I Wanna Know More About Dream Interpretation
The following books treat dreams and dream content as a language of living symbols and images. They can assist you in the beginning baby steps of learning how to look at and interpret dreams for growth of the soul. If you're looking for some sort of simplistic "cookie-cutter" dream interpretation book, then I'm afraid that you're in the wrong place.

Mary Mattoon
Understanding Dreams - Here is Jung’s own method of dream interpretation. Mary Ann Mattoon, a distinguished Minnesota psychoanalyst, gives a clear presentation of Jung's method. She draws on her own practice as well as the theories of analytical psychology to discuss individual and archetypal amplification in dreamwork. Clear, concise, comprehensive, intelligent — and one of the best of its kind. Highly recommended for getting a basic grasp of Jungian dream interpretation. Check it out

Jean and Wallace Clift
Symbols of Transformation - Good basic introductory text that includes many illustrative dreams along with interpretations that help both the beginner and the professional in understanding their own dreams. Deals in depth with some of the most common dream symbols: snakes, death, the trickster, and shadow figures. Check it out

John Sanford
Dreams : God's Forgotten Language -  This book is NOT a textbook on dream analysis. The book is about dreams and religion, and in particular about the relevance of the dream to Christian experience. It traces the role of dreams in the Bible, analyzing their nature and examining how much of Christianity, through fear and the constraints of dogma, has come to reject the visions through which God speaks to humanity. This book is considered to be a classic in Jungian thought, having been the first serious Jungian book published on the subject of dreams and dream interpretation. Check it out

John Sanford
Dreams and Healing - A succinct and lively book on the Jungian interpretation of dreams. From the book: "Suppose someone told you that there was something that spoke to you every night, that always presented you with a truth about your own life and soul, that was tailor-made to your individual needs and particular life-story, and that offered to guide you throughout your lifetime and connect you with a source of wisdom far beyond yourself."   Check it out

James Hillman
Dreams and the Underworld - A fascinating deepening of Hillman's unique Archetypal Psychology begun in The Myth of Analysis, Re-Visioning Psychology, and Facing the Gods. James Hillman developed the first new treatment of dreams and dream interpretation since Freud and Jung. Building on Jung's foundation, Hillman (like Jung) deals with the dream in relation to the soul. With a strong focus on Classical Greek and Roman mythology, Hillman locates dreams in the mysterious and hidden House of Hades (Pluto). Hillman (discarding Jung's concept of the compensatory function of dreams) then goes on to use these dark images in his journey through the Underworld. Quoting Hillman, "Dreams mean well by us," in spite of any appearance to the contrary; and as messengers of the Underworld and of soul they seek to first dissolve and then transform the inflated Ego that would deprive you of soul. Check it out

Dr. Aizenstat
Dream Tending - Highly readable and enjoyable, this approachable book shows how to access the power of your dreams to transform nightmare figures into profound and helpful mentors, bring fresh warmth and intimacy into your relationships, and overcome obsessions, compulsions, and addictions. Engage the healing forces of your dreams to re-imagine your career and cope with difficulties in the workplace and discover the potential of your untapped creativity. Check it out

ARAS (Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism)
The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images - released in November 2010, this is a great new visual resource for amplifying living symbols. Approximately 350 original essays accompanied by 800 full-color images, from cave drawings to contemporary art, illuminate psyche's mythopoetic nature and symbolic form. Text and image work together to move the reader from the visual experience of an image to the discovery of its psychological resonance and archetypal core. Check it out

J.E. Cirlot
A Dictionary of Symbols - This is an excellent and inexpensive reference book for providing possible meanings, amplifications and associations for universal symbols. It really is an excellent value and should fit most people's needs when working with dreams. Check it out

Ad de Vries
Elsevier's Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery - I would be remiss if I didn't at least parenthetically mention this particular dictionary of symbols. This has long been considered by "Jungian" folks to be THE ultimate reference book for providing possible meaning, amplifications and associations for universal symbols. Problem is that you have to (like me) be a wee bit obsessed or on the other hand be preparing to become a Jungian therapist in order to shell out the big bucks necessary to buy this book. It's currently around $150-220 at Amazon. The cheapest I've recently seen it for sale, elsewhere on the web, was around $150. Check it out

Bookstore Index

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