Jeremy Taylor spent his whole life analyzing dreams and it was inspiring to read his stories about helping people overcome their internal struggles. Dreams are often our subconscious mind telling us things we don’t want to hear. Like the young man masking his aversion to his religious promises or the woman who realizes her dreams are covering up a childhood molestation. When people repress these struggles, and refuse to acknowledge them, they can manifest in their slumber. Especially recurring dreams, which can often be nightmarish.

By the time I had finished the third chapter, I had the first dream that I’ve remembered in a long time. In his book, he suggests that simply deciding to remember one’s dreams will help with recollection, and that is exactly what happened to me. I had a dream where I was trying to get into a fortress. In the dream it was a house, but I recognized that it felt impenetrable. I was then following a cat that seemed to be leading me on a path to get inside, when at the very last minute the cat slipped into a doorway that was immediately shut off to me.

My interpretation is thus: The “impenetrable fortress” is representative of a loving romantic relationship. My subconscious is telling me that I want one yet it is something I feel like I cant quite attain. I’m trying to get into one by the means of chasing pussy (aka getting laid is my main motivator) which always seems to slip away at the last moment. Naturally I have spent this past week wondering if I should ditch the casual lifestyle for a monogamous relationship.

It’s funny how sometimes a book seems to fall into your hands right when you need it most. I wonder, however, if instead of the right “time” for a book to come across your path, if perhaps it is the right book that makes the magic. I think this is that kind of book. No matter when I was going to read it, it would have impacted me because I inevitably would have had a dream that spoke to me. And sure enough I did.

I was amazed at all the scientific and industrial insights that came from dreams. Most importantly was the idea for the modern sewing machine. With the inventions of the spinning jenny and the power loom, the sewing machine was the last bridge for the industrial revolution to cross. The idea for putting the thread hole in the tip of a sewing needle came to Elias Howe in a dream, and the sewing machine was born. It completed the economic structure of the retail clothing industry we know today.

Although not the aim of this book, the final chapter on zen meditation left with me a really golden nugget on enlightenment: “Enlightenment is habitual intuition.”