The Beginner's Guide to Dream Interpretation: Uncover the Hidden Riches of Your Dreams

by Clarissa Pinkola Estés

From five to seven times each night, we dream and glimpse into a reality not normally available to us. Now Jungian psychoanalyst and author Clarissa Pinkola Estés explores the symbols, themes, and insights of these letters from our unconscious, with the beginning student in mind.

From common dreams such as flying, falling, or being chased, to the seven types of unusual dreams, The Beginner's Guide to Dream Interpretation demystifies popular misconceptions and offers concrete techniques for recalling and uncovering the hidden meanings of your dreams for inspiration and guidance.

For anyone eager to make sense of these gifts from the Dreammaker, here is an accessible new primer from this eloquent authority on dreams and their archetypal power.



what they are―and where they come fromA simple, creative approach to dream interpretationRecall exercises, dream associations, and other tools from psychoanalysis

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Psychology, Spirituality, Self Help, New Age

Audio CD

First published March 1, 2003

About the author

An American poet, psychoanalyst and post-trauma specialist who was raised in now nearly vanished oral and ethnic traditions. She is a first-generation American who grew up in a rural village, population 600, near the Great Lakes. Of Mexican mestiza and majority Magyar and minority Swabian tribal heritages, she comes from immigrant and refugee families who could not read or write, or who did so haltingly. Much of her writing is influenced by her family people who were farmers, shepherds, hopsmeisters, wheelwrights, weavers, orchardists, tailors, cabinet makers, lacemakers, knitters, and horsemen and horsewomen from the Old Countries.

Reviews

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A succinct, empathetic and eloquent description of how to interpret dreams by a Jungian psychoanalyst.

Dream analysis of "a letter from home":
- Write down the dream as precisely and clearly as possible.
- Highlight all the nouns (person/place/thing). Sometimes adjectives (e.g., colors).
- List these nouns, then write a personal association(s) (images/ideas/feelings/thoughts) for each noun.
- Read the dream aloud replacing each noun with a personal association.
- Take the essence of the dream: where is this happening in my life now OR where is it needed in my life now?

How to deal with troubling recurring dreams or night terrors:
- Speak the dream aloud to another person (re: signals you've received the dream in full)
- Make a picture of the dream, write the story of your dream below, then tell it aloud to another person

Dreams encourage us, they break open our narrowness of vision, they open our tightness of heart. Dreams make us as large as we really are. They give us the world on the terms of our wholeness, rather than on the terms of our woundedness or our smallness. So we have a longing to listen in order to be made whole...


► The Secret Language of Dreams: A Visual Key to Dreams and Their Meanings by David Fontana – dreams, interpretation, symbols
► Inner Work: Using Dreams and Active Imagination for Personal Growth by Robert A. Johnson – dreams, rituals, imagination
► Death Is But a Dream: Finding Hope and Meaning at Life's End by Christopher Kerr – dying, dreams, comfort

[Liaken · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was amazed at how useful and beautiful this take on dream interpretation is. She doesn't declare dreams to have a specific interpretation, but rather, invites the dreamer to tune into her own life and find where the resonance is. Her discussion of dreams that people commonly have (being late, finding oneself naked, missing the plane, etc.) was helpful, too. I also appreciated the discussion of what to do with troubling and recurring dreams. I will definitely listen to it until I know it by heart. I think it will help me gain the good from visions in the night.

For those who say this is not academic enough or scientific enough, I say, this is about dreams. It's a part of ourselves and our lives that isn't very well understood. All the science out there still can't explain dreams. If you want a dream dictionary that gives you someone's list of what symbols are supposed to mean, go pick up a dream dictionary. But if you want to be guided into understanding your dreams for yourself, without someone else's ideas laid on top, I think you'll enjoy this introduction. (You can get the whole thing on Amazon for 99 cents right now.)

One last thought: Sometimes I have a hard time listening to Clarissa Pinkola Estes speak. She gets too rambling or soft-toned for me. But in this one, I felt she was speaking more directly, less dreamily (that's ironic). She was speaking like she had something specific to say. Anyway ... I liked it. Maybe you will, too.

[Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful well written guide to help you tap into your inner power to interpret your own dream. The author doesn’t tell you about symbols and their meanings but rather guides YOU to reflect on symbols in your life and what they mean to you. This is a great beginner book for anyone wanting to learn more about the meaning of their dreams

[✨Arline✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short. Easy to understand. Not too “out there,” to help even a skeptic like me.

[Anastasia Kallah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clarissa Pinkola Estés title, The Beginner's Guide to Dream Interpretation: Uncover the Hidden Riches of Your Dreams, is a short but sumptuous a read, bridging the gap between folk tale and dream.

In terms that are both practical and poetic, Dr. Estés shares an individualized approach to understanding personal dream symbols beyond those commonly typified in standard dream dictionaries, explaining where one-size-fits-all interpretations are lacking.

Beyond understanding our dreams, I was surprised to find quite a bit of solid direction in inducing lucid dreaming, as well as how to use the knowledge we glean to improve our waking lives.

Five Stars!

[Josie Varela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the audio book on Overdrive (1hr and 19min.) and greatly enjoyed her words and soothing tone. I know dreams are a second life for us as living beings and that they have messages for us in our waking life. Sometimes we dream of our pasts, the present, and our future all in the same night. What are the different forms dreams come in? What do the dreams mean? How you interpret your dreams rely on you completely. What is happening in your life now? What are you missing in your waking life? Dreams come to us to send us messages. Listen to them.

