Vol 8 Issue 2 RSSSectionsPriorities This IssuePrioritiesThoughts on “Food, Family, Friends, and Faith: Celebrating Interview with Dr. Nancy Whitt, Quaker/ Grandmother’s Fruitcake Family>> TransitionsTraditionsChristmas Traditions and Transitions>> Sensory Christmas Traditions>> An Interview with Rabbi Jonathan Miller, Temple Emanu-El>> Wisdom & Wondering
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ArchiveDreams and Wisdom
Since 1992, Wessling has facilitated Pines Dream Sharers, a dream group. She also is a member of the Council of Advisors for Dream Network and creator of Dream Treasure Cards. “Dreams are important because of their capacity to enhance our lives,” Wessling says. “This includes dreams offering guidance, healing, encouragement, warning, and at times, precognition of coming events. Creative ideas can also pop up full-blown in a dream as inspiration for inventions, music, paintings, books and more.” Dreams that occur during sleep often tell stories more fantastic than the Grimms’ Fairy Tales, relates Noreen Wessling. “Dreams bypass time and space as we know it. In my experience, dreams cover the spectrum of human emotions, from horrific nightmares to ecstasy of spiritual knowing and surrender – and everything in between.” Dreams provide a way for the unconscious mind to communicate with the conscious mind, according to Jungian dream psychoanalyst Jan Zalla of Cincinnati. “They provide us with psychological information regarding such things as self-image, deeper feelings, behavior patterns, desires, fears, complexes, and psychic wounds or splits…all of which is helpful information for anyone who wants to become more conscious or simply wants his or her life to go better,” Jan explains. She also remind us that while some people can’t recall having dreamed, everyone has dreams, including fetuses from about 23 weeks, mammals and even birds. Humans enter the rapid-eye-movement stage of sleep about 90 minutes after nodding off and experience their first nightly dream. Most people have four additional dreams before morning. And as Jan Zella says, remembering those dreams takes intention and some effort on our part. Studies have shown that people who are totally sleep deprived for many days will start to exhibit a breakdown in their normal behavior patterns, according to Wessling. “Apparently we need to dream in order to function properly.” Although the act of dreaming is physiological, the content of our dreams is psychological, says Zalla. The dream shines a light on the ways in which we are one-sided or wounded in our attitudes, behavior or development. Yet, seeing isn’t always easy. “They (dreams) come out of our blind spot, and they have their own language. It takes work to figure out what they are saying—what we don’t know (or know fully enough), but need to hear about ourselves or our situation.” Wessling tells us that the language of dreams is coded in symbols and mythology. As with any skill, must be learned. To find the meaning of a dream, the dreamer must first be open to receiving a message from the deeper unconscious Self, or so says Zalla. Second, the dreamer should be prepared to learn something entirely unexpected about him or herself. Third, it helps if the dreamer possesses some measure of psychological feeling, intuition, and what Carl Gustav Jung, founder of analytical psychology, called an “intelligence of the heart.” “Although there are some common dream motifs, every dream is unique, tailor-made. Therefore, we need to pay attention to the context of the dream -- the actual situation or circumstances in the dreamer’s life at the time of the dream. This is crucial, as are the dreamer’s thoughts and associations about his/her own dream.” Every dream symbol has two aspects: image and emotion. The closer the dreamer gets to the image, the more he or she will feel the emotion associated with it. “To work on a symbol is to let the symbol also work on you – which means to let the emotions tied to the image work up in you,” states Zalla. “Interpreting can be useful, but it is not the main point, at least not at first. The main point is to open yourself up to the symbol…sniff it out…engage it…rub up against it…fight it…live with it…work on it – knowing all the while that it is working on you, too!” Zalla emphasizes the importance of personal associations in starting to work with a specific dream image. “With these in mind, try to see the dream as a mirror, holding up or reflecting back what you personally need to see or know -- for more balance, growth, healing, wholeness.” “In the case of a very big or extraordinary dream, what we Jungians refer to as an archetypal dream, personal associations may be limited because the images are removed from ordinary life and experience. We then employ a method called amplification. We amplify the image, which means to look at it in a bigger context than just our personal lives. These images come from a deeper, more collective layer in our unconscious, and therefore it is helpful to use the backdrop of history, mythology, religion, fairytales, art – anything that helps to provide a larger cultural context in which to understand the dream.” Wessling tells us that many methods can be applied to find meaning in our dreams. “First of all, only the dreamer can know for sure what his or her dream means. Nonetheless, dream groups, or sharing a dream with a therapist or a friend, can be helpful because this gives additional perspective to the dream which is offered by others to the dreamer.” One approach Wessling suggested is finding associations with the major dream images and then trying to string them together into some coherent, and hopefully helpful, pattern. Other approaches to the dream images or feelings can include having an inner dialogue; actively imagining what the images might do in response to your questions; dancing; drawing; acting it out with others, as in Dream Theater; or drumming, singing or writing poetry. “The value of these approaches, in my experience, is that it tends to short-circuit our inner critic, our ego, and allows for truer dream insights,” says Wessling. “It’s my belief that all dreams come to give us something helpful that we need now. Yes, even disgusting nightmares. Especially those! If we muster the courage to explore such ‘bad’ dreams, the greatest gifts are given.” © 2006, September/October, Whole Living Journal. Reprinted by Permission. Helpful Hints: Journal your dreams and include the date. Give your dream a title. Note your feelings in the dream. Note your recent events. Honor your dreams. RESOURCES Books: Films: Wessling’s web site: Dream Network Journal | View
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The inventor of the sewing machine, Elias Howe, got stuck on how to design the needle for the machine.