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Electric Dreams Volume 01 Issue 18
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Electric Dreams
Volume 1 Issue 18
20 November 1994
| Back issues and the FAQ available via anonymous FTP at |
| sppc1952.uwsp.edu. Mailing list info, subscriptions, Dreams |
| and interpretations/comments : email cathy@cassandra.ucr.edu |
| General comments, articles and ideas RCWilk@aol.com |
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CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE:
Editor's Hello
Dream: Calling Myself on the Phone by Sierra
Commentary on: Calling Myself on the Phone by Cathy
Commentary on: Calling Myself on the Phone by Jay
Commentary on: Calling Myself on the Phone by Richard
Dream: My Rabbit by Leila
Commentary on: My Rabbit by Jay
Commentary on: My Rabbit by Richard
Dream: Bomb Messenger by Richard
Notes on Bomb Messenger by Richard
Commentary on: Bomb Messenger by Jay
Review: ASD Workshop on dreams by Richard
Article: Bringing Dreams to Kids! by Jill Gregory
Disclaimer
============= A BRIEF HELLO================
A brief hello from your new editor. I'm Richard and I will
be your dream bricouler or the guy who pieces things
together, a role that Chris has been filling for some time.
No cause for despair, Chris will not be leaving us and we hope
that she will have more time now for creative projects. I'm a
Bay Area dreamworker with an ear for multiple voices and a
special interest in imaginative interpretation. My key metaphor
for this is what I call the Improverse, the world of improvisational
interpretation that is modeled on the unique space, window or
door that is created when two or more insturments begin to 'hear'
each another through the imaginal interplay of variations on
themes. Electric Dreams provides this kind of imaginary interaction,
and I want to keep and support our unique community and style.
Keep those dreams coming in! Also, I hope you feel free to
send in comments, articles, essays or any other dream related
inspirations. I'm adding some features like articles on dream
interpretation and research (See Jill Gregory's article on
dreams and kids) and encouraging reviews of local events that
might interest all of us (see ASD Workshop Review) If you have
some ideas for Electric Dreams or if there is some way we can
help mediate your creativity,send us a note.
Hey - For the upcoming holidays, I'd also be interested in a special
holidays issue, so dig into those journals and send any past dreams
you have had about holidays. Lets keep exploring, experimenting,
and responding to one another's dreams!
Richard Catlett Wilkerson
========= CALLING MYSELF ON THE PHONE BY SIERRA========
I'm on a train when a group of guys on horses ride up. I go with
this one guy, an older guy in his 40's. We ride into a little town
when I remember that I have to call someone. I go to a telephone
booth and call. A woman answers the phone and says "This is
Sierra." I say "You can't be Sierra, *I'm* Sierra.
======DREAM COMMENTARY BY Cathy on CALLING MYSELF ON THE PHONE by
Sierra===
This simple dream seems to be you reminding yourself to stay in
touch with who you are. You call yourself and startle yourself--this
other part of me cannot be me. You have tried to forget this other
Sierra, but cannot. The suppressed Sierra maybe linked to your
sexual expression, as the experience of riding a horse with an
experienced "man's man," or Western hero, triggers the call.
======DREAM COMMENTARY BY Jay on CALLING
MYSELF ON THE PHONE by Sierra===
It sounds like you're trying to tell yourself about
something--something to do with the train, or the guys, or the older
guy, or something else?
======DREAM COMMENTARY BY Richard on
CALLING MYSELF ON THE PHONE by Sierra===
If only _I_ knew ...How to catch the train Out West.
When to get off the train. How to trust the wild horses.
Who my Cowboy was. Who I was suppose to call. Where
to find a phone booth. What the number was. How to call
myself.
This persons internal connections are way ahead of mine and I'm going
to borrow this dreasm as a guide. Yet how strange aboutwhat would be
for me an identity conflict and non-acceptance that who it is I have
to contact is myself or claims to be so. I find a kind of rebellious
satisfaction in the dreamer's denial. Almost like the resistance of
the emptiness of the universe- this is *not* all me, there is
otherness and that otherness needs to accept itself as such. "You
can't be me, I'm me."
