Dreams have long been used for religious and political power

For most of recorded history dreams were considered divine in origin

The first venture into modern dream interpretation may have been when ancient Greek philosopher Heracleitus proposed dreams were created within the mind. In the late 1800s, the rise of psychoanalysis theorized that dreams content revealed truths about one's psyche, while the invention of the electroencephalogram linked dreams to brain functions.

What do your dreams mean, according to science

Humans have been interpreting dreams as signs from deities, spirits, or the psyche for ages, and research shows that reflecting on and analyzing one's dreams can be beneficial. In alignment with dreams' elusive nature, they have no objective or clearly assigned meaning. However, variations of common dreams, such as a surprise exam in a forgotten class, are rife with shared primal fears.

Fantasy is heavily influenced by myths, legends, and folk tales

In fantasy, anything is possible, mirroring the supernatural worlds of history’s earliest stories. The narrative voice of fantasy is often similar to early tales, too, with an affinity for the magisterial rather than the contemporary.

Researchers believe the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and plans for the future during dream states

The hippocampus plays a central role in dreaming

It's theorized that the hippocampus—a brain structure involved with memory formation and the simulation of imagined and novel scenarios using those memories—plays a major role in dreaming. Studies of people with damaged hippocampi show that they still dream, but their dreams lack the richness of detail described by others.

We dream for around two hours each night, on average

Every night we lie down to rest, we spend about two hours traveling through seemingly real experiences as dreams bubble up from our subconscious during various phases of sleep. Despite the ubiquity of the experience, where dreams come from—and what their purpose is—remains largely unanswered.

Ghosts can work as powerful literary devices

Noteworthy American novels like Toni Morrison’s "Beloved" tell us how spirits help deliver information and greater truths unknown to the characters. Wondering about our souls is common in literature, and the phantoms in these tales offer a unique way of contemplating the complicated experience of being human.

Dreaming under the Nazi Regime

Days after Hitler seized power, a man told psychoanalyst Charlotte Beradt that he had dreamed of being forced to raise his arm in a Nazi salute ("It took me half an hour to get my arm up, inch by inch"). Beradt recorded this dream and many others so they "might one day serve as evidence." This is an English translation of her work, "The Third Reich of Dreams."

Why mythologist Joseph Campbell loved 'Star Wars'

Joseph Campbell, the literature professor who wrote about the power of mythology, suggested that "Star Wars" was a powerful modern myth that used classic archetypes to communicate a universal message.

Studies of psychedelic use may help shed light on the nature of consciousness

The nature of consciousness—what it is, where it comes from, and how it manifests as moment-to-moment experience—remains under debate by scientists. Recent studies show psychedelics were found to boost low-frequency brain signals known as delta waves, a behavior also seen during dream states.

The dragon has been central to Chinese culture since ancient times

One of the most recognizable symbols in Chinese culture, the dragon is known as a mighty yet often benevolent creature. The dragon is capable of interacting with gods in the heavens; it can turn invisible, shape-shift, and control the weather. These features made the mythological creature hugely significant to the Chinese people because if they could summon dragons, other aspects of their life could improve.

The prophetic Oracle of Delphi held real power in ancient Greece

It was said to have a direct line to Apollo, the Greek god of various domains, including music and prophecy. The oracle was believed to be the most important job in the city and could only be held by women. After years of training, oracles-to-be would be assessed to see if they could become the Pythia—the single oracle who would communicate Apollo's will.

The global practice of public speaking

The epic "Gilgamesh and Aga," which dates back to 1900-1600 BCE, features a speech by the Mesopotamian hero Gilgamesh in which he tries to convince his city's all-male assembly to agree to fight an invading army. Surviving records indicate many ancient cultures, including those in China, India, and North America, had rich public speaking traditions, at least some of which survived time and colonization.

Stonehenge has produced wild origin stories

Built before the wheel was invented, Stonehenge inspired increasingly fantastical explanations—from a 12th-century tale of Merlin and Nephilim giants to 1960s claims that aliens built it alongside the pyramids.

