We have puzzled over dreams for centuries. From ancient societies, believing dreams to be messages from the gods, Freud's theory of dreams revealing our unconscious minds to modern day experiments in psychology and neuroscience, dreams continue to fascinate but also be a source of mystery. Are dreams just mental froth or do they have a purpose? This book argues that, originally, we dreamed to survive. Dreaming brains identify non-obvious associations, taking people, places, and events out of their waking-life context to uncover complex and, seemingly, unrelated connections. In our evolutionary past, survival depended on being able to detect these divergent, associative patterns to anticipate what predators and other humans might do, as we moved around to secure food and water and meet potential mates. Making associations drives many, if not all, brain functions. In the present day, dream associations may support memory, emotional stability, creativity, unconscious decision-making and prediction, while also contributing to mental illness. Written in a lively and accessible style, and showing the reader how to identify patterns in their own dreams, this book presents a highly original theory of dreaming and will be a compelling read for anyone interested in psychology, consciousness, and the arts, as well as those involved in dream research.

Dreams have profound implications for the physical and spiritual realm, for the body as well as for the psyche. The innovative dream-work procedures developed in this book are instruments that help illuminate such connections, allowing for symbolic elaboration of psychosomatic symptoms that favour their transformation and resolution. The procedures of Dream Processing, Body-Active-Imagination and Contemplative Dream Experience are described and investigated and illustrated with manifold examples. They are valuable tools for the therapeutic professional and for any of us wishing to interact with dreams to harmonise with the profound process that orients us to the path of our lives. "Learning from Dreams" is the result of many years of research within Dream-Experience-Groups. This Jungian dreamwork methodology broadens the traditional individual setting and offers new perspectives for the professional practice and theory.

Dream interpretation: Runes; Tarot; I Ching. This is an examination of the world of dreams, and a guide to how we understand their significance. You can learn to interpret your deepest thoughts, feelings and desires by analysing the visionary inner world that is the key to the future. You can use the Tarot to foretell your own destiny by allowing the cards to tune into your worries, hopes and ambitions, and explore how to use runes and the I Ching. This intriguing book studies the world of dreams, their meanings, the symbols they may contain, and how we can use them to access our subconscious. Every culture in every historical period has interpreted the importance of dreams in different ways, but all agree that dreams have vital significance, and could even hold knowledge of the future. Ancient methods of divining dreams, including runes, I Ching and Tarot, are explained and instructions are given on how to use them to interpret your own night-time revelations. With intelligent and accessible text, and illustrated throughout with evocative images, this is an insightful examination of dreams and divination.