Dream Sharing, Part 3

DREAM SHARING AND SHARED METAPHORS

IN A SHORT TERM COMMUNITY

Alexander Randall V

Part 3

THE DATA

While the full record of the month fills hundreds of pages and the dreams fill a card file box, I have endeavored to reduce this material to a readable size. What follows is a record of the month, both in the waking realm and the dream realm. The material herein is not a complete record, but draws on the high points of the day, and the most intriguing points from the night. For the most part, the statements are condensations of my own notes, or phrases lifted directly from conversation. It would be possible to demonstrate from tape transcriptions that these events are described faithfully. The listings of dreams are not complete, but are selected to show the unusual dream anomalies. In most cases the material reported and attributed to a dreamer is the central theme of a dream, or at least a prominent image from a dream. A considerable amount of the dream material is not reported here because some editing was necessary in the interest of a reasonable sized paper.

The material is presented with the daytime event record in the left side of the page and the dream record in the right column. The purpose of this is to permit the reader to examine just the dreams, or just the daytime material, or the juxtaposition of a given day to the following night’s dreams. The date on the dreams are for the date of the morning the dream was recorded. I included in the dream column a note on the total number of dreams from that night. I also recorded the number of times per night that group members were referred to by name in the dreams; the number of references to food per se; the number of references to overt violence; and the number of references to sex, nudity, masturbation, and other sexual matters. While my content analysis examined other areas, these five yielded the most interesting patterns.

1st Day — Arrival of most members

— After dinner, group makes rhythm music

— Discussion of Cayce diet, house, rules

— First schedule is established

— Pair off for Icebreaker and introductions

— Alice leaves and cries after being rebuffed over getting help finding a typewriter.

1st Night - Total dreams: 12

References to group members: 4

Food: 2

Violence: 2

Sex; 1

2nd Day — First morning dream groups, yoga, art

— Session: Burt talks about shamanism

— Leaderless discussion on many topics

— Week work schedule posted

— Session: Body games, dervish turning, and pantomime

2nd Night - Total dreams: 26

— Members: 8

— Food: 3

— Violence: 2

— Sex: 1

— Burt dreams of a group in the sighting circle of a gun. The gun is pointed in the wrong direction, but the group is under control and subjugated.

— Alice dreams of Burt and Jerry dreams of Alice. All were previously strangers.

3rd Day - First joke about my note making

— Yoga group down to 7, forms circle and sways

— More willingness to share dreams in group

— Session: group hypnosis test

- I note that the group accepts my activity

— Group shovels gravel in yard

- Volley ball game (first and only)

- Session: Burt does hypnotic induction to meet image of one’s Highest Self.

3rd Night - Total dreams: 17

— Members: 6

— Food: 1

- Violence: 2

— Sex: 2

— Jerry and Frank dream of Atlantic University by name

— Burt dreams of me going to great depths (in water) and building a ladder while the group worried if I would make it.

— there were no references to “highest self”

4th Day - First recording of dreams at

breakfast

— exercise abandoned for massage

— Session: discussion of why we came to Atlantic University

- Much drawing and art during group

— More group rhythm music

— Group listens to radio drama

— Session: group massage/guessing game

4th Night - Total dreams: 20

— Members: 9

— Food: 2

— Violence: 3

— Sex; 1

— All three violent images involve gunfire

— Burt dreams of two groups on opposite sides of a hill and Liz acting as a go-between

5th Day - Three for yoga

- Guided fantasy during meditation

— Breakfast discussion of fantasy and dreams

— Session: Herman relates life history in dreams

- Group draws while listening to music

— Session: rhythm music

- Alice explains her withdrawal during first week

- Group draws while listening to

music

5th Night - Total dreams: 17

— Members: 7

— Food: 2

— Violence: 3

— Sex: 1

— Alice dreams of two dead people

— Burt dreams of Herman’s art works

— Liz dreams about an Atlantic University session

— I dream about yesterday’s meditation format

6th Day - Morning activity as usual

— Alice leaves meditation after comment on Christ

— I have realization of importance of dreams to group. I hypothesize that dreams are inherently true statements about the state of our personal psyche and the state of group cohesion

— First weekend — no sessions

- Meditation as usual

— Several go swimming

— I go to Pentecostal revival meeting

— Herman sets up dream tent for vision quest

6th Night - Total dreams: 17

— Members: 3

— Food: 1

— Violence: none

— Sex: 2

— While there was no overt violence, there were 3

dreams in which there were

implements of violence or

threats.

