Dreamtime and
the Sand Way in Healing and Transformation
Bob Sandman Coalson, MSW,
LICSW, is an adjunct professor at Saint Martin’s University,
Lacey, Washington, where he teaches courses in the psychology of
dreams. His clinical background includes: trauma recovery
specialist, sandplay therapist, storyteller, and consultant with
interest in cross-culture perspectives on dreaming and shamanism.
Abstract
Jung was quite specific about the
role of dreams, image, fantasy, and creativity as indispensable
elements for healing and transformation in his life. So, it is not
surprising that we find evidence of these same qualities spread
throughout the mystical and shamanic traditions from ancient to
contemporary time. Shamans and religious mystics are credited by
many as the first dream workers. The medicine work, rituals, and
ceremonies they practiced were not only guided by dreams but also
influenced by the understanding of how the alchemical elements –
earth, air, fire, and water, served as catalysts in the quest for
transformation and healing.
During this
presentation we will launch a journey that will connect us to a
deeper understanding and appreciation for some of these varied
traditions. Illustrated by a colorful slide presentation, we will
explore how the alchemical earth element, sand, and dreams hold a
fascinating place in the Tibetan Buddhist kalachakra, Navaho sand
painting, Jungian sandplay, and Rafalawasch sand drawings.
For Tibetan Buddhists
the sand mandala is the central motif of the kalachakra initiation
ceremony in which initiates seek to attain Buddha-like stature.
This is a ceremony that covers a period of several days during
which a sand mandala is created. The guru overseeing the ceremony
and his monk assistants not only analyze their dreams to ensure
the conditions of constructing the mandala are propitious but also
discuss the dreams of the initiates seeking the kalachakra
initiation.
Navaho sand paintings
are the centerpiece for another form of ceremony wherein sand is
utilized as an alchemical element to create a ‘healing way’ that
restores balance and harmony, or a ‘blessing way’ for such
occasions as birth, marriage, or a new life challenge. Sand
paintings have also been used to treat nightmares of Navaho
veterans returning from war. The ensemble of symbols comprising a
sand painting are created by a medicine man involving chants,
fasts, prayers, and the monitoring of dreams during the period in
which the ceremony is conducted.
Sandplay is a Jungian
oriented form of therapy that utilizes a small tray of sand and a
variety of realistic characters and figures. A sand tray creation
conveys a dreamlike expression in symbolic form that promotes a
healing of the psyche. Drawing on case examples from his practice,
the author presents sandplay as both a process form of therapy and
as a reliable tool for nightmare treatment.
Finally, the author provides a snapshot of a dream
healing ceremony called sand drawing taught to him by a sousafie
(medicine man) from the Rafalawasch culture – an island people in
the western Pacific’s northern Mariana Islands. Sand drawings are
an intriguing form of ceremony that combines a sand drawn human
figure accented by the energy charkas and a dream journey. The
sand drawn figure, a kind of sand-ego composite of the person
seeking help, is the central object of the dream healing that is
transferred onto the seeker as the finale of the ceremony.
