivas rescibir las imagenes e fig~as que estan en la ~agmanva e
Gregory the Great gives an important role to the dreamer's "thoughts" when dreaming. See
en Ja memorativa, pues las dichas potencias est6n entonce encog1das e atadas; QI 0: S1 sueftan l~
discussion on this topic in chapter I.
animales ansi como Jos hombres; Q 11: Si vienen los sueflos por revelaciones a los hombrcs, o s1
proceden de las causas naturales; Q12: Si acaesce pecar en los sueflos; Ql3: Si los suei\os son 11
Barrientos follows closely Aristotle's discussion in De Divinatione per Somnum, which Aquinas
causas de las cosas advenideras; Ql4: Si los sueflos son seJlales demostrativas de las cosas includes in his Summa 95.1, and Albertus Magnus in his commentary to Aristotle's De
advenideras contingentes, que proceden de la voluntad; QlS: Si es llcito juzgar e adivinar por los Divinatione.
sueJlos; Q16: En qut! manera se podri saber e conoscer cuales sueilos son verdaderos e cuales
falsos (33-34).
102
103
por revelaci6n de alguna inteligencia, segful lo dice e detennina el
comentador en el dicho libro. Por cuanto Nuestro Sefior muchas veces, despues de celebrada la digesti6n, cuando los vapores della estan ya delgados e
mediante la inteligencia agente, revela a los buenos y a los rnalos aquellas sotiles en tal manera que no empachan tanto a las potencias de facer sus
cosas que les han de acaescer. De los cuales suenos hay algunos hombres
interpretadores e declaradores, para lo cual son naturalmente dispuestos operaciones" (57); 2. True dreams are those from which the dreamer wakes up
(54). frightened: "el que suefia queda muy penoso y espantado" (57); 3. True dreams
don't reflect the daily thoughts that one had when awake; "el sueilo verdadero no
He supports his argument by giving examples from the Bible, such as the
viene sobre !as cosas pensadas despierto" (57); 4. True dreams do not come to
dreams of Nebuchadnezzar, Joseph, and the Pharaoh. Finally, it can be observed
fools, or drunks, but only to those in their right state of mind: "El sueilo verdadero
that his views are consistent with the general medieval ideas on dreams, which
no viene a los hombres bobos, salvo a los hombres de buen juicio e bien regidos, e
promulgated their binary character (53-54).
no a gargantones ni borrachos" (57); 5.True dreams do not come when one of the
Included in his treatise is, of course, the typical question of whether
four humors was affected: "el suefio verdadero no viene cuando el cuerpo esta
divination by dreams was a licit practice or not (Ql5, 55-56). Foretelling the
indispuesto por pujanza de algun humor" (57). Thus, one can decide the
future can be achieved in four manners: natural, medical, divine/angelic, and
truthfulness of dreams based on these five considerations.
diabolical. The first three means are not unlawful practices. But if foretelling the
However, the author evaluates this topic even further and comments on the
future comes from employing the Devil and making a tacit or express pact with
category of false dreams and the four causes that make them unreliable.
the demons, then this is considered unlawful divination and is prohibited:
Primarily, dreams are deceptive because during sleep reason is tied up, and
fantasy judges to be real those things that are not:
Pronosticar e decir las cosas adevineras por ilusi6n e revelaci6n de los
espiritus malignos, teniendo fecho son ellos ciertos contratos e
connvencias; e de aqui no se debe esperar, salvo mentira; e tal divinanz.a La causa primera e principal, donde se causa el engafto de los sueilos, es
noes Jicita, mas es perniciosa, e por esto es prohibida. {56) por cuanto durmiendo, cuando los suefios acaescen, esta atado el juicio de
la raz6n; por lo cual estando suelta la fantasia e no teniendo raz6n que la
guie, juzga que afirma las semejanzas de las cosas ser realmente. (60)
As in patristic oneiric theory, here the diabolic assistance is a primary
factor when differentiating between lawful and unlawful divination. Reason is tied up because during sleep the vapors that ascend to the brain
But there is more to the topic of dreams, for the fundamental question of close the channel that leads the images and the figures to reason. Phantasy is then
how to discern a true from a false dream is yet to be analyzed. In Question 16 (57· free to believe that these images and the figures it sees are real, ..estando la
67) Barrientos considers dreams to be true only if they fulfiJI the following five fantasfa suelta, toma las imagenes e figuras de las cosas por las cosas propias; e
requirements: I. True dreams come in the morning, 19 after digestion has taken aquesto acaesce comunamente en los locos" (60). But. he says, it is only the crazy
place, when the vapors are lighter: "el suefio verdadero viene cerca de la mai\ana, people who believe what they see in dreams is real. A knowledgeable and discreet
19
The idea that true and reliable dreams are more likely to occur in the morning, when images arc
more clear because by then digestion bas been completed is found in Tertullian's De Anima eh 48, AviceMa's Liber de Anima, 11,4.2, Adelard of Bath's, De eodem et diverso, eh. 13, in Boccaccio's
Genealogiae, book I, eh 3I, in Dante's Inferno 26. 7, and in the Malleus 1.16 (Kruger 72).
104
105
man, once reason is free, knows the truth. On the other hand, an indiscreet and not
All these reasons presented above are based on Aristotelian and Galenic
so clever person would not know how to distinguish between reality and dream:
treatment of dreams, where the body is considered the main source for creating
"Ca si es var6n liviano e indiscreto muchas veces permanesce en el engai'io de! ·
false visions. Those who believe in the reality of their dreams are not sane, or
suefio pensado" (60).
maybe their fantasy is not functioning right. None of these images are true, but
Passions, such as love, desire and fear, are the second reason for receiving
they are a creation of fantasy. No one in their sane mind should give attention to
false dreams. They present to fantasy the things one fears, loves or desires:
dreams that involve the above listed causes: "ningun var6n discreto puede dar fe,
ni poner esperanza en )as visiones que parescen durmiendo por ensuefios, ni
La segunda causa es que de las causas menos principales viene pasi6n que
acontece al linima, ansi coma temor e amor; e aquesta pasi6n de temor e tampoco en las que parescen velando; por cuanto las que parescen en suefios son
amor trae e representa a la fantasia la forma de aquella cosa que teme, o engai'iosas por las causas susodichas" (62). This natural approach adopted by
ama, o desea (60-61)
Barrientos reflects his doubts in the reality and truthfulness of most dreams. The
And since whatever one loves and wants, will be seen in dreams, the apparitions that some people affirm have seen in dreams are not to be taken
dream's validity and truthfulness is contaminated. seriously, since there is no basis to support their existence. They are only a
The third cause for false dreams is the bodily disposition, which is frivolous product of fantasy:
attributed to the four humors. For example, if a person is phlegmatic, he will
dream that he is drinking; a choleric will dream of fire, and so forth: "ansi como Bien se podria mostrar por muchas razones claras y manifiestas, que son
casi entendimientos primos, que todas las cosas o las mas destas visiones o
reina enm alguno la flema, que desciende de la cabeza a los dientes, suefia entonce apariciones son frivolas e no hay en ellas ninguna cosa, salvo la aparici6n
la persona que siempre bebe. E ansi mismo el colerico suei\a que esta siempre en dellas que se presenta la fantasia. (66)
fuego" (61). Thus, these dreams are not relevant of the future, but only reflect a Prophecy comes from God, who sometimes wants to communicate future
disorder of the humors. things to a chosen dreamer. This type of foretelling the future is not illicit since it
The fourth cause in the production of deceitful dreams is the density of the has divine approval:
vapors that ascend to the brain. This results in creating difficulty when
distinguishing false images and figures from real things: Profeda, segtin determinaci6n de los Doctores cat61icos, viene de buena
parte cuando a Nuestro Sei'ior place revelar algunas cosas advenideras
mediante alguna persona que para esto escoje. E puesto que esto tal diga
La cuarta causa es la confusi6n e oscuridad del vapor que sube alcerebro, adivinaci6n, no es pecado, pues viene por permisi6n e ministerio de
por el movimiento presuroso que face. El cual movimiento es causa que no Nuestro Setior. (70)
puedan bien discernir e distinguir las figuras e imagenes de las cosas. (61)

