Myths and Dreams

"Myths and Dreams" by Edward Clodd is a study from the late 1800s linking ancient stories and nighttime visions to the way early humans tried to understand the world and themselves, revealing how those stories created beliefs about magic and the unseen. Analyzing cultures, Clodd shows similar thought patterns across different groups of people. The book starts by stressing myths and dreams as reflections of early human thinking and their attempts to understand and explain strange natural happenings. Instead of dismissing these stories as mere fantasies, the author portrays them as vital ways the ancients looked at the universe, focusing on the blurring in early times between what was alive and what wasn't, and how ancient people viewed the forces of nature.