The Universal Dream Key: The 12 Most Common Dream Themes Around the World (Paperback)

~ Patricia Garfield (Author) "EVERY NIGHT YOU tell yourself stories..." (more)
Key Phrases: vehicular trouble, discovering new spaces, waking life situation, Universal Dreams, New York, New Zealand (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Drawing upon the works of psychologist Carl Jung, structuralist Claude L‚vi-Strauss and folklorist Vladimir Propp, Garfield (Creative Dreaming), who cofounded the Association for the Study of Dreams, believes that all dreams despite significant differences in dreamers and their cultures fall into 12 archetypes. Most are common, easily recognizable narratives ("Being Chased or Attacked," "Falling or Drowning" and "Being Lost or Trapped"), though a few may be less familiar to Western readers ("Being Menaced by a Spirit"). Each "negative" dream has a corresponding positive or healing version, such as "Being Well Dressed" instead of "Being Naked in Public or Inappropriately Dressed" or "Fine Performance" rather than "Poor Test or Other Poor Performance." While it may seem reductive to limit dreams to 12 categories, Garfield acknowledges the biological and cultural influences on dream symbolism while taking pains to reiterate how every dream has a personal dimension specific to the dreamer. Most of her insights are commonsensical and unsurprising ("Making love in your dream = Wish to connect with waking person or quality of that person"), though readers who are willing to undertake the dozens of dream exercises Garfield offers will undoubtedly wrest new insights from their subconscious minds. (Mar.) Forecast: Though Garfield's workmanlike style may strip dreams of their magic for some readers, she knows how to reach her core audience (her last book sold 250,000 copies). A 25-city radio tour will help ensure that word spreads about Ms. Sandman's bag of tricks for deciphering dreams.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Everyone has nightmares of being chased, of missing an exam, or of being naked in public. Many have enjoyed the opposite dreams of flying, performing flawlessly, or wearing special and beautiful clothing. Garfield, cofounder of the Association for the Study of Dreams and the author of Creative Dreaming, here examines these reveries and others, having decided that they are the most "universal" according to responses to an Internet-based survey. While this claim is suspect the respondents are all computer-literate and hence well educated in Western technology the dreams are nonetheless surely common for the English-speaking public. While Garfield offers some interpretive rules, they are very broad and allow for idiosyncratic meaning (e.g., "Evil stranger chasing or attacking you in dream=Waking feeling of threat"). Readers are instructed in a general method of dream interpretation that stresses individual experience and the specific cultural meaning of dream motifs. If your public library is well stocked with titles by this author, Gayle Delaney, and Robert Bosnak and money is tight, this book is optional. On the other hand, books on dreams seem to be perennially popular, so mid-size and large public libraries should consider adding. Mary Ann Hughes, Neill P.L., Pullman, WA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 1 edition (February 20, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060953640
• ISBN-13: 978-0060953645
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #295,868 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and fun to read as well., March 30, 2003

By	Ryan D Cameron (Broken Arrow, OK United States) - See all my reviews

Garfield discusses her discovery of 12 archetypal dream-themes in this book. These are the most common themes experienced all over the world.

A few of these themes include: being attacked vs. being loved; poor performance in test-taking vs. good performance; falling to one's death vs. being loved and embraced; and man made disasters vs. miracles. Garfield goes into great depths of each archetype and explains how to keep a dream-journal for analyzation.

By analyzing your own dreams, you can determine what's bugging you in your waking life and you can present solutions for these problems. Or, if your life is great, than you can make it more enjoyable by analyzing your dreams for fun and maintain a healthy way of living.

I gave this a four/five only because it might have been organized a little better for reading. It seems like more of a reference material and it makes it sometimes hard to read, however, the content in this book is very smart and interesting.