feel when you woke up? He said he didn’t want to leave the dream. He was having such a good time. He felt powerful and on track.
While running the reality check, he said he didn’t feel very powerful at work. His boss was unpredictable, and he sometimes felt vulnerable. He wanted to know how he could embody the sense of power he found in the dream.
I told him that — if it were my dream — I might think it was coaching me to take on a more important role in my work. He allowed that this was a distinct possibility. I remarked that I’d draw from the dream the practical counsel that I might need to bring other people along. The big thing that struck me was how, in the dream, my neighbor felt closely connected to primal energy, to earth changes — and I added that I would want, in whatever I chose to do, to bring that energy and connectedness to bear in my life.
He vigorously agreed. “That’s what I want to do. I feel I need that connection to feed my soul.”
I was intrigued by the animal skull. What kind of animal was it? “Maybe a dog or fox.”
I got goose bumps, because when he was recounting the dream I had had the distinct impression of a fox. I talked about the fox as a shamanic ally in the oldest shamanic traditions of Europe, and about the nature of the fox as an animal legendary for its cunning, required to know when to hunt and when to hide — renowned, of course, as a trickster.
John teared up. He explained that he had recently done his turn-ofthe-year personal reading of the I Ching. He had cast the last hexagram, named “Before Completion.” The judgment evokes the need for extreme caution, to act as a wily old fox on thin ice, not as a young fox that might fall through the cracks.
I suggested that, in any future work dramas, I would pause to ask, “What would the wily old fox do?” before adopting any course of action.
He grinned when he came up with a bumper sticker that he could use, “I’m a real fox.” He said he would honor his dream and keep in touch with its energy by putting a small figure of a fox on his bureaucrat’s desk.
The conversation juiced both of us. Everyday dreamwork is soul food for everyone involved.
Playing the Lightning Dreamwork Game
Step One: Tell the Dream
1. Choose who will tell a dream first.
2. Encourage the dreamer to tell the dream as clearly and simply as possible, without personal background or analysis.
3. Ask the dreamer to give the dream a title.
Step Two: Ask Three Essential Questions
The partner (or lead partner, if working in a group) now asks the dreamer three basic questions.
1. What did you feel when you woke up?
2. The reality check question, which has two critical aspects:
• Do you recognize any of the people or situations of the dream in waking life?
• Could any part of this dream be played out in waking life in the future?
3. What would you like to know about this dream?
Step Three: Play the “If It Were My Dream” Game
The partner now says to the dreamer: “If it were my dream, I would think about such and such.” You can say anything you like, as long as you say it politely! You may find that your own dreams or life memories come to mind in the presence of another person’s dream, and these may be your way of understanding some part of the other’s experience. You can mention those personal memories by saying, “If it were my dream, I would think about my other dreams of a house that has a mystery in the basement (or an extra story).”
Step Four: Honor the Dream
Dreams require action! The vital last part of the process requires the partner to ask the dreamer:
• What action will you take to honor this dream?
Try to guide the dreamer toward specific action. If the dreamer does not know what to do, the partner should suggest possible actions he would take if it were his dream. Some suggestions:
• Write a bumper sticker or “snapper,” a personal catchphrase that captures the message of the dream and orients you toward forward movement.
• Go back inside the dream through the dream reentry technique (see chapter 5).
• Research names, locales, and other significant details from the dream.
• Keep the dream in mind as a travel advisory or a rehearsal for future developments.
• Share the dream with someone else who may need its guidance.
• Write/paint/create to honor the dream.
• Make a dream talisman.
Walking a Dream
Janice likes to walk dreams as you or I might walk the dog. Sometimes she walks her own dreams. As a very active member of an online dream-sharing community I founded, she often walks other people’s dreams, like one of those professional dog walkers you see with half a dozen canines of all sizes on a fistful of leashes. As she strolls around, she finds that fresh insights come to her easily and naturally. Sometimes an incident gives her a second opinion on a dream. This might be the sigh of the wind in the trees, or the flight of a bird, or a snatch of overheard conversation.
I love this approach, which has something in common with Jung’s preferred mode of “circumambulation” in approaching the meaning of a dream. Jung felt he came closer to the heart of a dream when he wandered around it, looking at it from different angles, rather than trying to mount a direct assault on its inner keep.
So walking a dream can be just what the phrase suggests. Janice — a shrewd and stylish New Yorker who worked in sales for many years and is now a teacher of Active Dreaming — adds a further twist to her dream walking. “I like to wear my dreams the day after,” she says. This might mean dressing in the style or dominant color of a dream or carrying accessories that evoke something of the dream.
Let’s review some other options for walking our dreams.
One of the most ancient is to create or obtain an object that can serve as a dream amulet by holding and focusing the energy and guidance of a powerful dream. In a healing retreat for women vets, six participants worked together on a dream of a red dress. When the dreamer was able to see herself wearing that red dress and going boldly through a gateway that had been closed to her in the original dream, a profound energy shift took place and deep healing became available to all of the women in the group. While the dreamer’s action plans naturally included “wearing the dream” by getting a red dress, the six women agreed they wanted to make dream amulets that would keep them connected and keep the wonderful energy they had developed working for all of them. To accomplish this, they chose special
