Dream Girls

A group finds dream analysis can change reality for the better.

 

For nearly two decades, Tuesday nights have been sacred to a group of five North Shore women who gather each week to plumb the depths of their dreams. Originally brought together as strangers, their common bond was a desire for the deep personal growth that can come from deciphering symbols hidden in dreams.

It was clear from the start that this was no social group. Their mentor, noted dream worker Jackie Walker, taught them to approach every dream with respect and reverence: honoring each word and turn of phrase, sifting through dream images that at times appeared to be no more than disconnected fragments. But when their deciphering clicked, it was not uncommon for it to alter their lives in a dramatic fashion.

Careers changed, relationships deepened and ingrained patterns were released. The interpretation of the dream symbols and messages yielded gold.

One member had recently ended a serious relationship and decided it was time to buy a house of her own. The first one she saw was dark and creepy. It had been owned by a 95-year-old woman who had recently died. It was definitely not the house she wanted. She continued to look at other homes until she had a dream in which a bright and lovely old woman rose up from the floorboards of that first unwanted house, welcoming her. She honored her dream by buying the house and transforming it. But the real prize came when she met her next-door neighbor, a man who ended up becoming her husband.

When these “soul sisters” of the dream world meet every Tuesday, one presenter reads her dream to the group.  From there, the interpretation process begins. Dream work rarely travels a straight line from here to there. Rather, it weaves a path that almost defies description; much of it based on the personal meanings the dreamer associates to the words, images and people in her dream, and the rest a melange of intuition, listening on a deep soul level, and holding a safe and sacred place for the dream’s message to surface.

To begin working with your own dreams, the group offers these tips:

  • Keep a notebook and pen next to your bed
  • Before going to sleep, tell yourself that you will remember your dream and honor it by writing it down
  • After dreaming, date your entry and write down your dream with as much detail as you can recall
  • Be sure to include any feelings you have upon awakening. Are you anxious? Joyous? Frightened?
  • Scan your body and write down anything that stands out. Are you sensing tension somewhere? Pain? Are you breathing freely?

When you are ready to delve into the dream, look at all of the characters, places, events and things in your dream and write your personal association to each. Spend time contemplating these associations, for they hold the key to something your dream is trying to bring forth.

Dreams rarely tell us things we already know. Rather, they are vehicles that transport messages from the unknown to our conscious minds. With a little work, you too can begin to unlock the mysteries that dreams contain and use them for guidance along your life’s path.

For information on dream group facilitation and how to reach Lisa Klare and Jackie Walker, see our Better Listing.

Recommended Reading:

Memories, Dreams, Reflections
Carl Jung

 

 

A Little Course in Dreams
Robert Bosnak

 

 

 

Way of the Dream (Shambhala Pocket Classics)
Marie-Louise von Franz (Co-authored by Fraser Boa)

 

 

The Three “Only” Things: Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence, and Imagination [3 ONLY THINGS]
Robert Moss

 

 

Online resources:
International Association for the Study of Dreams – www.asdreams.org
www.mossdreams.com

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