Theories/Hypotheses Record Type: Review   ID: 706
Families and the Interpretation of Dreams: Awakening the Intimate Web Bynum, Edward Bruce
Bynum shows how people's lives are reflected not only in their own dreams but in those of others, especially intimate family members. He also offers a multicultural view of dreaming and a longitudinal approach, in which "our deepest emotional and family patterns, ... capable of reflecting across several generations, and our most intimate feelings and motivations are reflected in the inner chambers of one another's dreams" (p. 3). The crux of the book is a report of his research in developing a theory of the family dream "as a shared field or shared hologram where each significant other in the family is partially reflected or implicated and enfolded into each other member's dreams" (p. 4). He also attempts to show "that both illness and health are reflected in dreams and that dreaming has an active role in the healing process of the family" (p. 4). His underlying thesis is we not only share our waking life with others but also our dreaming life, and "the function of self-knowledge on both levels is to help the individual truly awaken to that nameless reality, that is beyond waking, dreaming, and deep sleep" (p. 6). Of special interest to readers of EHE is his explication of the ancient African worldview in which dream interpretation, religion, and healing were seen as inter-connected. There is a chapter on ESP and precognition in dreams and their relationship to dynamic family patterns. Examples are given from his practice. A chapter is devoted to dreams and pregnancy and one that is partly on lucid dreams.
Publisher Information:	Binghamton, NY: Harrington Park Press, 1993. 250p. Auth. Ind: 243-245; Bibl: 239-242; Chap. bibl; 6 figs; Subj Ind: 247-250

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