======MY RABBIT by Leila===
I'm walking down a rainy road with old gas street lamps. I'm
walking with my rabbit, who walks on two legs upright. We go into
my mother's house where my brother and his ex-wife are talking about
getting back together. I get nervous and go in the kitchen to get
something to eat. I make a sandwich, but to my horror, when I bite
the sandwich I see I've bitten into my rabbit! I take the wounded
rabbit and run out into the street, yelling for someone to help.
Among a row of dark houses, I find a doctor: a dark a foreign man,
who says he can help. He is a little unapproachable but I completely
trust him and give him my rabbit.
======DREAM COMMENTARY BY Jay on MY RABBIT by
Leila===
Perhaps the rabbit represents a part of yourself: a soft
part. Something about your brother and his ex-wife seems to be a
threat to this part of yourself. You seem to feel that something or
someone represented by the doctor will protect this part of
yourself.
======DREAM COMMENTARY BY Richard on
MY RABBIT by Leila===
"But don't go intoMr. McGregor's Garden."
Beatrix Potter
If this were my dream I would try to unfold my relationship
with the rabbit. An interesting town where you can stroll with
a rabbit that _walks on two upright legs_. This is not a rabbit
found at a country fair. Walking upright has some cultural
associations that come with it. At the play on word level,
walking upright would indicate this rabbit is upright like a citizen
might me upright, a moral indicator of the rabbit's ethics.
Yet this seems too tricky an interpretation. Many slimy things I've
met walk upright. And Jonathan Swift's upright animals were
usually mockers of his society's pride. Walking upright is a
rather human characteristic. I met a Greek once who told me
the 'Old meaning' of the word "human" (Anthropos) was "The
animal who walks upright and see's his own death," which is
interestingly very close to the definition given by Heidegger,
Sartre and other existentialists. Not death in a literal sense, but
rather an authentic, awake way of living that respects the
mortality and limitedness of our being, as in the beauty of the
momentary blossoming of a flower.
Yet if this were my dream I don't think I could tell if Rabbit has
this second sense of being alive, or just what rabbit sees. But for
sure Rabbit walks and in so doing brings itself into a realm between
animal and man. We might say a rabbit who stands in relationship
between myself and animal. An exciting area that extends and reforms
our notions about what it means to be human, to be animal.
In this dream, rabbit seems to go-through-the-mill, moving from
natural moments of undisturbed friendship and peace, into the
wounding of family issues, and finally restitution with the
mysterious healer.
======BOMB MESSENGER by Richard===
I get a job as a messenger/delivery boy for a radical IRS-like
group. [eds. note--IRA?] The leader is a strong character, a
determined man with some passion (a cross between Dick Cavet &
Dr. Spector). There are a few other men and a new woman. A
background narrator says the woman is new to the organization and is
going to drive the organization to new heights.
I'm hired to deliver `packages,' which are the time bombs, to
various offices. I'm anxious about the bombs blowing up while I'm
carrying them, and the leader reassures me and doesn't seem to feel
there is a problem.
I deliver a couple bombs and prepare for a third drop. This
drop is more complex,as it takes place on a military base. I have a
scooter, or rather sub-scooter like vehicle, though it doesn't go
much faster than a running man and requires will to power it as
much as fuel. I go in the main gate with my package-bomb and a brief
case of papers.
I reach the office and a functionary/secretary wants my
papers. I can't seem to find the right ones. I begin to panic and
wonder if I just can't remember the right ones. They are getting
irritated and tell me to just give them the package. I'm not feeling
good about all this and excuse myself and run, very concerned the
delicate bomb will go off. The twist mechanism on the bomb is
shorter than the others I've delivered. I struggle with my vehicle to
get it going, willing it along. Eventually it is moving quite rapidly
and nearly flying out the main gate. I escape back to the bomber
group.
I explain the situation and try to get some attention for my
clever escape. I apologize about forgetting which papers to use.
The leader does not seem very concerned, saying it wasn't my fault,
that the papers were never put in. I think this is a little slip-shod
and am confused by the lack of concern.
But the leader is getting a visionary look in his eyes and
begins a speech about bombs as he defuses the one I brought back:
"The Package! Simple yet so effective." He brings out an example
or prototype, discussing different kinds of bombs as if a miner
discussing different veins of gold: "The bomb on want to get [get to
diffuse, but with a wider gift-like meaning] is the time bomb."
