Dream Guidance: Connecting to the Soul Through Dream Incubation

by Machiel Klerk

Harness the power of your unconscious through dream an age-old technique to access hidden wisdom and receive instruction through your dreams.

Everyone dreams-both literally and metaphorically-but most people don't know that their dreams can be used for personal development. Therapist, dream expert, and founder of the Jung Society of Utah and the Jung Platform Machiel Klerk shares how, through dream incubation, you can manifest the life of your dreams just by cultivating an intimate relationship with your own dreams and taking the guidance you receive from your subconscious. If you ask the right question and keep an open mind, your dream will give you an answer. Klerk offers an easy, actionable five-step process to help you have an incubation dream, a dream that reveals the answer to your question.

1. Identify the problem and decide that you'd like to ask your dream for help.
2. Develop a question that relates directly to the issue for which you are seeking answers.
3. Engage in a ritual aimed to enhance the dream response, like meditation.
4. Sleep, and upon waking, immediately record your dream or dreams.
5. Reflect on the dream and determine the "lesson" it offered.

Genres: Psychology, Spirituality, Reference, Nonfiction

184 pages, Paperback

Published June 14, 2022

Reviews

[Andrew Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're stuck or want guidance on anything from your health to your relationship; if you want to know if you're about to make the right decision or not, you should consult your dreams. It is part of a long tradition that goes back past modern psychoanalysis to the ancient Greeks.

An easy to read how to book, in which Klerk gives advice on how to write a good clear question, the ritual for preparing to dream and how to read the answers.

I found it good on basic advice about dream incubation (asking for guidance from dreams) but found his examples of the dreams from his clients and members of his dream groups rather dull.

I have been in psychoanalysis for about eighteen months and I am used to contemplating my dreams (and interpreting them with help from my therapist). I have tried dream incubation - after reading the book - and for the first time seemed to get something that could be seen as an 'answer'.

I plan to try the technique again and found the list of suggested questions at the end really helpful.

Recommended

[Emily Carlin]

“together the patient and i address ourselves to the two million year old man that is in all of us. in the last analysis, most of our difficulties come from losing contact with our instincts, with the age old forgotten wisdom stored up in us. and where do we make contact with this old man within us? in our dreams.”

….so wrote our boy carl. 2022 is my year of the dream. and also my year of jung. anyway this book is kind of cheesy and not very well-written but DOES contain some useful / practical tools for getting in touch w your own two million y.o. man.

[Carlos Reyes Barría · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conocí el trabajo de este psicólogo jungiano cuando fue entrevistado en This Jungian Life, un podcast sumamente interesante. Lo que más me cautivó de su conversación —y luego, de la reflexión interna que se genera al leer su libro— es la confianza que transmite el autor respecto a la posibilidad de dialogar con el Sueño, el Misterio, el Pewma (o incluso con Asclepio, como él menciona) para plantear preguntas sobre la vida. A través de la simbología onírica, podemos encontrar pistas valiosas para comprenderla mejor.
Además, encontré muy útil el método que propone para convertir esta práctica en un ritual significativo y personal, sobre todo en este mundo cotidiano tan estéril de significado. Aunque la estructura del libro puede resultar a veces un poco desordenada, en general lo recomiendo ampliamente a cualquier persona que tenga interés y curiosidad por el mundo de los sueños.

[Anita Ashland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a very practical way to work with dreams by showing how to ask a question you would like an answer to via a dream. This is a called dream incubation and is a practice that date backs to ancient times. There is an appendix at the end that lists suggested questions for various topics.

[Jackie Mather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the method with very practical examples of how to use questions and requests as a part of dream practice. I have already begun trying the method and have seen interesting results. After recording dreams for 2 years, I am excited for this new tool to work with to dance with the dreamweaver and gain deeper insights into my souls journey.

Learned of Machiel during the Dream Summit on the Jung Platform. He had an excellent ability to interview as well as share; his writing reflects his deep understanding as well as his easy going personality.

Really enjoyed, was able to read and absorb in a very short time. Recommend for dreamers out there, at least the ones paying attention :)

[Angy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a well-written book regarding dream incubation, a topic not discussed in a lot of books I have seen. I think that Klerk is excellent at explaining the technique even if he can get rather repetitive, and I appreciated his information about how other cultures and religions discuss the importance of dreams in one's life. What I liked a bit less were his real-life examples of people in his dream groups, as I could not connect to them personally and I got a bit bored reading those. After reading this book I am tempted to try dream incubation even if I don't know if it's something I'm particularly interested in after learning more about it.

[anh thư · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a light read though at times I wish it were better organized. There is a lot of meandering and the chapters on formulating a question are repetitive. But I liked reading about the use of dreams in different cultures. And some suggestions are interesting, like trying to imagine an answer to a question to determine how good of a question it is, or playing with embodying-sensing a question rather than using words.

[RK · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always had a deep interest in dreams and I've made last attempts to develop a dream incubation practice without success. This book caught my attention while I was browsing through my library's digital selections, and I'm so glad a picked it up! It's a quick read that gives just the right amount of information, and it's given me new techniques that have already resulted in successful dream incubation for me.

[Stéphanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on dream incubation... what it is and how to do it. I was able to put dream incubation into practice while reading the book with great success! I didn't connect so much with the chapter on rituals. I personally don't believe that connecting with our dreams requires much more than a willingness and openness to it, but to each his own. Anyone interested in the dream world will benefit from this book!

[Armonnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am absolutely loving this book. I’m so ready to go to sleep tonight lol. Many secrets about life are revealed in this book. I love the interpretation of the “Diamon” or “Genius” and how we all have one but it’s up to us to discover it. Also that when people do great things or are talented it isn’t them, it’s actually their Diamon. Great book so far!

[Kaitlyn Whitten · Rating 3 out of 5]

3🌟

An interesting read and a solid theory. I believe in dream work and think this method could be quite useful, I've dabbled with it so far and found it to personally be minimally successful but I'm still just starting out with it. The book felt quite repetitive and like some parts were unnecessary, but an intriguing read overall.

[Gülçin Yavaş · Rating 5 out of 5]

This dream incubation mentioned in the book has encouraged me to integrate it into my life, especially asking the right question is great guidance even in daily life. I want to read and search active imagination now.

[Casey Traverse · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book itself was not well written. But it did unlock a new trick for me. I’ve been ~dream incubating~ for 2 weeks now or since I started this book. And it’s worked every. Single. Time. I’m shocked, I’m honored, I’m humbled, I’m in disbelief of the way this I actually a thing.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written with very helpful practical suggestions to make a strong relationship to your dreams. Recommend!

[Cesar F · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rational mind did not allow me to enjoy this book....

[Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine. It would've been more interesting if it delved even deeper into the history. I feel like I just got the surface level of this topic.

[Marlis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing guidance 🙏