Dreamways of the Iroquois: Honoring the Secret Wishes of the Soul

by Robert Moss

Explores the ancient Iroquois tradition of dreams, healing, and the recovery of the soul

• Explains Native American shamanic dream practices and their applications and purpose in modern life

• Shows how dreams call us to remember and honor our soul’s true purpose

• Offers powerful Active Dreaming methods for regaining lost soul energy to restore our vitality and identity

The ancient teaching of the Iroquois people is that dreams are experiences of the soul in which we may travel outside the body, across time and space, and into other dimensions--or receive visitations from ancestors or spiritual guides. Dreams also reveal the wishes of the soul, calling us to move beyond our ego agendas and the web of other people’s projections into a deeper, more spirited life. They call us to remember our sacred contracts and reclaim the knowledge that belonged to us, on the levels of soul and spirit, before we entered our present life experience. In dreams we also discover where our vital soul energy may have gone missing--through pain or trauma or heartbreak--and how to get it back.

Robert Moss was called to these ways when he started dreaming in a language he did not know, which proved to be an early form of the Mohawk Iroquois language. From his personal experiences, he developed a spirited approach to dreaming and living that he calls Active Dreaming.

Dreamways of the Iroquois is at once a spiritual odyssey, a tribute to the deep wisdom of the First Peoples, a guide to healing our lives through dreamwork, and an invitation to soul recovery.

Genres: Spirituality, Native American, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published December 16, 2004

Reviews

[Nancy Eister · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Moss writes some amazing books, and this is one of the most primal. He is led on a dream journey to communicate with a Huron woman from 200 years ago, and augments this communication with historic research, language studies and thorough documentation. Subsequently, he writes three novels around this information, and also shares The lore and value placed on dreaming by the Iroquois and other native cultures. For him, dreams are portals into other times, past and future, and deserve our full attention. He shares techniques and also teaches workshops on conscious dreaming.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

“As soon as I began drumming, I entered a spacious state of multiple-consciousness…I was monitoring our psychic space, checking in without guardian spirits and watching the movements of energy within and around the circle. I was helping to hold open a tunnel of vision that soared up into cosmic space; standing within it was like standing within an immense crystal shaft ablaze with myriad lights.”

Not sure if this is where he lost me, or the earlier story about communicating with a spirit bear to stop a wildfire from crossing his property line, or the later stories where he (a white Australian man) recounts his versions of Iroquois creation myths.

I suppose my lower rating isn’t because of the total vacation of reality - Moss obviously believes in what he does and is good at it - but because I felt misled by the title. I was hoping for a more academic study of Iroquois and Huron dream practices, but what I got was a sort of memoir/how-to on shamanism. I was glad to see references to the 17th century Jesuit writings that document these practices, and this is now the 3rd book I’ve seen that reference, so I think my next stop will be Iroquois or Huron sources.

[Elyse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Definitely more experiential accounts than a how-to book. Certainly not reading for those grounded in conventional reality. Robert Moss inhabits a far, far different reality than I do though I found this and the other books of his I have read intriguing and thought provoking. Since finishing this book I have recalled far more dreams and been aware that I was dreaming than in the entire previous year. I thought my dreams had deserted me!

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretentious. The author probably lies about some of his experiences. The book still fires the imagination, though.

[Kosimoto · Rating 2 out of 5]

Heavy with anecdotes and light on information. One may do better to explore the subject personally.

[BJ Canaway · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing understanding of walking in the dream time

[Dee Dasher]

This book found me while I was wondering around in a huge book warehouse that had had a flood and was closing. I had walked past the spot I found the book several times and this time, there it was right in my path on the floor, looking brand new and devoid of mildew smell like almost all the other books in the place....as if manifested express from the dreamworld..

And that is the spirit of this book, may we reclaim the ancient Dreamways that fuel the human spirit.

[Paul Théberge]

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