The Lucid Dreamer: A Waking Guide for the Traveler Between Worlds by Malcolm Godwin (book review)

[Darkmatters]

This is a book I haven't seen mentioned much in here... I just did a search and it's only been mentioned a few times, and mostly by people asking if they should get it. Well, I just got a copy, and thought it was worth a review. Amazon.com: The Lucid Dreamer: A Waking Guide for the Traveler Between Worlds (9780671872489): Malcolm Godwin: Books This is an amazing book people!!! It's not strictly a "how to" guide, though it does include plenty of hands-on techniques for attaining lucidity. It covers pretty much the entire spectrum of what lucidity is all about, and goes deep into the ancient shamanic and sorcery traditions from all around the world. Actually I was a bit surprised at the depth and breadth of Godwin's knowledge on these esoteric subjects. But, not surprisingly, it turns out he's not only an accomplished lucid dreamer himself, but has studied in India (and possibly elsewhere?) under a master and has studied the various historical traditions of aboriginal tribes and Tibetan budhists etc, as well as many mentions of Castaneda's books and the teachings of the (probably fictional but extremely accurate in matters sorcerous and lucid) Don Juan Matus. He also goes deeply into important dreamers throughout history who were probably experiencing lucidity... from Joan of Arc to William Blake and many religious prophets/scholars who have had revelations via dream. He also discusses the history of those solitary geniuses who became aware of lucidity on their own and diligently spent years or decades keeping detailed dream journals and exploring the world of lucid dreaming (yes, up to and including LaBerge of course). It's a beautiful coffee-table book, containing hundreds of amazing images from all around the world and throughout history... illustrations and paintings by surrealists, visionary artists, aboriginal Dreamtime sand paintings and cave paintings used in shamanic ceremonies from the dawn of civilization in all different cultures. There are incredible mandalas from India and from the legendary Red Book - the dream journal of C G Jung, one of the world's most vivid if not lucid dreamers (who might have experienced lucidity himself a few times). It's currently out of print, but widely available used. Highly recommended as an addition to any decent library of works on lucid dreaming, or to anyone interested in the various shamanic and sorcerous traditions of dream traveling. (I did find one old review of the book in this section, but didn't want to necro it, and the book definitely deserves to be brought to everyone's attention).