'The dreams which appear to the soul through God's love
are unerring criteria of its health. Such dreams do not change from one
shape to another; they do not shock our inward sense, resound with
laughter or suddenly become threatening. But with great gentleness they
approach the soul and fill it with spiritual gladness. As a result, even
after the body has woken up, the soul longs to recapture the joy given
to it by the dream. Demonic fantasies, however, are just the opposite:
they do not keep the same shape or maintain a constant form for long.
For what the demons do not possess as their chosen mode of life, but
merely assume because of their inherent deceitfulness, is not able to
satisfy them for very long. They shout and menace, often transforming
themselves into soldiers and sometimes deafening the soul with their
cries. But the intellect, when pure, recognizes them for what they are
and awakes the body from its dreams. Sometimes it even feels joy at
having been able to see through their tricks; indeed it often challenges
them during the dream itself and thus provokes them to great anger.
There are, however, times when even good dreams do not bring joy to the
soul, but produce in it a sweet sadness and tears unaccompanied by
grief. But this happens only to those who are far advanced in humility.
We have now explained the distinction between good and bad dreams, as we ourselves heard it from those with experience. In our quest for purity, however, the safest rule is never to trust to anything that appears to us in our dreams. For dreams are generally nothing more than images reflecting our wandering thoughts, or else they are the mockery of demons. And if ever God in His goodness were to send us some vision and we were to refuse it, our beloved Lord Jesus would not be angry with us, for He would know we were acting in this way because of the tricks of the demons. Although the distinction between types of dreams established above is precise, it sometimes happens that when the soul has been sullied by an unperceived beguilement - something from which no one, it seems to me, is exempt - it loses its sense of accurate discrimination and mistakes bad dreams for good.'
We have now explained the distinction between good and bad dreams, as we ourselves heard it from those with experience. In our quest for purity, however, the safest rule is never to trust to anything that appears to us in our dreams. For dreams are generally nothing more than images reflecting our wandering thoughts, or else they are the mockery of demons. And if ever God in His goodness were to send us some vision and we were to refuse it, our beloved Lord Jesus would not be angry with us, for He would know we were acting in this way because of the tricks of the demons. Although the distinction between types of dreams established above is precise, it sometimes happens that when the soul has been sullied by an unperceived beguilement - something from which no one, it seems to me, is exempt - it loses its sense of accurate discrimination and mistakes bad dreams for good.'
