Night Visions - Page 2


He believes that dreams can help us feel more deeply and awaken more fully to ourselves and the life around us. For Kamenetz, dreams, spirituality, and therapy are all interwoven. He believes the power of our dreams resides in the ability of their startling imagery and mind-spinning irrationality to jolt us out of our everyday, word-bound trance.

A good left-brain intellectual, preoccupied with words and his own analytic awareness, Kamenetz seems driven by the hope that his dreams can open up his world and expand his psychic landscape. He wants his reason to step aside and allow the world of irrational emotion to start bubbling up. It's an old pursuit among the seemingly civilized: to come in contact with primal elements in one's own consciousness. Simply put, the good professor wants to break the hard shell of language that imprisons him and allow his inner psychic riches to burst forth, so he can genuinely feel again.

In large measure, this book is about his quest to enter the world of his own dreams through his encounters with two charismatic dream teachers. By definition, dreams are slippery, nonlinear, and nonsensical, so it doesn't hurt to have a guide to help you navigate their sinewy landscape. Kamenetz, the spiritual pilgrim, travels to Jerusalem and Vermont to meet two guides as different from each other as they are from him.

In Jerusalem, we meet Colette, an 87-year-old with a sharp tongue. She grew up in Algiers, and, as a young person, absorbed the teachings of the mystical, image-filled Kabbalah, which was unusual for a woman. Madame Colette shows Kamenetz how to bring a "dreaming" mind to everyday activities and emotional encounters with family.

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