Dreams: A Way to Listen to God

by Morton T. Kelsey

A basic introduction to the interpretation of dreams, providing guidelines for understanding their spiritual significance. †

Genres: Spirituality, Religion

104 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Jackie St Hilaire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I began reading Morton Kelsey's books in 1975 after experiencing a very powerful dream on death and dying.

Before exploring my dreams, I was terrified of dying. Becoming more aware of my dreams, I realized that God was communicating to me in a way that was not threatening. At first I was a little apprehensive, to give dreams a priority in my spiritual life but I learned more and more to trust this wonderful gift that God gives.

God has always given me the interpretation of these dreams, it is not difficult once you learn to communicate with God in this fashion. Why would God give you dreams without the interpretations?

Another book on dreams by Morton Kelsey GOD, DREAMS, and REVELATION and John Sanford Dreams: God's Forgotten Language books which introduced me to Carl Jung. Memories, Dreams, Reflections I especially like Jung's biography " Memories,Dreams and Reflections". This book enabled me to understand many life changes that I experienced in the '70's.

I continue to regard my dreams as the most effective way to communicate with my deeper self. Dreams have given me many challenges. They have helped me to overcome obstacles and they have put me back on the right track when I wander.

9-17-15 Reintroducing dreams.
Morton Kelsey gives us a Christian approach to our dreams. He says: "We are most awake to God when we are asleep to the world" "If one is convinced that the human being does live bounded by a time-space box, there is no possibility of dealing with the questions of an irrational world. This is as good as saying that the human being is all-knowing."

We should not reduce God to our way of thinking.

Morton explains that throughout the ages many accounted their experiences of visions and dreams, there is much literature relating these experiences, including the Bible.
The Old Testament is full of these experiences. Abraham-Moses-Jacob-Gideon-Jeremiah-Ezekiel-Mary-Daniel-Samuel-Zechariah-Joel-Job.

In the New Testament: Paul -Cornelius-Peter-Mary-Joseph-Julius Caesar's wife Calphurnia-Pontius Pilate's wife-Constantine

Philosophers: Plato- Hippocrates-Iraneaus-Origen-

Greek Fathers: Gregory of Nyssa-Basil the Great.

Ambrose-Augustine-Jerome-Gregory the Great-St. Anthony-Thomas Aquinas towards the end of his life, Aquinas said in a vision: "Everything that I have written is straw." Comparing his writings to the beatific vision. (Aquinas followed Aristotle philosophy in which one's beliefs are that human beings can experience life only through sensory perception and reason. There was no place for dreams)

It took 3-4 centuries for Aristotle & Aquinas'views to be totally accepted and several centuries later for philosophers and prophets to re-introduce dreams into the collective conscious, bringing us to Rene Descartes- Emanuel Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg's Journal of Dreams and Spiritual Experiences in the Year Seventeen Hundred and Forty-Four (Classic Reprint)-

Modern times writers-CG Jung-Freud-Edgar Cayce-Black Elk

Once you open the door to dreams and visions you cannot close the door and dreams are the safest way to enter the unconscious but Jesus is the safest way to force out the "demonic".

Revelation has it's deepest meaning in the last dream of the night or early morning. Dreams are collections of vivid series of images over which we have no control. Upon awakening jot down any symbol that you have received in the dream, this will help you to remember more details and enable you to move forward, write in your journal and do dream work.

After the dream the work begins. One mustn't just push the dream aside, you had the dream for a reason. Look into it and if you neglect them, you are actually neglecting a very important part of your spiritual journey.

Don't judge a dream. a very subtle dream is just as important as a "peak experience" dream. You need to deal with the small details in your dreams just like in your every day life.

Dreams seldom reveal more than we are able to take in. A dream almost always encourages interpersonal relationships and points out unloving and selfish attitudes.

Whatever one dreams does not determine the future; rather it only shows the possibilities of what may occur. The dream has to be lived out before it becomes real. It thus gives one the choice of doing something in order to change the message that the dream brought.

To allow oneself to be influenced by a dream does not mean to give oneself over to fatalism but possibilities and sometimes a warning to change.

