Class Notes
Hi Class,
We have reached the sixth and final week of the Dream Class! Please note that the Final Exam for this class is included at the end of this lesson, along with submission instructions. This will give you an extra week to complete and submit your exam if you want to receive a grade in the class.
I hope that I have been able to teach you that dreams speak to us through an eternal and universal symbol language which each of us interprets in our own way. Some of us have difficulty with the symbols language, while others understand it intuitively. One of your classmates explained how effortless it can be when she said that her dream dictionary seemed redundant, because the words and their definitions seemed so obvious. She is fortunate because to her, the symbol language is second nature. If all of us were this well-versed in the dream symbol language, our dreams would be much easier to understand and the world might well be a better place!
In the past weeks, we heave learned how complex and astonishing the symbol language can be. Please continue to pursue its mysteries after this class ends. We will keep the Symbol Study Groups open at the bulletin board through the end of Finals Week, so if you need help figuring out a symbol, you can ask your classmates for help.
Advanced students who explored the meaning of archetypes found an even more complex language. Identifying archetypes in dreams takes you to a new level of dream interpretation. Influencing dreams is another advanced topic, which I will ask you to explore in this sixth and final week.
Influencing Dreams
Naturally, the things that happen to us during the day influence our nightly dreams. This is the most basic way we influence our dreams, without even thinking about it. The last hours and minutes before we fall asleep have the most profound effect on our dreams, because that is when the dream keeper goes to work, writing our night's script. Our internal scriptwriter is nestled deep in our subconscious, and like any good writer, that hard working part of ourselves is open to suggestions. Here are some things you can do while preparing to fall asleep, in order to influence your dreams.
Affirmations Set your problems aside and fill your mind with affirming thoughts. Choose some affirmations and repeat them over to yourself aloud a few times, and write them in your dream journal. A typical affirmation might be: "Dreams, you are my friends. I keep you in my heart at all times." Another affirmation may be: "My dreams give me answers to daily problems." For more information about affirmations, visit the affirmation web site, Marshal House, or visit your local bookstore and browse through the affirmation books there.
Questions If you want to consult your subconscious about a problem you are having, do so right before falling asleep. Write your question in your dream journal in an affirmative way. For example, avoid writing something like "Why does so-and-so hate me?" because your subconscious mind may misunderstand such a question, which is a double negative. Instead, try to phrase your question in an affirmative way, such as, "How can I improve my relations with so-and- so?" When you wake up, write down your dream, or any fragment you remember.
Lucid dreaming The simplified definition of lucid dreaming is that you become aware you are dreaming, during a dream. In order to bring about a lucid dream, tell yourself that you will awaken in the dream. Write this in your dream journal and affirm it out loud, as you did with affirmations. Try to remember your desire for a lucid dream while you are falling asleep. If you try this a few times, sure enough you will find yourself deep asleep and suddenly become aware that you are dreaming. Now you can have some fun, try flying, visit a foreign land where you've always wanted to go, visit a friend and try to give them a message. Once you wake up within a dream, you can do anything. In the morning, note down everything you can remember.
Writing From Dreams
We have already learned about the dream symbol language and ways to utilize the power of dreams. However, there is a lot more to learn. Dreams are infinitely complex, mysterious and full of treasures for the dreamer. Writing about dreams can help reveal their gifts. Gestalt Dream Completion: A dream may seem disappointing, or even distressing. How can it hold a gift? Choose a distressing dream and write it out as you remember it, then in your imagination write the ending you would have wanted. Close your eyes and see yourself back in the dream. Like the lucid dreamer, pretend you are aware during the dream and able to change the ending anyway you want. Let your mind wander and find a more suitable conclusion. When you feel satisfied with the new dream, write it down in your dream journal. A few days later, re-read your old dream and the new, improved version. Using the symbol language dictionary, figure out what these two dreams are telling you about how you need to change in order to achieve your good dream.
Gestalt Dialogue with Dreams
Fritz Perls was one of the masters of Dream Work in the Twentieth century. He taught his students that each and every aspect of a dream represents the dreamer in some way. In his retreat workshops, he asked dreamers to talk to each dream symbol and find out why it is there, and what message it brings for the dreamer. Perls introduced the "empty chair" technique for dreamers. In Gestalt therapy, the empty chair is used to finish up business with someone who may be unavailable or deceased. The client imagines that the person they want to talk to is sitting there in the empty chair and they say what they have to say. Then the client sits in the empty chair and answers as they imagine that person would answer. Then they return to their own chair and explain the next point, giving the empty chair a chance to listen, and then respond.
An empty chair dialogue may bring up long-buried and painful memories, giving them a chance to be aired in a non-judgmental, safe and loving environment. Many people have found peace of mind by putting old grievances to rest in this way. The same technique can be used with dream characters, props, feelings, settings, or anything that appears in your dreams. For example, if you have a dream about a threatening spider, put it on the empty chair and ask it why it was in your dream. Write down your conversation in the dream journal. If this technique works for you, you will be surprised at the insights your dream characters will give you. You may sit in the empty chair and speak for them, because they are really part of your own psyche.
Assignment Six:
Final Exam
For the Final Exam, pick a dream that you dislike. Using processes that we have discussed in this class, work with the dream in order to make it into a better memory. As I mentioned in my Class Notes, Finals Week is officially next week, so you will have two weeks to complete and submit your exam if you want to earn a grade in this class.
Review of Processes:
Use a dream dictionary and other resources to interpret symbols.
Review the dream for references to archetypal images.
Through meditation, consciously change undesirable aspects of the dream, or devise a better ending.
Communicate with dream symbols using the empty chair technique.
Write out a dialogue with the dream characters.
Send in a short explanation of your dream and the method(s) you used to work on it. Do you feel differently about your dream after processing it?
I will be available until the end of finals week, so if you have unanswered questions, write to me with "dreamclass question" in the subject.
To submit your final exam, follow these instructions.
Due Date:
Subject: DREAMCLASS FINAL EXAM
In the body of your message, type your FULL NAME on the first line, your STUDENT ID on the second line, and your E-MAIL ADDRESS as it appears on the VU enrollment roster on the third line. Skip a line and begin typing your assignment.
Always keep a copy of your work so that, if your paper is lost in the Internet mail stream, you can conveniently resubmit it.
Good luck!
Dream 2/22/94: I talk to a guy at a party. We're standing near a cage with monkeys and other animals.
