Influences

The most accessible and well evidenced account of sleep science available. Walker's research on REM sleep and emotional regulation is the scientific foundation for much of Part One of this book.

The book that returned dreams to serious intellectual attention. Freud's specific interpretive framework has not aged well in its details. His central argument, that dreams carry genuine psychological meaning, has not aged at all.

The most accessible entry point into Jungian psychology, written for a general audience. The sections on dream symbolism and the collective unconscious are directly relevant to the dictionary in this book.

The neuroscientific account of what the brain is doing during REM sleep, presented by one of the field's foundational researchers.

Not a book about dreams. A book about the conditions under which human beings find meaning. The idea that meaning is not found but made is directly relevant to the self-knowledge work this book supports.

Jung's closest collaborator on dream analysis, presenting the Jungian approach through extended case studies. Where Jung establishes the theory, von Franz shows it working in practice.

The most rigorous Western language account of Tibetan dream yoga available, a tradition working with the dreaming mind as a spiritual discipline for centuries.

A contemporary account of lucid dreaming and dream yoga for a Western audience, and a useful bridge between ancient practice and everyday application.

Archetypal psychology that takes Jung's framework further, arguing dreams should be engaged with on their own terms. Challenging, and genuinely illuminating.

An early and still valuable practical guide to working with your own dreams, grounded in the actual experience of keeping a dream journal over time.

Brown's research on shame and vulnerability is directly relevant to several of the most significant symbols in this dictionary, particularly Shame, Naked and Exposure, and Judgement.

Campbell's analysis of the hero's journey across world mythology is the reference point for the archetypal dimension of many dictionary entries, including Mountain, Journey, Transformation and Dragon.

Mate's account of addiction as a response to pain rather than a character flaw. Directly relevant to the entries on Addiction and Escape.

De Botton's work on the psychology of modern life, its anxieties and the gap between what we are told to want and what we actually need, provides useful waking life context for many of the relational and identity entries in the dictionary.