But if the dream is not divinely inspired, or naturally caused, it is

considered a mortal sin, since knowledge of the future pertains only to God: "las
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107
otras especies de divinar. que son presumir e saber fablar las cosas adevineras,
the existence of the divine dream and its predictive character, but his knowledge
todas son pecado mrtal, salvo las que tiene causas naturales determinadas" (71).
of other prevailing contemporary oneiric theories enable him to promote the
Divination in general is a mortal sin because it signifies knowing future things
Aristotelian causation of dreams, describing them as a physical and psychological
that are only to be known by God. For example, those who observe pagan rites
phenomenon. To foretell the future by dreams is a forbidden practice and a mortal
and celebrations believe in auguries, divine the future by observing the flight and
sin:
voices of the birds, the movement of animals, believe in sneezing. chance meeting
or stepping on a stone, are condemned by the Church. Barrientos condemns all
Humilmente suplico a tu Alteza que no des fe ni lugar a tales cosas, fasta
these superstitious practices and considers them chance encounters and not a ser fecho examen por parte de aquel que lo sepa facer, como dicho es; e
universal law that should be obeyed. For him, the practitioners of such beliefs fecho el tal examen, si fuere fallado ser miraculosas las tales visiones,
entonces es de dar toda fe, e poner devoci6n en las cosas e favorescer,
show a lack of judgment and reason. And reason is what Barrientos proposes. He segun fuere el caso. Ca ante de tal examen, cosa desonesta e vergonzante
says that one should not even be called a man if he does not use his reason and es dar fe, e poner devoci6n en las tales cosas, si por ventura ernanan de las
operaciones de la fantasia por la rnanera susodicha. (66)
believes in auguries and other superstitious practices: "Ca el que tal juicio face no
es hombre, ni debe ser llamado hombre, salvo si le Haman por nombre equivoco. The treatment of dreams considered and discussed by Barrientos follows
Ca el hombre no es hombre por otra cosa sino por la razon" (75). Therefore, Thomist philosophy and uses the Secunda Secundae Q 95 and Q 96 as the basic
Barrientos stands as a perfect example of the resistance to the practice of text of reference. Here Aquinas becomes not only the authority, but also the main
divination through dreams that "is still in force well into the fifteenth century" ideological reference for Barrientos: "Aquinas no est! utilizado tan s6lo como
(Kruger 13), when divination by dreams, if not natural or divine, is challenged and auctoritas, sino tambien como el principal reference ideol6gico de la obra de
attacked alongside other divinatory practices. Barrientos".20 Paloma Munoz Cuenca emphasizes Aquinas' role and importance
His concluding advice to King Juan II of Castile and to all those who are in Barrientos' treatise where religious beliefs are demonstrated by the union of
not slll'C of bow to interpret and distinguish between true and false dreams, is to faith and reason. Each question on dreams is considered by factoring in the
use reason and caution regarding prognostication. The strong skepticism about the patristic view as well as the rational explanation. The combination of Christian
dream's reliability is expressed by Barrientos' warnings against believing too dream theory and new scientific evidence gives all types of dream the possibility
easily in dreams and trusting their dishonest and deceitful character. While he to exist.
adopts for most of his treatise the new medical and naturalistic learning,
Barrientos also relies on patristic authorities that recognize the supernatural origin
of dreams (divine, angelic, or demonic). He clearly expresses his concern with the
problem of discerning between the different causes of dreams and the many types
20
Paloma Cuenca Mui\oz (72) refers to the Tractado de divinanza and the influence that Aquinas
of divination, which make it difficult for anyone to decide and judge if a dream exerts on Barriento's text. The same can be said about the Tractado de los sueilos, where the
does or does not have prophetic value. As a theologian, Barrientos does not deny discussion on dreams comes entirely from Summa Q 95 and 96.
 ·-

108
109
1.5 Pedro Ciruelo. Reprouacion de las supersticiones y bechizerias (1530)
knowledge otherwise unattainable by human means. Oneiromancy, or dream
Pedro Ciruelo includes the topic of dreams and oneiromancy in his
divination, is included among these diabolical divinatory arts that deceive men.
sixteenth-century treatise Reprouacion de /as supersticiones y hechizerias.21 The
First, Ciruelo divides the causes of dreaming into three: "hazemos saber que los
great theologian and scholar who held the position of chair of Thomistic theology
suei\os vienen a los hombres por tres causas principales: es a saber por causa
at the University of Alcala and at the Univesity of Salamanca, considered that
natural, por causa moral, y por causa theologal" (64). The natural (physiological)
writing this treatise was necessary in order to defend the Catholic Faith and teach
dreams are caused by natural reasons, such as bodily reactions. For example, one
Christians about the danger of witchcraft and superstitious practices that had
can experience different types of dreams depending on the movement of the
continued and perpetuated themselves for a long period of time. Aware of the
humors inside the body. If the dreamer is choleric, he will dream of objects
growing numbers of heretics, Ciruelo explains the various types of heretical
colored by fire or blood: "si se mueve la colera: suei'ia el hombre cosas coloradas
practices and the harm they present to the Christian spiritual life. As he declares in
de fuego de sangre" (64). Thus, physicians will use dreams when trying to provide
the preface, Ciruelo sees the necessity to write this book in Spanish so that his
a diagnosis. These dreams are connected to natural processes, and follow the
fellow Spaniards could understand everything clearly. That way, they can all
humoral Galenic theory, where dreams are causes of future events, insofar as they
protect themselves from this poisonous evil that causes the damnation of their
reveal a physiological disorder.
souls:
But bodily changes can also be provoked by external factors, such as

