Writing Dreams and the Self
Niall Boyce
February 10, 2026 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198878117.003.0013 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis |
|---|---|
| Population | The casebooks and dream accounts of English physician and astrologer Simon Forman (1552–1611) |
| Key points | Argues that Simon Forman's dream accounts were not simply records but a means of self-construction: by writing dreams down, Forman reconciled his waking and sleeping selves into a composite identity as a divinely inspired astrological physician, an act the chapter interprets through the concept of the 'extended mind'. |
Abstract
Abstract The casebooks of English physician and astrologer Simon Forman (1552–1611) provide rich material with which to explore the role that dreams played in the construction of the self in the early modern period. Forman’s dream accounts were an important part of his self-invention as a divinely inspired astrological physician. They are also illustrations of how Forman’s sense of selfhood, influenced by his spiritual and astrological beliefs, shaped his dream interpretation. This chapter’s approach is informed by the idea of the ‘extended mind’, in which cognition is conceptualized as occurring not only within the brain, but as manifest in the manipulation of the external, material world. The chapter proposes that Forman’s manuscripts were not simply records of his dreams, but a means through which he reconciled his waking and sleeping selves, using pen and paper to construct a composite self situated in the wider cosmos, and in communion with the divine.