Episode 173 The Dream Show: Dipping into dream alchemy

Why is it that we can experience things in our dreams that we haven’t experienced in our waking life? Like piloting a plane, levitating and flying without a plane, breathing underwater, feeling snakes slithering over our arms, or living as the opposite sex a few centuries back in time?

How do these dreams relate to our life today?

There’s an argument for simply enjoying the sensual adventure and wonder of dreams when they’re good experiences. A friend once told me that analysis would rob him of the magic of his dreams. He looked forward to living a different and exciting life each night from the safety of his bed.

But the argument doesn’t hold so well when those nightly adventures get dark and scary and repetitive, when you wake up in an anxious sweat and feel far from refreshed to begin a new day.

If you’re a regular listener to The Dream Show, you’ll know the advantages of analysing your dreams, the good ones and the scary ones, while still retaining a sense of magic, excitement, awe, and wonder for the experiences you have while dreaming. I’ve been analysing dreams for 23 years – mine as well as my clients – and I still eagerly await the magical experiences of my dreams each night.

In this episode we explore the connection between our unusual dream experiences and our waking life.

We (lightly, as always) take in some philosophy, some alchemy, some historical perspective, and then get really practical by dipping into my book, Dream Alchemy, to look at the tools it gives you, and how to use them, working with the example of that common dream theme where you’re unprepared for an exam or presentation.

PS 2018: My book Dream Alchemy has been updated and republished as The Dream Handbook (published by Hachette in Australia, and by Little Brown in the UK). You’ll find details of the book at the above link.

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