from a dream conversation...

“I go outside and my dad is in the tool shed.  He’s really crabby and yells at me. He tells me to get away from him.” (DD-age 7)

MJ: What do you feel in the dream when he does that?

DD: I feel bad.  It scares me. 

MJ: Does your dad talk to you that way?

DD: No.

MJ: Does he yell at you like that?

DD: No, my dad never yells at me like that.

ΜJ: What does it feel like to be yelled at that way?

DD: It really hurts my feelings.

MJ: Hmmm...I wonder...maybe he’s trying to show you something. Do you ever get crabby and yell at people to get away from you?

DD: No...well...maybe...sometimes...yeah.

Most of us have that dream(s) where we wake up and wonder, “What does that mean?”  And then, how do we find our way to understanding it? What does it means to work with our dreams? What happens in an archetypal dream session? What can I expect? What does archetypal even mean?  Do I have to know about Freud and Jung and dream theory and symbolism?  I had these and other questions before beginning with my dream analyst, Rodger Kamenetz. 

I’m more like Denzel Washington’s character in, “Philadelphia,”…”explain it to me like I’m a four year old.” And what’s wonderful is that this four year old is the heart of working with our dreams, our soul self, who it is we’re trying to re-connect with, who most often shows up in our dreams as a small boy and girl, showing us the way...well, home.  That’s why I opened with a part of a conversation with a child’s dream...how personal and often times simple the message of our dreams can be.  This is what I have learned in my own work with Rodger and work with my clients...a simple language...an accessibility not dependent on anything but a desire to listen to what our dreams are saying to us.

My dreams inform me in two ways, about my outer life, ways I am in the world, ways I have learned to cope, that keep me from my soul, my inner connection.  The dream’s deeper intention though is to reflect my inner life, asking me listen to what is going on inside and to find ways in which I can open up and feel where I’m connected...or not... to my true essence, my soul.  Then I have the opportunity to feel that love, and from this place, be in relationship to the outer world. Often times characters and events in dreams  aren’t literal; they are used as examples, like actors in a play, to help me feel into those ways I am in the world and how that may affect my relationship with myself, others and with the divine.  In a dream session the analyst has more questions than answers, because each dream and dreamer is unique with their own individual journey.  So seeing a hawk fly overhead in my dream may mean something completely different for someone else.  Working with my dreams helps me understand the different dynamics in my life that are affecting both my outer and inner life.  This is the mystery and the miracle of dream work, that dream by dream I am encouraged to come home to my self, home to my soul.  

Mary Jo Heyen
Archetypal Dreamwork Practitioner
mjheyen@gmail.com
Dream sessions in person, via Skype or on the phone
website: http://maryjoheyen.com/