— Burt had a dream about volleyball

- During the night some outsiders were playing and drinking on our volleyball court

7th Day (Sunday) - No formal activity

— A sheet is stretched over a wood frame and we turn it into a dream blanket. We all draw our own symbols on it (from 4 p.m. to bedtime). While three of us——Alice, Herman and I——all had ideas for the center position, Alice put a large black mark there. Much discussion about ego

— Session: Drawing on blanket

— Discussion that blanket is outpouring of collective unconscious

7th Night - Total dreams: 14

— Members: 2

- Food: 2

— Violence: 3

— Sex: none

— Herman dreams of group in “Sundance” formation; he also has image of medicine bags

— Alice dreams of a colored blanket

8th Day - Six for exercise

— We do a journal exercise to work with dreams

— New work details assigned

— New dream groups begin

— No morning dream drawings

- I write my first personality descriptions

— No drawing during session

— Session: Burt talks about Cuna Shamanism

- Idea of finding dream stone

— All walk in search of personal dream stone

— Idea of taking stones to the vision quest dream tent

— Herman offers polished rock to us at dinner

- Session: beginning of making medicine bags

— Discussion of ideals

— Herman does group reverie induction to get images for medicine bags

— Evening meditation is a foot massage and foot washing led by Alice

8th Night - Total dreams: 20

— Members: 5

— Food: 2

— Violence: none

— Sex: 1

— Alice dreams of someone doing her laundry and of her doing laundry for an unknown young couple

— Frank and I dream about Atlantic University

— Frank dreams of Dream Gestalting

— Jerry dreams of a colored blanket

- Kirk dreams of trips to the moon

9th Day — No drawing or morning dream art

— Session: work on medicine bags

— Session: we all chant and march to the top of the mountain where the dream tent is located. We are met there by Herman and Burt in costume and we engage in a ritual to plant our singing stones in the dream tent. Each of us finds and sings the sound of our stone. Finally we all walk down to the house in silence. We all seek dreams about the singing stones.

— Evening work on medicine bags.

9th Night - Total dreams: 22

— Members: 8

— Food: 2

— Violence: 3

— Sex: 2

- Ginny and I dream about the dream tent

— Herman dreams of his costume character

- Burt dreams that Frank wants Herman not to hurt the group.

10th Day - First dream drawing since

dream blanket

— Lots of dream sharing at breakfast

— Burt and I discuss upcoming marathon encounter group and possible problems with Alice, who is frequently separate from the group

— 5 go to evening movie

— I gave the group a tape recorded radio drama for evening listening

10th Night - Total dreams: 15

— Members: 5

— Food: 2

— Violence: 1

- Sex: 1

— Burt dreams of a church with person named Don as Minister

11th Day - No morning activity

— group jokes about my recording

— discussion of changing morning wake-up bell; first group self-

redesigning

- group decides that breakfast should include “Morning News” where dreams are shared, but not evaluated