Molded by the Spirit, dreams help us to develop towards wholeness, bringing together all parts of a person. God's power can never be overestimated. To a person who is ready he gives the enlightenment and discernment needed.

You can make dream work a part of your inner quest. The Holy Spirit helps us see ourselves as we really are and gives us a picture of who we can become.

A small book on dreams and very powerful.

Some new additions to my library;
Where People Fly and Water Runs Uphill: Using Dreams to Tap the Wisdom of the Unconscious by Jeremy Taylor.
Dreams and Spiritual Growth: A Judeo-Christian Way of Dreamwork by Louis Savary.
Inner Work: Using Dreams and Active Imagination for Personal Growth by Robert A. Johnson

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explains the importance of dreams and how to find their meaning.

[Jeff McLain · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book review is of Dreams: A Way to Listen to God by Morton Kelsey, released in 1978 by The Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle and Paulist Press. In this book, Morton Kelsey looks at dreams as a practical theologian, as a Jungian Psychologist, and as a historian.
Book Review: Dreams by Morton Kelsey

Morton T. Kelsey served in many roles; most notably as an Episcopalian priest, professor at Notre Dame University, and as a psychologist. Kelsey wrote and published over a dozen books, often covering various aspects of the spiritual world, dreams, psychology and the charismatic gifts. Kelsey also became known for his poetry and various other forms of teachings. His training as an Episcopalian priest and a Psychologist makes his approach both unique and academic; but he most notably authors with a "down-home approach." His approach, often identified with that of the mystics, in this book is on the topic of dreams and how the church has dealt rightly and wrongly with dreams over the years. He also shares quite well about what he has found to be true, when dealing with, dreams through his several decades of studying dreams and dream interpretation as a psychologist.

Early on in Dreams, Morton Kelsey makes his purpose in writing this book clear, communicating that “the purpose of this book is to show accurately and simply how the ordinary person can begin to understand the incredibly varied and fascinating “shows” that take place within our psyches each night.” For him, that means understanding when a dream is God talking, when your body is telling you something about yourself and when a dream is just a dream that means nothing. He expands on this purpose by adding, “it is my hope that many people who have been interested in the dreams and visions of the Old Testament and New Testament may find that the interpretation for dreams is not reserved just for experts.” Rather, they can learn about the ways the church has historically understood dreams and their connection to both the inner and spiritual worlds.

As a pastor, and an individual who works in a homeless shelter, I have met many individuals that have had dreams that they felt were with meaning and significance. Yet, many of them admit that there are few spaces for individuals to safely converse on and process these experiences. Studies in this book, show that 39% of those interviewed admitted in a study to having mystical experiences, yet not being able to safely discuss them. Another survey in England, of 19,000 people, revealed that 10% of them admitted to having a meaningful dream or vision, again without a safe place to process. These significant percentages of nonrational encounters should not be surprising for followers of Jesus, who have a New Testament, that an approximate 4,874 of the 7,957 verses in the New Testament are touching on a nonrational spiritual experience. Perhaps we need better safe spaces to process them – openly.

This does not mean all dreams should be trusted or interpreted. Morton does explain the differences between dreams, visions, fantasies, daydreaming and active imagination. Overall, I accept his overarching definitions, but I might reclassify a few of them slightly differently (as well as their purposes). He also categorizes dreams into several categories including everything from insignificant to symbolic, revelatory, archetypal, clearly a guiding dream and more. For those who do want to find which dreams are worth paying attention to, Morton points out that it is important then to write down your dreams, take your dream seriously, pay attention to images, make associations, paying attention to repetitions and then listening to the dream as if it were a dream or a movie; before realizing also the importance of learning archetypal symbols.

