Karri Allrich’s book A witch’s dream book he was something of a pioneer in the field of dreams. When it was published in 2001, there were few other books on the market that combined dreaming with the spiritual. I bought this book when it first came out and have treasured it ever since because it sparked some amazing dreams for me. While I do not endorse all of the models presented in this book, I still find it a very useful resource for the beginning dream worker.
The first half of the book contains chapters that educate and initiate the dreamer into the subconscious realm based on Jungian psychology. Allrich explains the archetypes well and uses examples from real dreams to introduce the dreamer to the language of symbols and animals in dreams. There are chapters on the importance of shadow work, nightmares, early dream work, and using tools like the Tarot to help understand dream symbology. The idea that Allrich presents about the shadow is not something that he personally believes or supports, but he does present a common belief among other dreamworkers that the dreamer should at least be aware.
The book has shamanic and wiccan threads running through its pages with explanations of how to work with the moon and how lunar phases affect our dreams. Allrich also explains how to cast a dream spell and the uses of association, active imagination, and automatic writing. Although I am not a Wiccan, the information is useful for getting started for someone who has never worked with dreams before.
The second half of the book is devoted to dream symbols listed in alphabetical order. Allrich derives his dream symbols from tarot, archetypes, and shamanism, which make more sense to me than interpretations based purely on psychology. Allrich dismisses the Freudian concepts of symbols and I totally agree; for example, snakes in dreams for Freud are strictly a phallic symbol indicating repressed sexual desires. This is certainly not my experience. I regularly dream of snakes and have come to see them as allies in preparation for spiritual initiation, which is how this author also recognizes their symbolism. The symbols that Allrich presents in the dictionary section of the book cover much of what the beginner would encounter. Each symbol is described with great explanations as well as questions to spark the dreamers mind of possible meanings for their own dreams. The symbols are cross-referenced in a handy index that makes the dictionary quick and easy to use.
If you are just starting out on your dream journey and beginning to delve deeper into dream work, this book would be a helpful resource to add to your dream library.