Mas porque manifiestamente veo quanta necessidad ay que ellas sean bien changes in the air, which can be hot, cold, humid, or dry: "es por la alteracion del
declaradas y reprouadas porque hazen mucho dai'io: y son causa de la aire que se humedesce, o se seca, o se calienta, o se enffria" (64). The alternations
perdici6n de muchas animas christianas: y este ma! se continua por
muchos dias y ail.as: he deliberado con buen zelo de caridad: como deuo a in the air affect the humors in the human body, which, in turn, produce dreams
todos mis naturales de espai'ia: escreuir este otro libro en nuestra lengua. similar to the predominant humor. For example, if one dreams of rivers, it is
En el qua! mas particularmente se trata la materia de !as supersticiones y
hechizerias vanas: para auisar a todos los buenos christianos y temerosos because the air is humid and it anticipates a storm. These dreams do not indicate
sieruos de dios: que se guarden de ellas mas que de las serpientes y what will happen to the dreamer, but rather reveal the changes in the weather.
biuoras: porque son cosas muy pon~osas y peligrosas contra la salud y vida
espiritual de las animas. (26) Following Aristotle, these dreams are signs of the future in so far as they predict
meteorological phenomena.
The second part of his treatise deals with the different types of divinatory The second type of dreams is the moral (psychological) one that arises
arts, such as necromancy, judicial astrology, geomancy, hydromancy, aeromancy, from our daily thoughts and preoccupations, a category well accepted by dream
pyromancy, chiromancy, drawing lots, augury, ordeals and duels. All these are theorists. Ciruelo believes that those who experience this type of dreams are the
superstitious practices wrongfully employed to foretell the future and acquire individuals concerned with their work. These dreams do not reflect the future,
rather the present or the past. Therefore, the natural and moral categories belong
21
The edition used is Alva V. Ebersole's Pedro Ciruelo. Reprouacion de /as supersticiones y to the mundane, internal dreams that coincide with Macrobius' lower, non-
hechizerias (Valencia: Albatros Hispanofila, 1978). The treatise was extremely popular in its time,
with its eleven editions between 1530 and 1577 (Kagan 41).

I
110
111
predictive insomniumlvisum. These dreams that arise from internal human
Like theologians and philosophers before him, Ciruelo adopts a system
processes, either ex parte corporis or ex parte animae, are explained as natural
that remained central to all dream theorists - a hierarchy that stretches from the
phenomena.
mundane, internally stimulated dreams to the divine, externally generated
But like bis predecessors, Ciruelo also recognizes that dreams may have a
experiences:
supernatural origin. His last category is the externally inspired oneiric experience,
Isidore (71h century)
namely the theological dream. This third class of dream involves transcendental
spiritual forces, both divine (God, the angels) and demonic (the Devil). Following higher/external ex revelatione
ex illusione
the patristic authorities, Ciruelo provides biblical examples of both types of ex cogftatione simul et revelatione; ex cogitatione simul et
dreams - the angels or God have appeared in the prophets, Joseph, and the Three illusione
ex propia cogitatione
Kings' dreams, while the Devil appeared to Ballam. Thus, either demonic or lower/internal ex ventris plentitudine; ex ventris inanitate
divine forces can be the origin of human dreams and there is great difficulty in
discerning between the two of them. For Ciruelo, revelatory dreams are very Arn aid of Villanova (131h/14th century)
infrequent and occur only in special circumstances. Nevertheless, if one has such
higher/external God visio
an experience where divine authority is present, this type of dream is a true angels oraculum
revelation that provides the dreamer with higher knowledge: demons somnium
daily thoughts vis um
lower/internal bodily humors insomnium
En la reuelacion de dios, o del buen angel: no se haze mencion de cosas
Barrientos and Ciruelo (l5 1b and 161b century)
vanas: ni acaesce mucbas vezes: sino por alguna cosa de mucha
importancia: y con tal vision queda el hombre muy certificado que es de
buena parte: porque dios alumbra el entendimiento del hombre: y lo higher/external God/angels
certifica de la verdad. (65) Devil
heavenlv bodies
daily thoughts
Those who have experienced divine revelation can be sure of its celestial origin lower/internal bodily stimulated/4hurnors
because God enlightens their understanding and guarantees its truth.' The dreamer
should be certain that in a true/divine dream there is no mention of frivolous Therefore, the 16th-century man continues to fear evil spirits and the Devil.

things. People are advised not to trust dreams nor dream interpreters, because there is no

At the same time, there are necromancers and diviners who have made a guide as to how one can accurately assess the source of dreams, and the Devil is

pact with the devil and will receive deceptive dreams. When demonic very subtle and can quickly deceive his devotees. Pedro Ciruelo ends his chapter

communication and apparition is involved, the dreamer is blinded and tricked by with a warning against all who use dreams to interpret events that have happened

the Devil. These dreams are frequent because they represent a punishment for the or will happen, since that type of divination is considered vain, superstitious and

sins committed by the dreamer, who is treated as a slave by the Devil.

