The Terrors of the Night: Charms against the Nightmare and the Mythology of Dreams
Louise S. Milne
Incantatio An International Journal on Charms Charmers and Charming 2017 DOI: 10.7592/incantatio2017_6_milne (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Citations | 7 |
| Key points | Argues that a characteristic "nightmare package" of imagery recurs across charms, curses, and lullabies about disturbed sleep, and relates this mythos to belief-narratives about spiritual beings attacking sleepers and to charms meant to ward them off. The author also considers psychological explanations, such as the nightmare antagonist being a disguised avatar of the self. |
Abstract
This article takes a semiotic and structuralist approach to understanding the characteristic nightmare package of imagery, or image-constellation, which appears also in charms, curses and lullabies to do with disturbed sleep. Elements of the nightmare package – its mythos – is related to a spectrum of charms and related belief-narratives. Charms against the nightmare are investigated, as are sleep charms as representative of the nightmare narrative of threat coming close to fruition. Detail is provided on spiritual beings believed to attack the sleeper, as well as on charms as methods to ward off such attacks. Psychological explanations are considered, such as the nightmare antagonist being a disguised avatar of the self.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dreaming: a conceptual framework for philosophy of mind and empirical research | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Metaphor and hyperassociativity: the imagination mechanisms behind emotion assimilation in sleep and dreaming | 2015 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Varieties of Lucid Dreaming Experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Experimental Research on Dreaming: State of the Art and Neuropsychoanalytic Perspectives | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Neurobiology of Consciousness: Lucid Dreaming Wakes Up | 2009 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 4
- The Polish Nightmare Being (Zmora) and the Problem with Defining the Category of Supernatural Double-Souled Beings Folklore January 2, 2023
- The Motivating Drives behind Dreams and Nightmares in ancient Egypt According to Freud's Theory Bulletin of the Center Papyrological Studies November 1, 2020
- Sleep paralysis: at intersection of biology and folklore RUDN Journal of Studies in Literature and Journalism October 13, 2022
- "Ayenst trauelynge fendys by nyghte": Simple Medicines, Practical Innovation, and the Premodern Conceptualization of the Nightmare Preternature Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural August 24, 2022