Is There A Doctor In The House? Yes!

by Arthur Bernard, PhD

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By Arthur Bernard, PhD

The first wealth is health.
                    -  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Abstract

From personal experience, I can attest to the power of the dreaming mind to diagnose, comment on treatment, see illness as a teacher, and predict outcomes. When the physical body is hit with illness, the victim has an immediate appointment with the greatest specialist he/she will ever have – a masterful diagnostician and treatment specialist who is always on call and has access to the total physical, mental, emotional, psychological and spiritual database contained in a single body. The remedy for illness is known within and the marvelous healing dreams that took place in ancient Greek dream temples can be repeated in modern times.  My seminars prove that atmospheres conducive to such phenomena can be replicated and patients can learn to trust that an inner healer is a reality.

Key words: dreams, dream analysis, Askelpios, self-healing

C. G. Jung believed that when we sleep, we come in contact with a healing force that is not as available during waking hours. This is quite an uncommon statement in the light of modern beliefs in the restorative power of modern medicine.

Jung’s statement came to life when it was authenticated in one of my dream seminars. These all-day dream workshops include a dream incubation and induction that prepares people to have a meaningful dream on any life issue or problem that is resistant to resolution. A high percent of the participants fall asleep during the induction and several of those remember a helping dream. The incubation is a technique for asking a dream for an answer to a specific question and the induction is a guided imagery with deep contemplation that brings about a problem-solving dream – usually listened to before going to sleep.)

Healing can occur in the dream state

A young lady had a foot neuropathy that had been troubling her for two years. She had tried numerous medicines and procedures, but nothing worked. The following is a transcription of her exact words concerning the healing dream and its aftermath.

Nothing was as pressing as the throbbing pain in my foot. Did I think it would work? No! But I was in so much pain I thought I would give it a try. A psychologist had told me years earlier that I couldn’t relax enough for hypnotherapy and terminated my 'quit smoking' sessions. Whenever I was in a training presentation on visualization, meditation or relaxation, I would scoff silently at these techniques because I thought they were silly and useless. I think what made the difference this time was that the dream induction took place half way through the seminar. By that time, there was a very peaceful environment, and the material was so interesting, credible and thought- provoking.

In the dream I saw an image of my foot and I could see through it like I had x-ray eyes. Suddenly, a bright light scanned and enveloped my foot, penetrating into the interior. I sensed and knew it was a healing light. When I came out of the induction, I was pain free. ”I think I remembered everything, and it feels great to be pain free. Oh! One other thing – I did have some moments of doubt after I had my healing dream and every time I had those doubts the pain would return. I expressed this to a woman sitting next to me and she said, “Keep believing and hold fast to your healing.” She was right. When the doubt went away, the pain would go away. It happened a few more times during the following weeks, but I remembered what she said and have held fast to my healing.

I checked with her nine months after this experience, and she was still pain free. The inner and outer features of this curing experience point out the dual nature of the healing route one can often take. The unconscious mind drives toward our wholeness and sees correctly even when conscious reason is inadequate and uncomprehending. The ego should not allow itself to doubt the inner truth that the unconscious mind performs. There are very few people who doubt the importance of conscious experience. Why then should we doubt the significance of unconscious happenings? When a healing occurs, we should just get out of the way and accept it without judgment. When the conscious and unconscious experiences come together according to an individual’s needs, they can produce a powerful healing.

Inner healing and traditional medicine

One could call this a mystical experience and a mystifying cure: being healed by a small sun living in the depths of the unconscious mind. This is an idea that would be difficult to prove through conven-tional scientific research, so it’s easy to see why people have neglected to think in these terms. Living in a culture that diminishes the esoteric and often excludes it in religious and formal education dis-courages exploring this natural tendency of the unconscious mind to communicate in mystical terms.

I believe these uncommon types of cures are more frequent than generally appreciated and are not publicly mentioned or discussed because the medical profession lacks an explanation and might consider them a threat to traditional health care. There seems to be some powerful curative force that can be contacted in this realm of the unconscious that heals people quickly. Under certain conditions during the sleep state, it appears to be as effective as conventional therapy.

There is a doctor in the house, your house, my house, and everyone’s house. This inner healer is invaluable to our health and is always available as the vital partner of any other physician you may consult. Enacted below the threshold of consciousness, the very brief healing drama in my seminar participant’s foot dream brought an immediate cure. The key is learning the art of how, when, and where to visit the 'exclusive personal physician' that practices within.

The doctor within heals a sex problem

'Loretta' was a divorced woman in her early forties who sought sex therapy for being non-orgasmic. Her condition was primary, meaning she had never had an orgasm regardless of the methods she employed. From masturbation to intercourse, nothing worked for her. One of my parameters for sexual counseling was to work with couples only. I generally referred unmarried people to a sex therapist. When I offered to refer her to a female sex therapist, she decided not to focus on that issue but to explore her shyness, emotional suppression and insecurities.

She was a very active dreamer, and after a few months of therapy I suggested she could learn how to program her dreams for any unresolved problem . A short time after I taught her how to do this, she came to a session in extremely high spirits, with a beaming smile that lit up my office. Her adeptness at programming dreams culminated in the following dream experience:

I lie nude on an examination table in a doctor’s office with a plain white sheet covering my body. When the doctor enters, I notice his advanced age, perhaps in his late 70's. His white coat is blotched with mustard and ketchup stains, and his gray beard is somewhat dishevelled. He reaches under the sheet and begins fondling me, which immediately turns me on sexually. We make passionate love, and during intercourse I experience a magnificent orgasm. I awaken very excited.

From that moment on she experienced orgasms with her current boyfriend during intercourse. I was curious about why her unconscious had chosen such an elderly man. She revealed that when she married in her early twenties she had a sexual affair with the next-door neighbor who was in his seventies. It was the best sex she had experienced up to that point in her life, even though an orgasm did not occur. Explanations cannot do justice to this inner adventure. I am not sure of the dynamics behind her breakthrough. Perhaps the driving force that generated this healing dream was a combination of her optimism, expectations and intense desire.

For many women, sexual issues are still fraught with secrecy and considered lewd and immoral, even in this so-called age of sexual freedom and open-mindedness. This breakthrough dream bypassed the need for sex education, self-awareness exercises, communication skills, medication and behavioral techniques. Of course, there was much follow-up in psychotherapy on the possible origin of her difficulty, but the sexual blockage was removed. This was one of those dreams that produced an inspirational, transformative experience. Probably, most of our difficulties come from losing contact with our instincts. And where can we often get in touch with the force that knows how to reconnect our energies? In our dreams!

Ancient cultures knew the secret

Many ancient cultures knew the secret, because they took healing dreams for granted. The ancient Greeks believed dreams were real, rather than imaginary experiences. Thus, they created conditions that would induce specific dreams that could heal, reveal a dreamer’s current and future health status, or provide guidance toward effective treatments.

Not only did they experience dreams as real, they also perceived their gods as real. Ancient Greek gods took on human form, displayed emotions of human beings, resided in human society and intervened in human affairs. With this fusion of god and dream realities, powerful inner forces were unleashed, creating an art of healing that to us seems miraculous.