112
113
indicates a pact with the Devil-a Christian apostate. According to him, every
2. The Treatment of Dreams in Spanish Medieval Legal and Catechist
good Christian must abandon this preoccupation with interpreting dreams and be
Literature
reluctant to rely on them:
In medieval Spain, civil and canon law clearly adopted a critical attitude
against superstitious practices. Divination, included among such practices, was
Concluyamos luego que el que por los sueiios adevina las cosas que
acaescieron, o acaesceran a los hombres: es vano, supersticioso, y tienc defined as the usurpation of the knowledge of the future: "es usurpa~ion del saber
secreto pacto con el diablo como christiano apostata; [... ] y todo buen o conos~er las cosas adevineras causadas de alguna pestffera conpaflia entre malos
christiano deue apartar de si este cuydado de pensar en los sueflos: porque
como ellos puedan venir por muchas y diuersas causas: Ja gente simple no onbres e los spiritus malignos" (Barrientos, Tractado de la divinanra 152). The
aciertan a saber por qual causa vienen: y el diablo como es sotil: presto gift of predicting the future belongs only to God, and thus, all those who try to
podria enganar a los que sedan a esta vanidad. (66)
seek and acquire knowledge of future or hidden things by inadequate and

The demons have tremendous powers and since they were fallen angels, supernatural means that can come from evil spirits, are committing a mortal sin.

they can tell the past, present and future. The devil can share his knowledge with Diviners have to make a pact with the Devil and the evil spirits, who in return will

his servants and betray them. Ciruelo, as well as his contemporaries, cautioned provide the help needed in foretelling the future. Divination in all its numerous

against an unexamined belief in dreams. But in the medieval tradition, even

forms is against the First Commandment and divine authority. Moreover, it is to

though certain writers challenged the traditional views, they did not deny that be considered a mortal sin.

some dreams were valuable, reliable and divine. None of these writers called into The open disapproval of divinatory practices is expressed by the 13th

question the basic balance between true and false, good and bad, dreams (Kruger century Alfonsine legal works, the Setenario and the Lucidario as well as later

84). All good Christians had to place their trust and love in God. The medieval literature of religious, moral and didactic character, such as Libro de miseria de

mind, as this chapter argues, accepts all categories of dream experiences. In its omne, Pero L6pez de Ayala's Libro Rimado de Palacio, and Feman Perez de

long history, dream theory encompasses a vast territory of origins: internal and Guzman's poems from the Cancionero castellano de/ XV.

eternal, divine and mundane, demonic and angelic. It is interesting to note the
ancient tradition that allowed dreams to be the vehicle that provided access to 2.1 The Setenario:

higher knowledge, to a higher realm, never ceased to exist. The dream remained Written as an introduction to Alfonsine Las siete Partidas, the Setenario22
is an important 13th·centucy legal document, mostly concerned with ecclesiastical
the man's only escape - inward as well as outward with regard to his being. This
matters. Among the l 08 laws discussed, such as the seven liberal arts, the articles
constant movement between human emotions and divine truth can also be
of Faith, the Sacraments, the 7 planets, the pagan sects and their sacrilegious rites,
described as an upward or downward movement along the vertical line that in fact
constitutes the medieval, simultaneously dual and hierarchical system of the is included the subject of dreams:

universe.
22
The edition used is by Kenneth H. Vanderford, ed., Alfonso el Sabio. Setenario (Barcelona:
Editorial Crltica, 1984).
 114
115
Ley XVI. Suenno commo quier que ssea natural que orden6 Dios en la
natura del omne en quel dio tienpo en que ffolgase en dormiendo por los who pours the true water and who is the only spring that can give life to all, is
trabjaos que lieua velando--et en aquel dorrnir, ssegunt dixieron los que compared to Aquarius, the man who pours water. Thus, there is no need to
ffablaron de naturas e es uerdaderaminete, los miembros ffuelgan e estAn
quedos-el spiritu de la vida mueue los sentidos e quiere obrar con ellos sacrifice and venerate these pagan signs. The legal document also forbids the
bien comrno ssi estiuiessen despiertos. Et porque esta obra non es tan practice of idolatry that clearly goes against the First Commandment (48). The
ffirme comrno de la que husa el cuerpo quando non duerme, et por esso
ssuennan rnuchas cosas, dellas naturalmiente e con rrazon e dellas de otra veneration of other gods is the result of dreams, argues the Alfonsine text. Some
guisa, ssegunt lo que comen o beuen o lo al que ffazen en que andan o people believed that their ascendance to Heaven, the angels, the beauty and the
cuydan rnientra estan despiertos, o ssegunt creyen o menguan los quatro
hwnores de que es ffecho el cuerpo; que han de creyer en el los cuydados e splendor they saw in dreams is true, and that is the place where God can be found.
las antoian~as de manera que lo que falla tiene que es ~ierto en quanto esta By making sacrifices to other deities, i.e. Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, they believed they
en ssuennos, e quando despierta non tiene nada. Et por ende los que ssobrc
tan flaco yirniento commo este arman ssu crenyia, bien se daua a entender could reach God easier. However, these dreams are not true, and people should
que su cren~ia non era cosa ffirme nin ssana, nin podria durar not believe in them, especially when the result was idolatry (Law XXIV, 56). By
luengamientre. (48)
adoring the things that were created by God, such as planets, stars, and elements,

The explanation regarding the causes of dreams is based on the Aristotelian theory the sinners forgot to adore the creator of all things:

which viewed dreams as a natural phenomenon caused by the bodily humors, the
Ley XXXV. E desta guisa se arredrauan de la verdad e allegauanse a la
daily thoughts, or the digestive system. Dreams are not to be trusted, since what
mentira, non parando mientes de c6mmo el non era cosa que se podiese
one believes to see while dreaming is not true and it disappears as soon as one connosyer nin por creencia vana, ni por antojanya, nin por seta, nin por
awakes. The Setenario condemns those who base their faith on such weak opinion, nin por fantasya, nin por suenno, nin por bisi6n; mas bien por ley
biua e verdadera, fecha e hordenada de Dios Padre por el su querer e por el
foundations as dreams or visions,23 which make men err: ..Et por ende queremos su poder e por su saber. (66)
mostrar todas estas crenyias, cada vna c6mmo era ssegunt aquellas gentes las
creyen, por que connoscan los que las oyeren 6nde sse mouyen todos estos yerros Because God and divine knowledge cannot be reached by any of these vain
manners: neither by dreams, nor visions, nor fantasy, nor other sects or opinions.
que ffazian a las gentes errar ssin raz6n" ( 48).
Trying to know God through dreams is a sin and all Christians should learn that
The Serenario strives to enforce orthodoxy by examining ancient pagan
the way to reach God is through the sacred Catholic religion, not pagan beliefs.
worship of the planets, the zodiac signs, and the four elements vis a vis Catholic
ideology. These superstitious practices are condemned but they are also compared
2.2 The Lucidario
and incorporated to the new religion. For example, the figure of Christ as the one
The Lucidario24 is a text that has affinities to both the exemplum
collections and the sententiae. It was composed around the end of the 13th

4
l From chapter LXXVlf, 258-259, in Los "Lucidarios" espanoles, ed. Richard P. Kinkade
23 Law XVII discusses visions and considers them not to be true and advises people not to believe (Madrid: Gredos, 1968).
in them (48).
 ....~ ....

