September/October 2000 Living Now
Dreaming True, An Interview with Robert Moss

by Connie Hill

Robert Moss is the author of Conscious Dreaming and Dreamgates, as well as his newest book, Dreaming True, due out in September. Dreaming True explores many levels of dreaming and how we can “dream with the body” in order to stay well, work with dream journals to catch and act on messages about the future and how to dream our way to a better job, relationship or creative fulfillment. Robert feels that through dreams we can become active co-creators of our future, bringing positive energy and insight from a deeper reality into our physical world. Below is an excerpt of a conversation I had with Robert in July.

Connie: Tell me how you got into dreamwork.

Robert: Dreaming is my home base. I was born in Australia where the Aborigines believe that the dream world is the real world, the source - of our knowledge of our deepest selves and of all events and patterns that manifest in our lives.

C: How long have you been teaching about dreaming?

R: Publicly, for about a decade. I've worked with my own dreams all of my life and my dream journals for more than 30 years. I tell people “you have no idea what is possible for you in dreaming until you start keeping a journal.” Your journal is the most important book on dreams you will ever read. You'll learn that you dream the future all of the time. It's routine.

C: In your books you said “you will learn about yourself through dream journals.”

R: Keeping a dream journal is a great way of maintaining a dialogue with your god or goddess. Dreaming, keeping a dream journal, and sharing dreams with others releases your gifts as a story teller. You learn to become a much better communicator, able to shape stories and tell them well. Being able to tell your story is power and magic. It enables you to tap into your deeper life story, which involves remembering who you are, where you come from and what you were meant to become, and puts you in touch with your soul's purpose. One of the things I learned when I started dreaming in the Mohawk language...

C: I loved that part of your book where you were talking about that.

R: This was one of the watersheds in my life. The story is in Conscious Dreaming. The language turned out to be an archaic form of the Mohawk language. What I realized was that I was talking to a woman healer and a warrior shaman from three centuries ago who seemed to be talking to me across time. In the course of these conversations I did a lot of research, I had to learn Mohawk to interpret these dreams. These weren't those new age dreams where you know everything all at once. When I had learned enough Mohawk I figured out one of the words they used meant “the secret wish of the soul.” We don't know what we want or need, but the soul knows. Dreams tell us what the soul wants of us. And the purpose of dreaming is to get in touch with what the soul wants and honor those secret wishes of the soul. If we don't do what dreams say, we lose part of our vital soul energy, we are no longer whole, we become prone to sickness and misfortune. Dreaming puts us back in touch with soul.

C: That is a wonderful story and I also loved the story about Harriet Tubman.

R: I didn't know the stories of the underground railroad. I was writing my new book Dreaming True. I asked for dream guidance on how to bring the message to many more people. In the dream Harriet Tubman said “I am teaching the history of the underground railroad to people all over North America and the world.” I didn't understand, but the dream had a positive feel, so I decided to read about Harriet and reading with a dreamer's eye I learned that she could fly in her dreams. So, when she decided to run away from her owner she first “flew” over the land where she was going and got an “aerial map” for her journey. When she started leading others to freedom she also had dreams that led her. During the time she was part of the Underground Railroad she led more than 300 people out of slavery and didn't lose one.

In dreams we rehearse the future and receive life-preserving messages. Two people in my current workshop dreamed of a terrible plane crash in Europe the night the Concord went down. Their dreams gave specific details including that the left wing was the problem. We dream this information for ourselves and others. So, before we do anything else with a dream we need to pause and say, “wait a minute, could this happen in waking life and if I don't like it could I do something to change the outcome?”

C: In your book you talk about the importance of nightmares. Can you talk about their importance?

R: My definition of nightmare is that they are interrupted dreams, so scary that you run away and leave them unfinished. When a scary dream is followed through to conclusion it is not a nightmare. What you need to learn to do is to go back into the dream and dream it onwards to resolution. Face up to that adversary, dialogue with it, if necessary fight it and overcome it. We will be practicing this at your store in September, learning to go back inside a dream, to claim power and bring a gift out of the dream. In the case of nightmares, we must dream the dream to resolution. In the workshop you learn to take a bodyguard into the dream with you. It is amazing what happens when you learn to “brave up” to your fears in the place of the dream. That adversary can turn out to be a friend in disguise, who has something that will help you. We need to remember that dreams are not on our case, they are on our side. In dreams, modern Americans are always running away from wild animals, especially bears. It is the bear that knows where the medicine plants are, it's the bear who brings through healing in native American traditions. So if you are running away from a bear you may be running from your own medicine!

There's a story in Dreaming True about a woman who called me early one morning. She was jerked out of sleep at 3 am from a nightmare and she said she didn't remember the dream but thought she was in a head on collision. So I say, “can you go back inside the dream? Where are you?” She feels she is on her usual road to work. “What's the weather like?” It's icy (there is not ice on the road at that time). “Where are you going” “I'm going across the usual bridge and there is a little red Honda coming the other way. The driver loses control and that is when the collision takes place.” She now has all this information.

Instead of getting paranoid about this dream we agree that she will stay rational. About two weeks later she finds herself at the light before the bridge and when the light turns green she doesn't move despite the honks behind her. At the other end of the bridge she sees a red Honda and as the car gets to the center of the bridge the car loses control and heads toward the railing. My friend is saved from the crash!

C: What an impressive story! Can you give us some tips about using dream journals?

R: First make a date with your dreams. Ask for a dream--and make sure your intention has some juice and energy in it. Say I'd like to meet my soul mate or teacher or I'd like to visit Hawaii or open myself to the power of healing in the night. When you wake up, write whatever comes to you. If not a dream, write down the first thought or feeling you have. Then title and date the dream. Note your feelings. Ask yourself what do I need to know about this dream. Run a reality check on the dream - is there any possibility this dream could be played out in waking life. Then, write a one-liner that describes the dream. You'll be amazed at what jumps out when you distill your dream this way.

 C: Robert, thank you for your time.

R: Thank you and my dreamer’s wish for you is “may your best dreams come true.”

Robert will be at New Renaissance Bookshop on Saturday, September 16 for a workshop on Dreaming True. See the Calendar of Events or call 503-224-4929 for information.

Connie Hill works at New Renaissance Bookshop and is a local astrologer. She can be contacted at 503-291-8229, ext. 2 or gmnite@yahoo.com.