Dear Dreamer,

As your final lesson, here are some good dream books you might enjoy if you want to learn more about dreams.

Lesson 8

Some Good Dream Books

Ron Masa, Ph.D.

There are many excellent books about dreams. In addition to the simple starter list below, you could learn a great deal from the works of Carl Jung, Patricia Garfield, Montague Ullman, Gayle Delaney, Robert Van de Castle, Robert Moss, Ann Faraday, Marion Woodman, and many others. It's only fair to note that there are also many lesser books on the topic. Perhaps the most common culprit here is the "dream
encyclopedia" format with fixed, and often far-fetched, meanings that mislead the dreamer. You can use a "symbol dictionary" for more advanced research. I use the out-of-print "The Encyclopedia of Symbols" by Kevin Todeschi; if you find a used copy, it is practical and helpful. Remember to use any outside source only to suggest ideas that you can test out to feel their truth value for you.

To keep things simple, here are half a dozen wonderful books that are appropriate for getting started and rich enough to offer a great deal to anyone who is receptive to learning the higher wisdom found in their dreams. Click to view any of these books.

1. Dream Work
by Jeremy Taylor

Jeremy Taylor is a Unitarian Minister from California who is a master practitioner of group dreamwork; he has written several excellent books on dreams. Dream Work has stayed in print for many years because of its clarity, detail, and practical help. There are hints for dream recall, for working on your own dreams, the community implications of dreams and other profound topics. A great book to start with. I have
been in several workshops with Jeremy and I have the highest respect for his mastery and inspired motives. This 1983 classic is still in print, because it is one of the best.

2. Where People Fly and Water Runs Uphill
by Jeremy Taylor

Where else could this title point to... but the land of dreams? This 1992 follow-up volume covers many of the basics in Dream Work, with additional insights and comments, imagination and humor. Taylor does an excellent job with the layers of meaning in dreams and the multiple viewpoints that may all apply. This is a rich and sophisticated look at dreams and their transformative power in individuals and society. There are also topics like shamanism and lucid dreaming and the role of dreams in the evolution of the psyche.

3. Inner Work
by Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson is a beloved elder teacher of Jungian psychology, myth, archetype and spiritual growth. Three of his classic books, He, She, and We explore gender roles via ancient myths that root the issue in deep sources. Inner Work addresses both dreamwork and the Jungian practice of active imagination, a form of waking-dream process that allows conscious and unconscious to interact directly. Johnson takes the process of understanding dreams a step further than most. He shows how we can bring the power of the dream into waking life through simple ritual enactments that invigorate and inspire.

4. Mutual Dreaming
by Linda Lane Magallon

The subtitle to this book is When Two or More People Share the Same Dream. Like the wonderful shamanic dream books of Robert Moss, Magallon expands our understanding of the nature of the dream world and the nature of mind. This is a delightful story of meetings in dreams (very common), and even of groups that primarily meet in their dreams. I have seen many examples of dream communications that bring
back information not available to the dreamer consciously.

5. The Art of Dreaming
by Jill Mellick

Dr Mellick offers a broad array of ideas and techniques for working with dreams. You can express and explore dream content through writing, maskmaking, voice work, word play (very important), movement, collage, and drawing. The approach is gentle, respectful, creative and poetic. You could turn a dream into a haiku to capture its essence or draw a healing mandala. Enjoy this wealth of inspiring approaches you could take to relate to, and learn from, your dreams.

6. The Way of the Dream
by Marie Louise von Franz

This book is currently out of print, but worth tracking down. I love this classic transcript of 20 half-hour films in which Carl Jung's star student provides some of the most inspiring work with dreams available anywhere. See the videos if you can; they have been shown around the country, often in a single weekend. The films are amazing. This rich, practical book is the transcript. The film format makes it very conversational and clear. Von Franz is a wise expert of the highest order, and her respect for the powers of the dream is contagious.

7. Understanding Your Dreams
by Ron Masa, Ph.D.

This is my own ebook summarizing many of the dreamwork principles I have arrived at after three decades of practicing dreamwork. We can make sense of dreams if we can see the mystical principles that underly them. It turns out, these same rules underly much of waking life as well, so dreams are a key to making sense of the bigger questions in life. Written in an easy to read "50 hints" style format. Available via immediate download ($7).

Once again, to view or purchase any of these books, click here.

Good luck with your dream studies, whether you're reading, recalling dreams and recording them in your personalized dream journal, interpreting them, discussing them with others, or applying them to your waking-life concerns. Whoever makes us, makes our dreams. Dreams have much to teach us. Debbie and I hope we have taken you one step closer to the gifts every single dream brings with it.

As Marie Louise von Franz put it: "Our dreams are nightly letters from God." If so, do you plan to open your mail?

YOUR TURN

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Thanks for your interest in our e-course!

Sweet Dreams,

Dr. Ron and Debbie
www.UniversityofYourself.com