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Dear Dreamers, Here’s a little peek at some recent group dreamwork:  What are they? Moonflowers and morning glories. Why? You can guess. Moonflowers open at sundown and bloom all night – like dreams! Morning glories open at sunrise and bloom all day – like waking consciousness! And there’s a beautiful liminal moment, just at dawn, when the moonflowers begin to close and the morning glories begin to open, just like the liminal moment in consciousness when we can best remember our dreams. Tending moonflower and morning glories together is a way of making visible our intention to tend our dreams and integrate their wisdom into waking life. Find some seeds and start your own dream garden. Have fun with it: plant a couple of each kind in a big patio pot. Or plant a screen of vines on your porch, or train them into an arch to mark a threshold, or create a little tent with bamboo poles. I like to plant dozens of them in little peat pots to give away. One thing to know about growing these dream vines: they need support. You can use a fancy trellis, a fence, even just strings tacked to the wall – any kind structure for the vines to hold onto as they grow towards the sun. Seeing as all we do here is metaphor, let’s think for a minute about that structure. It’s one thing for dream interest to sprout, but it needs a bit of structure to grow well. That structure could be some basic premises that we bring to dreamwork – ideas and practices that give us support and a direction for learning. Here is a good basic trellis for helping your Jungian dreamwork thrive, thanks to master dreamworker Jeremy Taylor: Jeremy Taylor’s Ten Basic Assumptions About Dreams
You can create a group or find a local dreamworker to lead it. The Community Dreamwork Initiative invites you to join us for summer dream events offered through the Nashville Public Library and the Nashville Jung Circle (see below). One more thing. You know how a beautiful garden transforms your yard, and by extension, your neighborhood? Growing dream-consciousness actually changes how you see, and how you live – and you share that transformation whether you mean to or not! Good dreamwork habituates you to compassion and nondual consciousness. Shared dreamwork creates deeper and more flexible relationships. Those flowers in your garden picture the flowering of your psyche and the flowering of a community of amazement open to grace and transformation.  Watch these moonflowers open as dusk begins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNj7afVNIeM
I know I say this sort of thing all the time, but only because I believe we need to remember it. Dreamwork is a profound and amazing resource, available to everyone, that helps us become what the world needs: people of compassion, courage, creativity, and grace, who are willing to live in alignment with the greatest good, and foster a just and flourishing society. That won't happen overnight, but we can dream towards it. Deep dreams, Laura
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My friend Joan, who is 93 and who has written her life story as a Jungian-influenced epic in 300 iambic quintains (please take that in a for moment) reminds me that when I start talking up dreamwork, I need to “explain about the unconscious.” Thank you Joan. It’s easy to forget the basic premise. Several years ago I asked Sam Fulks, an artist with Poverty and the Arts, to make a teaching image for me to share around, and put on the cover of my little “Field Guide to Dreaming.” Although some of you have heard me talk about this before, here’s my take on the Jungian map of the psyche, much simplified and pictured as a waterlily:  Lilypad - waking consciousness: what you know about yourself and the world Pond – your personal unconscious: what you don’t know about your personal life. It’s murky but full of discoverable, rememberable material. Bottom of the pond and indeed, the whole earth of which the pond is part - the collective unconscious. This is the vast unconscious, bigger than all of humankind. The pond bottom pictures just the beginning of all we don’t know – shared archetypal energies and images, the human story, the consciousness of plants and animals, the truth of the imagination, the mysteries of the holy, and we can never know what else. It’s wild, creative, dangerous, and relational but not necessarily agreeable. Root - is the most fascinating thing there is in the whole picture. It's your core identity that is bigger than your own ego, self awareness, or personal existence. People call this astonishing force by names like the God Within, the Soul, Wisdom, -- every culture finds a way to point to this reality. Here’s what it does, in Jungian terms: It interacts with the deep unconscious and the personal unconscious, sensing what you most need to see, feel, and know in the moment. Then it sends those energies up to consciousness in a form you can use – as dreams, synchronicities, archetypal situations, growth-producing events, significant people, mishaps, and various other forms of meaningful happenings. Waterlily –the dream that rises and blossoms, ephemeral, with gold at its center. Stem: how information travels between consciousness and unconscious. This could be dreamwork – but also anything that connects you to your Root and sustains growth: prayer, meditation, gardening, running, playing music, yoga – you know it when you feel it. Poetry too. Since it's National Poetry Month,we'll explore poetry in the Tips and Titles department (see end of post). ************************************************************ That's plenty, but I do want to mention the point of all this. ************************************************************* Relationship is the point. You can use your dreams to relate to this powerful, lifegiving “root Self." Whether your dreamwork uses intuition or analysis, play or work, prayer or art, body or mind, this relationship is profoundly creative, challenging, and enlightening. In fact, being in the relationship with the "root Self" is one of the most important things you can do for yourself and for others. This connection enhances capacities for insight, compassion, creativity, and courage. Humility. Wisdom. Love. How? The poets suggest that we not try too hard. “I loafe and invite my soul” says Walt Whitman, and he would be thrilled if you'd join him. Be "a bride married to amazement" says Mary Oliver. "Bellow forth...the whole rusty brass band of gratitude" says Ross Gay. Lie down in the field "out beyond wrongdoing and rightdoing" invites Rumi. "Leave spaces empty," dares Kay Ryan. "Taste and see...all that lives to the imagination's tongue" says Denise Levertov. Rilke "wants, simply, to say the names of things." The work of becoming is not necessarily easy. But Mary Oliver brings us back to the lily pond, assuring us that even if we think we fail at spiritual alignment, grace is as natural as dreaming: "Each pond with its blazing lilies Is a prayer heard and answered lavishly, every morning, whether or not you have ever dared to be happy, whether or not you have ever dared to pray."  Dear Dreamers, This is for those of you who say you never dream - or for those of us in a dream desert. Good news! Your unconscious seizes on things all the time to offer the metaphors you need in waking life. You don’t have to be asleep to access dreamlike wisdom: all you have to do is pay attention to whatever insists that you see it.  For instance. Sometimes I tune into the classic country station, because I do like a good ballad. Last week I tuned in twice and both times I heard that old song “Mercury Blues” sung by Alan Jackson. Really? This felt odd. During that second airing I said to myself, Why this song now? I asked that question in the same way I coach dreamers to ask, “Why this dream now?” We don’t often get an immediate “aha,” but the question makes us focus on the intersection of dream life and waking life, which is where the action is.
It took a day or two of listening to that line in my head (Crazy bout a Mercury, Lord I’m crazy bout a Mercury) before I realized – Oh! Mercury! Yes I am crazy about Mercury. As in Hermes/Mercury, the Greek/Roman god of thresholds, trade, travelers, and communications. As the messenger between gods and humans, he also brought dreams from Morpheus, the Greek god of Sleep, to human dreamers. So now I’m holding curiosity and openness for growth about my own relationship with “Mercury” energy. For one thing, I’m abysmal at social media. My challenges, which would make any fifth grader snort with disdain, slow me down for weeks. So on one level, “Mercury energy” means hiring a helper (job description below). One another level, as a dreamworker, I'm continually cruising in a Mercury. I'm driving along the road between Self and Ego, integrating wisdom from the inner source with insight from waking consciousness. So on this level, I'm reminded of all those ways I struggle to connect and attach to the physical world: bringing ideas, feelings, insights, and beliefs into grounded presence is often a challenge for me. Like you, I know that practical dreamwork is Mercury in action. So today, how can I express or embody a nonphysical reality in physical form? I can anchor a dream with Energy painting (see Tips). And I can serve up some love by making lasagna for my wild, wonderful teenager. As Mercury drivers, we can offer a ride to others. Any time you listen to someone else’s dream, you show them that their dream matters. You can help them know that it holds practical wisdom as well as a glimpse into mystery. There's more. We can interpret, translate, and transpose dream wisdom for others to share. We can phrase our understandings in terms consistent with Jungian psychology or the languages of traditional faith or natural spirituality. Knowing different ways to name a common experience offers hospitality and gives rise to various understandings of the depth and significance of the dream. Would you rather speak of the Self, the Imago Dei, the Dreamgiver, Wisdom, the Christ Within, or another name? And whoever's ridiing shotgun with you - how would he or she language that sense of Source? There's room for it all in the Mercury. And one more thing: dreamers have a different roadmap. When you listen to another’s dream or share your own, you’re also opening new thresholds between the individual consciousness and the collective unconscious. Riding in that ‘49 Mercury convertible, you can navigate territories of mythic otherness: it's your Wardrobe, your Platform 9 and 3/4, or your Subtle Knife. As new vistas open, feel the winds of change whipping through your hair, and hear the music spilling into the widening world - "Lord I'm crazy bout a Mercury!" Travelin mercies, Laura Two Mercury Things: -Please follow me on Facebook: I’ll try to post updates about dream events without blowing up the internet: https://www.facebook.com/firebynightdreamwork/. -Job! I need someone excellent at social media to help put out newsletters and Facebook posts, and to give my website a facelift. Email laura@firebynight.net. Knowledge of Mailchimp needed. Wake up to Dreaming I love this 12th century carving, “The Dream of the Magi.” It pictures an imaginary beginning to the Epiphany story about the wise men who left everything to follow the dazzling star. The artist himself is a wise man, for he draws us first to the hands, not the star. This beautiful image is about waking to the touch of the angel.  