Dreams in religion

In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Helios (; ; Homeric Greek: ) is the god who personifies the Sun. His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyperion ("the one above") and Phaethon ("the shining"). Helios is often depicted in art with a radiant crown and driving a horse-drawn chariot through the sky. He was a guardian of oaths and also the god of sight. Though Helios was a relatively minor deity in Classical Greece, his worship grew more prominent in late antiquity thanks to his identification with several major solar divinities of the Roman period, partic

In Greek mythology, Hypnos (; Ancient Greek: , 'sleep'), also spelled Hypnus, is the personification of sleep. The Roman equivalent is Somnus. His name is the origin of the word hypnosis. Pausanias wrote that Hypnos was the dearest friend of the Muses.

thumb|Morpheus, painted by Jean-Bernard Restout Morpheus ( 'Fashioner', derived from , meaning 'form, shape') is a god associated with sleep and dreams. In Ovid's Metamorphoses he is the son of Somnus (Sleep, the Roman counterpart of Hypnos) and appears in dreams in human form. From the Middle Ages, the name began to stand more generally for the god of dreams, or of sleep.

thumb|Dreamcatcher, Royal Ontario Museum thumb|An ornate, contemporary, nontraditional dreamcatcher

thumb|272x272px|Phantasos on the western corner of the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts by Robert Henze In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Phantasos (, 'apparition' 'fantasy' from , phantasíā, 'appearance' 'imagination') is one of the thousand sons of Somnus (Sleep, the Roman counterpart of Hypnos). He appeared in dreams in the form of inanimate objects, putting on "deceptive shapes of earth, rocks, water, trees, all lifeless things".

Japanese supernatural beings

Supposed paranormal phenomenon

religious practice of sleeping in a sacred area with the intention of experiencing a divinely inspired dream or cure

In Japanese culture, a is the first dream one has in the new year. Traditionally, the contents of such a dream would foretell the luck of the dreamer in the ensuing year. In Japan, the night of December 31 was often passed without sleeping, so the hatsuyume is often experienced during the night of January 1; the day after the night of the "first dream" is also known as the hatsuyume. This day is January 2 in the Gregorian calendar, but was different in the traditional Japanese calendar.

300px|thumb|Sinmara (1893) by Jenny Nyström In Norse mythology, Sinmara is a gýgr (giantess), usually considered a consort to the fiery jötunn Surtr, the lord of Muspelheim. Sinmara is attested solely in the poem Fjölsvinnsmál, where she is mentioned alongside Surtr in one (emended) stanza, and described as keeper of the legendary weapon Lævateinn in a later passage. Assorted theories have been proposed about the etymology of her name, and her connection with other figures in Norse mythology.

Tibetan meditation practice

mesopotamian deity of dreams

name given to a supernatural creature, used to explain the phenomenon of sleep paralysis

Inguma (Mauma in Baigorri) is the god of dreams in Basque mythology and religion. He is regarded as a malevolent force who enters houses at night and plagues residents with nightmares, sometimes killing them. He is mentioned in Ofrenda a la tormenta (Offering to the Storm), the third film in the Baztán trilogy by Dolores Redondo.