I appreciated the way Morton Kelsey walked through the dreams of the Old Testament, New Testament and even the early church fathers. This was the ultimate highlight of the book for me. In fact, he walks us up through 400 A.D. with stories of dreams of some of our most honored and respected Church Fathers; and the reminder of these were quite helpful to see the switch in our thinking over the years. Intermingled in those stories he also shares some of his own stories and experiences. His research has led him to believe that it was in the thirteenth century, when Thomas Aquinas tried to interpret the life of the Church with the help of Aristotle’s philosophy – that we find “the idea that the human being can experience only through sensory perception and reason. There was no place for this dream. It took about three or four centuries for this view to become totally accepted. As this happened, Christians ceased interpreting dreams. The intellectual tradition of Europe in the last four centuries has taught people to think in conceptual terms only.” This post-enlightenment understanding of the church, especially throughout the modern era, has greatly undermined the mystery of God’s revelatory and spiritual revelation. Regardless if you agree with Morton Kelsey’s understandings of dreams or not, he strategically argues for the church to recognize the legitimacy of dreams, explains their role in history and witnesses to the need for a safe and healing community to process these experiences.

While I do not agree, yet anyway, with every experience and assumption Morton Kelsey makes, I believe he brings forth some important history and teaching, as well as notable experience and understanding. It was a valuable and encouraging read. I do believe Kelsey brings about some important history and thought processes we have forgotten and undervalued. More importantly, I agree with his finding;

"1. God is always present, not only in the physical world, but also in the spiritual world, which constantly breaks through into our consciousness via the dream and the vision.
2. God gives directions to those who are open to them.
3. We can directly confront and experience this spiritual world.
4. God is much more anxious to communicate with us than we are to listen.”

If the topic of dreams and their roles interest you, this short book may be of great value to you, as it was for me.

[Graham Okely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morton Kelsey was an Episcopalian Priest. He writes in an easy to read style with good examples.

There was an example dream from John Newton and the important ring he threw away. And dreams from a Baptist minister, Anglican and Catholic.

He gives these rules: 1 Write them down 2 Take them seriously 3 Pay attention 4 Make associations 5 Pay attention to repetitions 6 See them like a play or movie 7 Learn to understand archetypal dreams.

Some Quotes:
Page 20 of the 7,957 verses in the new testament, 3847 verses relate to spiritual gifts.
Page 34 A survey of 19,000 people in the UK found 10% had visions
Page 36 A man heard this in a vision: Create the conditions through which the individual can develop to the maximum of his capacity within the opportunities at hand.
Page 46 US Navy found 95% of dreams not written down or told in first 5 min are forgotten.

[Sirpa Grierson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jung stated that our dreams are symbolic windows to our internal world. Morton Kelsey is a Catholic monk who has examined dreams from multiple perspectives including archetypal content, after concluding that "the human being's best source of spiritual knowledge, in fact, is this spiritual world, not individual intelligence." 69 There is such truth to the fact that deduction and reason can teach us much, but is limited as to things of a spiritual reality. The latter truths can only be accessed and discovered through our inner experience.

[Mary Thoresen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was helpful for me, to learn about the different types of dreams, and then the 7 rules that Kelsey believes are important for interpretation.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very short book, but it works as a cursory explanation of three things:

1. How historically dreams have been important in the early church and scripture, as well as in societies outside of that tradition
2. How dreams fell out of favor and the influence of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas in that.
3. The prevalence of meaningful dreams and how some people have worked with them.

There are deeper or broader books on the topic, and Kelsey gives some resources for those, but this book is a reasonable starting point.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most exciting books I have read of this sort. I'm not one that thinks much of dreams and find too many people make something out of a dream that is really not there. Dreams are just a bit of undigested beef as Ebenezer would say. But this bookputs a whole new life on dreams and the reality God talks to us every night in dreams. It is a small book but packs a big punch. Kelsey will make you a believer. I certainly will be looking into this think of dreams a lot closer now.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our dreams often reveal parts of ourselves we are not fully conscious of or ready to accept. This book was a great introduction to some basic principles of Carl Jung when it comes to understanding the hopes, fears, and decisions our dreams are helping us to come to terms with.

[Nancy Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little book recognizing the role of dreams in our relationship with God.

[Chris (thebookaholic) Padgett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this to be very interesting at the time. In fact I tried writing my dreams down as a result.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick read that introduces you to dreams and their connection to spirituality, with a good list for further reading.