116
117
century, during the reign of Sancho IV and it depends heavily upon its Latin
dunniendo, que vea alguna otra persona viua o muerta que venga ha el e se le
source, the Elucidarium of Honorius of Autun (c. 1095). Among the topics it
parte delante" (259). And the revelation is when God wants to reveal to someone
discusses, which vary from matters related to theology to questions of natural
things that could not be otherwise known: "la rreuela~ion contes~e quando quiere
philosophy, is included a chapter on dreams, entitled "Si los suenos que sueila
Dios a alguno mostrai' de !as cosas quel quiere a tiene ascondidas" (259). Here,
ome, si son verdaderos o mintirosos" (258-261). To the question if dreams are
the author underlines the dream's celestial origin and its revelatory character.
true or false and how can one distinguish between them, the following explanation
Even though all animals can dream, only men experience a vision and a
is given. Dreaming is what the soul sees while the body is asleep: "Sonar tanto
revelation, since only the human soul has reason and understanding: 25
quiere dezir coma cosa que vee el alma del omne estando del cuerpo dwmiendo"
(258). Dreams can be of different types according to their causes: intemaV
E non ay ninguna criatura que vea rreuala~iones nin vision sinon el omne,
mundane or external/divine. The internal dreams can be the result of abusive ea las visiones e !as rrevelaciones, que es cosa propia de Dios, non las
eating and drinking, which will make men see strange things, the movement of the quiere demostar, [nin) !as puede rres~euir otra criatura sinon el alma del
omne en si, que es alma que a rrazon e entendimiento. (260)
bodily humors, and the waking thoughts and worries:
But even among men, not all humans can receive this higher type of dreams.
Lo primero contes~e par mucho comer o por mucho beuer que faga el Those who are crazy and do not posses reason or understanding, are not able to
omne sonar mas de su derecho muchas cosas estrannas e maravillosas.
receive visions or revelations, "el omne que es loco e sin entendimiento por
Lo segundo acaes~e mucbas vegadas en sonar por mouimiento de los natura, avunque suene alguna cosa non sabe que es, ea non se acuerda nin se
vmores del cuerpo que seran mouidos par vmidad que acaes~e en ellas y
mienbra dello" (260), and only those who have a good understanding and reason
par muchodumbre.
can see not only true dreams, bur also visions and revelations.
La ter~era acaes~e el sonar que ante se eche omne a dormir, estara
Another aspect that is discussed is the dream's veracity, and how to
cuydando o fablando mucho en algunas cosas afmcadamente poma y su
entedimiento. (258) actually distinguish between a false and a true dream. The following four factors
have to be considered when discerning between dreams: 1. who had the dream; 2.
These internally-stimulated dreams are explained as a mundane experience,
if the dreamer's eating and drinking habits are moderate; 3. if the dream pertains
arising from the internal processes, either physical or mental, and emphasize the
to the dreamer's daily worries; and 4. the phase of the moon when the dream
somatic component of dreams.
occurred:
The externally-caused dreams are provoked by the soul's divine nature and
its ability to predict the future. To this class belong three kinds of experiences:
true dreams, revelations, and visions. A true dream is a "sueno verdadero sin otro
corronpimiento" (259). A vision is when God makes the dreamer see a dead or an " Barrientos also believes that all animals dream but that their dreams are not true nor prophetic
since their faculties are not as developed as they arc in humans; "porque su perfecci6n no es igual a
alive person in dreams: "la vision es quando Dios faze a aquel que esta pcrfecci6n de !as potencias scnsitivas quc tienen los hombrcs, por tanto los suel'los de los animales
no tienen anima intelectiva" (Tractado de/ dormir 45-46).
118
119
La primera, quien es aquel que lo suena; la segunda, como es omne
temprado en su comer y veuer; la ter~era cosa, que son las cosas que ha Lucidario Macrobius/ Amald
de auer en que aya a trabajar con su alma e con su cuydado; e la quarto, higher/external revelation visio
en que esta la luna su estado quando suena; segund estas cosas, asi podras vision oraculum
judgar el sueno por verdadero e por mintiroso. (260). true dream somnium
waking thoughts visum
lower/internal body humors and food/drink insomnium
Moreover, the reliability of the oneiric experience can be tested by simple
deduction. For example, if the dream comes true, then one can expect the same 2.J The Libro de miseria de omne.21 This poem, dating from the first decade
result from a similar dream. If the dream proves to be a lie, then the dreamer of the 141h century, is a verse adaptation of the treatise written at the close of the
knows that a subsequent dream of the same type will also be false. 12th century by Pope Innocent III, the immensely popular De contemptu mundi. In
In general, the Lucidario's classification of dreams follows the main order to achieve his moralizing purpose, the medieval poet writes in vernacular
trends of the epoch, where the psychobiological causation was becoming an and in cuaderna via form. These changes facilitate the audience's understanding
important part of the oneiric model. Dreams that arise from purely internal cause, of the material consisting of frequent topics of the period: the corruption of the
the preoccupations of the dreamer's waking hours, his overindulgence in eating body with its sins and temptations, the mutability and the vanity of earthly things,
and drinking, and the individual's movement of the four bodily humors, the evils of social orders, the punishment or reward in afterlife, etc. Among the
correspond to the medieval somnium anima/is and somnium corpora/is. The main themes of the Libro and following the Latin source, is included the subject
externally-caused dreams are the ones inspired by divine power-either God on the terror of dreams, De terrore somniorum (st. 225-231 ). As expected, the
himself, or by celestial agents sent by him,-and belong to the somnium Spanish poet echoes the general hostile attitude and strong skepticism toward
spiritualis group. Not surprisingly, such a typology can be easily related to other dreams. For him, dreams are only vain images and should not be trusted. When
oneiric structures, where dreams are comprised between the mundane and one should rest and sleep, frightening and terrible dreams come to trouble and
transcendental realm. The various classes of dreams can be arranged in a hierarchy upset us, "vienen vanas visiones, e fazenlo conturbar, I e demas sueiios terribles
that spreads from the lowest to the highest type, from the internal/ que lo fazen espantar" (225cd). These dreams are not necessarily depressing, for
psychobiological type to the external/divine dream. A similar system to the one in one can dream that he is suddenly rich. But when he awakes, he will be sad
the Lucidario is found in other contemporary medieval Spanish texts, such as because is he has lost everything:
Llull's Liber proverbiorum, where he presents dreams as originating from purely
natural processes as well as from divine or demonic action. 26 But an almost Ca si duenne e [si] sueiia, muchas vezes [es] pagado:
cuida que tien mucha plata e much aver monedado;
identical system is Macrobius' hierarchical classification, also found in Arnald of quand despierta non tien nada, finca triste, descor[d]ado,
Villanova's De somniorum interpretatione: bien como si lo oviese de su padre heredado. (226)

