Fifth Lecture

But what is a person actually doing during this 'dream life'? When dreams occur in normal life, these dreams are not the actual activity during sleep, but are actually a visualization of the activity through the memories of ordinary life. The images of dream life arise because life spreads its tapestry over the actual inner activity; and in this way many things are perceived in 'dream life'. There the I and the astral body are in a living activity; when this touches the etheric body and the human being touches the etheric body, the dream arises. But the dream uses the physical life memories from the etheric body to make visible the invisible activity of the ego and the astral body. Therefore, one can only understand the dream if one takes these images in terms of their character sequence, that is, if one learns to understand these images. “Dreams must first be read in the right way, the right art of interpretation must first be added. Then, however, they point to this most significant reality, which is carried out by the ego and the astral body during sleep. This activity, then, which the human being carries out, is revealed to serious and dignified spiritual research.