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Thinking Aloud.... 
Three Books that Highlight the Leading Edges of Dream Work
THE QUOTABLE JUNG
BIG DREAMS: The Science of Dreaming and the Origins of Religion
JUNG AND THE ANCESTORS: Beyond Biography, Mending the Ancestral Web
It is always an exciting moment for me when really good new books focused on dreams and dreaming appear in the marketplace. This month I have been pleased and surprised to come across three. I am still in the process of reading them all, and I have read enough in each one to feel comfortable recommending all three of them to you with great enthusiasm.
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The first is
The Quotable Jung collected and edited by Judith Harris, with the collaboration of Tony Woolfson. Joining the many volumes of the Collected Works, this book was published in 2016 by Princeton University Press.
Judith Harris is currently the president of the Philemon foundation, (the folks who have been so instrumental, along with Sonu Shamdasani, in persuading the Jung family heirs to finally allow Jung's amazing illustrated dream and vision journal, The Red Book, to be published), as well as being a Jungian analyst practicing in Canada and Switzerland.
The Quotable Jung is the result of her lifetime of careful, intelligent, deep reading of Jung's work - the published work, the written correspondence, and many transcriptions of speeches and conversations - underlining, high-lighting, and scribbling in the margins the whole time. She started, long before the advent of the personal computer, by transcribing the quotes she found most meaningful and illuminating, onto 3x5 cards, and is now taking full advantage of the personal computer's capabilities for retrieval and cross-filing. This book is a wonderful gift to all of us who find Jung's ideas particularly inspiring and profound, and I can only imagine that it will be particularly useful for people who are just starting out, and may be feeling somewhat daunted by the task of "getting up to speed" on Jung's life and work. (In this regard, I would also recommend Claire Dunne's Carl Jung:Wounded Healer of the Soul,
as the best introductory biography of Jung.)
 The next book I recommend is Kelly Bulkeley's BIG DREAMS - The Science of Dreaming and the Origins of Religion,
published earlier this year by Oxford University Press.
This is a profound, ground-breaking, and magisterial book. Kelly Bulkeley has spent his entire academic and professional life carefully examining and building solid, intellectually and academically reliable bridges between the various "warring camps" of dream studies. In this book he summarizes and explains in careful detail the best current laboratory research on dreaming from the perspectives of neuroscience and evolutionary biology, making it very clear what we actually know scientifically about dreams in the biological process of dreaming itself. He then moves forward with equal care and linguistic grace, marrying those scientific understandings with a delicate, broad, and deep exploration of the universal spiritual issues shared among the world's religions and spiritual practices - particularly those practices which involve dreaming and paying attention to dreams - both "lucid" and "ordinary."
At the heart of his work is the burgeoning field of "the cognitive science and religion" - (known affectionately to its practitioners as CSR). CSR requires that religious beliefs and dream experiences must be taken seriously as vital parts of evolving human experience. I will quote briefly from this landmark in dream studies, (p. 210):
There is no evidence that mystical dreams like flying in visitations from the dead are caused by cognitive deficiencies or brain pathologies. On the contrary, scientific evidence from many different sources indicates that these dreams emerge from healthy brain/mind systems operating with unusual degrees of cross modal coordination and creativity... According to the latest findings of evolutionary biology, those are precisely the qualities that best define our species and account for our adaptive success. Being able to dream the impossible is what makes us human.
The third book I would like
to bring to your attention is Sandra Easter's,
Jung and the Ancestors - Beyond Biography,
Mending the Ancestral Web,
published by Muswell House Press, 2016. This is the first book I am aware of which focuses primarily on the question of the continuing presence of the dead, particularly the dreamer's blood ancestors, in that realm of psyche that Jung called, "the collective unconscious."
In my experience, there is a level of every dream that is primarily influenced by this particular aspect of the "timeless" quality of the collective unconscious, (or, as Jung himself referred to it later in his life, "the objective psyche"). It is increasingly close to the center of my ongoing attention as a professional dream worker that all dreamers, regardless of their chronological age or psycho-spiritual sophistication, "inherit" the unfinished psycho-spiritual business of their ancestors, both living and long dead.