In many ways, the Greeks were like you and me. When ill, they visited traditional doctors. If that didn’t work, they utilized alternative medicine. Today people go to acupuncturists, herbalists, nutritionists, hypnotherapists, massage therapists and psychic healers. For the Greeks, the choices were less extensive and usually involved visiting a dream temple to be healed while in the dream state.

Although this may sound like a fairy tale, it is not. The sick and disabled sought cures in the holy sites of dream temples and would travel great distances on foot to have their bodies repaired. The rich and poor came, as did the famous and the unknown. Everyone was welcome. All sought cures in the dream state from the same inner physician, Asklepios, who appeared to those who sought him.

The cult of the Greek healing god Asklepios flourished for a thousand years. People sought his visitation in dreams in more than three hundred temples that were built between the end of the sixth century B. C. and the end of the fifth century A. D. Something very special happened in these holy places. The dreams people sought and the healings that resulted are etched in stone, attesting to the medically inexplicable miracles that happened there.

According to Greek legend, Asklepios was born to the sun god, Apollo, who impregnated a human woman named Coronis, whose name means “crow-like.” Their son was believed to be a combination of his father’s celestial splendor and his mother’s earth-like blackness. Asklepios therefore, was destined to rule both the heavenly and dark powers of the earth.

The most popular version of this myth claims that Coronis betrayed her god lover Apollo by marrying a human. Because of this, Apollo’s sister slew Coronis and placed her corpse on top of a funeral pyre. Before dying, and with flames roaring around her, Coronis gave birth to Asklepios. Apollo snatched the newborn from the flames.

Apollo surrendered the infant to Chiron, a centaur, who raised Asklepios and taught him the skills and secrets of medicine. Soon Asklepios surpassed his teacher and became so adept as a healer that he could even raise the dead! Such godly behavior evoked the anger of Zeus, who killed Asklepios with a mighty thunderbolt. Then, surprisingly, Zeus raised Asklepios to the divine rank of a healing god. Zeus honored Asklepios by sending him into the heavens as the constellation Orion (Kerenyi, 1959).

Historical records reveal that Asklepios was once an extraordinary but very human physician. He was such an astonishing healer, however, that he was greatly revered, and the mantle of a god was conferred upon him because no one could believe that a mere human would have such skills. Thus, the myth of Asklepios was born and burned bright through the ages. Priests and followers of Asklepios constructed dream temples where the sick could directly seek health guidance and healing in their dreams. Because dreams were widely accepted and greatly valued as sacred revealers of information and truth, establishing dream temples was a logical occurrence. From primitive societies to the more sophisticated Greek and Roman civilizations, human beings relied on their gods to aid them in everything from the weather to war and to healing – all the things which they could not directly control. Since they believed so much of their lives were 'gifts of the Gods,' the idea was welcomed that Asklepios was a healing god whom they could seek in a sacred dream temple.

Asklepios: Greek God of Healing

I had the privilege of visiting the ruins of the most famous and celebrated healing centers at Epidaurus, located on the plains of the Argolid west of Athens. This sacred site had a magical sense of beauty, harmony and tranquility. What struck me initially was the total silence that enveloped the area. Many of these venerated healing centers were located in remote areas on mountain tops and in deep valleys or isolated plains. They were places which were not easily accessible because the Greeks believed the gods lived in silence. Modern men and women are addicted to noise, which offers a distraction from feeling isolated and lonely. For many, silence feels frightening. “When people sleep, the sounds of the world are silenced, and then the inner world comes to life, connecting souls to the healer within.”

Be still, and know that I am God.
                                 - Psalm 46:10

During the height of ancient Greek civilization, 'incubants' would brave the hardships of travel and make pilgrimages to those beautiful dream temples. After their arrival, rites of purification were performed. Water played an important role in the preparation process, which could take weeks or even months. Bathing not only cleansed the body but also purified and freed the soul from contamination by the physical, setting it free for communion with the gods. Praying, chanting, discussing dreams, and attending theatrical performances were a few of the sacred rituals necessary for proper preparation. The mind had to be optimistic and focused.

Finally, with the help of priests, they would enter into the abaton, the innermost chamber, where their sacred 'temple sleep' would hopefully induce healing dreams. The 'right' dream brought the patient an instantaneous cure. A healing always took place if Aesklepios appeared in the dream and performed his treatment, or if his mascots – a snake and a dog – appeared and licked or touched the ill portion of the body. The snake symbolized the power of rejuvenation because shedding its skin meant a rebirth into a new body free of illness. Dogs are man’s best friend and a symbol of devotion and unconditional love. Even today, dogs have been known to heal people using their paws or bodies to send life force energy (Sakson 2007).

Asklepios was a daring surgeon. In the dream state, he would perform complex operations that far exceeded the medical capability of those times. He opened the skull for brain surgery, performed open-heart operations, and even took eyes out of the sockets of the blind and returned them for vision restoration. It is unlikely any of these patients would have survived if the surgeries were done in the waking world (Meier, 1989).

If a healing dream did not occur, the dreamer did not doubt the incubation and induction dream rituals or the accessibility of the healing god. Instead they would conclude that more extensive preparation was necessary for the healing visitation. Generally, the dreamer’s belief in the dream state’s healing power was absolute because of the intense mental and physical preparation required to enter the temple and the awareness of its success rate. This is why these practices were so successful.

When Asklepios did appear, he often took different forms, such as an old wizened figure, sometimes with a beard sometimes without, carrying a rustic wooden staff.  Or he might appear as a radiantly beautiful youth who was quick-witted and had a sparkling eye. Each dreamer depicted the qualities of godliness and divine power through a physical image that was relevant and believable to that dreamer. That same phenomenon is true today. The healing forces likely to appear in the dream state are appropriate for today’s context and would probably look more like a modern physician. But the curative power can take any form, such as food, a beam of light, a growing plant, an animal, a child, water, dancing, or other healing images.

Once the incubant experienced the healing dream, it was necessary to record what happened in order to affirm the experience. People did this by inscribing their experiences on stone tablets. Cured patients were obligated to pay a fee that was comfortable within their economic status within a year of being cured. The tablets at the dream temples represented a kind of temple diary, much the same as a dream diary today.

Most of the tablets were destroyed during wars, but approximately one hundred remain intact. Since much of this ancient dream healing process information comes from these testimonials, a sample will suggest what kind of healing is possible. The tablets cited below are drawn from Asklepios, A Collection and Interpretation of the Testimonies (Edelstein and Edelstein 1998). The translations bring to life what was etched in stone these many centuries ago.
Instant healings occurred from direct contact with Asklepios in a dream:

– Alcetis of Halieses suffered from blindness. When he dreamed, the god came to him and with his fingers opened up his eyes. At first he saw the trees in the sanctuary. At daybreak he walked out sound.

