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Do dreams carry any meaning? Does it foretell a future event? What do dreams mean, especially recurring unfavorable ones? What about sweet dreams or scarry dreams?

People frequent ask me but I am of not much help as this is not my area of expertise. In fact dreams interpretation is a separate skill by itself.

Recently I read a book on Chinese Medicine and there is a section on how dreams can assist in Chinese medical diagnosis. This is from a section in the Yellow Emperor's Medicine Classic called the Miraculous Pivot. I find it extremely interesting and I would like to share some of their findings with you.

The classic says that fearful dream is a result of lack of qi in the heart and gallbladder. It can also be due a prolonged illness or excessive anxiety.

Angry dream is caused by stagnation of qi in the liver and gallbladder or hardening of the liver. It can also be due to the presence of gallstones. Conversely, happy dream is due to the smooth flow of qi and indicate quick recovery even if you should fall sick.

Sad dream is due to deficiency of qi in the heart and lung, deficiency of yin in the liver for example with chronic liver disease and tuberculosis. Melancholic dream is due to imbalance in the liver and spleen.

What about dreams where you are continuous striving for something? This is due to reverse flow of qi in the liver and gallbladder and increasing yang in the liver for example with hypertension and poor food digestion.

Floating and falling in dreams are amongst the most common type of dreams. Floating dream is due to excess in the upper part of the body but deficiency in the lower parts like deficiency of the kidneys, excess phlegm or coronary heart disease. Falling dream is due to deficiency in the upper and excess in the lower part. This is often seen in water retention in the kidneys and deficiency of yang in the heart.

What if you dream of looking for food or water? Looking for food dream indicate a weak spleen and deficiency of yin in the stomach. If you dream of looking for water it can imply excessive yang and depletion of bodily fluids for example due to high fever or dehydration.

What about looking for toilet dream? According to the classic this dream is often caused by painful urination, inflammation of the intestines, poor digestion or diarrhea.

Finally what is the cause of the most serious form of dreams, sleep walking? It is most likely due to stagnation of qi in the liver or distractions!