Customer Reviews

The Womans Book of Dreams: Dreaming as a Spiritual Practice

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Connie Kaplan's book could revolutionize your life by changing your picture of yourself. Instead of seeing dreams as clues to your past, you will find that they are messages from your soul, guiding you into the future. She offers hints about dream interpretation that go far beyond the old "dream books" and even beyond psychology. This book is a very important tool for the serious spiritual inquirer.

I like this book, inspite of a number of shortcomings. It's a nicely presented edition from Beyond Words Publishing. The idea of creating a dream database for correlating lunar transits and days of the month with dreams is helpful, and the suggestion that we should recapitulate the events of the day before going to sleep each night is also very useful. I liked the idea of mapping the dream phases and establishing a dream circle of friends in which to share dreams. (The dream chart is the same idea as the menstrual mandala in "Alchemy for Women: Personal Transformation through dreams and the female cycle" by Shuttle and Redgrove, 1995, with the addition of lunar transits.) As an interesting aside, this author leads dreaming circles through lindagoodman.net's academy, with the most recent on being entitled "dreaming on the vernal equinox 2001."

Overall, though, I found that there was too much emphasis on simply recounting people's dreams and without much guidance for the reader on how to work with their own.

Kaplan refers a lot to astrology, but she should have paid more attention to its technical aspects. For example, void-of-course Moon is defined as follows: "As the moon moves from sign to sign during a month, she may, for a few hours, be outside the direct influence of any sign. (Those constellations are far apart!) When the moon is between signs, she is said to be void of course." In fact, a void of course Moon is one that does not make any complete aspect to any planet or the Sun before leaving the zodiacal sign that it is in. It is not somehow outside the influence of a sign. Elsewhere, as another exmaple, she makes an odd statement: "Sagittarius governs the blood. Dreams may refer to the sense of inner peace invoked by proper blood flow." For a fuller and more accurate treatment of this subject, see "Crossing the Threshold: The astrology of dreaming" by Linda Reid. For a more complete exposition on dreaming and shamanism/consciousness work, see Robert Moss's books, such as "Conscious Dreaming: A spiritual path of everyday life."

This book is wonderful - it approaches a subject that is vast and overwhelming in a down-to-earth way. The author and her companions in dream circle take their dreaming and their observations seriously, rather than making pie-in-the-sky generalizations. Highly recommended if you want to go beyond the endless dream interpretation books and work within the dreamweave.

Well, the word candycane seem's perhaps a little misfit for a description of how this book has influenced my vision of life, but it is the most accurate archetype I can think of in this world that can fully capture the niftyness and mysticalness of this book. It was the first book to guide me in the direction of another pursuit of perspective of myself and the world, through the window of dreams. Back to the candycane though, to put it short, this book swirls waking life and dream conscience into one. It has been a treat to read, from start to end.Kaplan has written a masterpiece, full of intricate mysteries, and crystalized many things for me. The set up of the book is practical! And the cover still intrigues me! This book has allowed me to see just how much we live in a dream world. Thank You For Listening, For those searching for just that ideal book on dreams, every page of this book shares more then you can imagine. Thank You Connie for showing me your insight, I am one step closer now. Buh Bye Corinne Meier 17, Miami, Florida

The Woman's Book of Dreams liberated me from my habit of psychoanalyzing my dreams. The idea that I actually dream with other dreamers to create the future is revolutionary. I love the idea of charting my dreams according to the moon. It's a lovely book. Read it!

This book has been my dosage of cleansing wine for a very extended period of time. It has helped me relax for a while, you'll see when you listen to her style...she has allowed us to visit the dream world on earth for a while...she has showed me how my dreams are not as far off as they often times deceived me to believe. She has connected the images in my head to the life I have lead, as well as the water I still have to tread. Furthermore, I no longer dread, because infinite answers are entering through my head, at night while I am in my bed. Through her words she has taken us readers and dreamers all in one swoop a step deeper into the crack of light and clear, through her wisdom. By the same token she relieves us from our fear. Through her metaphors she has illustrated the routes that lead to the destinations of my dreams arrow. Her organization has simplified and sensualized the contact between the two points of view. She has created something of efficiency. The only practical tools you'll ever need or phene. Her words breath an air of confidentiality, yet she is sharing with me and the world effortlessly the air that she herself breeds. Through the publishing of her thoughts, I have a private tutor bought. It's exactly what you and I have sought. I am glad that I have her knowledge caught, saw the battles she faught and learned the lessons she was taught. She has persuaded me to use my dreams as a prediction of the day, or as reflections of the past or future plans and plays. She deserves an "A" for accuracy, for the effective portrayal of a world that seemed so indistinct and far away. The product itself,of her thoughts reformed into diction have fed me, and in that she has helped me. She has the ability to disect phenomena, down into realistic pieces, easy enough to digest and process, yet strong enough to keep you on the constant watch. She has afforded me insight on how to have one of the most intimate experiences of each day of life. Now when I wake up, there's an evolution of solutions on how to travel to the land free of dispute. She has showed me how to commute from one set of rules to a new set of clues on how to live with few. She has guided me to my landing, and now I can step off and be a solely traveling man...well wo-man...she has definetly brought back to my life zeal and appeal, not that what I had before wasn't real, she just showed me how to feel. Connie clarified me on how to find delight in my strife. Dreams are in the palms of our hands, and I'm not about to leave them to be shy, because now I know why...why this information is right by our side. After reading this book, it is impossible to lie about the truth we will through dreams and life find while intertwined.So let your dreams unwind...but first this book you must grind.

Well, I can tell you either this book will change your life or it won't. It changed the course of the rest of my life. Either you are connected to the dream weave or you aren't. For myself, and others, I can only say, thank God for Connie and the dream circle for leading the way. We all dream, we are all connected. Some of us choose this particular path as our spiritual destiny. You will know if you are one of us. Do the work and it will change your life. If you think you are a spiritual dreamer, this book is a good place to start.