We all dream, but there is no generally accepted theory of dreams, and some peculiar facts need to be explained. We can wake up and remember having a dream of which we were not conscious at the time or, at the other end of the scale, we can be 'lucid dreamers' and be conscious of the dream while it's happening.
And the alleged non-dreamer is really just absent-minded. It is dream recall that varies widely, rather than dreaming itself. During REM sleep, many brain processes carry on in parallel, none of them actually being in or out of consciousness. So what's really going on in there?
Hypnotherapist Janece O. Hudson has written a thoughtful and wise book which is quite different from the usual dream interpretation tracts. It's well-researched, based on serious, challenging ideas, and brings to bear both learning and shrewd acumen. It ought to do a great deal to break new ground in the understanding of our elusive dream images.
Puzzling Language of Dream Symbolism
A former psychology professor, Dr. Hudson is a member of the International Association for the Study of Dreams. Drawing from the collective wisdom of the great commentators on dreams, Freud, Jung, Assagioli, Maslow and Cayce, the book is a comprehensive key to understanding the puzzling language of dream symbolism, indeed, an invaluable guide to this still uncharted province of the mind.
Interestingly, Hudson opts for Maslow's 'hierarchy of needs' paradigm, used widely in psychology, education, business and medicine, in aiding dream interpretation – a humanistic and existential approach ranging from basic bodily needs to the transpersonal.
Learning to tap this 'wondrous inner source of wisdom' and work with dreams is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, Hudson says. To this end, she has sensibly decided that she must help the individual to understand what the dream means for him or her, instead of offering yet another dream dictionary with blanket solutions. She understands about variation in recall, and rightly insists that dreams are not one-size-fits-all.
Recall, Interpret and Relate to Your Dreams
Thus the book is partly a guide to symbolism, dealing with possible meanings, and partly a workbook suggesting the best ways to recall, interpret and relate to your dreams and, most important, letting you 'fill in the blanks' for personal and deepened insight.
Dreams have been integral to the course of human evolution, and they will always be available to contribute to the fulfillment of human potential – in Jung's terms, being either complementary or compensatory to a particular psychological situation and indicating a direction for growth and development of the individual. Again, humanistic and existential.
Hudson provides many essential clues to figuring out these ingeniously disguised, often life-enriching and sometimes urgent messages that the unconscious bestows upon us through our dreams.
SOURCE:
- Hudson, Janece O., Into Your Dreams: Decipher Your Unique Dream Symbology To Transform Your Waking Life. Adams Media, 2011. ISBN 978-1-4405-1267-4.
Geoff Ward - Geoff Ward, MA Lit., is a British journalist, media consultant, author and lecturer/tutor in literature and creative writing
