Beware of Trusting Your Dreams - St. Paisios the Athonite

St. Paisios answers a few questions about dreams, providing counsel on why they happen and how to respond to them. "Don't pay any attention to dreams," teaches St. Paisios. "Whether they are pleasant or unpleasant, you are not to pay any attention to them, because there is the danger of being deluded. Ninety five percent of dreams are deceptive. This is why the Holy Fathers say that we should not pay any attention to them."

A reading from Spiritual Counsels, Vol. 3: Spiritual Struggle by St. Paisios, p. 241-244

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St. Paisios teaches:

-Geronda, I'm tormented by some unpleasant dreams...
-When you have a bad dream, never examine what you saw, how you saw it, or whether you're guilty or how much you may be at fault. The evil one, having failed to tempt you during the daytime, comes to you at night. Sometimes God permits the devil to tempt us in our sleep, so that we may see that the old self has not entirely died. Other times, the enemy approaches a person in his sleep and presents various dreams in order to upset him when he awakes. This is why you shouldn't pay any attention to them. Cross yourself and the pillow, place a cross and an icon on your pillow, and say the Jesus Prayer until you fall asleep. The more importance you attach to such dreams, the more the enemy will come to disturb you. This is something that happens to children, too, even though they are little angels. The enemy comes and scares them in their sleep, and they wake up frightened, running into their mother's arms. Other times, they are approached by Angels who make them smile in their sleep out of joy, or they may wake up from their great joy. As such, dreams brought about by temptation are an external influence of the enemy upon man while he's asleep.

-Geronda, can someone foresee something that will happen to him from the dreams he has?
-No, don't pay any attention to dreams. Whether they are pleasant or unpleasant, you are not to pay any attention to them, because there is the danger of being deluded. Ninety five percent of dreams are deceptive. This is why the Holy Fathers say that we should not pay any attention to them. Very few dreams are from God, but in order for someone to interpret even these, he must have purity and other prerequisites, much like Righteous Joseph® and the Prophet Daniel in the Bible, who both had the gift from God. Daniel said to Nabuchadnezzar, I will tell you what dream you had and what it means. But consider the spiritual maturity he had attained! He was in the den of lions, and they, even though they were hungry, did not hurt him? Habbakuk brought him food and Daniel said, "Has God remembered me?" If God didn't remember the Prophet Daniel in the lions' den, whom would He remember?
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