Look at this liminal moment: those few seconds when we’re touched awake by a powerful dream that we’ll never quite grasp with our waking minds. The messenger – the dream – we may not remember, but when a dream touches us, we’re changed. We become more capable of seeing the star that we’re to follow, finding the courage and curiosity to take the next step, whether leaping or plodding, towards a mystery which we realize only by moving towards it with our whole selves. This sculpture also shows the layered process of collective awakening. It’s like a dream group! One person wakes with a dream, that person tells it to the others, and then we all become conscious of a luminous summons. We’re a community not only of dreamers, but of wakers who help each other see whatever it is that draws us towards the divine mystery present in the world. That mystery is embodied in each person. It radiates from the natural world. And it glows even in the broken shards and grimy corners of human experience. As we move through our lives with greater consciousness and openhearted receptiveness to that mystery, we help create a world of more hope, more compassion, more peace, more beautiful, juicy, surprising grace in every step. Maybe the first epiphany is simply that we are not alone. Deep dreams to each of you this year, Laura A note on Celebrating Dream Epiphanies Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th as the day the three Magi finally discover the Christ Child. The word "epiphany" simply means "appearance" or "revelation." Some of the Fire by Night dreamers celebrate the day by sharing foods depicting personal epiphanies that appeared through our dreams. This year I’m making a lemon meringue pie with chocolate crumbs: it honors my dream of a yellow bird who, by exhaling ashes, lifts herself off a prison ground and flies with exhilaration through the Grand Canyon. It’s amazing that I can forget an epiphany that pictures such healing and invites such liberation. But I can. Hence the dream journal. Keeping a dream journal truly helps me follow the star that reveals the holy mysteries of ordinary living. (More on dream journals below, in Tips and Titles) This year I invite you to wake up to your dreams, keep them, feast on them, share them, and trust them to help you follow your star. Tips and Titles for Dreamwork and Dreamplay Tip: Keep a really good dream journal. Having a record of your dreams over time will help you see the longer arc and the deeper story that your unconscious is telling about your “one wild and precious life.” It’s not hard but it takes a little effort to build the habit. Here’s the simplified Laura Version. You’ll need:
Begin – Wake gently. When you have rehearsed the feeling and images of your dream, slowly move to language, and write just a few words about it in your Plain Old Notebook. That will be enough to recall the whole dream later when you have time. Then – Record the whole dream in your dream journal. First give it a title and date. Make a few notes about what has been going on in your waking life, and what is on your mind. Write on the left side of the page in your “dream color.” On the right, leave room for notes, associations, sketches, insight. Use your other color of ink for these. Last - go back and record the date and title of your dream in your Dream Index. You will want to return to your dream narratives and make more notes, do your active imagination, etc. so leave some space for further insights. Your dream journal will be a treasure both in the present and over time. Watch for my upcoming summer workshop on re-storying your narrative through your long-term dream journal.  Titles:
Dream Theatres of the Soul by Jean Benedict Raffa Dream Prayers by Tallulah Lyons Here are two dream writers who have done a beautiful job of transforming the long arcs of their dreams into stories about how dream wisdom has transformed their lives over time. Both of these women are excellent dream teachers and storytellers. Raffa takes a more Jungian-centric approach, working through her “theatres” of ego, persona, shadow, animus, and the Self with a feminine perspective. Lyons offers dreamwork as a transforming spiritual path. Her wise, capacious language appeals to readers both in and beyond traditional faith circles. Wake up to Dreaming... I love this 12th century carving, “The Dream of the Magi.” It pictures an imaginary beginning to the Epiphany story about the wise men who left everything to follow the dazzling star. The artist himself is a wise man, for he draws us first to the hands, not the star. This beautiful image is about waking to the touch of the angel.  Look at this liminal moment: those few seconds when we’re touched awake by a powerful dream that we’ll never quite grasp with our waking minds. The messenger – the dream – we may not remember, but when a dream touches us, we’re changed. We become more capable of seeing the star that we’re to follow, finding the courage and curiosity to take the next step, whether leaping or plodding, towards a mystery which we realize only by moving towards it with our whole selves.
