Synesius of Cyrene was a fifth-century Greek convert to Christianity who eventually became a bishop of the Church. He wrote a relatively short work, On Dreams, that was perhaps the best book of its kind to be written by one of the church fathers. Synesius had a high opinion of dreams, reputedly even receiving editorial assistance during sleep.
Synesius believed that dreams were capable of lifting the human spirit to the higher spheres, there to acquire a deeper understanding of cosmic mysteries as well as spiritual upliftment. Synesius even encouraged using dreams for divination, although he warned against relying on dream dictionaries because each human being is unique. Finally, well in advance of his time, Synesius recommended keeping a dream diary, which he referred to as a "night book."
The Dream Encyclopedia. 1995 ©Visible Ink Press (VisibleInkPress.com). All rights reserved.
