Real and dreamed staircases - settings of (not only) vestibular arousal

Many authors provide examples of dreams in which a staircase figures as a setting for floating, flying, falling or dizziness. As is well known, Freud interpreted dream stairs as a symbol of sexual activity. Alternative symbolic interpretations of dream stairs have been suggested by Silberer, Eliade and Ouspensky. Based on a phenomenological analysis of published staircase dreams and reports drawn from my own interview samples, I will argue that dream staircases are a setting that appears in the dreamer's mind in (not only) vestibular aroused moments of sleep as a recollection of (not only) vestibular arousal experienced in real staircases. This phenomenological perspective corresponds to theoretical, clinical and experimental evidence concerning the role of vestibular arousal/stimulation (and its relation to rapid eye movements) in intense dreaming, i.e. dreaming that includes a heightened consciousness of the actual state of body and mind. unknown unknown