— house water turned off

— Session: Herman leads us in dream journal work

— Session: Psycho—dream—drama ends with group performing

surgery on me

11th Night - Total dreams: 20

— Members: 9

— Food: 2

— Violence: 2

— Sex: 1

— Frank dreams of drawing his dreams

— Cindy dreams of a classroom that teaches intensive study in balanced living

— I dream of surfing and using my notebook as a surfboard

— Don and Alice dream of buying a house

12th Day - Only two for exercise

— New day scheduled in effect to allow more time to sleep and dream

- first talk of making drums for a ceremony

- Group pillow fight

— Session: Burt talks about Cuna shamanism with tape

— We take medicine bags to mountain top to collect singing stones

— Session: massage and aura massage

12th Night - Total dreams: 20

— Members: 9

— Food: 2

— Violence: 2

- Sex: 4

— 3 references to color in dreams

— I have a dream of a church with the women from the

group there

— Frank dreams of his own dream group

— Alice dreams of Herman as a new leader

— Liz dreams of chamois used in medicine bags

13th Day - Only Don for exercise

— Responsibility for dogs shifts to me (two strays)

— Several trips to town

- 11 of 15 go to town for dinner pizza

- no planned activity

13th Night - Total dreams: 37

— Members: 6

— Food: none

— Violence: 2

— Sex: 3

— The group content level of violence is lower (fists vs. guns)

— 3 dreams refer to the Association for Research and Enlightenment

— 8 refer to groups, class, meetings, parties

— Alice dreams of a water shutoff and of buckets over doors

- I dream of the dogs, and one takes me to the dream tent; I dream of all Association for Research and Enlightenment women

14th Day (Sunday) - No organized morning

activity

— Conversation regarding upcoming marathon encounter

— Food preparation for marathon

— Rainbow appears amid excitement

— I discuss dream tent vision quest with Herman

— Outside female comes to lead a revery with music

- Body work to get tension out

— Group splits for special musical experience. Half of the group [Burt, Liz, Nina, Kirk, Ellen and I] lie and listen; the other half [Jerry, Mary, Ginny, Don, Frank, Cindy] facilitate visual experience in the listeners

— New work details and dream groups

14th Night - Total dreams: 16

— Members: 3

- Food; 4

— Violence: 0

— Sex: 2

- Frank dreams of Atlantic University and groups

— Burt dreams of a group in therapy

— I dream of Herman’s costume self

— 2 dreams refer to red; one to green

- Burt dreams of selling stones!

— I dream of surgery (reference to 11th day)

15th Day - Don conducts the meditation--

like a church service

— Group anticipates arrival of David who will conduct the marathon encounter. He is an Atlantic University staff person trained in small group interaction

- After evening meditation, the group remains in the room and begins the marathon

- The marathon begins with drawing of a mask that we can use to withdraw from the group.

Rules: If you want to retreat put on your mask--it’s OK to do this; Before you put on mask be aware of body tightness or clutching feeling

Reasons: David says that dreams take us only so far and we meet our own blocks. It also allows us to know why others appear in our dreams and who they are

— Everyone names mask and describes the mask personality

— First question about tape recording and the presence of the anthropologist/scribe

- Group decides tape is OK

- Alice puts on mask in first 15 minutes

- Discussion from 9 p.m. to midnight. Break then from 12:30 to 6 a.m.

— Marathon discussion of Alice, Herman, Frank, Ellen, Burt, Cindy, and me.

Much crying and self-discovery by all.

15th Night: Total dreams: 9

— Members: 5

- Food: 1

— Violence: 0

-Sex: 1

- Liz dreams of a hit man and fear

- Frank dreams of himself and me going to party

— David dreams of washing Jean’s hair

16th Day - Group assembles at 12:30 for continuation of the marathon

- Session begins with a drawing of yourself in relation to the group last night and another drawing of this morning

— Discussion around the room with each picture used as focus for

emotional state

- Jerry and Cindy discuss his affection for her. 3 hours

— Discussion about Alice, Herman, Kirk and myself--1 hour

— Short break, then discussion of Burt, Mary, Don, Liz, Frank, Nina

— Group ends after 18 hours of encounter

- I hypothesize that group interaction depends on sharing enough to have something to talk about, and different enough from each other to have something to say about it

