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Rating: 
Summary: curious book
Review: Because the author questions whether the unconscious exists I question whether she knows what she is tallking about. The book delves into waters much of which the author reports about second hand (then why doesn't she question if what she reports second hand exists?). Much in the book is interesting, much is questionable. Questionable how useful also. While the author makes many suggestions after each section of the book, the book isn't very practicable; a lot of steps are missing. I personally found it objectionable how the author seems to boast of her fantastic abilities to dream. One rapidly grows tired of that sort of reporting. There are a lot of better and more useful books on dreaming than this one.
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Summary: Not a How to at all
Review: I am glad that this book has changed title from the origional How to plan.... because quite frankly it tells you nothing. If this were a how to article in a magazine you would laugh it off. The author rambles on about different cultures and different dreamers in the past and present and talks about her own dreams but never gets to the point, which is: how to plan and control your dreams. Example: If this were a how to on how to bake bread, it would tell you the history of bread, what cultures baked what type of bread, even talk about the construction of ancient mud ovens but would not ever get around to telling you what ingredients you need, how to put them together and all that for baking your own bread. The book reads much like a dream, it might make sense while you are having it, but when read in reality you have to wonder what the author was up to. There are plenty of references in the back, at least in the edition I read, but who wants to try to find ancient manuscripts or articles from science journals to understand why the author thought the information was important enough to put in there? If you are really interested in a step by step how to then your better bet would be Stephen LaBerge's book Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming, or his first book Lucid Dreaming. There is actual scientific data on dreams and the state of dreaming, and methods for inducing dreams from WILD Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming where you go straight into dreams fully concious, to MILD where you practice the intention to recognize the next time you are dreaming. A much better and less holistic book that doesn't ramble. I'd like to state that I respect the author, but her choice of title for this book is misleading. It is interesting for what it is, which is a collection of anectodes about different dreams and dreamers, but it is not what I would consider how-to.
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Summary: Better than you think
Review: I've had this book for years, and really have gotten a lot out of it. It talks about confronting your fears in your dreams, and the important of the dream life to various cultures. If you are a magick user or pagan, you would probably enjoy this book. I was prompted to write this review when I read below that some people think she's an idiot... I thought she did a very good job. This is a book about dream control. It's worth the ten bucks.
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Summary: A seminal book in the rebirth of a dreaming culture
Review: Patricia Garfield's classic work is one of the landmark books of the century we are now leaving. She takes dreaming out of the hands of tenured "experts" and encourages all to become active explorers of our personal dream experiences, and of dream reality, learning from cultures - especially those of the ancient world and of indigenous peoples - that value dreaming as a source of direct revelation on the critical issues of life and death. Her account of Senoi dream practices (though sniped at by some academic nitpickers as idealized rather than anthropological) provides excellent guidance on braving up to nightmare terrors and forging alliances with dream allies who may at first appear as adversaries. I vividly remember discovering "Creative Dreaming" soon after it first appeared in the mid-1970s. I felt as if this queenly, elegant woman had picked up a sledgehammer and broken away some of the chains that had fettered our society's appreciation of what is actually going on in dreaming, and why we need to recover the ancient arts of dream incubation and dream healing. Patricia's book encouraged me to follow my own path as a dream teacher with greater courage and openness, and was a vital early influence in the research and practice that eventually led me to write CONSCIOUS DREAMING and the books that have followed. Before I ever met her in ordinary reality, she appeared several times in my dreams both as a guide and as a kind of anima figure. Thank you, Patricia, for all you have contributed to the rebirth of a dreaming culture - a dream I profoundly hope we will see fulfilled in the 21st century.
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Summary: even the skeptical will believe
Review: Patricia has done her homework and is one of the foremost experts in dream study. Anybody interested in putting their dream time every night to work for them out to be interested in this book.
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Summary: Dreamer's of the world unite!
Review: To put it briefly, this book will guide you to PLAN what you dream, be LUCID when you dream, and most importantly to USE your dreams to create to a better developed you. Dr. Garfield, an experienced 'dreamer' herself, provides effective suggestions on how to control and plan your dreams based on successful methods used by other ancient cultures, such as the American Indians. She also analyses what common dreams mean, such as those in which you are attacked, and consequently provides suggestions to utilise the dream to have it work for you instead of against you. Dr. Pat primarily focuses on the psychology of dreaming rather than the techniques in inducing dreams, that is, more of the book is devoted to how you can become a better person through analysing your dreams. Along with delightful personal dream experience and anecdotes, Creative Dreaming is a comprehensive, all-you-need, guide to having wonderful nights dreaming and a more 'free' attitude while awake. Good on ya Dr. Pat!
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