26
Raymwidus Lullus. Opera. vol. VI, cap. XCVI. However, Llull includes the possibility of
27
demonic dreams, completely omitted in the Lucidario. Citations are from Jane E. Connolly's edition, Translation and Poetizotion in the Quaderna Via.
Study and Edition ofthe "Libra de miseria d'omne" (Madison: Hispanic Seminary, 1987).
 120
121
In order to authenticate his statement, the poet offers biblical references regarding
fundamental views on dreams to a medieval audience, by directly addressing the
the topic of dreams. For example, following the Latin text, he begins with
public, "desend a vosotros todos" (229d), and by adapting the material to their
Eliphaz the Themanite, Job, Salomon and Nebuchadnezar's words and oneiric
level, since not all might have immediately picked up the direct biblical citations.
experiences:
Instead of ending the section with a citation from the Bible as the Latin text, the
poet delivers the Christian message regarding dreams by stressing their deceptive
Onde dixo Eliph[a]s, ornne de muy gran valor;
"En [o]rror de visY6n pr[f]some muy gran pavor, nature and the risk of committing a sin when believing in them:
espantaronse mis huesos e ovieron gran temor
como si cielo e tierra feciesen muy gran temblor."
Pues si tales son los suei\os como oido avedes,
Rey Nabucodonosor fue rey muy apoderado, menster vos es, amigos, quantos en Christo creedes,
por una visi6n que vio, despert6 muy [e]spantado; que quanta val un dinero por sueftos non vos en fiedes,
atrosi conti6 a Job, que de Dios fue muy amado; ea pecaredes por ello e nada non ganaredes. (231)
onde dize Salam6n: "Suefio es vano cuidado." (227-228)
Here, even though he does not directly mention demonic dreams or their
Nevertheless, the Spanish poet omits some of the direct biblical quotations found
connection to the dreamer's morality, one remembers that in patristic tradition,
in the model,28 and expands upon their meaning with clear and meaningful
disturbing dreams are related to hwnan action. Tertullian, Augustine, Gregory and
explanations. By using this type of detailed adaptation, he reduces the possibility
Isidore, among other Christian authorities, emphasized that through dreams, the
of incoherence and misinterpretation of these passages. For instance, he presents
evil spirits can send false prophecies to men. They all make explicit that all those
Solomon's words in a succinct but easily comprehensible manner:
who believe in God, should know that the Devil always tries to tempt, harm and
terrorize humankind. Those who have immoral thoughts, or committed a sin in
Demas dize Salam6n que suefios son vanidades,
e do son los sueftos muchos son muchas las vanidades, waking-life, will be tormented by the Devil, and see frightful visions. The
que fazen errar a muchos clerigos e potestades, element of fear and terror produced by the demonically inspired dreams, reminds
desend a vosotros todos quantos en ellos sperades.
the Christian dreamer that the majority of dreams are dangerous, deceitful, vain,
Ca dize que aparescen por suei'ios muchas vegadas licentious, and impure.
muchas torpes visiones e muchas cosas preciadas
The Libra de miseria de omne reflects the 141h century theological view
[end} prender quieren !as buenas e foir las que son malas:
quando mucho ban sofl.ado ha[n} texido telas vanas. (229-230) regarding dreams as revelatory of the future, a concept that echoes the general
patristic hostility toward the oneiric phenomenon.
Dreams are vain and those who believe in their prognostic power not only err, but
also commit a sin. He achieves his main goal, which is to comxmmicate the

21
Pope lnnocent's passage on dreams includes many biblical quotes to illustrate his point, but
some are left without funher exploration.
 ~-- .

