Dream Medicine

This book surveys both the scientific and the spiritual terrain of altered states of consciousness, highlighting how extrasensory encounters can be soul-healing balm. It explores a wide range of cultural interpretations of out-of-body experiences, from shamanistic practices to the importance of dreams in ancient world cultures. A dozen or more interviews with health-related professionals present unique, holistic glimpses of our inner lives. Dreaming takes center stage, with the author presenting her most profound and insidious dreams. Part reference work and part guidebook, this book tells readers how to make the most of their dream experiences through a variety of techniques like incubation, talisman creation, tarot and more.

Kimberly R. Mascaro, PhD, LMFT, is a psychotherapist, educator, and coach with a focus on ecology, spirituality, consciousness, somatics and womens’ issues. She has facilitated workshops and retreats on the topics of globally. For more information on the author, please visit consciouschimera.com.

Kimberly R. Mascaro

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 196
Bibliographic Info: glossary, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2021
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8743-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4512-4
Imprint: Toplight

Disclaimer ix
Acknowledgments x
Preface 1
Introduction 9
One. Medicinal Dreaming 15
Dreams Are Real Experiences 15
But What Is a Dream? 16
We All Need Medicine 19
Two. Consciousness and Shamanism 27
Initiations 29
Tasks, Roles and Duties 31
Three. Oracles, Divination and Dream Medicine in the Classical, Celtic, Nordic and Germanic Worlds 39
Greco-Roman 39
Diagnosing in the Dream State 41
Nordic, Germanic, Celtic 41
Greece, Then and Now 42
Four. All at Once Time 46
Five. Dreamwalking 52
Six. Sleep Yoga, Lucid Dreaming and Dream Yoga 57
Yoga Nidra 57
Lucid Dreaming 60
Dream Yoga 65
Seven. Hypnosis 70
Self-Hypnosis 73
Eight. Intuitive Development 77
The Nervous System 78
Regulation  79
Nine. Italian Folkways 84
Ten. Surprise Visitors 90
Announcing Dreams 90
Disembodied Visitors and Visitation Dreams 93
Along the Recovery Road 102
Eleven. Animal and Plant Spirit Guidance 105
Twelve. Feeding Spirit Allies 114
Thirteen. Sleep Hygiene 125
Fourteen. Dream Incubation 129
Incubating Health 130
Incubation Techniques 136
Fifteen. Dream Reentry 138
Sixteen. Facing Challenges 143
When Nightmares Creep In 143
Recovering the Soul 148
Seventeen. Ancestral Work 152
Altar Crafts and ­Shrine-Making 154
Eighteen. Amulets and Talismans 158
Creating Your Own 159
Cleansing Amulets 163
Nineteen. You Are Your Own Dream Dictionary 167
Lectio Divina 167
Dream Tarot 168
Tracking and Collaging 171
Conclusion 174
Glossary 176
Resources 178
Bibliography 179
Index 185

• “Recent research has discovered that dreams serve us in many ways. They help us to remember important events, to plan for the future, and to work through emotions. In Dream Medicine, Kimberly R. Mascaro describes how dreams can also help to heal the dreamer. In this remarkable book, Dr. Mascaro draws upon historical accounts of healing dreams, linking them with contemporary research and case studies. Dream Medicine comes at a time when people need to discover and utilize their inner resources, and dreams are a resource that is rarely utilized. Dr. Mascaro provides helpful guidance for her readers, and her instructions can promote healing and save lives.”—Stanley Krippner, PhD, California Institute of Integral Studies

• “Somatic psychologist Dr. Kimberly Mascaro explores the fascinating topic of dream medicine for personal and world healing across cultures and through history. Charting her own healing journey, Mascaro elicits the preciousness of life and transmits a palpable sense of wonder. Dream Medicine is a compassionate, informative and inspiring book which will help you to engage with your deepest healing resources via the wise and wonderful portal of dreams.”— Dr. Clare Johnson, author of The Art of Lucid Dreaming and The Art of Transforming Nightmares

• “It’s refreshing to read an author on dreams who speaks directly and openly from her own experiences, recognizes that dreaming is transpersonal as well as personal and understands, above all, that dreams require far more than interpretation: they require action to embody their healing and guiding energy. We know that Kimberly Mascaro’s Dream Medicine is no snake oil because it is grounded in her lifelong passion for dreaming and ever-deepening practice and research. You’ll be prompted to look in your dreams for what our ancestral wisdom teachers knew to be there: clues to the possible future, diagnosis of our physical and psychic complaints, access to our authentic spiritual guides and allies, the God/Goddess we can talk to. You’ll wake up to the fact that if you aren’t tending to your dreams, you are missing not only your night movies, but the chance to become star and director and screenwriter for your life dramas.”—Robert Moss, author of Conscious Dreaming, Dreaming the Soul Back Home and Growing Big Dreams.