History of Dreams

Dreams were interpreted as far back as 3000 and 4000 B.C. and were recorded on clay tablets
In the Greek and Roman eras, dreams were believed to be messages from the gods and people looked to them for solutions to their problems. Shrines were built for gods as places to go to dream. Dreams were taken so seriously in that time that they thought they predicted the future and were used by many political and military leaders to make important war strategies.
Dreams were believed to heal during the Hellenistic period and temples, called Asclepieions, were built in their honor. People came to sleep in these temples in order to cure their illnesses.
In ancient Egypt, dreams were recorded as hieroglyphics and priests acted as interpreters of these messages. Those who dreamed vividly and who could interpret their dreams were seen as divinities.
Ancient Chinese believed that your soul actually left your body and entered a dream world. 
During the Middle Ages, dreams were viewed as evil temptations of the devil trying to mislead men down wayward paths.
In the 19^th century, Sigmund Freud researched and expressed the importance of dreams and of their interpretations. 

Lucid Dreaming

Lucid dreaming is dreaming while being aware that you are dreaming. Originally described as "lucid" by Dutch psychiatrist and writer Frederick van Eeden in order to describe mental clarity, lucid dreaming usually begins when the dreamer realizes that the unlikely or even impossible experiences occuring in the dream are not taking place in physical reality. Although lucid dreaming, by definition, only describes that the dreamer is aware that he/she is dreaming, there are varying degrees as to how aware and involved in a lucid dream one may become. Lucid dreams can vary from simple awareness of a dream situation, to full control of what, where, and how a dream occurs. By learning to control lucid dreams, a dreamer may knowingly achieve things in dreams that are not possible in our own physical reality. These dreams can enable people to overcome nightmares or fears, practice things in their sleep that they do in the real world, or even solve complex problems that they can not while awake. There are others who also believe that we can improve our own physical health as well, simply by dreaming that we are healed or of good health.

An example of using lucid dreaming is the movie Inception. By understanding the world that they are in is a dream, they are able to change what they want at will and to overcome whatever they are faced with within the dream. Inception Video Clip

Because everyone's brains work differently, lucid dreaming effects different people in different ways. Personally, I have found myself able to control dreams for years. Although not very common, I have been able to experience impossible situations, overcome numerous nightmares, and even change the construct of a dream altogether. It truly is an amazing experience!