Alchemia snów

by Athena Laz, Agnieszka Wyszogrodzka-Gaik (Translator)

Unlock the power of your dreams to lead you on the ultimate journey of self-discovery and personal growth.

Roughly one-third of our lives is spent sleeping. We know that time spent asleep is vital for rest and rejuvenation, but what if this time could be used for something more? What if our dreams really are telling us something? Psychologist and author Athena Laz has dedicated her career to uncovering the wisdom of our dreams and revolutionizing what it means to be in touch with ourselves and the universe.

Packed with expert-level exercises and step-by-step instructions, Alchemy of Your Dreams teaches readers how to interpret their dreams and how to lucid-dream in order to achieve more in their waking lives. From improved mental well-being to enhanced spirituality, this modern guide provides a road map to:

- decoding your dreams to uncover their innate guidance
- learning the power of lucid dreaming
- rekindling the connection to your unconscious and subconscious mind through your dreams
- understanding the specific dream figures and symbols that appear in your dreams
- exploring the world of consciousness and gaining clarity on who you really are
- unleashing creativity and overcoming past pain for greater well-being

For anyone who has ever felt that their dreams have true import and meaning, this book provides the exact tools needed to unravel their symbolism, harness their power, and level-up our lives.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Spirituality, Book Club, Witchcraft, Audiobook

240 pages, Hardcover

Published May 18, 2022

Reviews

[Vanessa Goodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is special! It's like no other dream book that I've read... I had no idea lucid dreaming was so wonderful and am now experiencing more profound and helpful dreams. Really worth a read!

[Tarryn Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!! What a great book! I had multiple lucid dreams... I'd never experienced one before and I also feel like I understand the messages from my Soul so much more! What a gift.

[Juliet · Rating 5 out of 5]

After the pandemic forced the world shut, I started having very intense and vivid dreams. At the time my dreams were chaotic and hard to decipher. That is why I am SO glad that I found this book! The author is brilliant in making difficult concepts easy to understand. I look forward to dreaming now and have even experienced three spontaneous lucid dreams. One of the better dream books out there!!

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

My friend recommended this to me and I'm so glad she did because this a beautiful book on dreams 🧿💜

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book recently and really love how original it is! I think this book is for anyone who is interested in a broader realm of what spirituality and consciousness is!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book and as someone who remembers most of their dreams it really motivated me to start writing them down and at the same time during the process of reading the book I had two lucid dreams which I've never had before! A similar kind of awakening happened for me when I read Carl Jung's autobiography Memories, Dreams, Reflections and I would recommend both books to anyone interested in their spiritual development.

[Brooklyn Powers · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who's had lucid dreams, this was really interesting to read. I don't know if I will try to lucid dream on purpose, but I will attempt to keep a journal for overarching themes and creativity purposes.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've recommended this book to everyone I know because it's a helpful and clear guide to understanding sacred dream guidance. Can't wait for her next book too!

[Div Manickam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Athena for this book.
It's amazing how I found this book. Walking by the aisles of the library, When I saw the word alchemy I felt like I had to pick up the book to see what it is and then when it said alchemy of your dreams.. I didn't know why but I just knew I had to read this book.

I've been having intense dreams with action and sometimes nightmares that I couldn't understand why or how to make it stop.

After reading this book you help me realize that I'm looking for my soul guide - The one that's showing me the way to peace and harmony, symphony in this world of chaos.

In the past 2 years I've been telling that the universe has been guiding me to where I need to be.

I feel like I'm right where I need to be.
And each book that I have picked up in the past 2 years has been a guiding light. So thank you for showing me that my dreams are my inner spirit and soul communicating with me.

Cheers to a collective reality of finding ourselves within and creating a better world.

[E.N. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a great book with a unique insight into lucid dreaming. This is a must read for anyone interested in the topic and who would like both a psychological and spiritual perspective. I have also bought the dream journal from this author and it is lovely, and helps to guide all the exercises.

[Natalia · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 ☆

[Elyrria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid guide to lucid dreaming! Just be aware, even though some techniques are mentioned, this is MAINLY a guide to dream interpretation and what lucid dreaming could mean for one's spiritual life. I think most people pick this up expecting a total how-to, when this is maybe somewhere in intermediate territory- still awesome!! Just know what you are buying. With a lot of the author's opinions and the way she writes, I think this would be a really cool book to read alongside Women Who Run with the Wolves.... particularly in terms of connecting with one's psyche, natural instincts, and intuition. Pleasurable read! I enjoyed the fact that it was authored by a woman. Male-authored LD books are usually very goal-oriented and a bit dry (helpful in their own ways), but this work flowed much more and made me feel like I was truly in a space conducive to experimenting with dreaming.

