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their internal and external environments. As
such, their dream philosophy is a startlingly lucid metaphor for
our more "sophisticated" personality theories. They believe
that if a person does not conquer a hostile spirit which appears
in the dream and make this spirit an ally, it will forever hold
power over the dreamer and eventually join forces with another evil
spirit. If these two are then avoided, they will join with still
others and soon the dreamer will be plagued by an entire army.
We might extend this allegory to gain a perspective of the process we call "psychosis." If an individual continually avoids confronting these hostile spirits, the army may build to such a strength that it can force its way through the boundary between the dream universe and the waking life and burst forth as frightening hallucinations in the waking life. (It is worth noting that most anti-psychotic medications suppress REM activity and this may be the process whereby they decrease the hallucinatory activity.) On the other hand, once a person makes a spirit an ally that person has a friend for life who will aid in conquering other spirits and who will provide the dreamer with gifts from the dream universe which can be shared with the entire tribe in the waking life. Notice I do not refer to the waking life as "real" life in contrast to the dream universe, for the Senoi hold the two forms of experience in equal esteem. It is the integration of these two modes of consciousness that is for them the truly real human life. The dream universe, although qualitatively different from the waking life, is equally valid and equally real to the Senoi. The person who focuses on the waking life to the exclusion of dream experience, or who focuses on dreams to the exclusion of waking life events, lives only half a life at best. Elements of Senoi DreamworkSince my first exposure to Senoi dreamwork in Dr. Greenleaf's class, I have developed certain techniques based on the Senoi philosophy, including what I believe to be the essential goals and points of emphasis for a dreamwork leader in working with members of our Western culture. The leader begins the process by telling the dreamer, "Close your eyes and let me know when you are in the dream." When the dreamer acknowledges being in the (unfinished) dream, the leader asks, "What is happening now?" The encounter with the dream universe then typically proceeds through six stages: Key, Embellishment, Main Figure, Gift, Artifact ("trophy, souvenir"), and Quest. Key. Many of us initially report difficulty in remembering dreams. It seems that quite frequently we have the habit of discounting waking life memories of dream experiences. I 51
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