(note: originally planned as "The bomb one wants to get..") I'm
not sure if this is because it is because the bomb easy or some other
reason, such as its beauty or something.
He reveals the core of the bomb. It's a large plexiglass box,
nearly a yard square. Inside are three, foot-long eggs, slightly
violet. He turns something on and the eggs, attached to a device
that begins to move. One sits fairly still, and I think to myself (or
hear that) that egg is the observer. The other two begin to slowly
spin. All the while the Mad leader talks, "One must (or must not)
allow these eggs to touch."
They do touch and lights and whirling occur, like heavy
work on a spinning lathe, but a sense of virtual reality abounds too.
One egg is getting grooved around itself and soon a man's head begins
to take shape.
Now other members of the organization gather. The woman
suggests getting a hot air balloon to lower the bombs. It sounds
dangerous to me, and I hope we don't do it. Then the group begins
some kind of ritual, almost like a religious service but more
spontaneous. They are all standing around the bomb-head thing and
really becoming involved in something I sense they have done
before.
======DREAM REFLECTIONS By Richard=======
I had this dreams after reading Kafka' s_The Penal Colony_.
Two interesting slip/errors were pointed out. The first is my writing
IRS in place of IRA which is just too funny to pass up commenting
on. *Internal* Revenue Service. This is just too funny and also
significant in that the Kafka punishment machine after which the
stylus in the bomb is modeled is one which inscribes on the criminal
that for which he/she is accountable for and for which they must
pay up. The other error/slip "The bomb on want to get" is
corrected to "The bomb one wants to get.." and so the error
produces a strange doubling glance to the desire that lurks around
the bomb.
======DREAM COMMENTARY BY Jay on BOMB
MESSENGER by Richard===
One possibility is that this bomb delivery job represents your new
job of delivering dreams and their interpretations to the electric
dreams group. You're worried about their impact on the group, but
the group reassures you of their value and safety.
==== ASD DREAM WORKSHOP REVIEW ====
Regional San Francisco ASD (Association for the Study of
Dreams) meeting Oct 14-15.
Notes from Richard Catlett Wilkerson
I'm just focusing here on some of what I gathered from the
conference that relates to interpretation as may be useful to us at
Electric Dreams. I attended the workshops of people I hadn't
had much contact with before, and so have not included some
influential presenters such as Stephen LaBerge, Stanley Krippner,
Daniel Deslauriers & Farbia Bogzaran.
Friday night address by Patricia Garfield.
PG created a house model of dreaming, assigning the different levels
as attic/spiritual level, middle floors/psychological and
basement/physical body level. Her presentation focused on the
basement, physical level of dreaming. PG feels this area is often
neglected due to our often immediate attempts to convert dream
imagery into metaphors of psyche. There is such great confusion about
psyche/soma or mind/body that any view which separates and diminishes
one side may be missing essential information about our well being.
But what will keep us from becoming grossly literal and anxious about
precognitive dreams...when _are_ our dreams best read as information
about our physical condition? PG offered a couple answers. The first
is when pain in the dream is really ...well... painful, that this is
a good indication that the identified body area might be attended to.
Psychological and metaphorical perspectives might be better when
there are bodily trauma/damage/wounds in the dream that might
frighten or shock us, but aren't really painful in a sensate way.
The next answer I sort of derived from what she said. It goes
something like this: since we attend to the spiritual and
psychological levels of dreams, keeping an eye out for the physical
might just be added to this as one of many voices informing our
interpretation. PG's work, as usual, is more pioneering and full of
examples than objectively verifiable or statistically significant.
But I like the pulling of attention back towards the body and the
dialogues this work will initiate between psyche and soma
In his session "Dream Shadow and Healing", Jeremy Taylor extended the
dreams&healing metaphor begun by Patricia Garfield. He seemed quite
intent on reminding us that who/where-ever it is that dreams reach
out to and who/where-ever it is that dreams come from, they most
often appear to us individually through the shadow, through our
unconscious. His issue here is that any interpretation is going to
also carry some of that unconsciousness with it and hence individuals
are prone to miss "the elephant in the living room".