[CindyGil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Made me want to go back and retrace my latest dreams. I agree with much of what was shared. My family has always held dreams dearly. In my family’s tradition we believe dreams come from God and that through them we can receive guidance or foreshadowing into what will come. I’ve had a two such dreams and while at the moment they are almost terrifying not because of the content but because of the meaning. When such instances have taken place, I feel readied, grounded. It’s amazing to think how much our minds and bodies do and how they are receptors of so much that can help us heal, grow, and enjoy.
Finally, I found the phrasing of the dream maker interesting. The author allowed the reader to determine who or what she or he is. Given my beliefs, my dream maker has a name- above all names-The Great I Am. I’m glad Dr. Clarissa Estes allowed the reader to define that for themselves.

[Jemima Atar · Rating 2 out of 5]

This short audiobook is a helpful start for anyone who is curious about their dreams. It begins with some tools to help you remember your dreams, before discussing misconceptions about dreams, the importance of exploring personal associations to dream features, examples of unusual dreams as well as common archetypical dreams, and troubling dreams. I’d describe this book as a general psychoanalytic guide to dream analysis, incorporating ideas from mainly Freudian, Existential, and Jungian schools of thought.

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

When she says beginner guide, she really means BEGINNER. Very short, and goes over the most basic of concepts. Barely even grasps the surface of archetypal images. Nothing against the author, I'm sure she has other works that are great when she delves deeper, however I feel like there are other places to start in understanding dreams.

[Dodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an introduction. I listen to this book and I think it was only an hour and 20 min. but it is a good started book. The author also wrote Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype. Briefly she talks about different types of dreams and how to work with them.

[Matt Sioson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s like an hour long audiobook. She’s a pretty sharp thinker and is also the type of personality you’d expect to write this sort of book - which I mean in an affectionate but also holding back a smirk kind of way. She also acknowledges the pitfalls/limitations of certain ways of dream interpretation, which sounds pretty reasonable for whatever my opinion’s worth.

[Tessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute guide about dream interpretation. I liked how she said that dream dictionary are useless because everyone has it's own interpretation for things. And I agree with that. But then she goes ahead and does give us some personal interpretations about what some things mean so I felt she was contradicting herself a bit, but it was an ok read.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and quick

the idea is to write down dreams then pull out the big nouns and do word association on them then retell the story with your associations in there instead to figure out what the dream is trying to tell you.

[Yesbelt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A discussion on dream interpretation which includes writing your dream down, and writing down the associations for all the nouns and prominent verbs. As the associations are the ones that decipher the dream.

[Luminea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listening to this was so insightful and inspiring! "Dreams are a letter from home" says Clarissa Pinkola Estés. It was fascinating to learn about common types of dreams, guidelines for dream interpretation, and tips on how to remember your dreams. I look forward to going to sleep tonight! 😉

[Ais · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good into to dream analysis. Pretty brief, this essay/lecture touches on several of the most common types of dreams and what we can glean from them, and also argues for the importance of personal associations in dream interpretation. Mostly, I love the way she writes.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short little book, but I found it a useful approach - more so than most books I’ve read on this subject.

[H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent introduction to dream interpretation. There was so much information is this short audio.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this a fascinating overview. Listened to audiobook which was great.

[Veronika Fabian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to understand basics for absolute beginners. Practicle and encouraging, makes the reader want to go deeper and learn more.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

rather than a book about what your dreams mean - a book that helps you to find the meaning in your own dream.

[Bookwurm637 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very much a Beginner's Guide. NO real concrete answers. The answers are within? I guess.

[Georgia Pelletier]

"A dream is a letter from home"

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such an interesting read if you're curious at the subconscious. I'm a huge fan of all of this author's work.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

A non-fiction read that I found fascinating even for its brief analysis/interpretation. I did like that Estes breaks down the dream interpretation into simple categories, and how to examine them (with examples in tow), while also blending her own experiences. However, I don't think it's a comprehensive guide to dreams, even for the beginner. Some dreams are far too complex to interpret by the categories that she gives alone (as a writer, I know I have far more complex dreams in the sense of creativity). However, she does emphasize good practices in order to remember one's dreams - writing them down being one of the key aspects of it. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook, especially since Estes has such a pleasant, even dreamy voice.

[lcfcjs · Rating 1 out of 5]

Consistent ambiguity is a strong theme throughout this piece. The interpretations are so vague that they become consequently unhelpful, and eventually annoying.

Lack of scientific descriptions of the human brain (ie. "the dream maker" is really used as an area of the brain) is thoroughly frustrating. Especially, if you appreciate the sciences.

Strongly influenced by cultural beliefs and not a practical approach to dream interpretation.

Had to put it down half way through.

[Codrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book about dreams and their possible interpretation. This audiobook version is read by the author, which adds to the value as she has a nice, soothing voice. It can be ambiguous at times though. Also, I would not recommend it to "science" types as with the exception of some interesting psychological observations, it has no scientific basis. Yet, it is an interesting topic.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book just hits the tip of the iceburg for dream interpretation but it was fascinating. She talks about figuring out the message your subconcious is trying to send to you through dreams and how to discover what that message is. I'll definitely be looking at my dreams more closely.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great beginner's guide. I listened to the audio book narrated by Clarissa Pinkola Estes herself. She reviewed 7 types of dreams and 14 types of archetypes that appear in dreams. Lots of my clients are interested in their dreams - I will recommend this book to them.

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

My dreams are just too weird for any interpretation!