Announcing the Release of:

APPOINTMENT WITH THE WISE OLD DOG:
A Bridge to the Transformative Power of Dreams

David Blum’s long-awaited book, “Appointment with the Wise Old Dog: A Bridge to the Transformative Power of Dreams,” provides the necessary, comprehensive complement to his highly regarded 1998 documentary. In contrast to the DVD, this book contains the foundational work comprised of forty-three dream paintings and commentaries derived from a lifetime of numinous archetypal dreams—his thirty-five-year inner journey.
The primary sources of David Blum’s commentaries, his diaries and dream journals, date from his seventeenth to his sixty-fourth year. This crucible into which he poured his most intimate confessions contains the living spontaneity of his original experiences remarkably intact. By re-entering the dream state and allowing the images to speak to him, Blum gently leads the reader into his world of color, form, music, and the mapping of his soul.
The language, unhampered by jargon or weighty terminology, always remains accessible to the lay reader drawn to inner transformation. This work resonates with the musician, the artist, the theologian, the psychologist, and the patient — whether facing a terminal illness or not. It offers the rare potential to communicate our shared capacity to explore multiple levels of meaning, acting as a springboard into one’s own inner experience. Anyone interested in the power of dreams, the transformative effect of symbols and archetypes, or faced with an existential crisis will find this book inspirational.

Foreword by Murray Stein

Available at Amazon: https://linkzip.me/F2mXW

The unique paintings David Blum created throughout his life, and increasingly during his battle with cancer, are a window into his spiritual journey. The Wise Old Dog who came to David in dreams, was his guide and comfort. Through these images and David’s insightful commentary, we are reminded of the resilience of the human spirit, the power of art to help us understand life, and the role creativity can play in healing and transcendence.
—Yo-Yo Ma

I have studied and meditated on David Blum's extraordinary documentation of his dreams and inner work— the immense gifts that were given to him from his unconscious and poured into images and music. We are intrigued on all levels— emotional, imaginal, intellectual. Our hearts are split open as we watch the process of the inner marriage.
—Marion Woodman, Jungian Analyst and Author

If it were ever discovered that we all have an ancient source within, a wise fount, invested in our well-being, and speaking directly to us through the language of symbol, we would experience our centers relocate, our priorities shift, and our sense of place and purpose in this great mystery deepen. By risking such dialogue with this unknown center, David Blum found it spoke to him, and gave him and us renewed guidance in a time of fragmentation, distraction, and dis-ease. His example is a summons, a model and an invitation for the rest of us to risk such a dialogue in depth.
—James Hollis, Executive Director of the Jung Society of Washington

David is so real, so totally honest, definitely a person who has seen into the depths of the soul and what that means. I love his paintings. They enable us to see so much of what he experienced. Marie-Louise von Franz said that artists almost never are able to duplicate on a canvas what they see in their inner world, yet I can tell that David captured the essence of what he saw. We would all die a good death with such understanding as he had of the psyche.
—Gilda Frantz, Director Emerita of the Philemon Foundation

This body of work is an amazing achievement of the human imagination and spirit which requires multiple visits to take in its many wonders. Each viewer will find his or her own favorites from this extraordinary human document. The brilliant colors and composition of Blum's intensely personal yet highly sophisticated images constitute a treasure of which ARAS Online has been chosen to be guardian.
—Tom Singer, MD, Co-Chair of ARAS Online for National ARAS

I have used patients' dreams and paintings for decades to help them get in touch with their inner wisdom. David Blum, during his struggle with cancer, captured his dreams in an illuminating series of paintings taking him through a journey of self-exploration and transformation. David's inspiring story is a powerful invitation, for each of us, to go within and realize our creative potential so that we may find our way through the difficulties of life and discover the unique rewards in taking the journey.
—Bernie Siegel, MD, Author and Founder of Exceptional Cancer Patients