Abstract
Dreams are sequences of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Far beyond merely reflecting physical or emotional symptoms, dreams are regarded as revealing crucial insights into a patient’s inner self. The symbolic nature of dreams allows homeopaths to understand psychological messages, making them a powerful tool in choosing the most fitting remedy. Analyzing recurring dream themes can aid in understanding a person’s underlying issues, thus guiding personalized treatment in homeopathy.
Keywords– Homoeopathy, Dreams, Case taking, Rubrics, Compensations
Introduction
Dreams typically occur during the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage of sleep, dreams can vary in length from a handful of seconds up to half an hour. Their occurrence is connected with memory and emotion processes controlled by the midbrain. The scientific investigation of dreams is known as “Oneirology”. Dreams offer windows into unconscious thought, sometimes revealing aspects of personality, unresolved conflicts, or suppressed desires. Although most dreams slip from memory, those carrying intense emotional weight—such as fear or anxiety—are often vividly retained. When dreams recur, they may point to unresolved internal struggles, and recognizing these patterns can help homeopaths identify the root causes of illness during case analysis. Therefore, dreams often become essential symptoms when selecting a remedy based on the principle of similarity.
Dream And Homoeopathic Case Taking-
- To comprehend the patient’s psychology: A person’s dreams serve as a conduit for hearing signals from their innermost thoughts.
- To understand the patient’s constitution: Constitutional analysis, which helps doctors identify treatments that enhance a patient’s overall health profile, is based on this thorough assessment.
- To determine a person’s emotional state: Dreams are viewed in homeopathy as the innermost part of a person’s psyche, providing information about repressed feelings, dislikes, and desires that helps with case analysis and remedy selection.
- To comprehend the case’s miasmatic background—
-Very vivid dreams that seem to be awake or unhappy, fearful, anxious, annoying, or lewd are known as latent psora dreams.
– Sad, frightening, nervous, and lewd nightmares are examples of psoric dreams. The patient has vivid dreams, as though they were real.
-Sexual fantasies are a feature of sycotic dreams.
-Dreams about syphilis are violent, filled with death, devastation, and ominous forebodings.
-Travel is a common theme in tubercular and pseudopsoric nightmares [2]
- To understand Rubrics for Repertorization: The patient’s dreams are regarded as significant symptoms, and these are transformed into Repertarization Rubrics. Therefore, the most similar solution can be identified.
- To Bypass Compensations– The patient’s compensated state determines their conscious state. The process of redirecting unsuitable thoughts and actions toward more advantageous or socially acceptable results is known as compensation. Violent dreams show that a person’s internal pain and external tranquility are both false.[3]
Usefulness of Dreams In Prescription-
A comprehensive examination of the patient’s life is the first step in homeopathic treatment. The homeopath frequently asks about dreams during the first consultation, particularly nightmares, recurring dreams, notable prior dreams, and childhood dreams.
– In the majority of situations, dreams have been shown to be useful therapeutic markers for choosing the best course of treatment.
– Allen Keynote’s dream remedies are included and some of the first-grade remedies in Kent’s common repertory shown in Tables No. 1 and No. 2.
Table No-1: First-grade remedies for dreams in Kent’s Repertory[4]
| RUBRICS | MEDICINES |
| Accidents | Arsenicum, Graphites |
| Amorous | Ammonium mur., Natrum carb., etc. |
| Anger and quarrels | Nux vomica |
| Anxious | Aconite, Alumina, etc. |
| Business | Nux vomica, Rhus toxicodendron |
| Confused | Pulsatilla |
| Of the dead | Arsenicum, Magnesia carb., Thuja |
| Death | Lachesis |
| Difficulties | Ammonium mur., Arsenicum |
| Illness or disease | Nux vomica |
| Previous day’s events | Bryonia |
| Falling | Belladonna, Thuja |
| Journeys | Kali nitricum |
| Mental exertion | Ignatia, Nux vomica |
| Nightmares | Paeonia, Sulphur |
| Wandering outdoors | Rhus toxicodendron |
| Robbers | Alumina, Magnesia carb., Natrum mur. |
| Thirst | Natrum mur. |
| Unpleasant experiences | Sulphur |
| Worrying or vexation | Asarum, Graphites, Sulphur |
| Vivid imagery | Anacardium, Aurum |
Table No.2:- Allen Keynotes’ Dreams Symptoms[5]
| SYMPTOM | MEDICINES |
| Waking up happy and singing | Sulphur |
| Dreaming of unquenchable thirst | Natrum mur., Medorrhinum |
| Great effort or struggle | Rhus toxicodendron |
| Dreams of robbery occurring at home, disbelief persists on waking | Natrum mur., Psorinum |
| Nocturnal emission with sexual dreams | Dioscorea, Staphysagria |
| Forgetting things in waking life, then dreaming of those forgotten details | Selenium |
| Dreams involving conflict or quarrels | Malandrinum |
| Fighting in one’s sleep | Magnetis polus australis |
| Repeating strenuous activities in dreams: swimming, working hard | Rhus toxicodendron, Bryonia alba |
| Continual thirst, even in dreams they are drinking | Medorrhinum |
| Night terrors in children with symptoms like teeth grinding, screaming, and inconsolable fear | Kali bromatum, Silicea |
| Children suddenly wake up frightened, grabbing the sides of the bed, with no obvious cause | Borax, Cina, Stramonium, Apis mellifica |
Conclusion – Dreams play an important role in the sleep cycle and are used as important symptoms during case taking and prescription of similar medicines. Dreams were produced in provers during drug proving. Dreams of a person tell about the mental state of that person because they reflect unconscious drives and aspirations. Dreams play a vital role in homeopathy, serving as valuable clues for determining constitutional remedies. Integrating dream analysis with other diagnostic approaches enhances individualized care and advances the holistic nature of homeopathic healing
References-
- Bikash Biswas, Sanjukta Mandal & Madhumita Nath. (2021). Dreams and Its Interpretation and Applicability in Homoeopathy. IAR J Med Sci, 2(3), 31-41
- Debnath N, Das K. Dreams: Scope & limitations of its use in clinical aspects of homeopathy. International Journal of Homoeopathic Sciences. 2023;7(3):97-100
- Kohli DV. HOMOEOPATHY AND DREAMS | Homeopathy | Spirit India [Internet]. Spirit India. 2013 [cited 2025 Feb 1]. Available from: https://spiritindia.com/homoeopathy-dreams/
- Admin. Importance of Dream rubrics in Kent’s Repertory [Internet]. Homeopathy Resource by Homeobook.com. 2021 [cited 2025 Feb 1]. Available from: https://www.homeobook.com/importance-of-dreams-rubrics-in-kents-repertory/
- Allen HC. Keynotes and Characteristics with Comparison, 4th Indian ed., Calcutta: Roy Publishers house; c1997.
