The Dream Oracle: A Unique Guide to Interpreting Message-Bearing Dreams [Paperback]

David F. Melbourne (Author), Keith Hearne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1999

This text aims to prove that dreams really do bear messages from the subconscious to the conscious mind. The authors attempt to provide a system of divination which obtains messages directly from our dreams. The method requires that the reader concentrate on a matter that requires solution before they go to sleep and familiarize themselves with a code which contains a fixed range of possible answer-themes that can apply to any issue. Each theme is linked to a letter of the alphabet and can be subdivided into different answers which will register in the unconscious mind. On waking, everything must be recorded in a dream diary, taking note of the most common letter. Once the letter code is established, the book claims to offer the meaning of the dream.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr Keith Hearne is an internationally known psychologist, author, broadcaster and dream expert, living in Reading. David Melbourne has been researching data on all aspects of dreams for over twenty years and, with Keith Hearne, is the co-author of a recent book on dream interpretation, The Dream Oracle, also published by New Holland. David Melbourne lives in the Orkney Islands. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: New Holland Publishers, Ltd. (May 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853689769
• ISBN-13: 978-1853689765
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,530,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #51 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Health, Mind & Body > Mental Health > Dreams
  • #57 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Health, Mind & Body > Self-Help > Dreams
  • #72 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Dreams

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Better illustrations than text, February 16, 2005

By 

Mike Reeves-McMillan (Auckland, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Understanding Dreams (Hardcover)

This book is beautifully illustrated by someone who is a master of Photoshop and has used it to produce vividly dreamlike composite images. That was what I enjoyed most about it.

Keith Hearne is a scientist, but the science in the book is not that strong; in fact its factual content is sometimes questionable and usually a bit superficial and naive. For example, at one point the authors discuss an ancient Hindu belief that the last dream of a series in one night should be the one you interpret when predicting the future and comment that this presumably had been arrived at by a long process of observation. This shows extreme naivite about ancient processes of thought. It is much more likely that the rule was arrived at by some process of "logic" such as "The last dream is closest to the future event in time, so it will be the best one to use."

Their survey of ancient thinking about dreams is very much once over lightly and perpetuates some myths, such as the idea that the Aboriginal "dreamtime" was like the western Golden Age or paradisal creation period - a mythical period at the beginning of time. My understanding is that in fact Aboriginals consider the dreamtime to be still continuing today, as a kind of alternate reality (I may have it wrong too, but I'm not writing a book on dreams; if I was I'd talk to an Aboriginal before committing myself).

Their survey of modern thinking and research is not much more in depth, despite the fact the Hearne is himself a dream research scientist. I found it an interesting sidelight that Hearne claims to have originated the idea of signalling with one's eyes from inside a lucid dream, something that Stephen LaBerge also claims to have thought of rather than (as Hearne implies) getting the idea from Hearne. This is probably one of those heated scientific priority controversies, and Hearne may well be in the right; LaBerge's book (Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming) is still much better than his, and so is Healing Dreams: Exploring the Dreams That Can Transform Your Life by Marc Ian Barasch, if you want a broader overview.

Cool pictures though.