“Awakening the Dreamer is the best primer on dream work I have seen. Will open your creativity in ways you may not now be able to imagine, take you into and through your personal dream to a deeper self-understanding and expand your world.”
Every morning we are offered a choice to awaken from our dreams or awaken to our dreams. We think of sleeping as a dormant state. Yet it is while sleeping that a deep source of awareness is available—our dreams. Within each dream is a gift, a masterpiece of the soul, revealing a path to our true selves.
Raechel Bratnick draws on her own journey with dreams, along with stories of other conscious dreamers, to weave a rich tapestry for seekers of a true and authentic life. Included in this map for a lifetime of awakening to your dreams are:
Seven essential keys to unlocking the wisdom of dreams
The path of the conscious dreamer
Imaginal journeys to deepen your dream experience
The myth of the Seven Sleepers as a template for the dreaming process
excerpt from awakening the dreamer
“Dreams often drop mysterious ideas into our laps without any explanation. When I decided to write about the dream process which has so profoundly fostered my growth, I asked my dreams to guide me. One night the answer came. I was to write a dream book about the Seven Sleepers. A mysterious fragment followed it: the dream comes apart in seven pieces. What were those seven pieces? How was the legend of the Seven Sleepers relevant to contemporary dreamers? Intuitively I knew this dream was important, and I must explore it with my imagination to discover what it meant. An earlier dream helped me as well. I am leading a group, using dreams and guided journeys into the depths of the “being” into mythological places. I am using music, art, and words to lead people into the caves of their knowing. I have written all the journeys in my illuminated journal.
My work with these dreams revealed the Seven Sleepers to be an archetypal model for the expansion of consciousness through the exploration of dreams. Just as the cave of the Seven Sleepers is a shelter for their emerging consciousness, so the cave of knowing resides within each of us. Awakening the Dreamer illuminates the journey to this cave of knowing. It presents the path of the conscious dreamer. Being conscious is the state of being awake and alert to all of one’s self.
The conscious dreamer understands that below our surface self there is an unlimited depth. The process of accessing the deeper parts of the self is a spiraling inward through layers of emotions, sensations and levels of awareness. Many of our responses to life are reactions and defenses, which are distortions of the true self. These distortions separate us from ourselves, from one another and ultimately, from God. The awakened dreamer seeks the true self, which is most authentic and most knowing.”
more praise for awakening the dreamer
“Congratulations on your courageous and beautiful work. I’ve been extremely pleased to receive your book… I know that now when speaking about dreams, I’m now quoting you… One is in connection with the meaning you give to the soul.”
“Reads like a poem from the heart…Whether we are seekers or counselors, Awakening the Dreamer opens door for us all. I learned from it, admired it, and was inspired by it.”
“A wonderful mentor for those on a conscious, creative path, the author weaves her own fascinating story through the very practical steps and practices she offers her fellow dreamers. An engrossing, creative, especially user-friendly guide.”