His solution fits quite well with Electric Dream process: multiple
voices and opinions. Even one-to-one and small groups, he says, are
prone to begin avoiding the elephant. That's why its good to bring in
new voices - psychological immunization. Also JT responded to the
psyche/soma problem from the level of the shadow too - that these
issues of health and sickness and mind/body come to us intricately
woven together in the dream and the question of what level they are
reflecting is quite tricky. The only real advice is to ask oneself
how clear the metaphor really is...if it is clear then one might move
ahead, if not, listen some more. JT demonstrated the value of
multiple voices by having a woman tell us her dream and inviting the
group to play Montague Ullman's game "If this were my dream..."
which most interpreters responding on Electric Dream already seem
pretty familiar with.
Alan Siegel presented his work on "Dreams and Recovery from Trauma
and Grief" with the main subject base coming from the survivors of
the 1991 Oakland fire. If you've seen the PBS 3 part special on
dreams you may remember his segment. Skipping over the details of the
clinical intervention advice, I just wanted to mention the support we
can all give to trauma victims that share their dreams and nightmares
with us. The main gift is listening. All other support unfolds from
this. Welcome, reassure, empathize with the emotions of the trauma
survivor's dream. Help the dreamer break the spell of the nightmare
by seeing it as not something awful or ugly. Encourage sharing the
dream.
An interesting observation by AS: dreams around the time of a trauma
will often have indices, images or events from a traumatic time in
the past. Alan believes this is fits well with information processing
theory, that the mind/brain attempts to integrate and find parallels
for current conflicts in past experience.Or more simply, the
unconscious is looking for a road map. Thus early symbols of trauma
and vulnerability may re-occur not only in dreams of later trauma,
but many life-transition moments. To try out his observations the
seminar participants were asked to recall a dream that occurred
around the time of a life trauma, to associate rapidly to this and
see what came up. I picked the drowning dreams I had during and after
my parents divorce when I was 8-9 yrs old.
Actually, the repetitive dream was that I was swimming underwater and
needed air, and panicked when I realized I'd never make it to the
surface in time. What came up for me ;) after the associations was
that the divorce situation was handled in a way that never allowed me
to open my mouth about it. Or that if I brought it up, it made things
worse so I kept quite. Just like in the dream: though I was drowning
if I were to call out for help, I would drown even faster. These
drowning dreams occurred again before my own first divorce, when I
felt that talking about it was just making it worse.
Well, once case doesn't make science, but I'd be curious what other
people think: do you have symbols of vulnerability that occur and
re-occur during traumas or live transitions? (AS mentioned a range of
them, from snake attacks, to airplanes crashing, earthquakes...) .
And if so, how does this repetition work for you?
The last session I went to was given by Kelley Bulkeley, on "Dreaming
as a Spiritual Practice". I was hoping Kelley would go a little into
the subjects covered in his book (_The Wilderness of Dreams_, 1994,
SUNY Press -which I recommend to anyone interested in the
interpretation of dreams) but instead it was a session where we each
took a dream through 3 different dream interpretation modalities,
individual, diad(two people) and group, tracing the spiritual
(Sacred, Existential and Wholly other) dimensions in each, getting a
feel for the differences. Kelley did mention one of my favorite
issues- the revisioning of dream-work as dream-play. This revisioning
is not a way to discriminate against seriousness, but rather a way of
opening up the possibilities of a dialogue rather than a
subject(dreamer) working on an object(dream).
At each level, this ping-pong dialogue (or as I like to call it, the
improverse) is very different for me. Individually I am able to
interact with the dream very visually and I'm more prone to allow the
strange and bizarre visually but not emotionally.. With another
person or two, its more emotional,verbal, gestural, and my energy is
more focused on creating common grounds and consensus of ideas and
opinions about what the dream means and where it might lead. With a
large group I retreat a little more inside myself, though not
necessarily into the dream, and feel very vulnerable, yet also more
connected when things go well and I feel validated by the dream
touching issues that are transpersonal, or at least transsocial and
experienced by many.
And so Patricia Garfield's 3 leveled house turned out to be a pretty
good metaphor for the flow of the workshops for me. I did hear a
woman express her hope for us all to remember that though the
spirit/psyche/body was one model of dreaming, that there are other
houses in the neighborhood too. And trees, and fire hydrants, and
flying locomotives...
