Thread: Reading Recommendations for learning to interpret dreams

Hi all, I wondered if anybody would recommend any books on how to interpret dreams, I’ve had a few dreams recently that feel to be more significant than usual.

Thanks.

The books by Robert Moss on dreaming are quite good. I've read a few of them: "Conscious Dreaming: A Spiritual Path for Everyday Life", "Dreamgates: Exploring the Worlds of Soul, Imagination, and Life Beyond Death", and "Active Dreaming: Journeying Beyond Self-Limitation to a Life of Wild Freedom". Which is best I can't really remember (it's been a while since I read them). Robert Moss always emphasizes that you should interpret your dreams yourself, because others won't be able to understand the symbolism in them the way you yourself understand it.

Originally Posted by Voldmer

Robert Moss always emphasizes that you should interpret your dreams yourself, because others won't be able to understand the symbolism in them the way you yourself understand it.

This would be my personal belief too. Other people can be good at getting your own interpretations and thought processes going, but they can't really "conclude" the sense of a dream for you. Even then, I wouldn't say that any of my dreams ever have a single or definitive sense to them.

Although they wouldn't be books about dreaming, I do highly recommend Tom Chetwynd's "A Dictionary of (...)" series, which is a three part series. The introduction to each of these books has been of particular relevance for me when thinking about dream interpretation, which is the main reason I would recommend them to others under the context of dreams. I do not use them as literal dictionaries when thinking about interpretation of my dreams, though some entries do have common themes with some of my personal symbols.

That said, I would generally be quite wary of any book that claims to be a dream interpretation dictionary, mostly if it doesn't encourage you to think on your own at least. In addition to that, it would be a nearly impossible task for any piece of literature to have every potential meaning for every symbol that could appear, especially because many of the symbols that are unique to us may not appear at all in a dream dictionary, or at least with a meaning that would make sense or feel significant to us as individuals.

You may try to look at Inner Work by Robert A. Johnson. Book which two parts are dedicated to dream interpreting and active imagination. Nicely written.

Originally Posted by Lucidreaman

You may try to look at Inner Work by Robert A. Johnson. Book which two parts are dedicated to dream interpreting and active imagination. Nicely written.

I second this book, it is great. Probably my favorite for dream interpretation.

Also, I also second Voldmer's suggestions. The first two are pretty good (haven't read the third), in general, perhaps more for getting lucid and doing things in the lucid state than straight up dream interpretation. Also, Dreaming the Soul Back Home. That's probably my favorite by Robert Moss.

Also, Mindful Dreaming: A Practical Guide for Emotional Healing Through Transformative Mythic Journeys by David Gordon is pretty good as well. That's a book purely about dream interpretation.

Originally Posted by Hilary

Also, Dreaming the Soul Back Home. That's probably my favorite by Robert Moss.

That one is next on my Robert Moss list. It's been there for a while, so it's about time I got around to reading it. There's definitely something endearing about his works, not just the contents but the tone he writes in. You feel you're in good company.

Great, Thankyou for your recommendations I wanted a variety of sources to pull information from.

In Robert waggoner and Caroline mcreedys book “lucid dreaming plain and simple”
They suggest going through a dream highlighting either the verbs or nouns and then Attributing 3 different adjectives to each verb or noun( can’t remember exactly which one it is) then rewriting the dream with these adjectives in place of the noun or verb.

So I shall also give this ago too, i feel as the describing words would come from me they may be more accurate than an external interpretation.

Thanks again for those suggestions.

Excellent, Thankyou Hilary.

I found "The alchemy of your dream" by Athena Laz pretty interesting.
it s not a dictionary but a guide to interpret the symbolic based on your experience, on your culture, to bring you to self reflection on them.

About Robert Moss, I read some controversy about him that are not super pretty so I would go with care, but it s only my opinion.