Article © 2013 by Joyce Mason
All Rights Reserved
A dream circle is a gathering of people who agree to listen
to each other’s dreams in a safe environment and offer whatever feedback the
dreamer wants.
Dream circles may consist of just a pair of people or
several. I think they work best in small groups of no larger than six
participants. I recommend that you convene your dream circle weekly at most, twice a
month at minimum. Longer gaps in-between meetings make it difficult to maintain
continuity in each other’s complex dream life. Think about how hard it is to
find and follow the train of thoughts to make sense of your own dreams. Then
take that effort times the number of people in your group.
The sustained effort to help the members of your dream circle grow in understanding about each other’s dreams is well worth it, but tackling this project for more than a half-dozen people on an ongoing basis risks drowning in the Sea of Subconscious. You'd have a too personal experience of the expression among astrologers, "Neptuned out."
In time, most people find they can wean themselves from this kind of
group process, going to a former group member or friend who knows you and your
dreams well for a second opinion, as needed. On the other hand, you might enjoy
the group process and shared growth so much; you wouldn’t dream of leaving.
Anyone can start a dream circle, one of the easiest ways to find deep psycho-spiritual connection with like-minded people.
In either case, with time, you’ll become a whiz at panning
for the gold of inner growth in your own night movies.
Guidelines
Sharing the content of each other’s dream life is a sacred trust.
Dreams are an opening to a person’s soul. Accordingly, certain guidelines will
help keep the circle safe and the members helping each other in the most positve way. Here are the guidelines that have worked for me when I’ve
facilitated dreamwork groups:
1. Invite Trusted
Friends Only into the Dream Circle. Highly personal information is
exchanged through each other’s dreams. Invite only people you trust with this
information to participate. Ask existing members to recommend only trusted
friends as new members.
2. Keep
Confidentiality. What happens in Dream Circle stays in Dream Circle. Regard
your time together as having the seal of the confessional, for often it is
confessional in nature.
3. Choose a Competent
Facilitator. It’s good to have one person lead, getting things going at
each session and doing the secretarial work to keep in contact. Consider a
leader with experience in deciphering his or her own dream life. However, in
dreamwork, everyone is equal. You could separate out the “secretary” functions
and rotate facilitation among the group members. You can experiment with the
length of time you’d like to stay with the same facilitator for continuity.
Once you’re in sync with each other over a period of time, you may find that
any one of you can lead without skipping a beat in the group's dreamwork-sharing rhythm.
Sometimes you can get dreamwork in a therapeutic setting,
where the therapist is the expert. (Many psychologists and other helping
professionals are trained in it). However, dreamwork is also a matter of
spiritual growth. When approached from this angle, don’t expect it to be
professional therapy. However, there is also great value in simply supporting
each other’s personal and spiritual growth. You are the living expert on your
own dreams. Like AA and many other self-help groups that focus on your
relationship to a Higher Power, dreamwork can also be done as a peer-to-peer
effort to improve your lives and relationship to Spirit.
4. Respect That the
Dream Belongs to the Dreamer. While others may have ideas for the dreamer
to consider, the only person who can get that gut-level feeling that an
interpretation is right-on is the dreamer. We must never presume to know. Even
if our thoughts don’t ring a bell with the dreamer, they may later on or
provide a counterpoint for sorting. That is, others’ ideas may help the dreamer
cross off on his or her mental list the things the dream doesn’t mean to him or
her. Dreams are the spiritual experience of the dreamer. No exceptions, and
keep strong boundaries on this point. Politely ask participants to leave the
group, if they regularly attempt to force their ideas or interpretation on the
other members.
5. Honor Time
Constraints. Choose the amount of time you’ll meet in each session, say two
hours. At the beginning, have each dreamer state whether he or she wants to
share a dream at this particular session and the estimated time they'll need. Perhaps you can cover
only two long dreams in one session. If you can’t get to everyone that night,
quiz the circle on urgency. Who feels a need for guidance now, and who is OK
with waiting till next session? The waiters can be first up next time.
The dream world is timeless and formless. It’s the gauzy
place of no boundaries ruled by Neptune and the flowing feelings of the Moon. This is where a good facilitator is
golden to keep the members from drifting into tiring overtimes or the habit of over-serving
some dreamers while not giving enough attention to others.
6. Do Your Dream
Circle Your Way. Decide as a group how you want to run your dream circle,
and revisit often how it’s working for everyone. Let your circle be a support
system that considers everyone and the dynamics of change that take place as
dreams stimulate personal transformation.
7. Add an Astro-Spin.
If the members of your group are conversant in astrology, bring your charts and
look at how your dream content fits ongoing natal chart issues and current ones
by transit. This Uranus-Neptune combo can be very powerful, a prescription for
awakening the dreamer.
Breaking the Language
Barrier
Dreams are a language unto their own. Don’t expect to learn a
new language overnight. Immerse yourself in the culture of dreams, and you will
learn better and faster!
A dream circle is like a visit to Paris when you’re trying
to learn French. You’ll get it by going there, where the language is spoken all
around you, unlike my rusty high school French that had no real field testing.
I can barely understand parlez-vous
when it’s spoken to me, and if I ever had to construct a real French sentence, I’d
pray it was one of the samples in my primer.
Pleasant Surprises
Dreamwork enhances intuition, for you are learning to work with
symbols from the subconscious. I believe the act of bringing material regularly
from the subconscious to waking consciousness is one of the strongest practices
for increasing your own sensitivity and intuition or psychic skills. My closest
friend and I even dream for each other!
You may find this pleasant side effect in your dream circle. Sometimes we are not open to see material in the same way our dream buddy will see it or report it. My dreammate and I have gotten a big kick out of being each other’s mediums. Whenever a dream makes no sense, we have learned to check in with each other to see if it's hers or mine. If your dreams include your dream circle friends, there may be messages in your dream for them, too. Be sure to share them.
You may find this pleasant side effect in your dream circle. Sometimes we are not open to see material in the same way our dream buddy will see it or report it. My dreammate and I have gotten a big kick out of being each other’s mediums. Whenever a dream makes no sense, we have learned to check in with each other to see if it's hers or mine. If your dreams include your dream circle friends, there may be messages in your dream for them, too. Be sure to share them.
Dream on—and consider starting a circle of sharing this powerful
practice. Your dream circle will amplify all you’ll gain from doing your dreamwork.
~~~
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