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The Dream Game
A step-by-step guide on how to remember, interpret, and learn from one's dreams
- GenresPsychologyNonfiction
Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 7, 2013
Back in the eighties, I had a dream about an earthquake. in the dream, I am sitting in my living room when the earthguake hits. The wood beam ceiling collapses and the elm tree in the yard falls. Then I woke up. The dream was on a Monday night. I had the same dream on Tuesday and then again on Wednesday. That morning, I told my neighbor about the dream and he started to get worried ."Did you see my house?" he asked.
Thursday and Friday night there was no dream. However, on Saturday morning while I was making breakfast, the house begun to tremble. It was a 3.5 Richter scale earthquake which, if you are familiar with them, is noticeable but barely. Immediately after the tremor, my phone rang. It was my neighbor who said, "I am not impressed with your earthquake" then hung up.
Was it a premonition? If it was, it was a really lame one. More likely, it was a representation of my own anxiety. There were recently two 5.5 quakes that year and quite a few small tremors. What the dream did was to heighten my own awareness of my unpreparedness in the case of a major disaster which came in handy ten years later in the more devastating Northridge quake.
Ann Faraday's 70s handbook of dream work does have a little about premonitions (She believes in it, I don't). However it is mainly about using dreams to explore your own awareness. Her main inspiration is found in Gesalt dream work where the dream is a personal reflection of your psyche and should be examined in that way. Take the dream literally if you can and if a literal translation doesn't fit then explore the symbolic. For instance, my dream was quite literal. But if the dream didn't fit my actual situation I might want to explore other possibilities like the quake being a symbol of financial or social fears. She also borrows heavily from Jungian psychology but thinks the idea of archetypes is limited. She is very critical of Freudian interpretations as she should be. Her methods of interpretating dreams uses gestalt methods like empty chair techniques, dialoging, and dream journals. The book is a nice introduction to dream work if a little poor in the quality of writing. If you want to learn about dreams, it is a nice place to start. The book is out of print but appears easily available in used book stores and sites. If you are knowledgeable in dreams, you will probably not find anything you didn't know.
Thursday and Friday night there was no dream. However, on Saturday morning while I was making breakfast, the house begun to tremble. It was a 3.5 Richter scale earthquake which, if you are familiar with them, is noticeable but barely. Immediately after the tremor, my phone rang. It was my neighbor who said, "I am not impressed with your earthquake" then hung up.
Was it a premonition? If it was, it was a really lame one. More likely, it was a representation of my own anxiety. There were recently two 5.5 quakes that year and quite a few small tremors. What the dream did was to heighten my own awareness of my unpreparedness in the case of a major disaster which came in handy ten years later in the more devastating Northridge quake.
Ann Faraday's 70s handbook of dream work does have a little about premonitions (She believes in it, I don't). However it is mainly about using dreams to explore your own awareness. Her main inspiration is found in Gesalt dream work where the dream is a personal reflection of your psyche and should be examined in that way. Take the dream literally if you can and if a literal translation doesn't fit then explore the symbolic. For instance, my dream was quite literal. But if the dream didn't fit my actual situation I might want to explore other possibilities like the quake being a symbol of financial or social fears. She also borrows heavily from Jungian psychology but thinks the idea of archetypes is limited. She is very critical of Freudian interpretations as she should be. Her methods of interpretating dreams uses gestalt methods like empty chair techniques, dialoging, and dream journals. The book is a nice introduction to dream work if a little poor in the quality of writing. If you want to learn about dreams, it is a nice place to start. The book is out of print but appears easily available in used book stores and sites. If you are knowledgeable in dreams, you will probably not find anything you didn't know.
August 11, 2008
I learned to interpret my dreams from this book. It is not a dream dictionary of any sort, but is rather a guide to using different methods to determine your own symbolism and the relevance of the dream to your waking life. My favorite technique that I learned from this book is Gestalting the aspects of the dream, also known in psychology as the empty chair technique. This book led me to further explore Gestalt therapy and Jungian psychology.
This book is out of print. If you are interested in dreams, and you come across this book, grab it!
This book is out of print. If you are interested in dreams, and you come across this book, grab it!
March 1, 2025
This book, which I read a long time ago, did provide some useful advice on dream interpretation although I found it didn’t add as much to what Faraday wrote in “Dream Power” but as with that book, while I was reading this one, I remembered many more dreams than I usually do, and recorded quite a number of them.
January 5, 2009
I am an avid dream seeker; I remember them, I write them down, I ask others about their dreams..I have read many books and this has been one of the most concise yet. I bought one for a friend that calls and asks me to help. I will be calling her now.Edgar Cayce aside, Faraday spoke to me.
September 1, 2024
A JUNGIAN ANALYST PROVIDES A VERY POPULAR OVERVIEW
Ann Faraday is a British-born psychologist, who was a pioneer of the Human Potential Movement and the Association for Humanistic Psychology in Great Britain. She wrote other books such as 'Dr. Ann Faraday's Dream Power,' 'The Ann Faraday Diaries,' etc.
