Dream Types and Animal Motifs in Sheik Ali’s Book of Dream Interpretation

Abstract

This article examines the book of dream interpretation (tabîrnâme) written by Sheik Ali in Old Ottoman Turkish. In the book, two different types of dreams are analyzed: the “true dream” and the “false dream.” According to the author, to interpret a dream, it is important to consider not only the meaning of the motif, but also the gender, age and social status of the person who has the dream. In the book there are more than 300 motifs such as God, angels, prophets, planets, food, animals, etc. Among these motifs, the dreams about animals are the most remarkable. There are strong Islamic influences in 51 different animal motifs interpreted in this book.