For centuries society has been using dream interpretation to determine the meanings behind dreams. There are a lot of different theories about how to interpret dreams and what they mean. From the ancient Greeks and Egyptians to more modern psychological theories, the idea of interpreting dreams has been around a long time.

Dream interpretation started in ancient times when the Greeks and Egyptians believed that dreams were supernatural and only those with "certain powers" could decipher the meanings. The ancient Greeks tried to use dreams to cure their sick. Sick individuals were sent to temples called Asclepieions to incubate dreams. Incubating refers to the belief that one can will himself to dream a divine dream and thus cure himself of any ailments. The ancient Egyptians used priests to interpret dreams as it was believed dreams came from God.

In today's world most people refer to psychology to interpret dreams. Sigmund Freud believed that dreams were simply a visual representation of wish-fulfillment. Freud's works on understanding dreams, The Interpretation of Dreams, was published in 1899. He argued that dreams occurred the day after humans experienced a desire for an object or idea. According to Freud, children's dreams reflect exactly what they desire without the need to mask it with symbolism. Adults' dreams, however, become distorted. The original meaning of the dream is lost in imagery and symbolism making dream interpretation much harder.

Freud's theory on dream interpretation takes into account the ego and super-ego. The unconscious mind is thought to hold desires that never make it to the conscious mind thus emerging in dreams. Because the unconscious does not necessarily want the waking mind or the conscious mind to know its true desires, the dreams' original "latent content" is hidden using symbols and other images to represent the true desire.

Freud's former student, Carl Jung, disagreed somewhat with Freud's theories on dream interpretation citing them as "simplistic and naive." Jung believed that dreams could represent some wish-fulfilment, but also represented attitudes held by the unconscious that the conscious mind was not aware of. He felt that it would be difficult to thoroughly interpret someone's dreams without understanding what they were experiencing in life at that moment, since people's attitudes can change based on their current situation.

Calvin S. Hall offered a different meaning to dreams. He felt that dreams were a collection of thoughts or just one thought that occurred during sleep. Dreams would be a representation of this person's perception of that thought or group of thoughts.

Yet another opinion on dream interpretation comes from Ann Faraday who in the 1970s published several books on dream interpretation and how to do-it-yourself. Faraday believed that dreams served as warnings of future events or prophecies.

People today seek meanings to their dreams often. Many people feel that there is definite meaning to their dreams and often find guidance in this meaning. There are many published books on dream interpretation that help individuals determine what their dreams mean according to the symbols in the dreams. In addition to books there are several websites and blogs dedicated to dream interpretation.