– In battle, Gorgias of Heracleia had been wounded by an arrow in the lung and for a year and a half had suppurated so badly that he had filled many basins with pus. While sleeping in the temple, he had a dream. It seemed to him that the god extracted the arrow point from his lung. When day came, he walked out sound.

– Cleimenes of Argus, was paralyzed in body. He slept in the abaton and had a deep dream. It seemed to him that the god wound red woolen strips of material all around his body and led him for a bath a short distance away from the temple to a lake, the water of which was extremely cold. When he behaved in a frightened manner, Asklepios said he would not heal people who were faint-hearted and lacked faith. But those who came into his temple full of hope would be sent away well. When he woke up, he took a cold bath and walked out healed.

A divine kiss had an even more dramatic effect.

– Proclus experienced great pain from arthritis. Fearful about having a future with such a dreaded disease, he implored the god. When he fell asleep, he saw, so he thought, the god bend over his legs and kiss them. And Proclus lived his whole life unconcerned about this disease and arrived at a ripe old age without experiencing such an ailment.

Asklepios generally appeared to everyone who sought his counsel and help. Occasionally, he did not proffer healing in the dream, but rather, focused on the bad habits that caused incurable health problems. For example, a young Assyrian came to Asklepios dying from dropsy – an abnormal swelling of the joints and body cavities due to the build-up of clear watery fluid. He lived a life of luxury and was continually drunk. Because he refused to give up alcohol, Asklepios refused to treat him and did not visit him in a dream (Edelstein and Edelstein, 1998). When the youth grumbled about this, the god finally appeared and told him that he only gives healing to those who really desire it: “but you do things that aggravate your disease, for you give yourself up to luxury, and you accumulate luxurious meals upon your water-logged and worn out stomach and, as it were, choke water with a flood of mud. ” (Edelstein and Edelstein, 1998)

During several centuries of Asklepian healing, no medical treatment was given nor were dream interpreters necessary. You were either healed or you were not. Upon awakening from a healing dream, organic changes had occurred. Only the god of healing knew the remedies and performed the essential curative measure in a dream. Asklepios was not only interested in the physical healing but also spiritual and moral healing.

The ancient Greeks knew that humans are much more than their bodies. Connections between people on a spiritual level were also acknowledged. For a person too ill to be moved to visit a temple, another could sleep in proxy and gain valuable healing information. Responsibility was shifted to the substitute who could have valid dreams for the sick person. This is a common phenomenon in dreams where accurate information about those close to us is revealed.

While many of the temple dreamers experienced 'spontaneous healing,' many were prescribed treatments, medicines, and diets. Oftentimes, Asklepios’ advice was directly contrary to that of physicians of that era. For example, he would prescribe rigorous exercise where a patient’s earthly doctor had instead prescribed total bed rest. And Asklepios’ treatment would inevitably work!

Aristotle was convinced that precognitive dreams about friends and loved ones occur because of a dreamer’s deep personal involvement with them. With knowledge about their values and attitudes, the unconscious can reach definite trends and conclusions about their behavior. Aristotle believed that dreams about people we know well could be precognitive because we know these people's motivations well and are consciously deeply involved with them, so that from such knowledge the subconscious can reach conclusions concerning their behavior.

Cures at Epidaurus were not rational

In Healing Dream and Ritual, C. A. Meier, co-founder of the Jung Institute in Zurich, brilliantly expounds on the suprapersonal aspects of illness and how dreams reveal a transcendental path to healing (Meier, 1989). He suggests that the cures at Epidaurus will always be regarded by modern, conventional medicine as dubious and contentious. Meier warns that single cases may be impressive but lack statistical significance; and because of their miraculous qualities, their importance can be easily overestimated. Ancient, non-scientific medicine or a conventional physician of those times played a secondary role in the healing process. The primary source of recovery from illness was a divine doctor named Asklepios who came in the dream state. Cures for illnesses came from the inner spiritual realm. Our dreaming mind cannot only visualize our bodily condition; it can also become the medium of the healing process. It’s a complete health maintenance system. These dreamers were open to taking great leaps of faith into the non-rational nature of life.

Were Asklepios’ interventions miracle healings? Do they differ from miracle healings that occurred in medieval churches and still occur in sacred spaces today? Possibly. I tend to think the dreamer at that time made a profound contact with his innermost self – the self that not only knows how to create physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual harmony, but which also has its divine connection to the healer force within. It is this inner self that becomes the internal physician when needed. This self exists within the psyche, and the ancients created conditions so dreamers could make the connection.  That same intense connection can be made just as easily today.

What was done at these dream temples is still being done today. I call it natural healing. It occurs during incubation and induction rituals that give birth to healing dreams. Journeying to a distant dream temple is unnecessary. You can create your own personal dream temple and hatch a healing dream within your mind. Contacting your inner doctor will take you on an adventure you never thought possible.

Ancient healing gods appear in modern form

Meier implies that in modern psychiatric practice healing dreams seem few and far between. This is probably due to the difficulty in creating atmospheres and expectations conducive to such happenings. Patients must be inspired with a faith in a savior god, a role to which the modern therapist cannot do full justice.

I tend to disagree with this statement because I have personally conducted dream incubation seminars where the focus is on creating an atmosphere of faith in the healing power of the soul. This is done through dreams and establishing rituals of preparation that have a high rate of success for all kinds of personal problems.

These accounts from the ancient Greek dream temples may sound like extraterrestrial visits. However, I can attest from my personal and clinical experiences that these sorts of healing dramas are not the stuff of fabricated soap operas. They pose a question: where have all these gods gone? I believe they have gone back to where they originated – right in our own psyches. The gods of healing sometimes reveal themselves in new guises. The doors to the healing kingdom of dreams are open. People just need to knock.

The inner physician is regularly on call

The inner physician is always on call! Trudging miles to a clinic or calling for appointments are unnecessary. The crucial issues are making the effort to visit the inner doctor and heeding the wealth of information that is prescribed. What makes the interior medical doctor such an expert is the comprehensive knowledge and acquaintance with the physical causes and manifestations of our illnesses, our emotional makeup and thinking patterns, any of which may be the root causes of personal medical problems. Access to our built-in diagnostic equipment can produce surprisingly accurate diagnoses. There is a tremendous fusion of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual knowledge that only the interior physician has access to. This interior physician has a divine connectedness and profound skills and wisdom, which enable him to sort out the causes of our imbalances and disease processes, as well as provide appropriate remedies for them.

Over the years, great numbers of patients have heard doctors say, “Take two tablets and call me in the morning. When we feel physically sick, our most common response is to run to the medicine cabinet to cure whatever is ailing us. I’m not suggesting taking appropriate medicines or consulting doctors are unwise or unnecessary. They’re very necessary. However, it is extremely important that you also visit your healer within so the inner expert can help guide the effectiveness of any treatment.

Moses’ tablets were not created to be quick fixes for outer symptoms. Instead, they were meant to serve as the essential guides needed to cure inner causes of spiritual imbalances that were expressing themselves in the outer symptoms of greed, anger, egocentrism, etc. So, too, does the doctor within help to cure the causes of physical, psychological and spiritual imbalances that are manifesting themselves as physical sickness.

