The Oneirocritica is a five volume work of the Greek Artemidorus (second century A.D.) which is the first significant published work on dreams.

Artemidorus wrote that:

• a dream was unique to the individual.
• dream is underlined with the principle of association - a dream image evokes some image or meaning in the conscious mind.
• stated that dreams are infused into men for their advantages and instruction

Dreams and Health:

Interestingly,Hippocrates the reknown physician (460B.C. -360B.C.) felt that the stars, moon and sun represented the organic state of the body in a dream. He felt that if dream stars shine brightly and follow their natural orbit, the dreamer’s body is functioning normally. If dream stars become clouded or fall from their orbit or a cosmic catastrophe occurs, some disease is taking shape in the body.

Prodromic dreams(other names like precognitive, prophetic, prognostic and theorematic) are those that reflect symptoms of an illness just before they actually manifest in the body. Hippocrates deduced that certain dream images of health such as white clothing, bright stars, radiant sunshine or mightly rivers, could be used to restore health. He based this approach on the accuracy of these Prodromic dreams.