Why dystopian literature remains popular

Yale English professor Joe Cleary argues that dystopian literature’s continued relevance is due to a torrent of additional societal anxieties and that the streaming adaptations of dystopian classics "The Handmaid’s Tale" and "The Man in the High Castle" have expanded the genre’s popularity, introducing new audiences to its tropes.

Near-death experiences bear similarities to the tradition of religious visions

Near-death experiences are often associated with Christian concepts such as heaven or angels, but people of all faiths (or lack thereof) have reported these events. This in-depth piece by Professor Atif Khalil examines the intersections of religion and science and the common elements in Western, often Christian, experiences with those of Eastern religions such as Islam and Buddhism.

For the medievals, the moon was a versatile religious symbol

Within the distinct traditions of Christianity and Islam, the moon became a central metaphor and sign for religious teaching. For Christians, its light was used to explain Jesus' humanity with the light of the sun (divinity). For Muslims, the moon represented a cosmic longing for god.

A Maya creation myth begins with dwarfs

In the Popol Vuh—a foundational Maya creation text from Guatemala—an early age is marked by dwarves gifted with great vision and intellect. Their hubris led to destruction by flood, after which humans were created from corn with deliberately limited sight.

A quote by Florence Nightingale

"Poetry and imagination begin life."

The medieval meaning of your birthstone

Medieval people viewed birthstones very differently from modern jewelry marketing. Rather than simply being decorative, gems were believed to possess extraordinary magical, medical, and mystical powers. This article breaks down some fascinating insights into medieval gemstone beliefs, including that diamonds could fend off insanity and nightmares.

The role stories play in mass economic trends like bitcoin, crashes

Economics is dominated by numbers, but stories play a huge role in the emotional shifts seen within macroeconomic trends. For example, bitcoin is not just a cost-benefit winner, but a compelling tale of decentralization and independence. This is a 20-minute summary of Nobel prize-winning economist Robert Shiller's "Narrative Economics."

Langston Hughes poems inspired Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream'

In 1959, King wrote to Hughes, saying, "I can no longer count the number of times and places … in which I have read your poems." Scholars believe that Hughes' words—particularly his poems "Harlem" and "I Dream a World"—inspired King's most famous speech, "I Have a Dream."

Some believe 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' is a political allegory

Although Baum claimed his book was intended as a simple children's story, scholars challenged that notion. One high school history teacher, Henry Littlefield, began teaching the book as a satire of the Gilded Age and published an essay inspiring other scholars to consider the text as a politically charged allegory.

Human sacrifice reinforced Aztec political control and religious belief

The Aztecs controlled a vast territory through military might and intimidation. One very key tactic of control was the ritual of human sacrifice. While an effective scare tactic, the ritual was also grounded in deeply held beliefs that the world was sustained by blood.

High-quality sleep is effectively a superpower

Sleep is critical to maintaining healthy biological functions. From restoring energy to consolidating memories, aiding immune system functions and balancing hormone production, optimizing sleep habits are one of the most important ingredients to healthy living.

Memes can influence politics and culture

Although internet memes are typically considered trivial and humorous, they're also powerfully persuasive political tools used to convey mainstream ideas.

The power and influence of the American presidency have expanded significantly over time—far beyond what the founders envisioned.

The Dracula character, now seen as the vampire archetype, was inspired by a seafood-induced nightmare its creator experienced.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, and became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

Learn more about the history of fireworks, which dates back to an accidental invention during an alchemist's quest for information about immortality.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

The first robot in literature may have been a 'mechanical man' in 1907's 'Ozma of Oz,' a book in L Frank Baum's 'Wizard of Oz' series.

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

A small portion of The Winstons' 'Amen, Brother,' an obscure '60s gospel record, is the basis for thousands of hip-hop tracks, making it one of the most sampled records ever that's informally known as 'the Amen break.'