Throughout history, every human being has had a twenty-four hour hot line to that expert medical help long before the appearance of telephones or even carrier pigeons. That’s because each healer’s office and medical equipment is directly inside every person. Our personal physician can help to identify the sources of our illnesses and can guide us toward appropriate remedies and professional help. Our inner health expert has known us and will continue to be intimately familiar with us until death. We can, therefore, look forward to continual health monitoring because that healer is always with us.

Today the magic of the new millennium is that we are waking up to this inner health net. We can all learn to connect to and direct the natural healing energy, and it’s essential that we do so. Worldly riches cannot buy us good health, and without good health, we are poor indeed.

Getting in touch with the inner healer

How do we find our inner doctor? There are multitudes of ways: through hypnosis, meditation, guided imagery and our dreams. By focusing our dream incubation and induction phases on getting to the source of sickness manifestations, we are inherently declaring the belief that important and enlightening information directly related to healing will come. Further, we are laser-beaming a purpose and intention into our forthcoming dreams that will knock directly on the door of the doctor who cures. And with sufficient experience, we develop our confidence in that inner doctor's wisdom and healing capacity.

Actually, it was Dr. Albert Schweitzer in Out of My Life and Thought who first used the phrase 'the doctor within.' Having mingled with and observed many different cultures all over the world, he came to what he considered a 'universal conclusion' about sickness and healing. He determined that the primary factors actually making the difference between a patient remaining sick or becoming healed lay directly within the patient. Those factors are intention and faith. The clearer the intention to become well, and the stronger the faith in ultimate health, the greater the chances of becoming healthy.

According to Dr. Schweitzer, whether it’s a doctor in a modern, high-tech Western hospital or a witch doctor in the African jungle, each performs a ritual appropriate to his or her culture. A Western physician actively administers a specific treatment designed to eliminate a defined disease, whereas the witch doctor doles out a special herbal potion and chants an appropriate incantation to exorcise a specific evil spirit. Both doctors are performing the same service because in both cases, in order for the patient to be healed, that person must energize the medical ritual with faith in the practitioner and faith in the ritual. In doing so, the ill person activates the doctor within. Similarly, once the doctor within is energized, the sufferer receives an appropriate dose of mind medicine and consequently, healing happens. Schweitzer (1998) observed this time and time again. The clearer the intention and the stronger the faith, the faster the healing.

Energizing the doctor within and activating mind medicines with all the waking intention and faith that can be mustered is the first important step toward getting well. For a complete healing, decoding the messages contained in the symptom can be vital. After that, making the necessary lifestyle changes becomes the decisive factor. Real healing does not mean just healing symptoms. For example, to Jung, it meant that patients needed to understand the meaning of their lives and their suffering and to be what they were with no pretenses.

Look at it this way. Sitting on a tack will cause pain. A person could stay seated and take painkillers, but that would be like pulling the battery out of a smoke alarm while staying in a burning house. The source of the pain must be removed. Get off the tack. Flee the burning building, and put the fire out. Lifestyle changes are often what are necessary to stop the body from manufacturing symptoms.

The inner physician in dreams has great expertise

While tacks and fires are obvious signals, most causes of physical distress are not. It’s not a simple task to discover and understand the vital messages contained within symptoms. To dig up the deep-seated message, the next unfolding of healing occurs in the recesses of the subconscious mind. Here lies waiting the great inner healer who knows how to provide an ill patient with remedies. People dream every night, but now preparation with a definite focus brings the issues of healing to center stage.

The subconscious mind is always aware of the cellular condition of the entire body. When illness or injury strikes, it can provide vital diagnostic information about potential dangers as well as guidance that can complement medical treatments. All this information will appear in the guise of vivid, and often dramatic, images. These graphic symbols occur at the onset and throughout the duration of the condition. Frequently, they will even appear before the condition has been detected, and they will also help monitor the treatment a patient is receiving. They can even inspire curative measures. From personal experience, I can attest to these processes.

Dreams helped heal and guide me through my cancer

I would like to share here a few personal dreams relating to my cancer and also those of seminar participants in my workshops whose illnesses were dramatically impacted by their dreams. These examples demonstrate the early warning system and potent healing force that resides in the psyche and manifests just on the other side of sleep. If you believe in your dreams, they will never fail to provide insight and healing.

In 1994, I developed severe urological symptoms that were diagnosed initially as benign bladder cancer. The doctor who removed my tumor tried to assure me that it was not malignant. He said he had performed hundreds of similar operations and invariably could tell if the tumor was pathological. But just to be safe, he would send the tumor for a biopsy. During the night of the operation, I had the following dream:

I am in a small cabin situated on an elevated setting in a dark forest. The darkness is illuminated by a full moon. Below the cabin, about 50 yards away, is a very small circular pond approximately 25 feet wide. Surrounding this body of water are huge crocodiles as wide as the pond. They are packed together, no more than a foot apart. Their mouths are wide open, as if biding their time for a good meal that could be pounced on and devoured. I thought they were waiting for me, and knew if I stepped out of the cabin, I would become a quick snack for the crocs. I also knew the cabin was safe but that eventually, I would have to leave and get on with the business of living. I awoke and sensed instantly the dream was about cancer and immediate action was necessary.

The crocodiles were a warning about a hidden danger. In the wild, they are tremendous eating machines and can shred and devour a 1000-pound buffalo in a matter of minutes. One fact that stayed in my mind was that they were stationary and poised for something to come into attack range. The body of water symbolized my bladder. I knew I was safe from being ripped apart and eaten alive as long as I remained in the cabin, but I was aware that reality was waiting for me on the outside. I couldn’t stay inside forever. My fear was intense. I felt I had to act fast, and so did the doctor.

A cancer diagnosis has a great deal of psychic shock waves. Although this dream somewhat prepared me for the laboratory results, being diagnosed with malignant cancer rocked me to the core like an 8.0 magnitude earthquake. The human body resembles the earth, in that both are subjected to storms and stresses that can alter their physical forms. Our lifestyles can reconfigure our bodies and subject them to a variety of traumas and diseases.

I didn’t think I fit the personality type risk of cancer, whose main features are denial, pathological niceness, avoidance of conflicts and high rationality (Mate, 2003). did I know how much soul unfolding was waiting to take place.

Not only did I want my health restored, I also wanted to know what was going on in my soul. And of course, the quickest route for me to that inner knowledge was my dreams. Disease can be the main route that breaks down barriers to the inner world and all its wisdom. Diseases put us in touch with our inner selves because they force us to slow down and listen to our inner physician.

My physician, Dr. Lau, had a strong sense of compassion and a touching sensitivity to my needs and fears. He even held my hand while I was wheeled into surgery and said, “Don’t worry, Art. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” I found this very reassuring. He even smiled knowingly when I came in for the biopsy report and shared my crocodile dream.