122 123

2.4 Pero Lopez de Ayala: the Libro Rimado de Palacio According to Christian belief, only God knows the secrets of the future, and thus,
Pero L6pez de Ayala, besides holding the post of chancellor of Castile and to seek predictions about future actions is considered a vain error:31
the author of various chronicles, isalso known for his work, the Libro Rimado de
Ca de todas las cosas Tu fueste el Criador,
Palacio.29 In this religious, didactic, and moral poem, he first presents the
non puede ser llamado ninguno otro Sei'ior,
fundamental laws that have to be known by all Christians: the Ten Tu eres solo Dios, e yo tu servidor,
en otro adorar seria gran error. (23)
Commandments, the Seven Deadly Sins, the Seven Virtues, the Five Senses, and
the Seven Spiritual Works. The author, devoted to the health of the Christian soul
As expected, from the first centuries of Christianity, the Church fought to
and its salvation, closely followed the doctrine of the Church,30 whose function
eradicate these pagan rites and reinforce Catholic beliefs and customs among
was to ensure that the Catholic faith was preserved and that individuals were
Christians. The numerous Church Councils32 celebrated in medieval Spain
protected from error. Recognizing that the doctrinal exposition was imperative
considered that the first step in the crusade against those who commit the religious
for the education of the clergy as well as of its disciples, the Chancellor of Castile
offence of divination, or foretelling the future, was to provide all clergymen with a
started with the first Christian obligation, which was to believe and worship only
clear definition of the Ten Commandments and of the strict punishment given to
one God:
those who commit this sin. Furthermore, the synodal decrees ordered all
churchmen to instruct their subjects on these important topics. The necessity to
Luego en el primero, Sefior, Tii nos mandaste outline the main scriptural teachings so that all clergy can indoctrinate the people
adorar a Ti solo, e por el nos vedaste
creer en otros dioses, e sienpre rC\:elaste
nuestra flaca creenyia, e por ende ordenaste. (21) 31
From the theological point of view, divination is the usurpation of knowledge of the future, if it
is done by inadequate means, such as the invocation of the devil. To try to foretell the future with
the help of the evil spirits is to go against God, who is the only one who has knowledge and the
In the second stanza, he condemns those who believe in auguries, dreams and
ability to predict the future. The First Conunandment prohibits the practice of seeking to acquire
consult the stars in order to foretell the future. They commit a sin against the First knowledge of the future by superstitious means. Also, the close connection between divination and
the subject of predestination created a great polemic among theologians. Some accepted it,
Commandment: following Augustinian doctrine; others opposed detenninism and recognized the freedom of the
human will.
32
Underlined text in mine. For example, the Toledo Council of 1323, states in canon I: "El primer
Contra esto peque, Sefior, de cada dia, mandamiento consiste en que el hombrc crea y de! culto a un solo Dios; contra cuyo precepto pecan
creyendo en agileros con grant mali9ia mia, todos los encantadorcs, adivinos, sortllegos, agoreros, y los que creen en los sueifos" (Tejada III,
en sueiios e estornudos e otra estrelleria, 507, 518 and Sanchez Herrero, 184). Also the Council of Avila of 1384, Canon 5: "Contra este
ea todo es vanidad, locura e follia. (22) mandamiento fazen todos los encantadores et adevinos et sorteros et agoreros et los que oaran
mientes en los suei'los (Garcia y Garcia VI. 16). In the 16th century, the Synod of Tuy 1528, in
Galicia, discusses in Canon 1.1.5: "El primer mandamiento: Contra este mandamiento hazen y
pecan los herejes que no creen finnamente en la fe o dudan o sienten mal della, o son ydolatras
adorando otra criatura, o atribuendo el poder de Dios a otro, o son encantadorcs, hechizeros,
29
In Pero Lopez de Ayala. Libro Rimado de Palacio. ed. Kenneth Adams (Madrid: Catedra, adivinos, agoreros, y los que creen en ellos y en su poder, y los que invocan los demonios, o creen
1993). en sueflos o dias, o ponen el poder en cirimonias o palabras, salvo en solo Dios en quien esta todo
poder de quien todo procede" (Garcia y Garcia, Synodicon Hispanum, I, 402).
30
The structure of this first part of the Rimado is similar to that of a contemporary confessional
manual (Deyermond, Literary 122-123).
 125
124
temporum spectant. Omnisque alia sacrilega superstitio inhebitur. (in
is seen in the frequently mentioned section on the Decalogue. The 161h century Lomax 230, fol. 272v)
Council of Coria-Caceres33- 1537, from Extremadura, still echoes the previous
edicts that specify enchanters, diviners, augurers, and those who believe in dreams The Tractatus Brevis de Articulis Fidei will serve as a main source for the
commit a sin against the First Commandment: vernacular version written, a few years later (c.1345), by Cardenal Albornoz. As
its Latin predecessor, El catecismo l/amado de Albornoi?5 teaches the clergy and
II. 1. Los diez mandamientos de la ley. El primer mandamiento es que instructs them on how to preach the most important parts of Catholicism, the
el hombre tenga y honre un Dios y no muchos. Y contra este mandamiento Seven Sins, the Seven Virtues, the Seven Sacraments, the Ten Commandments,
hazen los que son encantadores. adevinadores y otros agoreros, y los que
panm mientes en suel'los. (177) penance, and confession. Written in Spanish, it would serve as a better tool to
guide the faithful. Part of his discussion on the Decalogue is, of course, the
Apparently, the frequent conciliar assemblies were not enough for the condemnation of enchanters, diviners, augurers, and those who practice sortilege
clergy, who was also in need of a more accessible manual that would guide them and believe in dreams:
in their struggle to transfonn the character of an ex-pagan society into a Christian
community. The Tractatus Brevis de Articulis Fidei (Bibi. Capitular de Valencia, El primer mandamiento es que el omne aya e onrre vn solo Dios e non
muchos. Contra este mandamiento fazen todos los encantadores e
ms. 182, fols. 270v-274r), written by Fray Juan de Aragon, Archbishop of adeuinos e sorceros e agureros e los que paran mientes en los suennos. (in
Toledo34 is among the medieval treatises on catechism that address the demand Lomax 223, fol.102r).
for clear explanations and rules. In it, he gives instructions to the clergy on how
Obviously, the theological concern regarding the possible demonic origin of
to preach the Christian doctrines by first explaining the Seven Sacraments, the
dreams is not a late medieval invention; the dichotomy between divine and
Decalogue, the Seven Sins, etc. Under the section concerning the First
demonic inspiration existed throughout the Middle Ages. Early medieval
Commandment, he condemns those who believe in dreams and other fonns of
penitentials36 include strict regulations and clear penalties administered for each
idolatry and superstitions:
individual sin. These docwnents reveal the survival of certain pagan elements in
the popular customs and beliefs. For example, in the Spanish Penitential of Silos
Primo ergo perceptum est, 'Non habebis deos alienos coram me, alii dii
non erunt tibi preter me.' Per quod preceptum prohibetur idolorum cultura (ea. 800), the Church's pronouncement against all fonns of divination is found in
et omnis supersticiosa confidentia in sortilegiis divinationibus et auguriis
sompniis et astrorum iudiciis nisi que ad naturales effectos et discretionem

uThc manuscript is located in the Escorial, ms. ~-iv-2, f.ols. 99v-103r, see Lomax 216.
33
Garcia y Garcia V, 177. 36
The books of penance are manuals used by priests when administering ecclesiastical penance.
They first appeared in Ireland and Wales, and extant copies date from the 61h century. These
l4 According to Lomax, the treatises was written betwcnn 1328 and 1334 when Juan de Arag6n
manuals were also used in Visighotic Spain by early 9m century. In John T. Mc Neill and Helena
was administrator of Tarragona (219), in Derck Lomax, "El catccismo de Albornoz," El cardenal M. Gamer, eds., Medieval Handbooks of Penance (New York: Columbia University Press, 1938)
Albornoz y el Colegio de Espaila, Studia Albornotiana Xl. vol. I (Bolonia: Publicaciones del Real 229.
Colegio de Espana, 1972): 215-233.
126 127

Section VII, which deals with sacrilegious ritesand includes divination by dreams. Concerned with the lack of Christian virtues among the believers, he presents the

The penance given to those Christians who practice or believe in it, is five years: different causes of dreams and their implication in human life. For the poet,
dreams arise primarily from within the individual, either from his daily thoughts

