On the Shelves of the Learned Ones of the Magickal Library

Dreamers are readers. At least they will be, when they start tracking down clues and research leads our dreams often give us as homeWork assignments. Egyptian priests who specialized in dreaming were at one time called “The Learned Ones of the Magic Library” (thanks Robert). To gear up towards becoming a Learned One of dreams and of (winged) books, I’m posting this list of the dream books on my shelf. This is by no means meant to be an exhaustive bibliography of the many books available on dreams, but just a list of those books that have helped me the most in my own practice of dreaming.

Foundational Materials:

Conscious Dreaming by Robert Moss. This is Robert’s first book on dreams and lays the ground work for the subsequent developments and breakthroughs in his approach. It is a synthesis of shamanism and contemporary dreamwork that he has termed Active Dreaming. This is a good place to start for learning basic practices like dream re-entry. I’d read other books about dreams and been keeping a dream diary on and off for several years, but this is the book that really opened up my understanding of my own dreams.

The Three “Only” Things: Tapping the Power of Dreams, Cooincidence, and Imagination by Robert Moss. A basic manual for navigating the world by being attentive to dreams & synchronicity while using the power of imagination to become a Way Maker.

Dream Work: Techniques for Discovering the Creative Power in Dreams by Jeremy Taylor. Another “Aha” moment in this book, and a lot of good info for working with dreams in groups and using dreams for social change.

Going Deeper:

Soul Retrieval by Sandra Ingerman. After I had been journaling my dreams for a few years I started noticing a theme where I returned again and again to the sewers. Eventually I had the realization that a piece of myself had gone missing when I was in my teens. She writes that shaman’s “believed that whenever we suffer an emotional or physical trauma a part of our soul flees the body in order to survive the experience. The definition of soul that I am using is soul is our essence, life force, the part of our vitality that keeps us alive and thriving.” By keeping track of your dreams you will be given the opportunity to restore your vitality by reclaiming lost aspects of your soul. Some are even called to do this for others and the culture at large. This book is a vital bit of what Robert Moss calls “paleothic psychology”.

Singing the Soul Back Home: Shamanism In Daily Life by Caitlin Matthews. This is an excellent pan-traditional book exploring the world of shamanism. Well researched, the book is also filled with numerous practical exercises for “Walking Between the Worlds”. Magic is a practical art.

Dreamgates: Exploring the Worlds of Soul, Imagination, and Life Beyond Death by Robert Moss. Fun adventures in the imaginal realms including trips to the House of Time and other collaborative astral locales.

The Dreamers Book of the Dead: A Soul Travelers Guide to Death, Dying, and the Other Side by Robert Moss. It’s inevitable. You might as well start preparing for the transition. Perhaps there are family members and loved ones you need to reconnect with, or who are showing up in your dreams. This book will help you work with these situations.

Dreaming True by Robert Moss. A thorough exploration of dream precognition. Valuable also for an account of how Harriett Tubman used her dreams to help escaped slaves make it from the south to the north on the underground railroad.

The Secret History of Dreaming by Robert Moss. An excellent treatise exploring history through the lens of dreams. How dreams have shaped history. An expansion of the Harriet Tubman material is provided, along with detailed accounts of the role of dreams in the lives of hero and tree-seer Joan of Arc, writer Mark Twain, physicist Wolfgang Pauli (and his deep friendship with Carl Jung), adventurer Winston Churchill and many others.

Dreaming in the Worlds Religions: A Comparative History by Kelly Buckley

The Practice of Dream Healing: bringing ancient Greek mysteries into modern medicine. Join author Edward Tick on a very Aesclepian journey.

Beatnik Dreams

My Education: A Book of Dreams by William S. Burroughs and Book of Dreams by Jack Kerouac are collected dream journals of these two icons and illuminators. In Burroughs case this was his last book to be published before he died. In it are many riveting accounts of his travels to the Land of the Dead (see also The Western Lands) meeting up with friends and colleagues who had passed on before him. Much of Burroughs fiction was also directly inspired by his dreams.

True Fiction:

Winged Pharaoh by Joan Grant. This book is loaded with a plethora of dream teachings from the perspective of an ancient Egyptian priestess. Written by one who had been there.

Dreams Underfoot by Charles De Lint. Many worthwhile themes to explore here, as well as in other Newford books and stories.

The Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath by H.P. Lovecraft. Like many other fiction writers Lovecraft got a lot of his material directly from his dreams. If you like weird fiction his tales will definitely please. This story is instructive in modes of dream travel, of sequential or serial dreams and waking up inside the dream to become an active dreamer as Randolph Carter attempts again and again to reach the city he dreams of before he is snatched away by waking up. This is the longest of stories in his Dream Cycle, but be sure to check out the rest.

Crow and Weasel by Barry Lopez. ’ “Remember only this one thing,” said Badger. “The stories people tell have a way of taking care of them. If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away when they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive. That is why we put these stories in each other’s memory. This is how people care for themselves.”‘ Many of our best stories come from dreams. When we practice writing down or telling our dreams we grow our talent as writers and storytellers.

There are many more. A list like this is always incomplete and reflects my own tastes. My reading list is also incomplete and grows every day, but please add your favorite dream books to the list in the comments section.