It was alike a lightening bolt striking me between the eyes or the ‘ah ha’ moment when you finally get it! I was at a dinner with some work colleagues of my then partner when I felt one of my regular headaches coming on (and it had nothing to do with the company I was keeping!)
As I rubbed the back of my neck and then subtly massaged my temples in an attempt to relieve the pain, a guy next to me at the table asked if I was OK. While most of the time, I kept the headaches to myself, for some reason I sensed he would understand when I told him that they were a common occurrence. Talking with this guy over the next two hours was nothing spectacular but pleasant enough. It was all polite and nothing out of the ordinary until I asked him about some of his interests. Whether he had consumed too much alcohol I’m not sure but this guy waxed on about the normal things that med like – sport, movies etc etc. Then he volunteered that he’d once been dragged along to dream analysis workshops by his wife and that while she loved it, he thought it was all hocus pocus.
For me, it was like getting a message from the lotteries office that I’d won first prize.
For the next 15 minutes, I garnered as much information from him as I could about his dream analysis group experience without wanting to give him the impression I was at all interested. Truth was, I was fascinated. I’d been an avid dreamer all my life, instinctively knew that my dreams were important as a means of getting guidance or messages from somewhere about my life, where I was headed and why. However, I never thought any more deeper than that about my dreams – such as really analysing them.
After the dinner ended, a few phone calls and a month or so later, I was driving to the location of my first dream group meeting, at the apartment of a little known and part time Jungian psychologist.
Upon arrival, I was greeted at the door of a poky apartment by an eccentric looking man with a beard and a nervous disposition. Sensing he wasn’t a natural communicator, I made small talk while he led me to his sitting room where I met the other members of the dream group – three middle aged women and a scruffy looking guy in his early 40’s.
After the introductions, we took our seats and our host cleared his throat and said, ‘Each week, one person will get to share a dream. I will ask at the start of each session who among you would like to share a dream? If one of you has a dream that you feel you would like to share or if you have an urgent need to seek some clarity about a dream, please speak up. Ultimately, each week the group will decide who will share a dream.’
‘The person sharing their dream will start by stating, ‘this is my dream,’ this will let us know you are ready to commence. Please read the dream out loud, slowly and deliberately so we don’t miss anything. Try and restrict your recall to a few minutes. While one of you is recalling the dream, the rest of us will take notes. At the end of recalling your dream, finish by saying again, ‘this is my dream.’
‘Following this, we finish off with what I term free association and interpretation. This means we give the person who shared the dream the chance to get some meaning behind what the dream is trying to tell them, what message it has for them compared with where they are in their lives at this point. With the information we have gathered from the question gathering stage, we share our thoughts on what the dream might be trying to say. We can use metaphors, symbols, expressions, comparisons with other events or experiences in our own lives to get our thoughts across,’ he said.
‘This free association can run for as long as we like or until we have exhausted our memories and suggestions. From experience, the free association allows the dreamer to hear and experience the dream in a new light. It is often the most beneficial and creative part for all concerned but also the most challenging and confronting. At the end of the free association, I will ask if someone would like to take the dream on as their own, sort of your own interpretation having gathered all the facts and knowledge. This is often a powerful way to conclude and leaves the dreamer with some new insight into what message the dream is trying to deliver.’
‘Who has a dream they would like to share?’ he asked.
I sat on the edge of the chair and waited for someone to answer. Although I had many of my own dreams written in a scrapbook sitting in front of me, I felt the need to listen to the process and someone else on the first night.
As the group exchanged nervous glances around the room, I felt excited and of clear mind for the first time in many years. It is hard to explain but it was like getting a glimpse of earth from a spaceship and marvelling at the unexpectedness of it all.
I sensed a strange presence in the room but didn’t say a word. What it was, both shocked me and was unexpected. It also changed my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment