Have you ever experienced a "ghost press"?
Sometimes I am asleep, and suddenly I wake up, but my body can't move, my eyes can't open, and I can't shout if I want to... It was like a year, and the sense of fear soared.
I was afraid to wake up and see this scene:
Don't be afraid, you're just a nightmare.
And what is the nightmare? In the eyes of the ancients, this is a kind of ghost related to dreams. Today we will talk about the gods and monsters related to dreams.
01 Your dreams are controlled by the God of Dreams
To dream, you first have to fall asleep. In Greek mythology, all the dream gods are the sons of the god of sleep, and their team size is very confusing, I don't know how many brothers there are. Many myths and stories include their dragon suits, such as Zeus, who sent the god of dreams to convey an oracle to the commander of the Greek coalition army, encouraging him to provoke the Trojan War.
Trojan War
Image source: mythencyclopedia.com
The ancient Greeks believed that in the state of sleeping and dreaming, people are infinitely close to death, so the nest of the dream gods, dreamland, is connected to the underworld. There are two gates, made of rhinoceros horns and ivory, and good dreams and nightmares separate from these two doors.
When the dream god appears in people's dreams, it will appear different according to the division of labor. For example, For example, Fabbertol, who is responsible for delivering nightmares, appears in the form of scary beasts and monsters; Fontassos, who brings people bizarre dreams, is good at transforming into mountains, stones, grasses and trees; and Morps can transform into the appearance of anyone, so it is the best choice for dreams.
Forbertol
Image source: gods-and-demons.fandom.com
There is a famous story in Greek mythology that "Xiu'en love was struck by lightning": the little couple of Kelius and Alcuone, usually like glue, call each other "Zeus" and "Hera". The result annoyed the real Zeus, who took advantage of the voyage of The Universe to sink the ship with thunder and drown him.
When Alcuone did not hear from her husband, she prayed every day, and when the queen of heaven, Hera could not bear to look at it, she sent an emissary to the god of dreams, asking him to report the funeral. So the dream god Morps transformed into the form of a Keryux, and to dreamed to Alcuone, telling her that he was dead. When Alcuone woke up, he was heartbroken and martyred.
Hera sent an emissary (Iris, the rainbow goddess) to the dream god Morps, asking him to send a message to Alcuone. Image source: pinterest
02 What's going on with the ghost press?
Although the ancient Greeks believed that dreamland was close to the underworld, their dreams were always managed by the gods. In more places, dreams are thought to be related to ghosts, which can be collectively referred to as "nightmares." The "ghost press" we talked about at the beginning is a kind of nightmare.
In German folklore, the nightmare "Arp" will be invisible, often "sneaking into the night with the wind", sitting on people's chests, making people have nightmares. Even if the victim wakes up halfway, he will be unable to move because he is pressed by Arp.
The famous oil painting "Nightmare" by the British painter Henry Fosselli depicts the nightmare squatting on a sleeping person. In British legend, demons ride mares in the dark of night, so a black horse's head is revealed behind the curtain in the painting. Perhaps because of this painting, the "Nightmare Beast" that appears in some games today has the image of a dark horse (with flames).
British painter Henry Fosselli's oil painting "Nightmare"
There are many nightmares that like to do this, such as Turkey's "Kalabasan", who will be targeted if they do not cover the quilt when they sleep, or eat in bed before going to bed.
And the Swedish nightmare "Mara", in addition to the ghost press, will also make the victim's hair tangled together and knotted into a knot that cannot be combed... Emmm, so it seems that the Swedish nightmare is not even as powerful as the little marquee's roar.
Say so half a day, have you found that the nightmare that causes the "ghost press" has one thing in common: pressed on the chest, making people breathless.
There is a certain basis for reality, and it is not necessarily the nightmare that weighs on you, but —
Your cat!
Mom, I'm having nightmares again!
Image source network
What you wake up to might be this scene:
Just ask if you're afraid!
In addition to ghost presses, problems such as spring dreams and unmarried pregnancies will also be blamed on nightmares.
More than 2,000 years AGO, in the legend of the Two Rivers Valley, there are male and female nightmares, who will enter the dreams of the opposite sex and have relations with them. In South America, chile's nightmares are ugly dwarfs who can harm little girls and are the culprits of unmarried pregnancies; people in the Amazon rainforest also believe that the Amazon pufferfish will turn into handsome men at night and seduce young girls in their dreams, but they usually wear a hat to cover the air holes on the top of their heads.
Well, it turns out that not only frogs can become princes, but even puffer fish can!
Amazon Pufferfish: What, my beauty doesn't match?
Image source: wikipedia
Other nightmares are more sinister, such as the legendary "Ingmar" at the junction of France and Spain, which not only spreads nightmares, but also kills sleeping people. The nightmare "Pori", which circulates in northeast India, will eat away at people's health and make people suicidal.
In modern scientific interpretation, the former can correspond to diseases such as sudden myocardial infarction in sleep, while the latter is a symptom of depression.
03 Dream tapir, swallow the nightmare in one bite
Nightmares are so terrible that people naturally want to have fewer nightmares. Therefore, in some places, there are also gods and monsters guarding dreams.
In the pre-Qin period of China, folklore has characters who can swallow nightmares. Qin Jian's "Book of The Day" records that if people have nightmares, they will wake up and pray to "Wanqi", ask him to eat the nightmares, and give people well-being. In the Tang Dynasty "Bai Ze Jing Monster Diagram" unearthed in Dunhuang, this nightmare-eating elf is called "Birch".
It is recorded in the "Bai Ze JingWei Tu" that people have nightmares at night, and when they rise, Yu Shebei is blessed: "Birch Birch, do not drink alcohol and eat the song (that is, the word "meat"), often eat happily, and his nightmares belong to Birch, wear dreams, and rejoice." "So seven curses, no blame either."
The "Birch Dream Eater" later spread to Japan and gave birth to a new trick - the Japanese people combined it with another Chinese mythical beast, the "Tapir (mò)", to create the "Dream Eating Tapir".
Tapirs by the 18th-19th century Japanese painter Katsushika Hokusai
In ancient Chinese literature, scholars are still debating the exact animal that the name corresponds to, and scholars are still debating the appearance of the "tapir". The Japanese people also can't figure out what it looks like, and in 17th-century Japanese manuscripts, it is depicted as a fantasy creature with an elephant trunk, rhinoceros eyes, oxtail, and tiger claws.
A tapir in a Japanese temple
Until the 20th century, the legend of tapir food dreams has become very popular, its image has been basically determined, and now, it usually appears in the form of a real animal, the Malay tapir.
Coincidentally, there are some for sale in our museum.
Click on the image above to purchase the Dream Tapir
Today, many families in Japan have the habit of placing dream tapir statuettes at the head of their children's beds. If you are awakened by a nightmare, you can ask the dream tapir to eat the nightmare. However, they cannot be summoned when there is no nightmare, and if they come hungry and have no nightmare to eat, they will eat up people's hopes.
04 How to dream unscientifically?
Legends around the world not only find causes and solutions to nightmares, but also provide some ways to dream. Here are four ways to dream, so hurry up and get superstitious (bushi).
Sand people: Sand eyes, help dreams
In Western and Northern Europe, there is a legend of the sand people, which is said to sprinkle magical sand on people's eyes after people fall asleep, helping people to dream. When you wake up in the morning, if your eyes are inflamed and itchy, you have visited by a sand person last night.
In the movie "Guardian League", there are also sand people who guard dreams
Image source: Guardians Alliance
Dream grass, dream flower: place under the pillow
Legend has it that there are some plants that have a dream-inducing effect. In the Han Dynasty of China, there was a saying of "dream grass", and it is said that if you carry this blade of grass on your body, you can dream about the people you want to see. Emperor Wudi of Han missed the late Lady Li, and Dongfang Shuo offered a branch of dream grass, and Emperor Wu of Han cherished this grass, and when he really saw Lady Li dreaming, he renamed it "Huai Dream Grass".
Dream grass is a legendary species, and in reality, there is another plant fragrant nicknamed "dream flower", folk have the incense flower under the pillow, smell the incense can be a good dream.
You read that right, it's the incense, the one who "asked again about suicide"!
Fragrant
Image source: Figureworm Creative
Dream Pillow: Huang Liang a dream
Tang Dynasty novel "Pillow In the Book", written depressed scholar Lu Mou, met a Taoist priest in the Handan Inn, the Taoist borrowed him a porcelain pillow, Lu Sheng pillow fell asleep, had a beautiful dream, in the dream soared yellow tengda life, and when he woke up from the dream, found that Fang had only slept for a moment, and the yellow sorghum rice in the inn was not yet cooked.
This is the origin of the idiom "a dream of yellow sorghum". The image of the "dream pillow" was later used repeatedly in literary works.
Hebei Handan "Huangliang Dream" sculpture mural
Dreamcatcher: Filter nightmares and capture beautiful dreams
The Indians of North America had a traditional craft that was woven into a small circular net of branches, leather, and beef tendon thread, decorated with feathers and colored beads. In Indian legend, hanging this small net on the head of the bed automatically filters nightmares and catches good dreams.
Dreamcatcher Net
Scientific, unscientific, we have all told you, for your sleep I tried my best. Finally, I wish you a good dream tonight
Written by | Han Xiaoyang
WeChat Editor | What a cool
This article was originally published in the April 2017 issue of Naturalist magazine