Abstract Index Conference Index

ABSTRACT

"...If It Were My Dream..." - An Introduction To Leaderless Projective Group Exploration Of Dreams

REVEREND JEREMY TAYLOR, D.MIN., S.TH.D. (HON.)
AUTHOR OF DREAM WORK, (PAULIST PRESS, MAHWAH, 1983), WHERE PEOPLE FLY & WATER RUNS UP HILL, (WARNER BOOKS, NEW YORK, 1992), AND THE LIVING LABYRINTH, (PAULIST PRESS, 1998), CO-FOUNDER AND PAST PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF DREAMS. I am currently "Minister in Residence" at the Starr King School for the Ministry (Unitarian Universalist), and teacher of Dream Work and the University of Creation Spirituality, as well as a number of other schools and institutions.

4. Summary: After a presentation of the basic tools and techniques of projective, "...if it were my dream" style dream work, (with particular emphasis on "owning" one's projections, the basic ethics governing dream exploration, and the mutual agreements regarding anonymity and confidentiality in the work), participants in the workshop are encouraged to share a dream and offer it for the projections and speculations of other group members regarding it's deeper meanings and significance. Since every participant imagines his or her own version of the dream under discussion, the "aha's" of insight and the other benefits of the work are never limited just to the original dreamer, but are shared generously throughout the group.

5. Learning Objectives: (1) to provide basic guidance for the practice of responsible and productive projective dream work, both one-to-one and in groups, (2) to provide clear ethical guidelines for the pursuit of this work, (3) to offer specific techniques for the exploration of dreams at multiple levels of meaning simultaneously, (4) to empower participants to undertake this work in responsible and productive ways in their own personal and professional lives (5) to encourage those who are interested to pursue further professional education and traning by making avenues for such experience known and available.

8. Abstract: All dreams come in the service of health and wholeness, and speak a universal language of symbol and metaphor. Even the nightmares come to alert the dreamer of "survival issues" in his or her life. Thus, the "worse" the initial experience of the nightmare is, the surer one can be that the information in contains is of particular potential use and value. Any one can learn to understand this universal language of symbolic experience more consciously. All dreams have multiple meanings and levels of significance. The more consciousness there are engaged in the task of exploring the dream, the more likely it is that the work will touch on something the full spectrum of multiple meanings and messages that the dream has to offer. Only the original dreamer can say with any certainty what deeper meanings his or her dream may have, but all dreamers are uniquely and selectively blind to the more challenging meanings of their dreams. When others listen to the dream and imagine their own versions of the narrative, they bring to the whole group the unique gifts of their "fresh eyes" and "fresh ears", inviting everyone in the group to do his or her own interior work on the dreamer's gift of the original narrative. The "aha's" of insight and greater conscious understanding are never limited just to original dreamer, but are shared liberally throughout the group.