Dreams are a fascinating and pertinent way to access imaginative associations and symbols relevant to our everyday lives and problems. There is an enriching purity of symbolism and subconscious material beyond the habitual and rational brain.
I work not so much by analysis or interpretation but rather by encouraging personal associations with dream content, amplifying atmospheres, getting to know dream figures and noticing the affect of dream content. We bring the dream to the here and now, enlivening it, and allowing it to speak to and support our waking everyday world. According to Jung, one of the functions of dreams is to show us our one sidedness. Therefore dreams re-orientate us towards wholeness, not only in our individual selves but also in relationships and the world we live in.
In my experience the more I work with dreams the more I see them like a map to my everyday life, giving me indications on how to deal with challenges or giving me new perspective to relieve me when i’m feeling stuck. Even just one image can contain so much.
GROUP DREAMWORK
In many traditions dreams, received by one person were often seen as relevant to the group and were shared and explored together. I have found this to be true when facilitating dreamwork groups. One person’s dream does not only hold personal relevance but can also represent wider issues in the greater field and have layers of meaning which speak to everyone. We are not isolated beings after all. I also find it a fascinating and refreshing way to balance a cultural tendency toward individualism.
“It is on the whole probably that we continually dream, but that consciousness makes such a noise that we do not hear it.
A dream that is not understood remains a mere occurrence; understood it becomes a living experience.”
Carl Jung
LIFE MYTH
Childhood dreams, early memories and recurring dreams can give us indications of our life journey. They give insight to long term tendencies and underlying patterns and speak to our life calling. As children we are more immersed in our true nature and therefore closer to the mythical aspect of our whole lives.