This sculpture also shows the layered process of collective awakening. It’s like a dream group! One person wakes with a dream, that person tells it to the others, and then we all become conscious of a luminous summons. We’re a community not only of dreamers, but of wakers who help each other see whatever it is that draws us towards the divine mystery present in the world. That mystery is embodied in each person. It radiates from the natural world. And it glows even in the broken shards and grimy corners of human experience. As we move through our lives with greater consciousness and openhearted receptiveness to that mystery, we help create a world of more hope, more compassion, more peace, more beautiful, juicy, surprising grace in every step. Maybe the first epiphany is simply that we are not alone. Deep dreams to each of you this year, Laura A note on Celebrating Dream Epiphanies Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th as the day the three Magi finally discover the Christ Child. The word "epiphany" simply means "appearance" or "revelation." Some of the Fire by Night dreamers celebrate the day by sharing foods depicting personal epiphanies that appeared through our dreams. This year I’m making a lemon meringue pie with chocolate crumbs: it honors my dream of a yellow bird who, by exhaling ashes, lifts herself off a prison ground and flies with exhilaration through the Grand Canyon. It’s amazing that I can forget an epiphany that pictures such healing and invites such liberation. But I can. Hence the dream journal. Keeping a dream journal truly helps me follow the star that reveals the holy mysteries of ordinary living. (More on dream journals below, in Tips and Titles) This year I invite you to wake up to your dreams, keep them, feast on them, share them, and trust them to help you follow your star. Fire by Night is glowing! Welcome to the first issue of the monthly letter of Fire by Night Dreamwork. Here’s a flotilla of flaming thanks to all of you who have participated in Fire by Night over the years as it’s moved from a quiet circle of dream exploration to a certificated practice with multiple offerings and outreach events. You’re receiving this because you’re a current or previous Fire by Night dreamer, or you’re a friend, colleague, therapist, and creative, curious person who might be interested in dreamwork. Thank you for opening up the first issue to see what’s new.  Dear Dreamers, Here are some recent dream images shared in the groups: a gorgeous red and white ‘53 Ford mired in deep mud. A rotted ceiling opening into a vast new room under the roof. A herd of beautiful golden-gray fish with a tender caretaker. A motorcycle rushing out of town with grinning baby girls balanced like outriggers as champagne rains down. So much change and growth underway! What image would you share? Dreams come to us as emotion-drenched images. Soul-stirring pictures and symbols are the language of dreams, and as we shift from experiencing the dream to telling it, ordinary words often strain to translate the energies of the dream into a tellable tale. We try to outline the story, or describe the scene, or name the feelings. And, however limited the language, when we speak the dream aloud, and then play with it and work on it together, an amazing thing happens: meaning glows from within the dream, intuition leaps to insight, and we begin to perceive waking life differently. Dream story changes life story.  As dreams and synchronicities led me to put down teaching and take up dreamwork full time, it was time for a logo. I asked Linda, my inspired artist friend, to help. “Wait for an image that shows how it feels to do the work,” she said. I did, and here it is. Not quite what I’d imagined at first. I hope when you look at it you’ll see something you recognize. Maybe the inbreaking of an “Aha!” Or the peace of mandala patterning. The unsettling scatter of dream fragments that nevertheless bear light. The shape of the overlapping realities of dreaming and waking. The fascination of light and the beauty of darkness. The realization that dreams, like images in stained glass, point beyond themselves to the “fire by night” or Presence at the heart of life that knows you, loves you, challenges you, changes you.
My hope for you in this season of light is that however you name and celebrate the Mystery, that your dreams may lead you to new perspectives of compassion, courage, creativity, and joy. Deep dreams, Laura |
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