16th Night - Total dreams: 11

— Members: 11

— Food: 2

- Violence: 1

— Sex: none

— Don dreams of a discussion with Alice where he stops

listening because he does

not agree

- Cindy dreams of a large family and of someone named

Jerry (not “our” Jerry)

- Alice dreams of being part of a group, of teaching the group about her dreams and of a dead old woman and a wedding

— Burt dreams of a group marriage

— Liz dreams of eating a rainbow with Herman, and a truck driving through her living room

— Alex dreams of the group and that we are a chorus for a show

17th Day - David leaves amid great excitement and joy

- Group of Cindy, Nina, Mary, Ellen, and Frank tell funny embarrassing

stories about childhoods

- Burt asks me how I will do this paper

— Afternoon meetings of dream groups

— Spontaneous gathering on front stoop and we sing old songs-1 hour

— Smaller group continues to sing while others listen and play games

— All go to town for ice cream

— Small group does “waterfall” massage in Kirk’s van after ice cream

— I note that this is the closest the group has ever been and there were no

harsh words or bad feelings exchanged

— Burt and Alice report some negative feelings but that they didn’t want to

spoil group feeling

17th Night - Total dreams: 19

— Members: 9

— Food: 2

- Violence:

- Sex: 3

— Herman dreams of water color

- 11 images of groups, families——most images of

groups in any night

18th Day — No exercise or other morning activity

— Discussion of upcoming ceremony to finish medicine bag contents

— Several people begin watercoloring in free time

— Frank, Liz, Herman and I all go to town to buy art supplies

— Session: some unfinished encounter and opening of old wounds

— I become aware that the marathon shifted the shape of group boundaries and personal interactions were effected

— Session: hair ritual. The dream blanket is spread on the floor and each of us gets his medicine bag. One at a time, each group member takes a turn sitting on the blanket with the medicine bag opened in front of him. The rest of the group members file up to the center person, give the center person a small note and pull one hair from the head of the center person. Notes each contain short statements of qualities which we would want from the center person. The object is to exchange our perceptions of each other’s good qualities for a token bit of pain and sacrifice. In the end each of us had a set of hairs from each of the others, and we had a pile of little notes that listed our strongest qualities. All done in virtual silence and with solemn reverence.

- First appearance of blackboard graffiti:

“Group Name Contest”

18th Day - Total dreams; 15

- Members: 9

- Food: 0

— Violence: 1

— Sex: 4

— Don dreams -twice of a primitive tribe with a pain ceremony

— Alice dreams of children’s art work like blanket

- Alice and Burt both dream of dead people and museums

— I dream of universal unity

— Two people dream about me

- Ginny dreams of “All in the Family”

— Herman dreams of two ants in his hair

19th Day - Dervish turning instead of

meditation

— I discuss vision quest with Herman based on my earlier dream of going

to the tent

— Alice says she felt like a member for the first time last night

- Alice, Burt, Ellen, Cindy, Jerry, Frank and I go swimming

- Epidemic of watercoloring begins-Frank, Herman, Nina and I

— Session: Burt talks of dream telepathy and suggests we try it. Burt

suggests we draw lots to select two members who will be the targets of the dream telepathy. Our object is to divide into two groups each with one target person. We are to attune to the target through a spontaneous ritual and give up our own dreams so that we can dream for the target person. We are told we might have unusual dreams. Herman, Alice, Kirk, Ellen, Cindy, and I are all interested in being the target person. By choosing playing cards, Herman and Alice become the target individuals and leave temporarily so the rest can draw lots to determine the target to which they are to attune. By drawing playing cards, Jerry, Liz, Burt Kirk, Frank and I are Alice’s dreamers, while Cindy, Nina, Ginny, Mary, Ellen and Don are dreamers. Burt expresses disappointment that he is not in Herman’s group, but states that the process was fair and the “fates” clearly had spoken.

- We split up and develop our rituals. Alice gives personal trinkets to each of us who are in her group. She directs a ritual—— candle in center of our circle, Alice talks and then discussion, then we all meditate while holding hands.