To give you a sense of the flavor of this book, and of the author's bold and lucid prose, let me offer these quotes, (pp. 252-3):
... It is crucial to provide a psychological container when engaging in any ancestral work, especially when there is significant trauma or a pattern of addiction in the lineage
... It is not uncommon when a person participates in an ancestral soul work group for the "problem" to surface in the family in a very compelling way by the second week
... Each of us is related to the collective human story in very specific ways through our ancestors.
These quotes reflect my own experience as a dream worker increasingly concerned with the archetypal influences that shape every dream - among those influences being the resurfacing of "unfinished business" of the ancestors... My only criticism of this very important, (and hopefully influential), new book is that the author does not sufficiently acknowledge, (or apparently appreciate), that the "timeless," collective, "ancestral" realm of the psyche also directly influences the dreams and waking lives of the dreamer's progeny and offspring. (The best book I know that addresses this prospective aspect of dream work is The Family Unconscious: An Invisible Bond, by E. Bruce Bynum, published in 1984 by Quest Books - but that, as they say, is another story.)
The surprising appearance of these three new, ground-breaking books, all in the first three months of 2016, certainly seems to me to mark this year as a very exciting and important moment in the history of the larger, worldwide dream work movement. All three books highlight the leading edges of professional dream work. I hope you'll find them interesting.
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April 29-30
Santa Cruz, CA
Experiential Workshop. Come for the Workshop and stay the weekend to enjoy the beaches, the mountains and forests, and the charming town of Santa Cruz
Schedule:
Friday, 7-9:00pm
Saturday, 9-5:00pm
There will be a 45 minute lunch break so please pack a lunch or enjoy a homemade soup from my kitchen. If weather permits you may wish to lunch in the garden and take in the ocean view.
Where:
Santa Cruz - directions sent when you register
Cost: $150
Information and Registration:
Marsha Hudson, Ph.D.
NOTE: There will be a second workshop in Santa Cruz on Sept 16-17, 2016. Contact Marsha Hudson to register:
May 13-15
Loveland, CO
Workshop
OPEN TO ALL
A weekend filled with personal discovery, enlightening, life-affirming dream work and many opportunities for personal growth and transformation through a better understanding of the language of your dreams within a safe, supportive, compassionate community of dreamers.
With Billie Ortiz (organizer and dream worker) and a special appearance by Jeremy, via SKYPE, Saturday, May 14.
Where:
Spring Hill Suites
1470 Dry Creek Rd
Longmont, CO 80503
Cost:
Regular Rate: $257
Senior or Student:
$217
Group (3 or more):
$207
Contact:
Register:
May 21
Benicia, CA
Workshop
Tap the Wisdom of Your Dreams - OPEN TO ALL
No experience necessary. Come learn about projective dream work, meet others interested in dreams, and perhaps form a group. Plenty of time for questions and answers.
Schedule:
Saturday, 9:30-5:00pm
Cost:
$100
Contact:
 June 17-19 Danville, CA Weekend Workshop|
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OPEN TO ALL
This workshop is a chance to dream in the beautiful setting of the San Damiano Retreat Center. Either stay at the Center, or commute each day. Meals plan available for both those in residence and commuters.
Schedule:
Friday: 8-10pm
Saturday: 9-6:00pm
Sunday: 9-12noon
Cost, Registration, Housing, contact:
If you want to be a Teaching Associate for the workshop, contact Kathy Taylor right away:
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APPOINTMENTS
for 2016 and 2017
Individual appointments are $90/hr ($100 for couples) - by phone, ZOOM, or SKYPE
Contact: Kathy
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ANNOUNCEMENT
33rd Annual
International Dream Conference
Rolduc Conference Center
Kerkrade, The Netherlands
June 24-28, 2016
There is still time to sign up!
Go to
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ANNOUNCEMENT
DREAM GROUP LOOKING FOR MEMBERS (OAKLAND, CA AREA)
Experienced in projective dream work? We are a group of 6 looking for 1-2 people to join us in our every-other-Wednesday evening group (6:15-7:45pm). We are a convivial group of women and men who value our dream work and enjoy each others company. You can contact Roberta Gannon, who hosts the meetings in her north Oakland home office at 510/601.6805, or email her at
RLGannon@pacbell.net
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All Newsletter contents ©2016 Jeremy Taylor
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