Communing with the Gods

588 Pages·2011·15.176 MB·English

by  Charles D Laughlin

CONTENTS
Dedication 7
Acknowledgements 9
Chapter 1: Introduction 13
Part One: Background
Chapter 2: The Anthropology of Dreaming 35
Chapter 3: Modern Anthropological Theories of Dreaming 69
Chapter 4: Experience and the Dreaming Brain 95
Chapter 5: Lucid Dreaming 133
Part Two: Dreams and Cultures
Chapter 6: Phenomenology of Dreaming 165
Chapter 7: Cultural Theories of Dreaming 197
Chapter 8: Sociocultural Aspects of Dreaming 235
Chapter 9: Dreaming in Religion, Shamanism and Healing 269
Chapter 10: Archetypal Dreaming 305
Chapter 11: Dreaming and the Self 331
Chapter 12: Transpersonal Dreaming 359
Chapter 13: Dream Yogas 393
Part Three: A Neuroanthropology of Dreaming
Chapter 14: A Neuroanthropology of Dreaming 427
Chapter 15: Dreaming in the Modern Age 465
Chapter 16: Conclusion 499
Bibliography 509
Index 561
Dedication
I dedicate this book to my late friend and colleague, Eugene G.
D’Aquili (1940-1998), with whom I had the great pleasure and
privilege to work for many productive years. He helped me learn
that the reality behind societies and cultures is people with brains
in their heads.

Acknowledgements
I wish to thank the following individuals for their help during
the writing of this book. They should not be held accountable for
any of the author’s views, mistakes or excesses. Many thanks to
Paul Devereux, Charla Devereux, Dr. Michael Winkelman, Dr.
C. Jason Throop, Dr. Susan Parman, Dr. Klaus-Peter Koepping,
Dr. Deborah Hillman, Jeremy Harte, Kristi Thompson, Rodney
Malham, Margaret Stephens, Dr. Vincenza Tiberia, Dr. Stanley
Krippner, Raymond Robertson and Dr. Marianne “Mimi” George.
Many thanks to my copy editors, Arlene Osborne and Greg Taylor,
without whom this book would border on gibberish

Our religion is the traditions of our ancestors — the dreams of our old
men, given them in the solemn hours of the night by the Great Spirit;
and the visions of our sacred medicine men, and is written in the
hearts of our people.
From a speech attributed to Chief Seattle of the Duwamish