Modern Witch's Dreambook

by Sarah Lyddon Morrison

Describes the symbolic meaning of the objects, people, and actions that appear in one's dreams

Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

See also:
==Sara Morrison

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could give this book no stars, I would. It's so poorly written that I'm embarrassed to have read it, but more than that I'm embarrassed that someone who calls themselves a witch could write something so mean-spirited and genuinely harmful. The meanings listed for various entries range from downright silly to some that are obscure to the point of being nonsensical. An example of the former--"Magnolia: If you dream of the grandiflora magnolia tree you're going to hear from from a government agency soon. Probably the IRS." And an example of the latter--"Zuni: If you dream of an Indian ask him if he's Zuni. He may tell you his tribe and then you'll be able to collect amulets made by the Zuni or the Navajo or the Hopi." What? That doesn't actually explain what dreaming of a Zuni person means, and where are you supposed to collect these amulets? In reality or some dreamworld?! Oh, here's another good one: the entry for anger ends with "Recurring dreams of anger mean you're very messed up and need to consult a psychiatrist." Not sure who thinks "messed up" is an acceptable phrase to use in a book, but it's there--more than once. In general a persistent theme throughout many of the entries seems to be 'you are a very angry person and should seek help, particularly because you have a drinking problem.'

As an editor, I realize the importance of context, and I'm aware that I'm quoting without it. But I can assure you the context does nothing but make my argument stronger: I've only left it out because I'm not writing a thesis here. I also have nothing against including obscure entries in a dream dictionary. I know dreams can be random and bizarre, and if you're writing an encyclopedia of dream symbols by all means go for it and include things such as sable coat (yes, that's included). But this book is 229 small pages with large print, and while there's an entry for variety show there isn't one for something as common as violence. I felt like I was reading a collection of someone's odd rants against people. Here's one in particular I could barely believe I was reading: "Abortion: Did you have one? Are you thinking of having one? There's new evidence that people who gave abortions don't think of the consequences for up to ten years after the event.[...] Dreaming of babies is an intense experience and abortion in particular should lead you, if you're dreaming about it, not to have one if you've been considering it."

I'll end with what was the last straw for me, as I tried to not throw this book out of my window. Under the entry for electrocute: "If you see an electric chair in your dreams, then you have been having suicidal thoughts recently. You must do something immediately about your depression. There is no longer any excuse, in my opinion, for anyone to be so depressed as to become suicidal when there are perfectly good medications for the condition." With its bizarre combination of truly oddball beliefs, tangential and unfounded medical advice without any credentials, and complete lack of anything approaching insight (or an actual meaning for symbols included), this book makes all Wiccan practitioners look ridiculous to anyone not already well-informed. The author & publisher should be ashamed.