In this episode of Musings on Mysteries and the Mythical Matrix, the Psych & Spirit series dives into the world of dreams—where science, myth, and spirit collide.

What really happens when we dream? Is it random brain noise—or messages from something deeper? 

🧠 In this surreal journey, we explore:
🔹 The stages of sleep and what they do to your mind
🔹 Brainwave states and how they shape consciousness
🔹 Freud’s wish-fulfillment vs. Jung’s symbolic archetypes
🔹 The Activation-Synthesis and AIM models of dreaming
🔹 Mythological dreamers from Gilgamesh to Joseph to Etana
🔹 The strange frontier of lucid dreaming and altered brain states
🔹 And sleep paralysis—just hallucination, or a glimpse of another realm?

💭 From neurochemistry to ancient texts, this episode connects REM cycles to spiritual symbolism—and hints that our dreams might be more real than we think.

⚠️ Don't sleep on this one. You're about to awaken to the deeper dream.

🎙️ Follow for the full Psych & Spirit series and share your weirdest dream below.

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Episode Sources:

Baird, B., Mota-Rolim, S. A., & Dresler, M. (2019). The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 100, 305–323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev. 2019.03.008
Bulkeley, K. (2020, March 23). Jung’s theory of dreams: A reappraisal. Psychology Today. https:// www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/dreaming-in-the-digital-age/202003/jung-s-theory-dreams-reappraisal-0
Cherry, K. (2025, April 16). How does the activation-synthesis model explain dreams? VeryWell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-activation-synthesis-model-of-dreaming-279 4812
Cleveland Clinic. (2024, July 3). Sleep paralysis. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/ 21974-sleep-paralysis
Deng, Q., Wu, C., Parker, E., Zhu, J., Liu, T. C., Duan, R., & Yang, L. (2024). Mystery of gamma wave stimulation in brain disorders. Molecular Neurodegeneration, 19(1), 96. https://doi. org/10.1186/s13024-024-00785-x
Farooq, M., & Anjum, F. (2023). Sleep paralysis. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK562322/
Fernandez-Ruiz, A., Sirota, A., Lopes-Dos-Santos, V., & Dupret, D. (2023). Over and above frequency: Gamma oscillations as units of neural circuit operations. Neuron, 111(7), 936–953. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2023.02.026
Jawabri, K. H., & Raja, A. (2023). Physiology, sleep patterns. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK551680/
McLeod, S. (2024, January 24). Sigmund Freud dream theory. Simply Psychology. https://www. simplypsychology.org/sigmund-freud-dream-theory.html#Freuds-Interpretation-of-Dreams
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. (2025, February 25). Brain basics: Understanding sleep. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/public-education/ brain-basics/brain-basics-understanding-sleep
Nayak, C. S., & Anilkumar, A. C. (2023). EEG normal waveforms. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK539805/
NeuroHealth. (n.d.). The science of brainwaves - the language of the brain. https://nhahealth.com/ brainwaves-the-language/
Suni, E. (2023, December 8). Stages of sleep: What happens in a sleep cycle. Sleep Foundation. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/stages-of-sleep#:~:text=You%20spend%20the%20most%20time,spent%20in%20REM%20sleep%20instead.

Dalley, Stephanie, translator. Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others. Oxford University Press, 2000. Amazon Affiliate link to purchase the book: https://amzn.to/4h01jdc    
 
SUPPLEMENTAL Brain Facts. (n.d.). 3D brain. https://www.brainfacts.org/3d-brain#intro=true