Dream Visions

Problem-Solving in Dreams | BYB

More and more, I find that I wake up with solutions to problems. However, it is not like the dramatic stories you read about solutions to problems coming to people in dreams.

It feels more as though I worked on the problem all night instead of really sleeping. Have you ever waked up in the morning and felt as though you had been working all night in your sleep? It feels as though you have merely dozed lightly, while your mind worked on the problem.

I suspect that a lot of the problem-solving actually goes on in that dreamlike stage between waking and sleeping. Whatever it is, it works, and to me it is a blessing.

How about you?

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More on Dreaming Phantom Bells | Blog Your Blessings

In the original post on being awakened by phantom doorbell sounds, I mentioned that I have also experienced being awakened by the sound of a telephone ringing, but not for some years. I was surprised to hear from comments on this blog that lots of you have had the same phantom doorbell experience.

I think there are at least a couple of reasons why people are not awakened by phantom telephone ringing these days. One is that in the past 20 years or so we have become used to answering machines and voice mail, so we are not the slaves to the telephone that we used to be. Instead, we rush to answer the door.

Also, with the prevalence of ringtone options on mobile phones, the sound of a ringing phone is no longer distinctive. The sound a mobile phone makes can be anything from a baby’s giggle to a hiphop hit. Phones no longer literally ring. In fact, some make no sound at all to announce a call; they just vibrate.

Recently, in a book called Magical Uses of Thought Forms, by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki and J.H. Brennan, I ran across the statement that people often hear a bell or ringing sound that is their own inner self trying to get their attention. It is a call to listen to their own inner voice and to pay more attention to spiritual messages.

Wow! Just like our dreams, which are our inner self trying to communicate with us through sensations, stories, images, and sounds. The phantom doorbell may be spiritual wake-up call, a message from the inner us (our spirit) to the outer us (our conscious mind) to wake up to our own inner life.

In other words a helpful message from us to ourselves, a dream that calls attention to what is really important: our spiritual life, “waking up”. I would call that a blessing. How about you?

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

Creative Dreaming | Blog Your Blessings

When I started working with dreams, years ago, Patricia Garfield was one of the two best authors on dreamwork that I found. She is a clinical psychologist who also works with her own dreams.

Currently I’m reading the second edition of her book, Creative Dreaming, and I highly recommend it.

Garfield’s books are different from those of Robert Moss (Conscious Dreaming, Dreamgates, and Dreaming True). She spends a bit more time explaining the research that has been done on dreams and the methods that she recommends for getting/shaping the dreams you want.

She writes very clearly and simply, so her books are fun to read and easy to understand. I also think that she is a bit more detailed in explaining how to work with dreams. So it seems easier to understand her methods and put them into practice.

Garfield gives great practical advice on transforming nightmares into pleasant dreams. She also has a lot of interesting information on how to use dreams to get answers. And she devotes a whole chapter to Native American beliefs about dreams and visions, and what we can learn from their methods.

This is a great book, and I’ll probably write more about it later. Meanwhile, give it a try, and let me know how it works for you.

Creative Dreaming was published several years ago, so you should be able to find it in the library. You can definitely find it on Amazon, where I got mine.

Sorry I haven’t blogged for awhile. I got a new job—but with a long commute. Then I got sick. I’ll get back on schedule with blogging as soon as I can.

Meanwhile, I feel really blessed to have a great job, working with fun people.

Conscious Dreaming by Robert Moss | BYB

Conscious Dreaming by Robert Moss is currently my favorite book on dreams and dreamwork. You can see that my copy is pretty battered. I not only use it; I also carry it around and share it with others.

Born in Australia, Moss has recorded, studied and followed his dreams for decades. His dreams led him to England and then to the United States, from a career as a successful journalist and best-selling novelist to a teacher of dreamwork and author of dream books.

His dreams even led him to buy a particular house in a particular town in Upstate New York. Then they led him to Native American elders who could help interpret them. The elders told him that he was dreaming the traditional shamanic dreams of their people.

Moss’s books are clearly and simply written, easy to read, and filled with vivid, true stories of people and their dreams. There are lucid dreams, shamanic dreams, and dreams of future events.

Best of all, he explains clearly how to work with our dreams, how to help others interpret their dreams, and how to work actively with dreams, going back into the dreams to get more information. It is amazing how so much information and instruction can be so entertaining to read.

Moss and his dream groups use a nine-step program for understanding and working dreams. They use contemporary techniques derived from indigenous cultures around the world. His method helps you understand your past, shape your future, get in touch with your deepest desires, and receive guidance from your higher self.

Moss believes that dreams prepare us for future events, so that we can avoid disasters or at least be prepared to cope with traumatic events. And he tells some compelling stories that seem to prove his point.

His skills as both a top journalist and a best-selling author show through in his writing. It is clear and easy to understand. You won’t notice his skill perhaps—this is not showy writing—but you will enjoy the book more and understand the concepts more easily because of it.

He takes ancient wisdom and methods that have stood the test of time and makes them easy for modern people to understand and use. That is quite an accomplishment, and he can do that because he has experienced it himself.

Robert Moss is not just reporting on other people’s ideas and experiences. He is a master of dreamwork (though very unassuming about it), and he is able to explain it so that we can understand it.

After reading any of Robert Moss’s dream books (and you’ll be happy to know there are others), you will probably want to gather a few people into a group to work with dreams together. By following his instructions, you can do that—and have fun doing it.

If you do start your own dream group, or if you have one now that you work with, please stop by and leave a comment to let us know what you are doing and how it is going.

I hope to someday be able to take one of Robert Moss’s dream workshops. Now that would be blessing! Meanwhile, I feel wonderfully blessed just to be reading his books.