The movie “Inception” shines a light on a persistent human fear: that of being deceived while we are in a vulnerable, dreaming state. This is not a new story. As far back as Ancient Greece, people have worried about being misled by “false dreams.” In fact, that very thing showed up 2,500 years ago in Homer’s Iliad, where the god Zeus appears in Agamemnon’s dream and falsely promises victory if Agamemnon attacks Troy.

If the ancient Greeks worried that dreams can be deceptive, what does it mean that all this time later we still have the same fear? Has anything changed in our relationship to dreams in all this time? And is there anything new we can learn about dreams and symbols from “Inception”? Read on…

There has been a huge buzz in dream circles over Sunday’s New York Times article on the popularity of dream groups. Author Kate Murphy visited dream groups around the country and probably spent far more hours on the phone with enthusiastic dreamworkers than she intended. The result is an article that, while not without flaws, presents a good snapshot of the growing interest in dream groups across the social spectrum.

Last year I wrote an article here on “How to Start a Dream Group,” to respond to the many inquiries I get from people who want to explore their dreams with others. Given that my own dream group formed out of a book group 17 years ago, and that our dream group is still going strong while the book group folded soon after, maybe there is something to the author’s assertion. Read on…

I love it when public figures talk about their dreams. They are the great leveler, because for all of our differences, everyone dreams. Everyone also has bad dreams on occasion, and I am fascinated by how we make sense of them for ourselves.

What a treat, then, to find not one but two thoughtful posts on the subject recently by Dick Cavett, on his New York Times blog. In his first article, Cavett writes:

The question I can never find an answer to is the one that makes dreams so mysterious. When you watch a movie or read a story you don’t know what’s coming next. You’re surprised by what happens as it unfolds. You know that someone wrote the book or made the movie.

But who in hell is the author of the dream? How can it be anyone but you? But how can it be you if it’s all new to you, if you don’t know what’s coming? Do you write the dream, then hide it from yourself, forget it, and then “sit out front” and watch it? Everything in it is a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant. And, unlike a book or film, you can’t fast-forward to see how it comes out. So where does it come from? And who “wrote” it? Read on…

Do you listen to your dreams but have no one to talk with about them? Are you looking for a circle of fellow dreamers to help you explore dream messages? The perfect solution may be at hand.

Introducing The Dream Tribe, a members-only online community where you can get instant feedback on your dreams, connect with experts in many different kinds of dreamwork, and find your place in the worldwide clan of dreamers.

Read on…

I have had the distinct pleasure over the past few months of immersing myself in some wise and erudite books on dreams. Here, rising to the top of the pile, are two books that I consider essential to the serious study of dreams in history and practice.

The first is by Dr. Kelly Bulkeley, former president of the International Association for the Study of Dreams, visiting scholar at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, and author of many worthy books on dreams. Dreaming in the World’s Religions: A Comparative History (2008, New York University Press) is a book that finally answers the basic question: how did people in ancient cultures view dreams?

I call this a basic question, because anyone who spends a significant amount of time working with their dreams inevitably wonders how it was done in the past. In your religion, in other religions; by your ancestors, by other people’s ancestors. Dreams call us to understand our place in the world, and Kelly’s book answers the call because it addresses the problem with both comprehensive scholarship and also a deep love and appreciation for dreams. Read on…