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The Encyclopedia of Dreams is neither an encyclopedia of dream symbolism nor a scientific book on dreams but rather a throwback to 19th-century dream books antedating the publication of Freud's (1900) Interpretation of Dreams. Rosemary Ellen Guiley is identified as an author and journalist with extensive experience in researching and compiling encyclopedias! She is further identified on the book jacket as having a lifelong interest in the study of paranormal and mystical experiences and as being a member of the American Society for Psychical Research and the Academy of Psychical Research.
The author's purpose “in writing this book is to help others discover the treasure in their own dreams—a treasure that can provide guidance throughout the various trials and stresses of life.” And she holds, “ultimately, it is only the dreamer who can correctly inrerpret a dream, and not an outside source, be it a book, friend or analyst” (p. xiii).
The book is divided into two parts: Part I, covering such topics as The Science of Dreams, Cross-Cultural Beliefs about Dreams, Nightmares, Dreams and the Paranormal, Dreams and Alchemy and Working with Dreams; and Part II, covering Encyclopedia of the Dream Symbols A-Z. Guiley's unscientific and anticlinical bias is stated clearly in her first chapter “The Science of Dreams,” where she writes, “Freud's theory has largely gone the way of the dinosaurs, particularly since an electroencephalograph (EEG)