I knew I would get well after I woke up the morning after the diagnosis and was not dead yet. I believed cancer was a death sentence, but I had survived the first day. Way down deep inside me, I realized that this was another trial by ordeal and that eventually it would shift me to another level of awareness. I don’t think I was in denial, since recovery rates for my type of cancer were high. And because I knew that divine forces operated within all people, my hope was elevated. No matter what treatment an ill person explores, optimism can motivate the body to secrete healing biochemicals that have a beneficial effect (Browstein, 2005).

I began treatment, opting for a combination of chemotherapy and a variety of holistic health practices. I ate shark cartilage, spent close to $100 a month on grapes (which supposedly contain powerful anti-oxidants), almonds, and used hot castor oil packs to detoxify the liver. I prayed and meditated daily and even hugged trees, asking their trunks to transmit healing energy into my body.

I created a guided imagery that featured lions and crusaders on white horses protecting my castle and pond from any attacking crocodiles. The lions assaulted the crocodiles, ripped them to shreds, and made beautiful Italian shoes out of the skins. Even when the crocodiles laid their eggs, the lions would dig them up and devour them. I still do this imagery today during my daily prayers.

When the ill go on a healing quest, their odyssey is as much an inner journey as an outer one to heal symptoms. That is why I incubated my dreams daily, seeking health guidance and answers to inner personal questions. Although my conscious mind couldn’t seem to penetrate into the deeper layers of meaning that this illness had for me, my dreams did. Several dreams informed me that the cleansing and healing process had begun. One dream showed me hosing down an area that was already clean, which told me I was overdoing it. This probably related to the castor oil packs on the lower abdomen for liver detoxification. Obviously, I was going to extremes. So I stopped.
 
 
The lessons behind my cancer

After about a month of treatments, I wanted to know what I needed to learn from this experience. After all, cancer can be a major wake-up call. I kept asking myself, "What is this illness trying to teach me? Had my mind led me into treacherous waters? Why couldn’t a sprained ankle have served the same purpose?" In answer to my questions, my inner doctor sent me two dreams that struck at the heart of my belief system.

In the first, I was being interviewed on a radio talk show. The host asked a question about a common dream that millions of people have. I thought: How wonderful. But as I started to respond, I said to myself, “This media stuff is all bullshit! Why am I doing this?”

Suddenly, I didn’t feel like doing it anymore. In actuality, I had a radio talk show called “Dream Talk” and had frequent fantasies about becoming a national celebrity who could take calls and give an immediate, accurate interpretation of a dream. I wanted to be a star dream interpreter for the rich and famous. And now I realized this was self-serving. My ego was hungry for expansion and needed to be fed. In fact, my ego was a slave because it needed continued enhancement from outer sources. My cancer experience taught me the great value of humility and reliance on my own powers and resources rather than relying on those of others. Apparently I also needed to honor service to others. This was not the quid pro quo type but helping people move their lives forward unselfishly. 

My second dream provided me with still more important information. I received tremendous insight when a dream seminar class used a dramatic group dream interpretation process that went far beyond what insight I got from just working the dream myself. This technique is easily learned and does not need professional guidance. It is the most powerful and intelligent approach to dream interpretation I have ever experienced.

A dream heralds my wellness

The last and final dream related to my illness signaled recovery. It occurred about four months after the diagnosis and demonstrates that the full ramifications of illness can be revealed in dreams after the illness has gone.

I am in an enormous empty room, whose ceilings, walls and floors are made of old, unfinished wood. The ceilings are a good 20 feet high, and there is a very large entrance door that abruptly flies open, and in gallops an enormous horse. He is immense and impressive -- a colossal animal close to ten feet at the shoulder with a beautiful, shiny brown coat. My guess is that he is a mixture of Thoroughbred and workhorse. A tremendous sense of power and health radiates from his being. His hooves clatter loudly on the floor. Terrified, I back away from him. He sees me and trots over. I am frozen in place. He rears up on his hind legs and with his head almost to the ceiling, he gently rests the hooves of his two front legs on my shoulders, locking me in my standing position. Terrified, I look up into his face and he moves his head slowly downwards to my face. Very gently, and almost ethereally, he kisses me on the lips. He turns his head sideways so one soft brown eye is visible. Out of it pours such intense love that I begin to cry, overwhelmed that such a profound feeling could be directed toward me.

I begin crying and awake doing the same. The feelings I bring with me into my waking consciousness are immense love and sadness. The sadness is connected to the intense feeling of being loved so deeply, which was not part of my upbringing. I know my cancer is gone.

This dream left a vivid imprint in my dream storehouse and soul. I cherish this dream and reflect on it often. Archetypal dreams have prodigious power and are never forgotten because their impact is indelible. They contain meanings going far beyond the ordinary. Perhaps these extraordinary dreams can never be fully grasped. Part of their permanent power resides in their very ambiguity.

To me, this dream is highly spiritual. Why couldn’t a voice have just said to me, “You are healed”? That would not have been enough. I needed the wonder of the symbols and the emotional experience to help deepen the encounter. My goal was to get rid of the cancer, But my soul’s goal was more extensive – to shift my attitude and values toward serving others.

My first reaction to that powerful horse was fear – I hadn’t an inkling of why he approached me and held me fast with his hooves on each shoulder. Perhaps he wanted to make sure I didn’t flee so he could get his message across. He was a mighty-looking animal with such a light and tender touch! What further struck me was how healthy and vibrant he looked and how, out of this great beast’s eye came what I can best describe as a limitless and unconditional love. He created within me an invitation to accept all this intense, compassionate caring by another.  I had never experienced that deep love as a child. Being brought up by my grandmother because my father died several months before I was born left me in a household where I was looked at as just another mouth to feed during the Depression.

The horse can symbolize many things: instinctual power, sex, animal nature, the physical body, freedom, etc.  But this was a very special, almost mythical horse. I thought of Pegasus, the winged horse who was the messenger of the Gods. His impressive, soft brown eye held understanding, compassion and the deepest adoration I ever experienced in any gaze, from an animal or a human.

'Big' dreams dredge up the swamp

This dream was astonishingly on target. It related to the one major area in my life that has perplexed me to no end: love. And now my dreams were confronting and informing me. I realized that at times I had been afraid to offer my love freely and unconditionally to my beautiful wife of 48 years and my two sons. I had been critical and judgmental. When friends didn’t live up to my expectations, I usually stopped putting energy into the relationships and so they ended. I also grasped that I was afraid to give my love freely because of possible rejection.

Even the great Jung (1965) in his autobiography, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, struggled with the enigma of love. “In my medical experience as well as in my own life, I have again and again been faced with the mystery of love, and have never been able to explain what it is.”

My illness and this dream helped me fathom that inviting love into my life both inwardly and outwardly is one of the keys to health. Ramakrishna said the singular purpose and ultimate destination of human life is to cultivate love. In the New Testament, a life without love is a barren land: “I may have strength to move mountains; but if I have no love, I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13: 1-2). I had heard these words before, but now they were more than an aphorism. They were the key elements in self-healing and in solving the riddle of human life. I finally understood that the true path of life was lit by love and the real issue was to put that understanding into everyday action.

