Dreaming Our Way
to the Heart of the World
by Robert Moss
If we could fold time, travel forward a century or two, and then
look backward, I believe we would find abundant confirmation that the
rise of the dreamwork movement is one of the most important
developments of the modern era.
In my brighter vision of what is to come, our society will be guided
by dream helpers who are dreaming with and for the Earth itself. Their
constant work is to help those around them to use dreams for guidance
and healing, as a direct line to the God/Goddess we can talk to. Dream
helpers play a central role in healthcare; now it is recognized that
dreams diagnose problems before they manifest and that dream imagery
and conscious interactive dreaming offer vital tools for healing.
Dreamworkers help the dying to prepare for the afterlife journey by
following the path of the soul in dreams, and in this way they learn to
go through the swing-door of death with confidence and grace. In the
workplace, the day begins with dream leaders helping colleagues to
share their dreams and to grow community visions. In our schools, our
children become storytellers, communicators, and creators by sharing
and giving creative expression to dreams and get credits for doing this.
In this happy future, dream guides are valued because they midwife
creativity and healing, but above all because it is understood that
they help us to connect with soul, and that this is vital to our
survival as an evolving species in balance with our environment. Dream
travelers are respected because it is now common knowledge that they
have direct access to the flux of consciousness that particle
physicists found to lie at the heart of matter — more specifically, to
the "hidden" six or seven dimensions of the multiverse identified by
superstring theory even before the end of the twentieth century.
In my darker vision of what is to come, I see dream travelers and
dreamworkers helping to rebuild our world after a catastrophe. In
spontaneous dreams and visions over many years, I have found myself
traveling into a possible future in which an order of
priestess-scientists are trying to repair the havoc caused by the
ignorance and violence of men of power who did not listen to dreams.
The dream priestesses of the future have perfected the arts of
community dreaming and group dream travel, and have been able to access
immense sources of energy and knowledge at the heart of subatomic
space. Dreaming, they reach out to educate and inspire those who will
help humanity to find its way.
In a recent dream, I found myself voyaging into the world of the
Kogi, a dreaming people who live on a sacred mountain in Colombia and
succeeded in isolating themselves from the outside world until the
1980s. I made my dream journey to the Kogi at the invitation of a
friend who had spent many months with them and had brought me a
personal message from one of their shaman-priests. I met a being who
showed himself first as a giant bird, then as a man in a conical hat. I
saw vivid scenes of his people on the mountain they regard as the heart
of the world. Then he opened a vision gate for me, inside the dream. To
my surprise, I found myself looking at seemingly ordinary, middle-class
Americans going about their daily business. I was catapulted into the
mind of one of them and I was horrified. Here was a decent family man,
trying to do his best, in utter ignorance of what was happening to the
forests and the seas, of the psychic forces that bred hatred and
violence, and of the nature of the soul. In that moment, I understood
the immense cost of our Western ignorance, from the point of view of an
indigenous dreaming people. And I knew that the return of the dreaming
ways is the antidote.
Dreamworkers may follow many different approaches to dreams, but by my observation they agree on the following:
1. Dreams are important!
2. The only "expert" on a dream is the dreamer.
3. Dreams connect us to sources of guidance that are wiser than the everyday mind.
4. Dreamers should help each other, wherever possible, to open a
safe and sacred space where dreams can be shared and the dreamer can be
offered nonintrusive feedback and guided to take appropriate action to
honor the dream.
5. Dreaming is for the community as well as the individual.
We need many more dream helpers from all walks of life, contributing
a panoply of rich and varied perspectives, personalities, and life
experiences, to bring the gifts of dreaming to people where they live.
The next step, it seems to me, is very simple and hugely important.
If we are going to become a dreaming society again, we need ways to
make it easy and safe — and fun — to share dreams with other people,
anywhere, any time. Our first service to others, as dream helpers, is
to confirm and validate other people's dream experiences and to
encourage them to claim the full power and energy of their dreams. And
we need to be able to do this in the thick of the hurry-sickness and
manifold distractions of contemporary life.
