Dream Theory in Malaya, by Kilton Stewart, from the book, Altered States of Consciousness, edited by Charles Tart (1969)

The simplest anxiety or terror dream I found among the Senoi was the falling dream. When the Senoi child reports a falling dream, the adult answers with enthusiasm, "That is a wonderful dream, one of the best dreams a man can have. Where did you fall to, and what did you discover?" He makes the same comment when the child reports a climbing, traveling, flying, or soaring dream. The child at first answers as he would in our society, that it did not seem so wonderful, and that he was so frightened that he awoke before he had fallen anywhere. "That is a mistake," answers the adult-authority. "Everything you do in a dream has a purpose, beyond your understanding while you are asleep. You must relax and enjoy yourself when you fall in a dream. Falling is the quickest way to get in contact with the powers of the spirit world, the powers laid open to you through your dreams. Soon, when you have a falling dream, you will remember what I am saying and as you do, you will feel that you are traveling to the source of the power which has caused you to fall. The falling spirits love you. They are attracting you to their land and you have but to relax and remain asleep in order to come to grips with them. When you meet them, you may be frightened of their terrific power, but go on. When you think you are dying in a dream, you are only receiving the powers of the otherworld, your own spiritual power which has been turned against you, and which now wishes to become one with you if you will accept it." The astonishing thing is that over a period of time, with this type of social interaction, praise, or criticism, imperative, and advice, the dream which starts out with fear of falling changes into the joy of flying. This happens to everyone in the Senoi society. That which was an indwelling fear or anxiety, becomes an indwelling joy or act of will; that which was ill esteem toward the forces which caused the child to fall in his dream, becomes good will towards the denizens of the dream world, because he relaxes in his dream and finds pleasureable adventures, rather that waking up with a clammy skin and crawling scalp.