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HOW TO BUILD AN ACTIVE DREAM CIRCLE IN YOUR AREA
We need to share our dreams – our dreams from the night and our life dreams –
with caring and supportive partners who can help us to unlock their meanings and bring
their energy to heal and empower our everyday lives. A dream-sharing circle develops a
wonderful energy of its own. Over the past
couple of years, a number of active new dream groups have sprung up, from South Florida to
Oregon, from Cleveland to Dallas, that are working with the techniques explained in Conscious
Dreaming and Dreamgates. Sometimes these circles begin as book study groups
whose members work – or play! – their way through one of my books chapter by
chapter. Usually the leaders have attended one or more of my depth workshops. When I am
traveling to different parts of the country, I will lead one of their sessions and
introduce new techniques that are constantly emerging in my teaching and practice.
Yet the basic requirement for starting a dream group is
very simple.
It involves creating a safe space where we can learn to
tell our dreams simply and clearly and receive helpful, non-intrusive feedback.
The group may be as small as two people, or much larger. We
need to start somewhere, and a good beginning is to get into the habit of sharing dreams
on a regular basis, and receiving helpful feedback, from a caring friend. Since dreams are
multi-layered and we dream in many different ways, it’s good to have multiple
viewpoints and many diverse life experiences reflected in a group. If you are interested
in a group where everyone can explore one of their dreams in depth every time you meet,
then the ideal size is probably six people. However, in larger groups you will benefit
from the vibrant circle energy you can generate, and – if you use the techniques of
dream reentry and tracking, dream theatre and conscious dream travel explained in my books
and tapes – everyone will be happily engaged in active dreaming throughout your
session.
Here are some basic guidelines for getting a dream group
off the ground and keeping it airborne:
- Commit to a regular schedule. Decide how often you
want to meet – Once a month? Once a week? - and for how long (two hours is long
enough if you are meeting on a weekday evening). You may want to start with an exploratory
meeting to which you’ll invite new friends – for example, by announcing your
group through community bulletin boards, flyers and networking. Once you have established
your core group, you’ll want to ask everyone to commit to attending at least six
sessions.
- Homeplay assignments. Everyone should be asked to
start keeping a dream journal. (You’ll find many new techniques for creative dream
journaling in my new book Dreaming True.) You’ll want to set some basic
reading/listening assignments. My book Conscious Dreaming is a foundation work in
these areas.
- Open with a simple ritual. It’s good to start
each session with a short statement of intention (eg "We come together in a sacred
and loving way to honor and celebrate the wisdom of our dreams") and to spend a few
moments building the energy of the group (simple relaxation exercise, "light
energy" meditation, joining hands in a circle). Light a candle and invoke blessings
for the circle from the sacred powers that speak to us in dreams.
- Share dream titles. After opening the circle, give
people a quiet moment to call up a dream they may want to share. Then have everyone take
turns to share the title of a dream (and only the title) to start things
rolling. This makes sure everyone is included from the word go. Next the group will choose
one or more dreams to explore in depth.
- Ask the three basic questions. Three basic questions
to ask about any dream: (a) How did you feel? (b) What do you need to know?
(c) What do you need to do?
- Comment on each other’s dreams as if they were your
dreams. Follow the "if it were my dream" protocol in commenting on each
other’s dreams. We must never presume to tell other people the meaning of their
dreams, or their lives.
- Explore dreams in three vital ways. Experiment with
three vitally important techniques for group dream exploration: (a)reality check
(which essentially means asking: Could the dream action be manifested in waking life?) (b)dream
reentry and tracking (go back inside a dream to get more information or dream it
onward to resolution – or go inside another person’s dream, with their
permission, to harvest guidance of healing or experiment with shared journeying in a
deeper reality; (c) taking action to honor and celebrate the dream and bring its
energy and insights into waking life.
- Experiment with multiple approaches. Since there are
many kinds of dreams, you’ll want to be eclectic about the methods you use to explore
them.
- Bring through energy as well as information. Group
dreamwork should always be devoted to bringing through energy as well as insight.
Be sure you keep things moving in the group! Dream theatre – having the
dreamer cast members of the group as figures in her dream, which they proceed to act out
spontaneously – is a lovely, fun-filled way to honor a dream and bring through energy
that is often deeply healing. There are some powerful stories of dream theatre in my book Dreamgates.
- Take it to the community! We need to bring the gifts
of dreaming to many people who many never sit with a dream group, but desperately need a
dream in their lives. A fun assignment for your group is to ask your members to find a way
– between each session – to bring dreaming into the life of someone who
hasn’t been in the habit of sharing dreams or drawing on their guidance. This person
may be an intimate family member or a complete stranger, maybe someone you meet in a line
at the post office or in the dentist’s waiting room. Maybe you’ll find a way to
create a safe space where they can tell a dream, and receive some helpful feedback. Maybe
you’ll find yourself telling a simple story about a dream that came true, or a dream
that brought healing, or how someone famous was guided by a dream – a story that
might open out someone else’s understanding of what dreaming might be. You’ll
find it vastly entertaining, and inspirational, to come back to your group with stories of
how you brought dreams alive for others. In this way, through one encounter after another,
you’ll be making a beautiful contribution to the rebirth of a dreaming culture in our
times.
If you would like more suggestions on forming or
running an Active Dream circle or on contacting other active dreamers in your area, please
email Robert.
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