The Transformational Power of Dreaming: Discovering the Wishes of the Soul

An exploration of dreaming history, science, traditions, and practices from prehistory to today

• Examines ancient dream traditions from around the world, shamanic dreaming, and the profound role of dreaming in Native American and African-American cultures

• Investigates dream psychology and the neuroscience of the dreaming brain

• Explores the practice of dream incubation, lucid dreaming, and telepathic dreaming with tips on remembering your dreams and working with them

We have been dreaming for all of our 3 million or more years of existence. Dreams provide an extraordinary way to process the day’s events and uncover new perspectives. Many cultural creatives credit their world-changing creations to their dreams, and science now believes that dreams helped evolve the very process of thought itself.

In this book, Stephen Larsen and Tom Verner examine dream traditions from around the world, beginning with the oldest records from ancient Egypt, India, Greece, and Australia and expanding to shamanic and indigenous societies. The authors investigate the psychology of dreaming, the neuroscience behind the dreaming brain, the Jungian perspective, and the intersections of yoga and modern dream research. They show how dreams and myth are related in the timeless world of the Archetypal Imagination and how dreams often reveal the wishes of the soul. They explore the practice of dream incubation, an age-old tradition for seeding the unconscious mind to help solve problems and gain deep insights. They examine the profound role that dreams have played in the survival of exploited and persecuted cultures, such as the Native Americans, African slaves, and the Jews during the Holocaust, and share inspirational dream stories from exceptional woman dreamers such as Hildegard von Bingen, Joan of Arc, and Harriet Tubman.

Drawing on their more than 50 years’ experience keeping dream journals, the authors offer techniques to help you remember your dreams and begin to work with them. They also explore the clairvoyant and telepathic dimensions of dreaming and the practices of lucid dreaming and shamanic dreaming. Revealing how the alchemical cauldron of dreaming can bring inspiration, healing, and discovery, the authors show how dreams unite us with each other and the past and future dreamers of our world.

Stephen Larsen, Ph.D., is professor emeritus of psychology at SUNY Ulster and the author of several books, including The Healing Power of Neurofeedback and Joseph Campbell: A Fire in the Mind. The founder and director of Stone Mountain Center, he lives in New Paltz, New York. Tom Verner is a practicing psychotherapist and professional magician and was a professor of psychology at Burlington College for 35 years. The founder, with his wife Janet, of Magicians Without Borders, he lives in Lincoln, Vermont.

ISBN: 9781620555149
Format: Paperback
Pages: 360
Publisher: Inner Traditions/Bear & Company
Published: August 15, 2017

“More than a thousand books have been written about dreams. If you had to choose just one, you could not do better than this beautiful integration of the biological, psychological, cultural, mythological, and spiritual dimensions of these mysteries of the night. The best, most practical techniques for remembering and understanding your dreams are placed in the rich context of humanity’s best dream interpreters, from ancient shamans through Freud, Jung, and contemporary authorities with whom the authors have studied, up to the authors themselves. Just reading this book has enriched our dream lives, and it is bound to stimulate your psyche as well!”“A deep well of knowledge from two of the world’s most respected dream cartographers. This book is mythically oriented, historically detailed, and everyday practical. It also serves as a fascinating personal memoir about the crucial role of dream practices in contemporary mythopoetics. A fine feat! Highly recommended for all dream enthusiasts looking to remember who we really are.”“The Transformational Power of Dreaming is a beautiful synthesis of scholarship, science, mythology, and the many fascinating but little-known facts about the lives of those dreamers who have had an outsized influence on humanity--scientists and inventors, philosophers, and even some of the great spiritual heroes of our kind. For me this book is a delightful balance of insight and human touch with generous openings into clinical practice and growth. A great bedside read to usher you into the night’s journey.”“I have read numerous books about dreams and dreaming, but Stephen Larsen and Tom Verner have revealed insights that are both new and old, both practical and entertaining. The Transformational Power of Dreaming takes the reader on a wild trip that spans centuries and continents. Its description of contemporary brain neuroscience is solid but the book also delves into Greek dream incubation, Tibetan lucid dreaming, Jungian dreamwork, and an innovative procedure by which readers can enter the portals of their own dreams. Actual dream reports from the authors’ clients and students illuminate novel ideas, conveying personal touches that will touch the heart and move the soul.”“The power of The Transformational Power of Dreaming as told by Stephen and Tom is the story of the dreams of history--of how they were incubated, used, and valued by our ancestors--dreams that gave them directions to find health and harmony in the ways they lived. By listening to the dream spirits of our ancestors and of the Earth, these spirits can carry us into a world that heals both us and the Earth and can bring us peace. This book needs to be read and practiced by all.”“The authors lucidly map how consciousness and unconsciousness ‘look’ at each other and can be brought into deeper, more intimate conversation. This insightful, entertaining book is also an immensely practical guide to working with dreams. Verner and Larsen’s fascinating stories, meticulous explications, and poetic intelligence inspire our dreaming selves and lead us toward more concentrated, richer lives. They make a wise and convincing case for how, as our roots deepen, our branches blossom.”“The Transformational Power of Dreaming urges us to drink from the inexhaustible waters of the mythic imagination that flows through us every night when we dream and to use these dark depths to help orient us in life, direct us on our way, and to companion us in times of our soul’s despair. The book offers a wealth of helpful understandings and exercises for those who are seeking connection with the deeper mythic imagination that lies awaiting them inside.”"Diverse yet cohesive, this encyclopedic work invites readers to explore the “partnership we are in with the deeper more autonomous parts of our being” through an understanding of dreams...this book provides context and history about working with dreams that will appeal to readers who want to engage the sleepy side of the mind."