Journey to the kingdom of Morpheus. What does it mean? Many people, hearing such an expression, ask themselves just such a question, while others immediately imagine the sweet world of dreams in a warm bed.
Rest is required for any of us. For after a day filled with stormy activity, in terms of bliss it is difficult to compare with something. Thanks to sleep, everyone wakes up every morning awake and full of new strength. Even the great Shakespeare noticed that sleep is a natural balm and treats both the soul and the flesh.
God of sleep
Morpheus is the lord of dreams and is in the Pantheon of the Greek gods. This is a child of the primary deities of Hypnos and Nyukta. The ancient Greeks believed that when a person falls asleep, he falls into his kingdom.
Among the Greeks, Morpheus is depicted as a lad with small wings in the temples, although a similar Roman deity, on the contrary, is represented by a long-bearded old man with a bouquet of red poppies in his hand. Morpheus rules the kingdom of sleep, in which he appears to man in various forms and images, fully accustoming to them.
Double gates serve as a symbol of Morpheus: one part for deceiving dreams, another for prophetic dreams. The first is made from a bull horn, and the second from ivory.
Since ancient times, Morpheus has been able to send both humans and gods to his kingdom. No one could resist his power, even Zeus the Thunderer himself! Despite the fact that people did not put the lord of dreams on a par with the main gods, going to bed, they always prayed to him. It was then that the expression “surrender to Morpheus” appeared.
Way to the kingdom of dreams
It was believed that the god of sleep relaxes a person with poppy juice, treating him from a large bowl. And it is no coincidence: on Morpheus’s head there is a crown of these fragile flowers, and they are precisely the symbol of dreams. Among the Hellenes, the images of Morpheus are found on clay vessels, while among the Romans they are found on sarcophagi.
When one of the drugs was discovered, he was given the name "morphine" or "morphine" just for the all-consuming sleeping pill.
The Kingdom of Morpheus: The Meaning of Expression
Since ancient times, sleep has been considered a cross between life and death, therefore, our ancestors never woke a person in the arms of a dream. It was believed that the soul goes on a journey, and then returns to the body. But with a sharp awakening, she could forever remain in another world, since she could not have time to return back.
A dream is an unsolved mystery of nature, and what happens during it has been trying to understand the best minds of mankind for more than a century. The true origin of dreams is still not fully known, despite great scientific progress. And the phrase "the kingdom of Morpheus" is just what characterizes the exit of the soul from the body for the sake of traveling to other worlds.
What happens during sleep
This condition is a very interesting phenomenon in which the subconscious mind comes to the fore. The brain continues to work, but in a completely different way than during wakefulness. The metabolism of the body slows down significantly, which contributes to a smooth recovery at the cellular level.
Previously, it was believed that the "kingdom of Morpheus" is simply an unconscious state during which virtually nothing happens, but this is far from the case. Through numerous scientific experiments, it has been proven that the brain continues to work actively during sleep.
During wakefulness, it receives millions of signals from the senses through the finest neurons, which in different parts of it causes flashes of excitement. And if everything that happens in the brain cells can be reduced to processes of inhibition and excitement, it is logical that the active activity of some causes the inaction of others. This phenomenon is called the "dominant", that is, the prevalence of various cells on top of each other.
Recent studies have shown that the "kingdom of Morpheus" is a person in such a state, for which special brain sections are responsible, within which there is a network of neurons. They are called the reticular formation. It controls the flow of data entering the brain, and is also a kind of switch responsible for the action or inaction of our consciousness.
Even by the Soviet academician Pavlov, by conducting experiments on dogs, it was proved that if the electrodes are connected to the network of the reticular formation and act on it, the animals immediately fall into a real dream.
Sleep phases
It is known that there are three states of sleep.
- Fast sleep. It is very superficial. During it, a person may twitch eyelids or limbs. The sleeper is easy to wake, and most likely he will not be sure that he has fallen asleep.
- Moderate sleep. It is more calm and deep. Metabolism slows down, and the eyes practically do not respond to a light stimulus.
- Slow sleep is characterized by complete rest. No one and nothing can wake the sleeper, as the senses rest. This phase lasts approximately 60 minutes. It is during this period that the active regeneration of cells in the human body occurs.
Phases follow each other and then repeat in the opposite order. The cycle lasts up to an hour and a half.
It is proved that if a living creature is completely deprived of sleep, then it will inevitably die soon, since sleep is an integral part of life. So this means that the kingdom of Morpheus needs to be given due attention, and in an attempt to overtake time, you should not neglect it.
How much time does it take to sleep?
The question of how many hours of rest each of us needs is strictly individual, and this figure ranges from 5 to 12 hours. The best time is considered to be an eight-hour sleep. But still, its duration depends mainly on age, since newborn babies sleep up to 22 hours a day, and old people up to 12.
How to sleep?
A completely flat surface can harm the spine, so if you snore, it is advisable to go to Morpheus’s kingdom lying on your side, and put a pair of rollers under your head that will support both the head and the cervical region. Sleeping in such a situation will forever save you from apnea.