Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 21
 This is one of the few "self help" Jungian books May 17, 2010
Kevin L. Williams (Indiana)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
that I have found. The use and elaboration of dreams is described in detail as well as active imagination. Something not discussed but also useful is the sketching or use of watercolors to bring out ideas embedded inside one's dreams. Sometimes the meaning is hard to get at. But Johnson does go into the symbolism of dreams (collective and personal). We each have on-going stories both unconscious and conscious that we are seeking to play out. To obtain the best results we need to tap into nature's teleology. Jung in his writing always maintained that our modern problems come about from becoming disconnected from our inner instinctual nature and that via dreams we can both diagnose and find answers to these issues. The Gospel According to Me: A heretic finds his way in modernity using Jungian psychology, science, dreams, and, well, the Gospels
 Useful March 19, 2010
Lauren B. Davis (Princeton, New Jersey)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Useful, but for anyone with a reasonable knowledge of dreamwork and Jung, there's not much new here, practically speaking. The first chapters are the most interesting, with good descriptions of what inner work's all about.
Highly Recommended for Anyone New to Jung or Dream Work! August 10, 2009
W.W. (Detroit, sucka.)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A wonderful first step not only into Active Imagination but Jungian dream interpretation as well. Those who wrestle with Jung's intuitive writing will find great relief in Johnson's practical methodologies and clear, concise language. His goal, always, is to demonstrate how the compensatory and complimentary messages of the unconscious apply directly to "real" (waking) life. The section on inflation and the power of the archetype alone makes it invaluable.
definitive work on dream tending April 7, 2009
Paul Gubany (St. Louis, MO USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Quotes from the book:
"The conscious mind is but a cork bobbing on the sea of the unconscious mind."
"It is through dreams that the unconscious mind speaks to the conscious mind."
If those quotes hit you hard, then this book is most definitely for you.
"Inner Work" is by far the best do-it-yourself dream analysis book extant. No image dictionaries, no rules that apply to all situations, no guides to symbols... as it should be. We are as different on the inside as we are on the outside. Johnson is widely regarded by Jungian analysts as a master of dream work and active imagination. Since I started this book my life has changed enormously. Dreams are no longer just video dumps of the day's activity mixed with meaningless images and symbols; they are masterpieces of symbolic communication.
Make no mistakes, the work you will do as a result of reading this book is hard, and it requires much moral courage. If you have that and the discipline to do the work, you will be richly rewarded: your life will change for the better. You will grow, you will integrate the unconscious with the conscious, and you will live a more fulfilling life than you otherwise could have ever lived.
 There are better books about the subjects December 14, 2008
Outcast
6 out of 20 found this review helpful
Inner work means the effort by which we get in touch with unconscious. Life can be balanced only when the conscious mind is living in harmony with the unconscious. In the modern world we have acted as though there were no unconscious at all, fixating ourselves completely on the external, material world. The prejudices of the ego are our sole rulers, keeping the voices of the unconscious repressed.
The author introduces his four-step approaches to both dream work and active imagination, but I found them boring. I think it's unnecessary to divide everything in artificial steps. And especially when there's not enough understanding about the subjects themselves.
The "active imagination" of the nature in this book has also been called "channeling." But I think the author should have provided more information about the ethical side of channeling... -There are better books about "channeling" and "dreams." You could browse through my other book reviews.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 21
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