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These dreams bring into intriguing focus
an important
question about dream interpretation. When is
a dream
"about" the dreamer, and when
may it be "about" the
external situation, in this
case, the dream project?
Perhaps this process of pooling dreams about
a shared
venture will provide an enlightening arena
not only for
learning something about the manner of symbolization
in dreams, but also for reflecting on the venture itself.
Some of the dreams, in fact, have provided
remarkable
insights into the hidden meaning of my earlier dream of
the "research dance." Some
of them have seemed to
excavate the universal, archetypal root images contained
in this dream. Others brought
forward the ancient
symbolism into a contemporary perspective, suggesting
new theoretical dimensions to
an experiment in
communal dreaming. Elsewhere in this
journal, in my
essay on the "Sundance Experiment,"
I discuss this
ancient mythological
motif and its
possible
contemporary renewal as suggested by modern
dreams.
But appreciate here, if you will, the fact that
none of us
in the project "knew" of
the existence of this mythical
theme when we started. It was not until
a year after the
project's completion, when I began library
research on
the SunDance motif, that I recognized
the universal
images in many of the project dreams. All
along, with-
out our knowing it, our dreams were providing
clues to
the mythic dimension of our research venture.
Summing up, I think
that it would be fair to evaluate
our cooperative and mutually self-disclosing
research
venture as being fruitful.
The research ideal
was
fulfilled, as participants were able to benefit themselves
while at the same time generating
useful information.
One of the most important findings of
the project was
that it does indeed pay off
to engage dreams in active
dialogue. The response of the dreams
to our common
venture inward not only
encouraged the individual
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