If any Christian pays respect to diviners, enchanters, or fortune tellers to or the process of eating: "del beuer del mesmo dia, / suenya desque es adonnido I
observe auguries, omens, or elements, or if they busy themselves with and desuarios, & ahWl sabido I es lo que el hombre tracto, I aquel dia lo sonyo, I assi
seek after consultations of writings, dreams. woolen work, or magical
practices, he shall do penance for five years. (in Mc Neill 288) le quedo imprimido" (87c-87h). This view coincides with the Aristotelian
psychobiological theory, where dreams are treated as purely internal phenomena
The ecclesiastical councils, the penitential books, and the manuals on catechism, and do not reveal higher truths. He then, reminds the reader that dreams can be
echo the constant objections, attacks and condemnations against illicit caused by external motives, such as demonic action. The slyness and deceptive
prognostication. For the medieval theologians only God can reveal the future to power of the oldest enemy of the Christian community make men believe that
the person he chooses; otherwise, any type of prophecy is discredited and believed their dreams are true and revelatory of the future, when, in fact, they are solely an
to have derived from diabolical inspiration. Similar ideas appear in contemporary illusion. The Devil, "el antiguo aduersario & enemigo I de todo el pueblo
literary works, where authors such as Pero L6pez de Ayala., partake in the crusade christiano" (88cd) presents the dreamer with false and vain dreams. But, Fernan
to shape and reinforce Christian beliefs. Perez de Guzman also draws a direct relation between the recipient's moral
position and the falsity or truthfulness of dreams. The demonic influence is a lot
2.5 Cancionero castellano del XV
stronger for those who have little faith in God: "basta que do ay locura I y poca fe,
Among Feman Perez de Guzman's poetic works, two are of special
la maldad/ junta con la auctoridad I faze vna falsa mixtura" (92e-92h).
interest to this study. De suenyos11 and La confesi6n rimada. 38 In the first poem
Nevertheless, there are revelatory dreams, such as those seen by Joseph,
he condemns the many abuses against the Catholic faith, paying particular
the Three Kings, and other saints (90-91). But only a few are granted this type of
attention to those who believe in dreams and revelations:
oneiric experience. Only those who are truly devoted Christians and attend

Entre muchas abusiones, diligently to God can easily discern between the divine and demonic origin of
diuersos yerros y varios, dreams:
ala fe asaz contrarios
por falsas opiniones,
que turban los cora~ones, Pero al que Dios acorre
es vna que le dire: con fe y con deuocion,
quien a los suenyos da fe & no se mueue ni corre
como alas reuelaciones. (86) sin pesada discrecion
faze muy grant distincion
de los sanctos que sonyaron,
11
All references to the stanzas are from Foulche-Delbosc, R., ed., Cancionero castel/ano del XV. a los beudos que bosaron
vol. I (Madrid: Casa Editorial Bailly-Bailliere, S.A., (1912) NBAE 19: 585-586. el vino con la vision. (93)
31
In Foulche-Delbosc, R., ed., Cancionero castellano de/ XV. vol. I (Madrid: Casa Editorial
Bailly-Bailliere, S.A., (1912) NBAE 19: 630-631.
 129
128
The treatment of dreams in 150!-century religious Spanish poetry, as presented by
Only those special individuals can be on guard against the Devil's temptation and
Perez de Guzman, follows the general skepticism found in didactic materials
fight the demonic attacks: "nin el diablo enxerir I jnmas puede sus enxertos, /
inherited from previous centuries. This negative view concerning dream
dunniendo ellos o despiertos /la virtud suelen seguir" (94e-94h). Thus, as in the
divination and which continued throughout the Middle Ages, echoes the moral
patristic tradition, there is a strong connection between a good life, lived with a
and religious criticism toward all types of prediction of the future.
clean conscience, discretion, and prudence and the clarity and veracity of dreams.
As discussed throughout this chapter, the Spanish medieval oneiric
God will reward virtuous Christians with divine dreams. He concludes with the
theories reflect the Western discourse on dreams. The very structure of the
following guiding words:
Spanish oneiric typology is identical to the simultaneously dual and hierarchical
system inherited from antique and late-antique authorities. The following scheme
Para fazer differencia
entre tales dos extremos, summarizes the medieval Spanish theological, medical, and philosophical oneiric
necessario es que vsemos
structure in relation to its Western sources:
de discrecion & prudencia;
ea infusion & influencia
dela sciencia diuina, Isidore (7th century) Gregory the Great
ala sanctitad se inclina
non a danyada consciencia. (96) external -ex revelatione -ex revelatione
-ex illusione -ex illusione
His second poem, Confesion rimada, is similar to the manuals of -ex cogitatione simul et -ex cogitatione simul et reve/atione:
revelatione;
catechism written by various ecclesiastical figures such as his uncle, the ex cogitatione simu/ et -ex cogitatione simul et il/usione
Chancellor Ayala, in his Rimado de Palacio. Perez de Guzman discusses the illusione
-•ex propia cogitatione • (this category doesn't appear in
importance of the Decalogue and starts with the First Commandment. As Gregory)
expected, according to the rule, one commits a sin if he believes in astrology, internal -ex ventris plentitudine; ex -ex ventris plentitudine; ex ventris
ventris inanitate inanitate
auguries, and dreams:

Aquel a dios ama que en Jas planetas Aquinas.

estrellas ni signos non ha confianya
nin teme fortuna nin de las cometas God/angels
God
rreyela que puede venir tribulanya demons
angels
nin pone en las aues su loca esperen9a demons heavenly bodies
nin da fe a suenos nin cuyda por suertes daily thoughts daily thoughts
desuiar peligros trabajos e muertes, bodily humors bodily stimulated
nin que por ventura bien ni mal se alcanya. (4)
 131
130
etc.). The medieval conception of dreams, as defined by Isidore, Llull, Arnald of
Villanova, Barrientos, Ciruelo, and by legal and religious documents, is central to
the study of dreams in Spanish medieval literature. The next chapter investigates
Lucidario (131h) Macrobius
the roles of dreams in various medieval texts and analyzes each oneiric account
external revelation visio
according to the most significant taxonomic schemes and theories.
vision oraculum
true dream somnium
waking thoughts visum
bodily hurnors; food/drink insomnium

Arnald of Villanova (13th/14th) Albertus Magnus and Macrobius

external visio visio

oraculum oraculum
somnium somnium
visum vis um
insomnium insomnium

Barrientos and Ciruelo (15111 and16 1h) Aguinas

external God/angels God/angels

Devil demons
heavenly bodies heavenly bodies
daily thoughts daily thoughts
bodily stimulated/4 humors bodily stimulated

The parallel between these systems of classification is their complex,

simultaneously dual and hierarchical structure that allows the existence of a
variety of oneiric experiences between the two opposed categories: internally- and
externally-caused dreams. The only difference is that some theorists focused their
attention on the origin of dreams (God/angels, Devil, heavenly bodies, etc.) while
other8 emphasized the possible types of dreams (visions, revelations, true dreams,