We realize today that the body-mind-spirit connection makes us more responsible than ever before for preventing illness and participating in the healing adventure. One of our greatest allies in our healing odyssey is the unconscious mind and its dream power.

Dreams can:
     – Diagnose
     – Prognosticate the outcome
     – Direct treatment
     – Cure
     – Reveal underlying lessons in the illness
     – Give dietary direction
      – Help maintain bodily health

Anyone who has had a helpful dream about his bodily condition knows without doubt that the inner universe is very much concerned with his health. Healing dreams have endless variations, some of them very entertaining. Sometimes the path to well-being takes a humorous turn, as it did in the following dream that occurred to a woman in one of my workshops:

A toxic bagel and lox

The dream of a young woman:

I am standing by a lake. A bagel with lox and cream cheese comes flying over the trees that line the lakeshore and lands in the middle of the lake. As it sinks to the bottom, the lake becomes stagnant. All the vegetation and the fish die. A voice says, “In order to clear up this lake you must fill it with oatmeal.” I take off my shoes and wade into the water. As I feel the oatmeal squishing between my toes, the lake’s fish and vegetation return to life.

Here was an example of a dream humorously commenting on the food that was harmful to this woman’s digestive system (polluting the water). Her poor diet needed replacement with a more wholesome regimen.

Smoking depletes the body

Years ago, when I was smoking more than two packs of cigarettes a day and not feeling well, I dreamt three nights in a row that I was drinking a quart of orange juice. On the third night, I awoke from the dream, immediately went to the kitchen and made a quart of fresh orange juice. I drank the whole thing. The next day, I felt much better. A few months later, I read in a health journal that excessive smoking depletes the body of essential vitamin C. My subconscious mind knew my body needed that and directed me toward an outstanding source of vitamin C. I not only began drinking orange juice on a regular basis, but soon quit smoking.

Smoking cigarettes is one of the most difficult addictions to break. I know this and so did 'Audrey,' a young mother with two small children who begged her to stop her habit. She often responded with, “Be patient. It will take a long time for me to break this dependence.” After many months of her children exhorting her, she had the following dream.

I dream of a large black middle-aged woman who sits with her arms folded just looking at me sternly. She says nothing and just sits there with an aura of power and determination projecting a 'can do' attitude. I woke up with her image and have never smoked since. That was over twenty-five years ago.

If Audrey could package her dream, she could improve people's health all over the world.

Stabbed in the back

This next dream demonstrates how destructive thoughts create a malignant emotional environment that is fertile ground for an affliction. 'George' worked in the movie industry as a skilled sound technician. Competition was intense because of high salaries and limited job opportunities.

I am at work and a black demon bat-like creature attacks me from behind, striking me in the back in the thoracic region. I wake up and have a pain in that area.

George was a friend whom I loved dearly. I hadn’t been in contact with him for about six months. His wife called me and said he had advanced lung cancer and asked if I would please come and see him in the hospital. I raced to the hospital and found him in bad shape. Dolefully, he declared that he had given himself cancer. I asked him how he had done so. He said that nine months ago he had been 'stabbed' in the back at work. Someone had lied and taken credit for work he had done. Unable to let go of the resentment, he built up hatred towards this fellow worker. As George’s dream suggests, hatred eats away at us. The demon bat in his dream was the harbinger of the disease that took his life.

A dream helps heal emotional trauma from sexual abuse

'Jennifer,' a college student, had done extensive work in therapy to overcome a history of childhood sexual abuse. She was at the point of finally believing in herself when she had the following dream:

I find myself deep into a very green forest. Darkness envelops the scene except for a radiant light that seems to come from the heavens. A very old man, perhaps one hundred and fifty years of age, with long gray hair and a beard, approaches me. He is totally nude. Standing in front of him, I also realize I am completely nude and have a small white owl cupped gently in my hands. The old man is directly in front of me approximately a yard away. He urges me to let the owl go, let it fly away. I resist but he keeps repeating the request in a soft calm voice. After several repetitions of this appeal, I finally surrender and let the owl loose. For the first time in my life, I feel a freedom, accompanied by a peace I had never known and a feeling of gratitude for which I can’t find words. I experience this both while dreaming and upon awakening.

It took Jennifer a few days to fully process the experience. The owl was a symbol of the wisdom and clear insight within her. She realized her dream was telling her she could trust herself and let go of the fear and shame that the abuse had created. Along with her work in therapy, her dream was the final key to opening the gates of the self-imposed, inner prison that had confined her. Soon after, she completed her studies and became a therapist and an artist.

Healing by wolves

This next experience seems to represent a powerful curative force in the dream realm that can be as effective as traditional medicine. One of my students, a woman named Alice, began dreaming of wolves in graduate school. Educational pressures plus adjusting to married life in a new state compounded her stress. Initially, the dreams were nightmarish. Several months into the semester, she was involved in a serious automobile accident resulting in critical neck, back and arm injuries. Six months of physical therapy did not produce improvement. She was starting to feel frightened and hopeless when the first wolf dream appeared:

Three wolves (two were gray, one black) were warming my neck with their fur and massaging my body injuries with their paws. They moved and related to me in a way that communicated an important message: I needed to take control of my injuries and nurture my body. When I awoke, the pain had lessened considerably and I continue to dream about them when I am not taking care of myself consistently. In fact, whenever I’m under stress in waking life, the wolves appear and provide a great source of comfort.

Although wolves appear in many dream books as symbols of deception, craftiness, anger or domination, in this woman’s dreams they appeared as symbols of healing, comfort and compassion. This is reminiscent of the tale from Roman mythology of Romulus and Remus, twin brothers of the god Mars, were abandoned and left to die. They survived only because they were discovered by a she-wolf who fed them her milk. Native American lore also has many stories of wolves healing the sick and injured. Wolves are also credited with teaching tribes how to survive by hunting and valuing family bonds.
 
My house is crumbling with me inside

The following dream warning was taken seriously and disaster was averted because the dreamer followed her instinct regarding the message. It’s a clear example of how someone on the verge of a serious illness can have a compelling catastrophic dream replete with graphic and symbolic images even before the illness has been detected.

A client of mine, 'Claire,' dreamed of a devastating earthquake a few weeks prior to a breast cancer diagnosis. Strong earthquakes are common in California, where she attended the workshop, but Claire resided in the Midwest where they were almost unknown. Unable to shake the memory, she was haunted by it daily because she sensed it had some substantial meaning in her own life.

I am sleeping in my bed when suddenly my house begins to tremble and shake back and forth as if it was in the grip of some powerful beast. Initially, I am not afraid, but as the vibration and shuddering intensify, my fear turns to dread. Suddenly, portions of my house come crashing down all around me. Even though most of my dwelling ends up in ruins, I somehow end up safe. Oh, I have a few bruises, but I’m ultimately OK amid all that destruction.

In waking life, she felt fine and was taking excellent care of herself. She had recently completed a thorough physical exam, including a mammogram and had received a clean bill of health. Her personal life was very satisfying, and she cherished her new job. What possible threat could be looming on her horizon?