-- Richard
====Bringing dreams to kids! By Jill Gregory====
[ Jill Gregory, a prime mover in a multitude of dreamwork
projects for many years and director of The Novato Center
for Dreams, has a special interest in children and dreaming and has
agreed to allow us to reprint here some of her work.
I'm including this article not only for its usefulness, guidance
and its own sake, but also as an inspirational piece for all of
us interested in dream projects. -editor]
As a dreamworker and avid dreamer, I have long felt
committed to the idea of bringing dreams and dreaming skills
to children. When I reflect on what a difference it would have
made to me in my life to have had that wonderful resource
accessible, I've wanted so much to offer that gift to children.
But I always assumed that a public school would never consider
permitting dreams in the classroom, so I focused my energies on
opening the dreamworld to my own two children and their friends
who visited our home.
One day, however, I got a surprise, a surprise that led to
my most delightful dream project ever! While picking up my
daughter, Shamrock at her elementary school I was talking about
dreams (as always) to her teacher, Pearl Hanchett. Pearl is a very
likable, skilled and dedicated teacher who is refreshingly
innovative.
Pearl suggested that I share my knowledge of dreams with the
class on an ongoing basis. I hesitated, not believing that it would
ever actually happen. But Pearl persisted, encouraging and coaxing me
until I agreed. Then she presented her idea to Jill Rosenquist, the
principal. Jill was open to it but wanted to hear more, so she
interviewed me about my approach to dreams and the materials that
I wanted to present.
As it turned out, this principal was acquainted with Jung's
writings and was a lucid dreamer herself! She gave the go-ahead
after I agreed to three conditions: 1) that she be allowed to sit in
on the first few sessions, 2) that I tape record everything in case
of a parent complaint and 3) that I keep her informed of what we were
doing and how it was going.
Thus it evolved that I had the enormous pleasure of
teaching dreamskills every Friday for at least an hour from mid
December, 1986 through mid June, 1987 to a class of 29 fourth
graders in my daughter's public school classroom.
The first day was devoted to telling the children how I
became a dreamworker and what I actually do as Director of a
Dream Center. Then I shared some of the various unique projects
of my dreamworker colleagues. Although this turned out to be the
least fascinating presentation, judging from the restlessness of the
kids, it did establish to the teacher and principal that I had
substantial background in dreams. To the students, it made the very
important point that dreams can be a career.
At the close of the presentation I read off a list of topics
that I could present to see what they were interested in. They were
not interested in hearing about groups and organizations or even
about my experiences touring a sleep laboratory. But they were
interested in everything else, from common dream themes to
dreams in other cultures. And most of all, they were literally
desperate to share their own dreams, hear some of my dreams and
get answers to their questions about dreams.
It was hard for me to make them wait for their first real
dream class in order to conduct a survey, but I wanted very much
to obtain a before and after picture of their dreamlives. So,
following an explanation about how the survey was not a test, how
it would help me to teach them better, and provide some definition
of terms, I left the room and Pearl distributed the surveys.
The nine questions survey was designed to indicate the
students' perceptions of their level of dreamskill development and
to give me insight into three important areas of their dreamlife: 1)
how they felt about dreaming, 2) to whom they told their dreams
and 3) what they regarded as the basic themes of their dreams. The
students reported their estimations of how frequently each of six
dreamskills occurred in their own dreamlives.
Asking the students to finish the sentence, "Most of my
dreams are about..." found both girls and boys most frequently
listing scary dreams or nightmares. This included a range of
negative and frightening images such as storms, monsters, being
chased by bad guys, people they love dying or themselves dying, or
being abandoned. Other categories mentioned but with few entries
were cars/bikes, parties, toys, playing or fun, events from their own
past, present and future, the ocean, and family members. None of
the boys mentioned animals. Eight girls mentioned friends and nine
girls mentioned one or more animals. One boy said his dreams were
mostly of himself flying or trying to fly.