— Cindy reports to me on Herman’s group. They sat on Herman’s red blanket. Herman distributed personal objects, then they meditated together with hands held until Nina said a prayer. Herman sat face to face with each person in turn and they held hands up--palms almost touching. Herman gave his medicine bag to Ellen and his singing stone to Cindy.

19th Night - Total Dreams: 55

— Members: 48

- Food: 10

— Violence: 2

— Sex: 5

Group — 5 members dream of seafood

— Frank dreams of a long uncomfortable room where a group meets, but the uncomfortable room is not conducive to group unity

- Frank dreams of Atlantic University and “of the clarity of the ESP demonstrations,” of psychic matters and a lot of energy around his head

— Alice dreams of a friend who hires people to do her work for her and of an eggplant meal

- Burt dreams: “While participating in a telepathy experiment. . . make a picture. . . disappointed that it isn’t for Herman. . . there is a mixup in

the target person. . . now for Alice

- Burt dreams of a group that was to act out a pantomime. Several of us were drawing and painting

— Burt dreams of an office and is surprised that the staff will work so late

- Kirk dreams of a group of people chanting to prepare for sexual intercourse

— Kirk dreams of a group gathered for Research and Enlightenment. This group begins to dance.

Herman’s Group —

— Jean dreams of Herman’s personal symbol

— Jean dreams “we are all sleeping in this one room

we know something

will happen

— Herman dreams of Burt’s personal symbol

— Mary dreams that we wash each other’s feet

— 3 dream of Herman and Liz

- Ellen dreams of Atlantic University, medicine bag’s, and having to live another person’s fantasy

- Ellen dreams of lying in bed with Burt and Herman

20th Day — Several report dreams at breakfast

- Both target groups meet

— Burt fears session because the people who least like Alice are

in her group

— Alice says its like Christmas morning

— I note remarkable number of images of group members, but

there is no discussion of this.

— Group discusses fish as “See Food”

and “appearance of the spirit in

our dreams”

— Group discussion lasts four hours with Alice saying little about her

reaction to “her” dreams

- Work details

— 10 members go to Fiddlers Convention in town

20th Night - Total dreams: 10

— Members: 2

— Food: 2

— Violence: 0

- Sex: 2

— Alice dreams of name of Atlantic University farm, of sex, her relation to Burt, two fighting cats

— Don dreams of ice cream

21st Day (Sunday) - No planned morning

activity

— I leave for vision quest in dream tent

— No record of group evening except their -account of a directed fantasy to depths of unconscious to seek a group symbol

21st Night — Total dreams: 23

— Members: 8

— Food: 5

— Violence: 1

- Sex: 2

— Unusual amount of color in dreams

— Five. members of the group report waking at

4 a.m. with unusual dreams

- Don dreams of Atlantic University, of shooting a wolf who is Herman

— Herman dreams of a dead man

— Alice dreams of two women cleaning her house

- Frank dreams of Atlantic University and art supplies

— Liz dreams of a new source of energy and of the Association for Research and Enlightenment

— Frank dreams of being on a path with me that leads back to its own beginning

- My vision quest yields dreams of

· an island with an interstate highway being built

· a three circle symbol which is changed to

· a meeting with Dr. Mead where I attempt to purchase some crystals

· 7 men who offer me money who trick me and we are all destroyed

- Cindy dreams of circles like my own

22nd Day - Nina decides not to go to the

dream tent based on her dream

— I ask group to make copies of dream journals for my research

— Frank and I discover parallelism in our dreams

- Alice and I note parallel dreaming also

— Alice hurt in dream group because we did not get to talk about her

dreams——she withdraws

— Session: Alice describes her dream work tools

- Cindy creates group mailing list

— Jerry talks about a game he has invented

— Spontaneous group game of dream pantomime, then tag which becomes

a water fight

— Medicine bag is used as an amulet in water fight

— Frank shows slides of works of art and flowers in the evening

— Friend of Jerry’s arrives late

22nd Night - Total dreams: 9

— Members: 3

— Food: 1

— Violence: 0

- Sex: 0

— Don dreams of swimming

— Jerry dreams “everyone is here”

