Traum und Traumdeutung in den christlichen Apokryphen

The present work deals with dreams and their (meaning) meaning in the Christian Apocrypha. Texts that describe dreams or deal with them are listed, the individual writings briefly presented. Dreams often appear as literary means of creation. Nevertheless The ancient authors are mostly ambivalent, sometimes even negative, and particularly symbolic or embellished dreams are rare. Three dream texts are exegetically examined in detail and interpreted in terms of depth psychology. It is shown that modern dream interpretation theory can be applied to ancient texts and that the unconscious is also reflected in (merely) literary dreams. The aim is to gain an insight into the mental state of early Christians. A central observation is e.g. B. that writings with a strong ascetic orientation convey dreams in which sexually charged motifs are encountered.