Mom or step-mom was chosen most frequently by children
of both sexes as a person to whom they would tell their dreams. No
one mentioned neighbors, aunts, uncles, teachers or cousins, One
girl mentioned grandparents and three boys and three girls
mentioned dad or step-dad. One intriguing difference I noted was
that eight of the sixteen girls would share dreams with friends but
only one of the thirteen boys, I also noted that every girl had at
least one person to whom they could tell their dream but three boys
said that they had no one. None of the boys had more than two.
Most had only one. For the girls, only three had one person to tell.
Most girls had tow people to tell. One girls had three and tow girls
had four.
I wondered about the connections between the girls' higher
reported dreamskill level and the fact that there were more people
to whom they felt they could tell their dreams. I also wondered
about the connection between boys not mentioning dreaming about
their friends and boys not telling dreams to their friends.
One finding that I was very happy to discover was that the
students overwhelmingly liked dreams, despite the frequency of
nightmares. Seven said dreams are good, Sixteen wrote that dreams
are great and one girl went so far as to state that dreams are
fantastic! Two of the three neutral votes came from non-recallers
and only one boy felt that dreams were bad. I hoped that this boy
would feel better about dreams following the course. I also hoped
that the children would find more people to listen to their dreams.
The next session I shared the survey results. I could see the
kids getting curious about each others's dreamlives. i told them I
was very happy to see that they were so skilled as dreamers already.
"We are really going to be able to do a lot of fun things with
dreams," I told them. "I can tell already."
One project, using magazines, was making collages of
images from their dreamlife, arranged on large pieces of
construction paper. I would circle through the class as they worked
and ask them what their picture said. Then I asked each child to add
themselves to the picture and show me where. "How do you feel
being there?" I asked. If they liked it, I asked if there was
anything that they would like better and often they would add some
missing element, or move themselves to a more optimal location. If
they didn't like how they felt where they originally placed
themselves, I asked them where they would rather be. If they had
trouble moving themselves I asked them what they needed in order to
be able to get where they wanted to be. Then they would draw in what
they needed, and move to the preferred spot. In finishing,
I checked to make sure that they did feel better in the new spot. No
matter what our dream activity, if it felt unpleasant or unfinished
we would keep trying various tactics until it felt better.
Although we drew picture of dream scenes, wrote little poems
about the dreams and did closed eye drawings of feelings (and their
opposite) from dreams, by far the most popular activity was dream
drama. Sometimes, we all acted out one character. Sometimes we
watched as the dreamer acted out one or more of the characters or
scenes of his/her dream. Mostly, the dreamer selected who they wanted
to play each part and, upon the agreement of the actors, would direct
the complete production of their dream, playing whichever role they
wanted.
(Jill also took photos from one day when she brought a giant
costume box and let the students briefly tell the dream and introduce
themselves as the dream character. One girl, Samantha, wore a long
pointed hat...) She was being a large bluebird who bosses her and
clings to her in her dreams two to three times a week. This had been
going on for four years and the bird was becoming increasingly
negative, to the point of attacking Samantha. During the course,
I did re-entry and re-imagining dreamwork on a one-on-one basis for a
few days with each of the children who wanted to try it. Samantha
found ways to get that bird to sit and listen to her. She set some
basic limits for the bird in terms of what she was willing to do for
it, and gradually came to a place where she found another friend for
the bluebird so it didn't come to her for all of its needs. In fact,
she even imaged wings for the bird which
the bird told her was what it needed most. Although the bluebird was
still a frequent symbol in her dreams, the be end of the course
Samantha had a more positive relationship. Sometimes the bluebird
would fly away and she would miss it.
The wonderful thing about the approach of simply solving
pictures and dream situations and helping our dream characters -- a
technique developed by Ann Wiseman and Paula Phelan -- is that it
works wonders for our lives without anyone needing to know who that
bluebird represents in her real life and her dream life will improve
without those correlations ever being drawn.
(More from Jill Gregory in coming issues, including the girl
who incubated a dream to help her with her schoolwork; how the
teacher views the effect of the dream course on the class, parental
response and Jill's tips for working with kids and dreams. Please
direct any questions to Jill or about the Novato Dream Center through
my email RCWilk@aol.com) --Richard
===============================================
Electric Dreams is an independent electronic publication not
affiliated with any other organization. The views of our
commentators are personal views and not intended as professional
advise or psychotherapy.
===============================================