My only criticism is that near the end, the author references a semi-atheist who wanted to try lucid dreaming as if believing in spirits or the supernatural suddenly erases atheism. Atheism is only defined as a lack of belief in gods or goddesses. Lucid dreaming with spirits or assigning supernatural meaning to them does not automatically delete one's atheism. For example, I am an atheist though I believe in spirits. I just do not believe that any being in our outside the universe (based on what I know now) deserves the title of "God" over everything else... My interpretation of reality is far too symbiotic for that. I also think (from my own spiritual practice) that I would define "god" as anything that I would never be able to come throughout all eternity. I personally think that anyone in the universe can evolve to anything, even if there are spirits or e.t. civilizations who exist in more "evolved" or high-frequency states. Personal opinion. But either way, just because you lucid dream with archetypes that other people perceive as "god" does not mean you have to change your approach to spirituality or a lack of it thereof. Lucid dreaming can be for anyone, even people who aren't interested in spiritual realms at all. Still a good book though!

[Cody Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a guide. Barely even discusses lucid dreaming or interpretation (two small chapters). Mostly a bunch of the author's (and her clients') dreams that are paraded as "evidence" for what the author believes dreams do for us (spoiler: it's a bunch of woo-woo).

I'm all for esoteric books that blend spirituality and science but I can't get onboard with repeatedly touting unscientific statements as fact. If folks believe that the universe/spirit/god/whatever sends messages through dreams to teach lessons, sure, do what works for you. But using 2 dream examples to weakly imply that societies could have predicted the 9/11 terror attack or individual catastrophes ~*if we only pay attention to the symbols*~ is frankly obtuse and stupid.

Overall, this book suffers from being unfocused. If it was titled something more along the lines of the spiritual understanding of dreams or even something specific about the author's practice with her clients - it might have reached the right audience. But calling this "a modern guide" is a stretch.

[Marc B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional book! I have always struggled with the concept of lucid dreams and people's accounts of them, but since reading this book and practicing the exercises I have had two. It's a truly exhilarating and mind bending experience that has altered my perceptions and awakened me (pun intended) to this new frontier of consciousness. The author is masterful in her ability to guide you through a spiritual approach without losing touch of the traditional psychological elements (which i find throws me off the topic sometimes), but it's the first time I've experienced this intersection. I didn't feel bullied into picking a side but rather felt guided into the realities of both.

[Michelle Corder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. It is an easy read with helpful suggestions. I used to lucid dream often but never took it very far or deep. This book has inspired me to go further into my dreams, further into myself.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read book for anyone who is interested in connecting with spirit through dreams.🌠

[Valeria Nicoletti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un viaggio in un mondo nel quale prima riuscivo ad avventurarmi da sola, spontaneamente. È stato come ritrovare vecchi compagni di strada, i sogni guidati, o lucidi, con tecniche e piccoli trucchi.

[daria · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this!! Read a bit each night before I fell asleep

[Alyssa Krause · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book with lots examples, insights, and recommendations for how to connect with yourself and manifest a reality you want through dreaming. It was well written and informative. I am excited to use the advice in this book to alter and control my dreams and use them to better myself.

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a brilliant dream book on both lucid dreaming, spiritual consciousness, and regular symbolic or psyche level dreams. I have shared this book with my book club and we can't wait to dream as a group!!!

[Lisa B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books on dreaming that I've ever read! I highly recommend this if you are ready to expand your awareness and belief of what is possible. I can't wait for her next book.

[alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read, has a lot of dimensions to it when it comes to analyzing your dreams, becoming lucid, and what kinds of knowledge and growth can come of both. Not the biggest fan of the manifesting chapter (because it's a hard phenomena to sell, and requires one to have some privilege or else you're putting all responsibility on individuals to change their lives over systems), or the typos, but the last chapter redeems it a little by saying "Hey, imagine if all of us had this level of self awareness and connection, what we could achieve..." — to which I say "Perhaps...sounds nice". Overall, dreams can tell us a lot about ourselves if we're willing to both put the intention work in, and simply listen with patience.

[Baroness · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have practiced lucid dreaming and dream interpretation since I was a child. I was looking forward to being mentally stimulated or learning something new.
NGL, I skimmed and spaced out, this book was wordy.
It’s a New book from the library, the pages felt like velvet.

[Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

A lot of woo woo

[Ben S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great lucid dreaming book . I particularly like how the author writes about both symbolic dreaming , since most of our dreams are such, and then outlines lucid dreaming. Very enjoyable.

[Sara Casalino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! The first half is about interpreting dreams and the second half is about lucid dreaming.

[Gembee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Would highly recommend it for starting your lucid dreaming journey.

[Sabrina Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! Lucid dreaming and dreams in general, have always fascinated me. I like the self reflection and how the author wants us to find our why. Why do we want to do lucid dream? There were a lot of things like fear, trauma, and the psych/soul that contribute to our dreams. If we can be aware of our patterns and what affects us, we then can decipher our dreams and feel the messages speaking to us. I loved the chapters involving listening to the synchronicities sent by Spirit. Over several years ago, when I learned what the word synchronicity was, my entire world changed. I started looking at the signs my Guide was giving me and life does change when you start to really pay attention to what the Universe is trying to show you. Even the smallest things.

Throughout the book, I learned a lot about setting intentions during our waking life and our dream reality, being reminded that coming together as a collective to dream bigger is what this world needs, and learning more in depth how lucid dreaming has been studied/practiced in different religions and cultures for a very, very long time— way before even coming to the West in the 90’s. When I learn something from a book, I appreciate the text and what the author is trying to teach us. So kudos for this because I felt like everyone can take away something from this book. I love when a novel gives me a word for something I have no idea existed, but I know the act or expression has a name for it. Dream incubation, for example, was a phrase I learned in this book. I do it all the time, but just thought it was simply daydreaming. It is a method in which you visualize the dream experience you want to have before you go to bed. I love learning new things and when a book makes me do more research. With that being said, I am already diving deep into the Anchuar people who were mentioned at the end of the book— they lived in the Amazon rainforest for thousands of years. They are the “keepers of the ancient dream culture” and I thought it was so neat learning about them— I wish there was more information in this book about them, but good thing for Google.

Overall, genuinely enjoyed this novel, for I have always been fascinated with dreams. A few years ago when I finally heard the phrase “lucid dreaming”, I had no idea that was what I was doing when I was awake in my dreams and could control them—to an extent. Now I am excited to put the practices Laz included in here to deepen/heighten my lucid dreaming.

Here are some excerpts from the book that spoke to me ✨✨✨

“Your soul will call to you to restore your creative life instincts before you permanently become part of the living dead. It will speak loudly and clearly to rescue you from your numbness.”

“There is no emotion that is unhelpful. Emotional strength is about being able to move through the expression of emotion without getting stuck. Anger is a powerful motivator and protector when boundaries are violated. Grief, an honoring of love well experienced. Sadness, a key to pivoting. Rage, a call to tear down limiting structures. All these emotions guide us to greater well-being. Emotions are not final destinations. They are fluid markers of the experience of life.”

“Life changes when we choose to change. That is when we use our inner strength to face where we are in reality and decide to move forward despite any fears and limiting beliefs.”

The hypnopompic state “ You know, that drowsy feeling when you're zoning in and out just before you're about to fall into slumber. In that moment you are actually crossing over into the liminal space between wakeful and sleep consciousness. Scientifically speaking, this in-between stage of consciousness is known as the hypnagogic state. In the hypnagogic state you are neither fully awake nor fully asleep. You are on the precipice between wakefulness and sleep.” I’ve always wondered what this state was! Very cool.

“That is why synchronicity, meaningful repetition, and coincidence feels so wonderful—because it “wakes us up” to what spirit is telling (or showing) us. It often provides us with much-needed external validation of inner knowing.”

[Tait · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book falls into the main problems that many current metaphysical books on dreaming have: it gives very little concrete information about methods or facts, it fluffs out its meager instructions with pages of other people’s dreams as “evidence” and well-meaning but effusive statements, it ignores all the advancements in dreamwork that have been developed over the last several decades in depth psychology as well as the powerful methods that have been developed historically and in other cultures, it believes some dreams are true or magical while others are merely normal, and it leans exclusively on lucid dreaming as the only way to “magically” work with dreams despite it being a finicky, ego-driven, and ultimately unnecessary approach to dreaming.

The biggest aggravation though is its title. This book has absolutely nothing to do with alchemy, let alone actual alchemical approaches to dreamwork (such as those discussed by Paracelsus).