However, her memory of the earthquake dream would not leave her. Finally, just to prove her feelings of impending disaster were inaccurate, she scheduled a second complete physical with another physician. Her instinct was sound. The first mammogram hadn’t picked up the cancerous breast tumor, but her body had done so and shouted the message through the cataclysmic dream.

After hearing the new diagnosis, she had a strange sense of calm about it all. She remembered that in the dream she had ultimately survived the disaster and come out relatively unscathed. She saw the house as representing her body and symbolizing the fact that a part of her physique, like the house, would have to 'break off' to keep her safe. And she was accurate. The dream led to her acceptance of the surgery that would not only remove the tumor, but also part of her breast as well. She was convinced the operation would make her well, and fortunately the cancer had not spread. She credits her health today to her dream.

Dreams can help maintain your health

Here are a few more examples that I hope will stimulate interest in seeking out the healing instinct in dreams, whether these dreams arise spontaneously or are sought through incubation. The words are those of the dreamers.

Dreamer 1:

A woman appears in my dream and urgently stresses my need to see an ophthalmologist as soon as possible. I will go blind if I do not!

At the time of the dream, I had been diagnosed with an unusual eye disease and been treated. Thinking it was cured. I had not seen the doctor for several months. It wasn’t, and this dream saved my sight.

Dreamer 2: 

I developed symptoms of fatigue, weakness and occasional out of breath episodes during walking. These traits were very unusual and puzzling for me until I dreamt the following:

I was walking on a beach and uncovered an old iron spike, which was barely visible in the sand. As I held it in my hand, I felt a great power surge through my body. I started running and was able to accelerate to over 200 MPH. I couldn’t believe it. The force and the power in my body were tremendous. In reality, I can’t even jog because of arthritic knees, but in the dream nothing hurt. I was running like the wind!

Shortly after this dream I went to the doctor for a blood analysis. Findings indicated I was borderline anemic so the doctor prescribed iron and B-12 supplements. My symptoms have disappeared.

Dreamer 3:

Eight years ago, I had ovarian cancer. In my dream, I am sitting on the beach outside a friend’s home in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The tide is coming in. I look to my right and see a wooded area with a path. Coming down the path is a very tall male-like being whose head is a ball of light. He is dressed in a long, deep red robe with bell shaped sleeves. It has a gold braid trim and unidentifiable symbols in deep purple, green and blue sewn on. He sits beside me, puts his arm around my shoulders and tells me everything will be all right and I lean on him. He gets up and returns to the path, pauses, turns back towards me, waves goodbye and then disappears into the woods. The next thing I know I am in the ocean, and gentle waves are washing over me. I sense that the water is washing the cancer away.

The dream was very helpful in easing my tremendous anxiety over having a life-threatening disease. I felt strongly that the dream was conveying what the outcome would be, and I often went back to it in my mind when the anxiety was overwhelming. It was the greatest source of comfort to me at the time, because it told me that my path was not one of early death. It’s been close to nine years!

The following two dreams are from Bernie Siegel, MD, a well known surgeon and author of several books, including, Faith, Hope and Healing, Love, Medicine and Miracles and Peace, Love and Healing. Siegel reported to me (Personal communications, 2009):

There have been many dreams which have been personal guides for me. I believe the reason we sleep is to allow this inner wisdom to speak to us through symbols. This includes the body or somatic problems as well as psychological ones. Dreams and drawings are useful in diagnosing physical conditions. Carl Jung interpreted a dream and correctly diagnosed a brain tumor. I have had similar experiences with my patient’s dreams and drawings.

Many years ago I experienced blood in my urine (hematuria) and my associates wanted me to immediately see a urologist as cancer could be the cause of the bloody urine. I was very busy and did not want to interrupt my schedule and caring for patients. That night I went to bed and dreamed that I was sitting in the cancer support group I ran. Those attending were all introducing themselves and telling why they were attending. When it came my time to speak and introduce myself everyone said, “But you don’t have cancer” before I could say a word. I awoke knowing I didn’t have cancer and that I could make an appointment that fit my schedule. The dream proved to be correct.

So dreams can correct an improper diagnosis.

The Siegel’s have a cat named Miracle, which was named after a cat that appeared in one of his patient’s dream’s. This patient came to him because she had cancer. He told her she needed chemotherapy but was unsure about which type to use. She left his office and that night had a dream in which a white cat appeared to her in a dream and said in perfect English my name is Miracle and then proceeded to tell her what chemotherapy to use.  She followed the advice and is well. So Bernie Siegel got a white cat and named her Miracle

The appearance of such a helpful animal in a dream can remind the dreamer that something inside her still has access to the deepest layers of instinctual wisdom.

The following dream came from a friend of mine who was the host of a radio talk show.

The day before a big show he was catching a cold and a sore throat. He felt he had to do something to kill it. At this point in his career fear of a cold accompanied by a sore throat would be detrimental to his performance. Since the show was scheduled for the evening he lay down for a nap in the afternoon and had a dream that a spider came out of his neck in the throat area and he squished it between his thumb and adjacent finger. When he awoke, the cold and sore throat were gone.  He "killed the bug."

This dream is an example of the amazing power of the human mind. He became clear about what he wanted and how his strong emotion that was connected to his thoughts produced a dream that led to the inner healing. The objective mind and the dreaming mind can act in perfect harmony with each other. When this happens healthy conditions prevail.

What dreams say about death

The fear of death is a core issue in most people’s lives. No amount of money, power, or celebrity status can prevent this outcome. Let me share some dream reports to illustrate this.

1. When I started my initial analysis with a Jungian therapist, he emphasized the importance of dreams as guiding principles. To stress this point, he shared the following story:

A female client was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Unable to visit her on a particular day, he asked his associate if he would look in on her. When he arrived in her room, she was sleeping, so he pulled up a chair and waited until she awakened. Opening her eyes, she said, “Oh! Doctor, I just had such an unusual dream!” Her experience follows:

I am standing in front of a full-length mirror, holding a candle in my left hand. Suddenly an arm reaches over my right shoulder and snuffs the candle out, but the image of the candle does not go out in the mirror. In fact, it gets brighter and brighter until it fills up the whole mirror.

She smiled at the therapist, took a deep sigh and died in front of him.

There are a few common denominators that link all humanity, and one of them is that we will all die physically. Death is not evil or good – it’s a fact of life and is in the background all the time. Staving off death has become a giant industry. The medical profession has become advanced enough that it helps people hang on to life as though it were a runaway horse. Maybe we just need to enjoy the scenery, because what dreams seem to indicate is that death is a transition. Energy doesn’t die; it just appears to be transformed. Dreams point to existence and sustenance on another plane.  What the caterpillar calls the end of his world, becomes the beginning of the butterfly’s universe.

2. A client of mine was dying of cancer and shared a remarkable dream that was directly the opposite of what he consciously believed. Death to him was a candle being snuffed out – never to glow again.

I am sitting on the roof of my house in a lotus position. It is nighttime, and countless radiant stars beautifully illuminate the dark sky. Suddenly a huge spoon comes out of the sky and begins feeding me.

