Dream Groups, Dream Work & the Starry Sky
Founding Member, Pacific Northwest Dream Group · Mentored by Dr. Diane Greig (2009) · Dream Group Facilitator, PNWDG (2017)
I began hosting and facilitating monthly dream groups in 2017, using a Jungian and Transpersonal lens passed to me through my mentor, Dr. Diane Greig.
Dreams have long fascinated me—not only for the stories and images they bring, but for the ways they can open unexpected doors into ourselves.
Sharing a Dream in Circle
The style of relating dreams in a circle that Dr. Rickards introduced allows each person to respond to another’s dream while remembering that the dream always belongs to the dreamer.
When we respond, we speak from the perspective of: “If this were my dream…”
This creates a sense of freedom. Rather than telling someone what their dream means, we can share the feelings, images, teachings, or insights that arise for us, without imposing our own interpretation upon the dreamer.
One of the gifts of sharing dreams in a group is that each person contributes their own brand of wisdom and insight. The reflections can be wonderfully rich and diverse and, at the same time, surprisingly cohesive and complementary. Someone may notice something we have completely overlooked. A symbol may open differently through another person’s eyes. A fresh perspective gives us something new to ponder and perhaps another path into our own personal dream mythology.
For me, and for others I have had the privilege of sharing dream circles with, exploring dreams together has deepened and sometimes accelerated personal growth. Examining the processes and personal dynamics of my own life through dream work has opened new avenues of expression and helped me navigate with greater ease in this world.
If participating in a dream group is calling to you, send me a note at Teresa@treesong.ca.
There are more trees on Earth than stars in the Milky Way
Dreams Beneath the Night Sky
Reflecting on the night sky can feel a little like following our dreams—an invitation to wonder, to ponder and perhaps to find our place within the cosmos.
A few years ago, a friend gave me a daybook that integrated astronomy and astrology—the movements, momentum, cycles, and events of celestial bodies and their relationship with Earth. It sparked a deeper interest that continues to this day. It helps me keep in touch with this vast and amazing universe we live in, our interrelationship with its systems, and something more—with the wonder and the mystery.
Our interconnection with all life on Earth and with the cosmos feels to me somehow inherent in our DNA. However numbed we may become through disconnection from the natural world, this cyclical play of our planet and all the cosmos continues, and we are touched by it whether we are aware of it or not.
I love that throughout history people in all corners of the Earth have looked to the night sky. The positions of the stars helped people navigate land and sea, know when to plant and harvest, and recognize when it was time to move on. Our mythmakers, storytellers, and singers wove tales around these celestial movements, helping us honour and remember the interrelationships between ourselves, our Mother Earth, and the larger cosmos.
The stories vary from culture to culture, but again and again they invite us to explore the celestial realms. Like inspired astrological storytelling, these tales can leave us footprints to follow—something to help us on our journeys, both literally and figuratively.
Through observing celestial movements—the cycles of the Sun and Moon, the solstices and equinoxes, lunar and solar eclipses, and the interplay of the planets through the nighttime constellations—and weaving these observations with our ability to imagine, it seems possible to develop a deepening kinship with these systems and with visions of life beyond the boundaries of our daytime eyes.
This is an invitation to go outside and connect with the night sky. Look up. Notice. See which paths upon the Milky Way might call to you.
Follow one for a while. Perhaps, through connecting with this celestial wonder, we have the potential to expand our concepts, our natural energy, and the universe within.
Be witness to the starry sky potential.
