Private Myths: Dreams and Dreaming

by Anthony Stevens

Book Overview

Every night we enter a mythic realm, a dark, primordial world of fear and desire. What this world offers, Anthony Stevens suggests, may well be the key to understanding our waking mysteries--ourselves, our society, and our history. A prominent psychiatrist and practicing Jungian analyst, Stevens views dreaming from both psychological and neurological perspectives to show how dreams owe their origins as much to our evolutionary history as a species...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674216393
• ISBN13: 9780674216396
• Release Date: April 1997
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 385 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

review annet + amazon

It's a good and very 'readable book'. I can also use bits of it for my thesis which is very handy of course. Psycho analytical concept are placed in a wider historical concept and overview which really makes it for me. Many thanks

The universe within

I don't think you'll find a better, richer book on the nature & value of dreams than this one. Stevens begins with a sweeping historic overview of dream theory, illuminated by perfectly chosen examples & details. He then delves into the work of Jung, exploring it thoroughly without being bound by slavish, unwavering devotion -- something Jung wouldn't have wanted anyway! Using the dreams of patients, as well as his own, he clearly demonstrates that dreams have enormous symbolic & psychological meaning, rather than simply being nonsense or mental debris, as some reductionists would have it. All that alone would be reason enough to praise this fine book. But Stevens goes further, showing how we can make use of our dreams to expand our self-knowledge, our self-awareness, and our consciousness. He also makes an important point -- none of this is merely escapist, narcissistic navel-gazing. On the contrary! The purpose of such inner exploration is not to coddle or reassure the ego, but to enable us to go beyond the comfort zones we've built for ourselves -- comfort zones which are often ill-informed & destructive, both to ourselves & to others. While he acknowledges the unconscious forces that shape & drive us, he notes in no uncertain terms that we are ultimately responsible for our lives & choices. Whether we grow or not is finally up to us. As for the final chapters ... Here I've got to disagree with the otherwise positive review posted below. Stevens' foray into social & cultural extrapolation in his last two chapters doesn't seem an overreaching flaw to me, but the logical conclusion to all that's come before. He's presenting his own philosophical outlook, based on a lifetime of study & experience ... and to my mind, he makes a very convincing case for the world-healing potential of in-depth exploration of the psyche, particularly through dreams. The world is unmistakably at a major crisis point today, and the raising of consciousness, both individually & globally, can only be a good thing. Indeed, it seems absolutely necessary if we're to survive the volatile combination of rampant technology & irrational, incendiary psyches driven by fear. Stevens is, after all, a doctor. In these last two chapters he's offering his diagnosis & his prescribed course of action for dealing with our cultural illness. But all of this begins with each one of us. This book provides us with a superb starting point & guide -- most highly & urgently recommended!

Much deeper than Freud

Fascinating book. The world of dreams and how they relate to Archetypes and Collective Unconsciousness goes much deeper than Freud's ideas of personal unconsciousness, repression, and sexual instinct as the main hallmark of psychiatric problems. Jung and the author's explanations about the Primordality of Self and the beauty as well as complexity of archaic ancestoral influence on our dreams make quite sense and seems to coincide with evolutionary perspective of behavior, including dreaming. I was going thus to rate the book with five stars until I read the last two chapters of the book. There, the author, becomes adventurous and somewhat careless and attempts to generalize his theories beyond what is known. He gets somewhat grandiose and thinks that he can now solve the problems of the modern humanity and the Earth. This sometimes happen to authors or theoreticians who are overtaken by their views. Overall, a book well woth reading.

Amazing Truth

This novel was an amazing insite to the myths in our dreams. I found it flowing and gripping to place the myths in your own real life situations. Excellent work once again Stevens!