She wrote in the Introduction to this 1974 book, "This book is written in response to requests from all over the world for a comprehensive, step-by-step manual on how to understand and use dreams. My first [book]... created a great demand for more detailed instruction on how to interpret them. Many people wrote to me expressing the difficulties they experienced in learning to understand their dreams... I wrote this book in an attempt to fill those needs." (Pg. xii)
She states on the first page, "Although science is still a long way from having any comprehensive understanding of dreams, one finding has emerged pretty firmly from modern research, namely that the majority of dreams seem in some way to reflect things that have preoccupied our minds during the previous day or two." (Pg. 3)
She adds, "irrespective of what kind of message they have for us, it is important to remember that dreams reflect something in or on our minds at the time of the dream... And to understand a dream properly it is necessary to see how it relates to some event or preoccupation of the past day or two." (Pg. 15) She explains, "the basic fact that seems to determine whether a person remembers them or not is the same as that which determines all other memory, namely DEGREE OF INTEREST... 'failure to dream' is ... as simple as lack of interest." (Pg. 21)
She suggests that Freudian dream interpretation theory "has had a pernicious influence in spreading the idea that dreams are out to deceive us with disguises that can be penetrated only by an expert... It is now widely accepted that symbols in dreams reveal rather than conceal the truth from the dreamer, presenting it, moreover, in a very precise, condensed form." (Pg. 54)
She adds, "Today, when modern research has shattered the notion that dreams derive primarily from childhood experience, Freud's whole theory of universal symbolism falls apart." (Pg. 61)
She suggests as "basic rules" the following: "The dream should always be considered literally in the first instance and examined for signs of objective truth, such as warnings or reminders, before moving on to metaphorical interpretation... If the dream makes no sense when taken literally, then (and only then) should it be seen as a metaphorical statement... The feeling tone of the dream usually gives a clue as to what this particular life situation is... Dreams do not come to tell us what we know already ... so if a dream seems to be dealing with something you are quite well aware of, look for some other meaning in it." (Pg. 67-68)
She also advises, "whatever paranormal powers the dreaming mind may possess, they are quite unimportant from the practical point of view in comparison with the 'normal' function of our dreams, which is to give insights for daily life. Dreams certainly CAN give us important practical warnings but these can almost always be traced back to the heart's subconscious detective work..." (Pg. 311)
This book, though fifty years old, remains a "classic" of dream analysis, and will be of great interest to anyone wanting to learn more about their dreams.
Ann Faraday is a British-born psychologist, who was a pioneer of the Human Potential Movement and the Association for Humanistic Psychology in Great Britain. She wrote other books such as 'Dr. Ann Faraday's Dream Power,' 'The Ann Faraday Diaries,' etc.
She wrote in the Introduction to this 1974 book, "This book is written in response to requests from all over the world for a comprehensive, step-by-step manual on how to understand and use dreams. My first [book]... created a great demand for more detailed instruction on how to interpret them. Many people wrote to me expressing the difficulties they experienced in learning to understand their dreams... I wrote this book in an attempt to fill those needs." (Pg. xii)
She states on the first page, "Although science is still a long way from having any comprehensive understanding of dreams, one finding has emerged pretty firmly from modern research, namely that the majority of dreams seem in some way to reflect things that have preoccupied our minds during the previous day or two." (Pg. 3)
She adds, "irrespective of what kind of message they have for us, it is important to remember that dreams reflect something in or on our minds at the time of the dream... And to understand a dream properly it is necessary to see how it relates to some event or preoccupation of the past day or two." (Pg. 15) She explains, "the basic fact that seems to determine whether a person remembers them or not is the same as that which determines all other memory, namely DEGREE OF INTEREST... 'failure to dream' is ... as simple as lack of interest." (Pg. 21)
She suggests that Freudian dream interpretation theory "has had a pernicious influence in spreading the idea that dreams are out to deceive us with disguises that can be penetrated only by an expert... It is now widely accepted that symbols in dreams reveal rather than conceal the truth from the dreamer, presenting it, moreover, in a very precise, condensed form." (Pg. 54)
She adds, "Today, when modern research has shattered the notion that dreams derive primarily from childhood experience, Freud's whole theory of universal symbolism falls apart." (Pg. 61)
She suggests as "basic rules" the following: "The dream should always be considered literally in the first instance and examined for signs of objective truth, such as warnings or reminders, before moving on to metaphorical interpretation... If the dream makes no sense when taken literally, then (and only then) should it be seen as a metaphorical statement... The feeling tone of the dream usually gives a clue as to what this particular life situation is... Dreams do not come to tell us what we know already ... so if a dream seems to be dealing with something you are quite well aware of, look for some other meaning in it." (Pg. 67-68)
She also advises, "whatever paranormal powers the dreaming mind may possess, they are quite unimportant from the practical point of view in comparison with the 'normal' function of our dreams, which is to give insights for daily life. Dreams certainly CAN give us important practical warnings but these can almost always be traced back to the heart's subconscious detective work..." (Pg. 311)
This book, though fifty years old, remains a "classic" of dream analysis, and will be of great interest to anyone wanting to learn more about their dreams.
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March 21, 2021Read it years and years ago and thought it was fantastic at the time. Disposed of it during my nomadic period but bought it again last week (March 2021) to re-read. It's been the best book I've read on dreams.
May 29, 2021
Don't be misled by this book's silly title. It is the clearest, most practical guide to understanding dreams I've ever read. Faraday dispenses with nonsense such as dream dictionaries and teaches you to interpret your own dream language -- only the dreamer understands the dream. A worthy read.
December 11, 2017
Very fun! Some useful stuff in terms of dream journaling but a lot of nuttiness after that
August 22, 2012
A terrific overall look at dreams, dream work, and dream interpretation. Faraday doesn't subscribe to any one "school" of dream interpretation. She takes bits of many and weaves it together, encouraging readers to develop a personal philosophy. Loved this book.
January 24, 2017
Inspirational, certainly helped teach my mind about our previous day's associations that come up in our subconscious dreaming.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews