author: M. J. Abadie
Bindu Books
Inner Traditions Publishing
2003
ISBN #089281085-6

Marie-Jeanne Abadie is a professional astrologer, Tarot reader and psychotherapist who specializes in dream therapy. She is the author of three other teen-oriented books: Teen Astrology, The Goddess In Every Girl and Tarot For Teens. My first impression of this book was that she did a wonderful job of not "talking down" to teens, as well as not "dumbing down" her subject matter.

Bindu Books and Inner Traditions have done a wonderful job of presenting this book. The cover is in very gentle shades of blue, pink and light green - done in a muted concept that certainly makes one think of dreamtime. The inner pages are presented with unique images as "line breaks", which I found fascinating. The book is presented with side-bars throughout, which is a technique that I find useful as a writer and convenient as a reader.

However, that leads me to my major issue with this book - the manner in which some of the side bars are used, which is to promote the author's other books! I got very, very tired of having something from, say, astrology referred to in the main text, then find a side bar referring to her book on astrology with specific page numbers indicated. Can we say overkill here!

The second issue that I have with this book is referencing chapters within the book. If a subject is mentioned on one page, you can bet that there will be a reference to a past chapter where the subject has been covered, or a future chapter where it will be covered. I am of the "Tell them what you are going to tell them; Tell them; Tell them what you told them" school of thought, so the constant references to other chapters was mind numbing. Most readers, believe it or not, would be able to find their own way through this book, as well as making the appropriate connections!

One last issue - the author screams and hisses at, and thoroughly puts down, any and all books that represent themselves as "Dream Dictionaries". A word of caution is all that was really needed here. These books are not to be taken for gospel, but they can act as catalysts for an individual to determine what their own personal dream symbols mean.

Now we can talk about what this book does do - which is cover dreams and dreamtime from a wonderful perspective! The author makes absolute best use of personal anecdotes; dream stories from others; references to research past, present and future dream research; as well as referencing personal experiences from important people in history - names that we all recognize. The flow of this book is gentle, thorough and extremely "usable".

Abadie presents dreamtime and dreaming as a hidden resource - a way in which we can get in touch with our inner, creative selves. She encourages teens (and as well written as this book is, it is really not a book "just" for teens) to access dreamtime by making the effort to remember their dreams. She also encourages her readers to make a record of their dream activity, whether through journaling, taping or some other means, so that the material is there for reference (dream information is notorious for leaving our conscious minds with the speed of light!).

One of the concepts that Abadie presents is that by accessing and learning to control their dreams, an individual has better control over their lives. She presents dreamtime as a gateway to the unconscious, where we can resolve the issues that plague us in our waking life.

I found quite interesting the backgrounds of various peoples around the world that actively work with dreamtime - from Native American Indian tribes to the aborigines of Australia and Senoi people of Malaysia. Each has their own wonderful tradition that honors both dreamtime and the dreamer.

Interpreting dreams, and the symbols within our dreams, is well covered here. Through the artifice of placing an exercise at the end of each chapter, Abadie allows the reader to become an active partner in the book, and to slowly learn how to take control of their own dream process - and to not be frightened by it! Word association, animal symbols and a technique called "dream mapping" are all wonderful exercises that open up our night-time, dreamtime world.

Abadie goes into several of the specific types of dream that we can have, giving wonderful examples of each. They include lucid dreaming, pre-cognitive dreams, telepathic dreams, out-of-body dreams and recurring dreams, to name a few. Each type of dream is with us for a reason, and can be worked with in different ways.

Abadie also makes nice connections between the worlds of Tarot, Astrology and dreaming, and how these tools can be used in conjunction with each other to bring about greater understanding of self, personal growth and healing.

For readers of any age, if you want to learn how to understand and work with your dreams, and are willing to put in the work to do so, this book is for you.

Thank you for visiting my Dreamtime page. May your day be Blessed.

Personal Lifestyle Reading - I offer a Personal Lifestyle Reading using Tarot that looks at past, present and future influences in your life, at the energies that are currently available to help you along your path, and at those energies that are appearing as challanges. My goal is to offer you insight into your decision making process, as well as tools that you can use to both better understand your path and make conscious, choice centered decisions.

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