Lightning Dreamwork
Over many years of teaching and practice, I have evolved the
simple and powerful method for everyday dream sharing that I call
Lightning Dreamwork. Like lightning, it is very fast and it focuses
extraordinary energy. In the workshops, we allow just eight minutes for
the whole process to be applied to a single dream. This does not mean
that we can't spend an hour — or a day — with a dream when we have time
and the dream invites that depth of exploration. It does mean that when
we use this process we always have time to share our dreams, no matter
how busy our lives may be.
The Lightning Dreamwork process makes it possible to share dreams
and receive helpful feedback just about anywhere — in the office, in the
emergency room, at the family breakfast table, or in the checkout line
at the supermarket. The guidelines make it easy to share dreams with
complete strangers or with intimate friends and family.
This process incorporates the "if-it-were-my-dream" protocol for
commenting on someone else's dream developed by Montague Ullman, which
has been a tremendous gift to dreamworkers all over the map.
There are four key steps in the Lightning Dreamwork process. I have
written the instructions as if you are working one-on-one with the
dream. In a dream circle, one member would play "lead partner" in
guiding the process, with the others contributing their suggestions and
associations in the "if-it-were-my-dream" phase.
STEP ONE: TELLING THE DREAM AS A STORY WITH A TITLE
The dreamer tells the dream as simply and clearly as possible.
The dreamer should always be encouraged to leave out his/her
autobiography and tell the dream as a story, complete in itself. When
we do this, we claim our power as storytellers and communicators. We
also avoid the appearance of giving a license to others to probe into
our personal lives, which must never be permitted in dream sharing.
The dreamer should he encouraged to give the dream a title. It's
amazing how the deeper meaning and shape of dream experiences jump into
high relief when we do this.
STEP TWO: THE PARTNER ASKS THE THREE VITAL QUESTIONS
If THE DREAMER has forgotten to give the dream a title, the
partner should ask him/her to make one up. The next step is for the
partner to ask three key questions:
1. How did you feel when you woke up?
The dreamer's first emotional reactions to the dream are vital
guidance on the basic quality of the dream and its relative urgency.
2. Reality check
The reality-check question is designed to establish whether the
dream reflects situations in waking life, including things that might
manifest in the future. Dreams often contain advisories about the
possible future, and it is important not to miss these messages. By
running a reality check, we help to clarify whether a dream is
primarily (a) literal, (b) symbolic, or (c) an experience in a separate
reality. In practice, the dreamer may need to ask several specific
reality-check questions focusing on specific elements in the dream.
Here are a couple of broad-brush reality-check questions that can he
applied to just about any dream:
Do you recognize any of the people or elements in the dream in waking life?
Could any of the events in this dream possibly happen in the future?
3. What would you like to know about this dream?
This simple question to the dreamer provides a clear focus for the next step.
STEP THREE: PLAYING THE "IF IT WERE MY DREAM" GAME
The partner tells the dreamer, "If it were my dream, I would
think about such-and-such." The partner is now free to bring in any
associations, feelings, or memories the dream arouses, including dreams
of their own that may contain similar themes. Often we understand other
people's dreams best when we can relate them to our own dream
experiences.
It is very rewarding to receive a totally different perspective on a
dream, so sharing in this way with strangers can be amazingly rich as
long as the rules of the game are respected. One of those ironclad
rules is that we never presume to tell someone else what a dream means
for them; we say only what it would mean for us if it were our dream.
STEP FOUR: TAKING ACTION TO HONOR THE DREAM
Finally the partner says to the dreamer, "How are you going to
honor this dream?" or "How are you going to act on the guidance of this
dream?"
