Dreams - The Magic of the Night

By Kenneth K. Gray

Dreams: The Magic of the Night is for people who want to understand their dreams. It shows the reader how to do this through examples from the author's dream journals. A framework for understanding dreams is presented in the first few chapters, illustrated by examples. After that, any chapter may be read in any order. The first chapter is a short autobiography so that readers will understand where the author is coming from. This is important because a basic principle in dream interpretation is that the best interpreter of a dream is the dreamer. We know ourselves better than anyone else. The goal of dreamwork is always greater self-understanding and self-awareness. The world of dreams is a vast inner universe. From physical health to divine revelations, dreams give us much that we simply would not understand without them. By working with dreams, the dreamer gradually uncovers more and more of his/her true identity. Some dreams make us very uncomfortable as we begin to see where we have maintained a destructive attitude and so have deprived ourselves of fuller, richer living. Other dreams bring us new insights accompanied by joy and exaltation. In the final analysis, dreams are a means to an end. There is no benefit in just remembering your dreams but never understanding them. The goal is to live a wonderful life in our waking hours. Dreams: The Magic of the Night will put you on a path to the full realization of this.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9781645445005

Book preview

Chapter 1

About Me

Important Note

This chapter really is about me, my background, my beliefs and perspective, not a lot about dreams. So if you want to skip this chapter, please do. My intent is that if you know at least some of my life, you will understand why I interpret my dreams as I do.

The teaching I received as a boy from the Presbyterian Church I attended was helpful but became increasingly inadequate as the years went by. In my elementary school years, I loved the colorful Bible stories and believed them wholeheartedly. Most young boys are excited and enthusiastic about little David defeating the man-giant, Goliath. A plus for me was getting to play billiards in the church basement after Sunday school. But when it came time for catechism and the emphasis turned to the memorization of Bible verses for the sole purpose of regurgitating them to an examiner, the enthusiasm went out of me. It felt like the word life had been removed from the term church life. I didn’t lose my faith in God, but at the ripened old age of thirteen, I did lose interest in going to church. And when an adult friend gave me a copy of The Magic of Believing by Claude Bristol, I began to explore a larger region of truth than the church had mapped out for me.

Then Came Edgar Cayce

My interest in everything about the mind, in dreams, mental powers, hypnosis, ESP, and photographic memory took a spiritual turn when I was thirteen, and my parents gave me a copy of There Is a River by Thomas Sugrue, the first biography of Edgar Cayce. That marked the beginning of a long path of seeking knowledge and understanding that continues to this day. I was mesmerized by Cayce’s psychic accomplishments (pun intentional).

Cayce advocated all people working with their dreams. I began recording my dreams in journals. At first, I got very little out of it, but I remained hopeful and gradually skill at understanding my dreams improved. I still have a small notebook in which I wrote down some dreams I’d had in seventh or eighth grade. In my high school years, I read Edgar Cayce on Dreams by Harmon Bro. That book fascinated me; it was the best. Dr. Bro showed how Cayce helped people interpret their own dreams. He presented a variety of people and their dreams plus much information about the mysterious Mr. Cayce. I also read a book I found in my high school library that educated me on the subject of sleep research and dreams. It talked about the different stages of sleep and brain waves and the neurochemicals involved. I learned that all people go through a REM (rapid eye movement) period of sleep about every ninety minutes and that it is the phase of sleep when we