The silver turquoise goat
Once upon a dream, standing at an open casement window, resting my elbows on the sill, I noticed a silvery shining in the flowerbed below. My heart leapt, for there it was, something very precious to me, a gleaming silver statue of a goat, studded in turquoise gems, half-hidden in the foliage like a discarded child’s toy. I reached through the window and nestled it into my arms. It fitted perfectly, being about as long
Common dreams
“Let’s go back to basics today,” suggested the producer of a television show I’m on from time to time, “and give people some tips about those dreams we all share: teeth falling out, being naked in a public place, falling, being pregnant, being chased.” I thought I’d follow the same cue for today’s blog. Much as I enjoy getting into the nitty-gritty of more complex dreams in my day-to-day work as a dream analyst and
Dream play
You dream of a field of lavender in full bloom, swaying in the wind, beautiful yet overwhelmingly same-same, and perhaps a little too heady: what small change would make this dream more comfortable or inspiring? There are probably myriad possible answers, but let’s take an obvious one. You could add oases of lush roses to the field of lavender, apricot and fig trees for dappled shade and thirst-quenching fruit, perhaps a crystal clear waterfall, a
The sleep-in challenge
How much dreaming time do you lose by sleeping six hours instead of eight? Go on, have a guess, or work it out based on everything you know about sleep and dreaming so far. Since as long as I can remember, I’ve always needed lots of sleep, and generally fall asleep within minutes of closing my eyes for the night. It’s very rare for me to lay awake at night, and for this, I am
An invitation
“You should do a podcast show about dreams,” said Belinda, a self-confessed geek friend, ten years ago. I groaned. Podcasting was only vaguely on the periphery of my awareness, and the thought of getting my head around yet another kind of technology for my business felt overwhelming. I was already doing quite advanced html work developing my website – which had originally launched back in 1998 – and was preparing for the inevitability of adding
Yesterday, today, tomorrow
I met two strangers at a party a year or so before I began my work in dreams, almost 30 years ago now. I say strangers, because when I asked around afterwards, nobody else remembered seeing them. Both men, and both a lot taller than me (I am quite tall), they seemed to act in unison. “We have three questions for you,” one or both of them said. “Who are you?” they began. This must
Your 2019 alchemy bowl
I’d love to inspire you to create an alchemy bowl, a vessel to collect totems from your dreams and act as a sacred alchemical kiln. It’s a variation of ancient divinatory practices, healing rituals, and wisdom oracles, given a dream alchemy twist. It’s a way of consolidating and connecting the insights you draw from your dreams across a period of time, and then allowing them to surprise you by revealing themselves in transformational combinations. That’s
A Synchronicity Story
What better way to end the year than with an enticing touch of mystery and synchronicity? It was my birthday last week, and on waking I decided to begin a Synchronicity Journal. I have recorded synchronicities from time to time, but it’s been a while since I’ve dedicated a journal solely to these magical experiences, and they’ve been so abundant recently that I want to honour and reflect upon them. But let’s begin with a
The faces you meet in your dreams
“I dream of people I’ve never met, faces I’ve never seen. Who are they, and why are they in my dreams?” Most people remember dreaming of friends, relatives, work colleagues, people from their past, and people they’ve seen around but haven’t spoken with, and most of us have chatted with celebrities and other famous people as if they were old friends, only to wake up rather surprised, but it’s those faces we’ve never met before
Mindful dreaming
“I was scared of the lion in my dream last night,” said seven-year-old Jade, “I don’t want to have that dream again.” Usually buoyant, and blessed with a loud exuberant voice, she whispered the ‘lion’ word, afraid, at some level, that mentioning the lion might conjure him up in waking life. I asked Jade about stories and movies involving scary animals or monsters that she’d read or seen, and she was surprised at how many