— Kirk dreams of Association for Research and Enlightenment headquarters

- I dream of a boat going to the island

— Alice dreams of being rejected and cheated

23rd Day — Jerry’s friend joins us for breakfast

— Normal dream groups, seven go to town

— Session: Burt lays out plans for the final ceremony

— Group breaks up and each goes to gather material for ceremony:

firewood, rocks, a sundance post, a giant drum. These are fashioned to allow us to form a circle around the drum with a post through its center. Like a maypole, it has strings descending from the top of the post. The giant drum is made from a used tractor tire which is ceremonially painted and rests on cinder blocks. There are four fires prepared from local wood, which mark the cardinal compass points. Some members describe it in sacramental terms while others talk only about the objects in and of themselves.

— After dinner, each person paints his face according to his own design

— Members share wine according to a ceremonial format as described by

Burt

— Post and tire are consecrated and placed within the fire circle. They now become Sundance Pole and Sacred Drum.

- Cindy, Ginny, Mary, Nina, and Alice leave ceremony before it is over,

object to Burt’s “script.”

— Ceremony slowly breaks up and ends with small group sitting around the

fire

- Several stay up late and talk in groups

23rd Night - Total dreams: 11

— Members: 11

— Food: 1

— Violence: 0

— Sex: 1

— Don dreams of “a shaft, like a maypole, of Atlantic University teaching a class, and Burt asking group to experience the hidden nature of something

— Frank dreams of Alex instructing a class in a castle

— Jerry dreams of his game and a party

- Cindy dreams of a group (like a family) on a tour at the same time a symphony is being performed

— Kirk dreams of experimentation

24th Day - Group rises at different hours

— Herman chooses not to lead meditation

- No planned breakfast

- Kirk, Cindy, Ginny, Mary, Nina and I all go to town. Much discussion on Burt being forceful and overdoing ceremony

- Group makes food for picnic (6 hours)

— All go on picnic on local mountain in state park. Much friendly talk. Burt walks alone. Group plays word and story games.

— Herman, Kirk, Liz, Don, Frank, Alice, Nina and I all do watercolors

— Herman, Burt, and I all talk outside the farmhouse and see a bolt of lightening at the location of the dream tent where Jerry is spending the night.

24th Night — Total dreams: 11

— Members: 6

- Food: 0

— Violence: 1

— Sex: 1

— Herman dreams of Alice standing on a cliff, jumping off and flying

— Jerry dreams of Herman on a diving platform ladder above a pool of water, they read “Mystics’ Life Prayer”; Jerry had the group send Herman some energy

- Don dreams of Kirk boxing around a maypole and of a fire truck with a ladder

- Cindy dreams of a picnic

- I dream of being a technical writer, who translates conversation into books and papers

25th Day — No one doing morning exercise

- Only six for meditation

- At breakfast, Burt explains that the drum ceremony was for him and

not for the group

- Alice gives bookmarks to her telepathy dreamers

— One more begins to watercolor—— Mary

— Herman and I discuss my island dreams and one of’ Don’s dreams and note the common theme related to the Sundance

— Afternoon Burt leaves and group gives him the Dream Blanket in a small ceremony using chants from the Sundance ceremony

— Frank, Herman, Liz, Jerry and I create a ritual baptism for me to

give closure to my research

- Pillow fight after meditation

— Session: Herman gives instructions on “detoxification.”

— All lie on floor and in circle and imagine each group member and call out what that person would represent if he or she appeared in our dreams. Final affirmation of our relationship with each other.

25th Night - Total dreams: 2

(Not all reporting)

— Members: 4

— Food: 1

— Violence: 0

— Ginny dreams of whole group in a restaurant celebration eating pizza. She also

dreams of writing an apology to Burt

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