Author Anthony Shafton presented information in this fascinating article at a regional conference with the Association for the Study of Dreams and the Sancta Sophia Seminary in Sparrow Hawk Village, Tahlequah, Oklahoma - my home town! I can't believe I missed it!
Although a research survey that Shafton conducted concluded that a lower percentage of Black than White individuals believe in predictive dreaming, actual interviews with Black individuals including an African-American history scholar revealed that
African-Americans primarily associate dreams with predictive qualities more than the white population does.
Shafton further states that "there is an old prejudice of white psychiatry which says that African-Americans are not "psychologically-minded." According to psychoanalyst Barbara Pulliam, the reality is that African-Americans are "especially good" at applying interpretive skills to dreams.
The article goes on to discuss African-American culture and dreams in literature as well as several of the interviews that Shafton conducted. Through folklore, he learned that predictive dreaming was "taken for granted" within the Black community during slavery.
Shafton cites Gayle Delaney's "Living Your Dreams", which I've recently read and will soon be reviewing for you. Mary Chinkwita's The Usefulness of Dreams is now difficult to obtain. Malawi Update offers a review.
Shafton concludes that the majority of African-Americans give credence to predictive dreams and that this has a spiritual, rather than psychic, foundation. This is fascinating reading, and there's also a fun poke at Dionne Warwick's Psychic Friends Network.
May all your dreams come true!
Parthena Black is a professional social worker and ordained minister with experience in tarot and runes. For private spiritual counseling and intuitive readings via e-mail, please visit her at oymygoddess.com.
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