Dreams require action! If we do not do something with our dreams in
waking life, we miss out on the magic. Real magic consists of bringing
something through from a deeper reality into our physical lives, which
is why active dreaming is a way of natural magic but only if we take
the necessary action to bring the magic through. Keeping a dream
journal and sharing dreams on a regular basis are important ways of
honoring dreams and the powers that speak through dreams. But we need
to do more.
• Turn a dream into a bumper sticker. This is always helpful. When
we write a personal motto from a dream, we not only distill its
teaching; we begin to bring its energy through.
• Create from a dream. Turn the dream into a story or poem. Draw from it, paint from it, turn it into a comic strip.
• Take a physical action to celebrate an element in the dream, such
as wearing the color that was featured in the dream, traveling to a
place from the dream, making a phone call to an old friend who showed
up in the dream.
• Use an object or create a dream talisman to hold the energy of the
dream. A stone or crystal may be a good place to hold the energy of a
dream and return to it.
• Perform the dream through spontaneous dance or theater.
• Use the dream as a travel advisory. If the dream appears to
contain guidance on a future situation, carry it with you as a personal
travel advisory.
• Go back into the dream to clarify details, dialogue with a dream
character, explore the larger reality and have marvelous fun! In my
workshops, we practice dream reentry with the aid of shamanic drumming
and enter each other's dreamspace (with permission!) as trackers, to
support the dreamer's journey and to bring through additional guidance.
• Share the dream with someone who may need the information.
To the Place of the Heart
Sharing dreams in this way opens paths to limitless adventure and
healing. Once we have mastered the Lightning Dreamwork process, we can
play the role of dream helpers and dream ambassadors (quite literally)
on any street corner.
We soon find that dreams bring us, and can bring our communities,
hack to the place of the heart. When I was teaching in California in
October 2002, I found myself in a dream that made this very clear:
MOUNTAIN LION PULLS ME UP TO THE PLACE OF THE HEART
I am climbing a slope that becomes steeper and steeper,
carrying quite a lot of stuff. I have to lay down my baggage in order
to keep ascending. Now I am carrying just one item, a small white box.
The slope becomes a vertical cliff, very difficult to scale. Someone at
the top lowers a beaded strap to me. When I grasp it, I am startled to
see that the other end is held by a mountain lion. The mountain lion
pulls me up, immensely higher than I had expected, until I am on a
lofty peak with a commanding view over the coastline and nearby towns
and forests. Now the lion directs me to open the box, and I take out a
beating red heart. When I place it on a boulder at the summit, the
heart beats steadily and powerfully. I know that the heartbeat is
reaching people across a great distance. I feel the heartbeat
shepherding them toward healing rhythms in their lives, and recalling
them to the wisdom of the heart.
I shared this dream with a circle I was leading. We did more
than discuss it. We agreed to travel inside it, in a conscious group
journey assisted by shamanic drumming. We identified the baggage we
needed to put aside in order to make the ascent. We climbed the
mountain to receive healing and guidance in the realm of the animal
guardians and the place of the heart.
The heart center is where we find courage and reconnect with what
truly matters. Our role, as dream helpers, is to encourage each other
to go there and move beyond our conflict and confusion to the heart of
the world.
This
article was excerpted from:
 She Who Dreams: A Journey into Healing through Dreamwork
by Wanda Easter
Burch.
Reprinted with permission of the publisher, New World Library. ©2003.
www.newworldlibrary.com
Info/Order this book
About the Authors
Robert Moss is a master storyteller, a pioneer of Active Dreaming, a powerful new way to ignite creativity and healing as well as a bestselling author, former magazine editor, BBC commentator and history professor. Visit his website at www.mossdreams.com.
Books by Robert Moss.
Wanda
Easter Burch is a long-term survivor (over 13 years) of breast cancer. She
advocates for breast cancer research and gives seminars and workshops on dreams
and works closely with support groups, churches, and cancer organizations to
teach women about healing practices. Her other work involves historical
preservation. Visit her website at www.wandaburch.com.
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