He died a few days later. In the dream his house could be a representation of his physical body. His sitting on the roof suggests he was in the process of leaving his body. The spoon that extended endlessly from the sky and had no source connected to it indicated that his [spiritual awareness ALT higher consciousness] was preparing him to be sustained by a higher source of nourishment.

3. A woman in my practice related the following dream:

My husband comes to me in a dream and reassures me that he is fine. He is aware how miserable I am without him, but he assures me that in time we would be reunited forever, and everything would always be fine. And if everything would always be fine, then you can be “fine” now! Fine was repeated often in the dream and I found it very comforting. 

Coming from a psychoanalytic background, she interpreted this dream as a 'wish-fulfillment.' And yet she felt an overriding feeling of comfort as well as a really solid connection to her husband. This dream helped her grief work immensely.

4. Common experiences such as being distraught after seeing loved ones in a coffin are dissolved when they come in a dream and say, “I’m not in that box, I’m in Cincinnati or Boston or Las Vegas.“

5.  From my personal experience:

My mother was killed in a car accident in the late 1980s. She came to me in a dream and explained that anger, hate, and negativity are part of the earth world and when you die, it leaves you like old clothing, and all that is left is love. At the time of the dream I was not aware of spirituality and this type of love that my deceased mother emphasized. The dead are trying to make us more alive. I am now on a spiritual journey.”

These dreams speak for themselves. They may sound mysterious and unconventional, but they are authentic experiences that have produced real results. They brought comfort, information and healing in varieties of ways. Your dreams can do the same for you. It helps to be a believer in the extraordinary power of dreams but even skeptics have had these unique experiences.

When Lincoln was president he never went to church because people didn’t practice what was preached. But he frequently claimed to get down on his knees and pray to God to help him end the Civil War. When asked why a person who did not attend church would do this he responded, “Because there was no place left to go!” The same holds true for pressing physical and emotional issues. Conscious minds have limitations and boundaries, so trust that the dreaming mind can often provide what is lacking. Sometimes dream worlds are the only places left to go.

In summary: The key to inner remedies

All of these dream experiences  indicate the natural healing capacity we have access to through the sixth sense. Compared to external healing agents such as medicines applied to the body, they furnish information about the subtler emotional and spiritual issues that can contribute to, and even cause, illness. Joined together appropriately with external healing agents, they can offer total healing.

Without the active participation of the conscious and subconscious mind, achieving wellness can be extremely difficult, if not an impossible task. We must consciously want to be well and seek whatever we need to achieve wellness. We must also activate our subconscious resources toward that end. Contacting the inner physician in dreams is a very powerful way to do just that. Dreams can provide a surprising diagnostic index and healing modality of our physical, emotional, and spiritual state of being and direct us toward wholeness.

The examples discussed here demonstrate how dreams can provide effective guidance about health and health practices when called upon. . You can get solid advice on diet, alternative treatments, preventive measures, physical interventions and surgery. If you dream of eating a pile of green peas, go out and buy a few pounds of peas. Iif you dream of jogging, you may want to consider doing that activity.

What would you do if you dreamt of bathing in an Epsom salt bath? Would you try it? A client of mine did with positive results. This person was suffering from arthritis with extreme joint pain throughout his body. After reading about Edgar Cayce’s suggestion of bathing in hot water with several pounds of Epsom salts, he decided to try it for several nights. It worked!   Soaking in this combination reduced his  joint pain dramatically.

Often dreams are literal, but they aren’t always. What criteria would you use to determine if the suggestions you receive are literal? Ask yourself if it’s well-grounded advice. Check it out by doing a little research. Dreams, which have your best interest at heart, would not propose any actions that threaten your overall health. So, if you are a recovering alcoholic and you dream of drinking, call your sponsor or go to an AA meeting. That kind of a dream may not be literal. Instead, it may be a warning that the tendency to drink is still active and that you are in a slipping place. Use common sense.

When doing dream incubation for health, don’t be surprised if you fail to find a kindly bespectacled doctor greeting you at the door. The inner physician can take many forms and might appear as an image that relates to wellness, wholeness or wisdom. For example, the physician can appear as a beam of light, a color, or an abstract form such as a circle. No matter what form the physician takes, however, belief in your inner physician  is the factor that will make what your doctor dispenses the most potent and helpful agent it can be for you

In my book I provide you with the skills necessary to program your dreams on any issue. This is important because the unconscious/superconscious mind has access to information sources that the conscious mind does not. Using dream incubation will allow treasures to surface in your life. Remember that your inner physician is always available, and that your dreams come to heal you and make you whole.

(This article is a modified version of Chapter 4. of Dr. Bernard's book, God Has No Edges, Dreams Have No Boundaries, now available in paperback and eBook editions.)

References

Browstein, Art , MD, Extraordinary Healing: The Amazing Power of Your Body's Secret Healing System, Harbor Press, WA, 2005

Edelstein, E. and Edelstein, L., Asklepios, A Collection and Interpretation of the Testimonies, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press,1998.

Jung, C. G.  Memories, Dreams and Reflections. New York, NY: Random House, 1965.

Kerenyi, C. Asklepios. New York, NY:  Pantheon Books, 1959.

Larson, J. The Back Pew (Moses Cartoon) - www.thebackpew.com

Mate, Gabor. When the Body Says No: Understanding the Stress-Disease Connection,
Hoboken, NJ., Wiley. 2003

Meier. C. A. Healing Dream and Ritual. Einsiedeln, Switzerland: Daimon Verlag, CH, 1989.

Schweitzer, A. Out of My Life and Thought. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.

Siegel, Bernie. Faith, Hope and Healing: Inspiring Lessons Learned from People Living with Cancer, Wiley, NY; 1 edition (April 6, 2009)

Siegel, Bernie. M.D., Love, Medicine and Miracles, HarperCollins Publishers, NY (May,1988)

Siegel, Bernie.M.D., Peace, Love and Healing: Bodymind Communication and the Path to Self-Healing: An Exploration, Harper Paperbacks, NY (May, 1990)

Arthur Bernard, PhD is a pioneer in the field of dream work. He’s been a clinician, guest lecturer, seminar leader and media expert on the topic for more than 25 years. He has addressed audiences ranging from the Walt Disney Studios and the Los Angeles Times to the Association of Humanistic Psychology and the National Organization of Women Business Owners. Dr. Bernard’s work has been featured in articles in the Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe and the Syracuse Post-Standard. He has taught thousands of people his unique approach to dreams. Many of these experiences appear in his new book, God Has No Edges, Dreams Have No Boundaries, and the CD’s dream programming series, Dreams: The Wisdom in Sleep.

Dr. Bernard has a lifetime of personal experience with dreams and the spiritual quest. He can attest to the effectiveness of the ideas and techniques he advocates. His struggles and successes in understanding and applying dreams for problem solving, healing, and spiritual enlightenment give him a special sensitivity to teaching others how to enlarge their lives through dream work.

http://www.dreamtechniques.com

dreemdoc@aol.com

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