Will You Dream For Me?*

A Qualitative Study of the Dream Helper Ceremony

(part 6)

Appendix B:  Interview Responses Continued

Interview with (male) Helper Fifteen (H15)

I: In your opinion, do you think the seeker was helped by the process?

H15:  I  don't know.  He didn't seem ecstatic.  On the other hand, he looks at his dreams.  I think he felt that he got information.

I: Did the seeker's issue relate to things you may have worked through in your life?

H15: Well, sure.  But of course I'm a little older than he is…I was faced with changing jobs when I was the age that he is now.

I:  Do you think you made a connection with the person you were helping?

H15:  I don't know that the dream did.  I consider our relationship pretty strong already. 

I:  Would you do the Dream Helper Ceremony again?

H15:  Yes I would.  I 'm relatively undisciplined in some ways.  I'd like to get a hold of that aspect so that I could record more of my dreams.  At one time, I was doing a lot better than I am now.  I guess my attitude is that things are going to happen.  In some ways I'd like to know ahead, but in other ways, what difference does it make?  I mean we're going to go through them anyhow.

I:  OK, why would you do it again?

H15:  As part of a group, I'd like to cooperate with the group effort. 

I:  How do you think that whole process works?

H15:  I think that if the group is sufficiently dedicated to helping each other it works.

I:  What did you learn about dreams as a result of participating?

H15:   I don't think that I learned anything new, but it reinforced the fact that we are all connected on other levels.  I'm a little slow at some things, it's such a great group of people, but it takes me a little while to get tuned in and it may take me longer than a week.

I:  What kind of questions do you think I should be asking people to learn more about this experience we had?

H15:  You're doing great.  It would be from working with individuals and finding out what the individuals need.

Interview with (male) Helper Sixteen (H16)

I: In your opinion, do you think the seeker was helped by your dream?

H16:  That's hard to say, but from my point of view, I think some of the dreams were very relevant to the situation and offered some guidance and some help.

I: Did the seeker's issue relate to things you may have worked through in your life?  Did you have a personal experience there?

H16:  No, not at all.  Some aspects of what they were going through are in my life, but not in the same way.

I:  Do you now feel like you have a connection with the person you were helping?

H16:  Definitely, there's an empathy there.  I would be willing to take my interest and caring further if they choose to do that.

I:  Would you do it again?

H16:  Definitely! 

I:  OK, why would you do it again?

H16:  Because I think it's helpful.  I've had some experience on the opposite end being the target person.  Even if the dreams don't appear relevant, or if sometimes it's a stretch to make them relevant, just the fact that someone else is interested and willing to take the time and energy to invest in the other person's problem…is helpful.

I:  How do you think this dream thing works, what we did?

H16:  I would guess that we're all connected at a soul level.  We have the ability or opportunity if you're in agreement with someone, to kind of enter their space somehow.

I:  What do you think we learned about dreams from that experience?

H16:  I think they're a real opportunity for change.  If you're willing to take the time and the energy to work with them…I think it takes a real commitment on a long-term basis for someone that's willing to do that, there's a pay off.  Not always in such big ways, but in smaller ways, definitely.

I:  What kind of questions do you think I should be asking people to learn more?

H16:  I don't really know, but what comes to mind is the emotional connection that the dreamer has to the target person.  I definitely think it's helpful.

Interview with (female) Seeker One (S. One)

I:  In general, how did you feel about the whole process?

S. ONE:  It was really intense for me.  In fact, I was physically ill the next day because it was so intense.

I:  After that, as far as your attitude, how did you feel?

S. ONE:  It was very healing.  It was really good.

I: In your opinion, do you think you were helped by the process?

S. ONE:   Yes.  What helped me the most was sharing what was going on, and everybody's care and being there [for me].  Just all their concern and their love was very healing for me.

I:  Can you share more about how it was helpful?

S. ONE:  It was helpful because when they were sharing their ideas, I was picking up little pieces here and there from all their dreams.  What moved me the most was that everybody was together to support me on my healing.

I:  Do you feel like you connected with the people as a result of the process?

S. ONE:  Yes.  I felt connected with them all week long.  We had a bond.

I:  Would you do it again?

S. ONE:  Yes, because of the healing.  I love creativity.  It was just such an unpredictable creative experience.  It was full of surprises.

I:  How do you think that whole process works?

S. ONE:  I think that people care…basically people caring and wanting to help, and me being able to read into what they were providing.  I don't know if you're going to ask that question, but their dreams were totally off target with me.  But I could read into what they provided and picked up a lot of stuff.

I:  What did you learn about dreams from that experience?

S. ONE:  I was hoping that they would be on target, …it was more about them than it was about me, and yet I could make it about me and do our process work.

I:  What kind of questions do you think I should be asking people to learn more about what we did?

S. ONE: I think the questions are good.  Just getting people to talk about their stories, just what their experience was.  Just a very broad, general question, "What did you experience."

Interview with (female) Seeker Two (S. Two)

I:  In general, how did you feel about the whole process?

S. TWO:  My feeling?  I thought it was a good feeling, Very good.

I: Do you feel you were helped by the process?

S. TWO:  Yes, I feel that everybody was helped.

I:  Can you share more about how it was helpful?

S. TWO:  It was nice to see that everybody was helped by the dreams, and I enjoyed feeling that I was helping people as well.

I:  Do you feel like you connected with the folks that were dreaming for you?

S. TWO:  Yes, definitely.

I:  Would you do it again?

S. TWO: Yes, I have done it again.  I like to help people.

I:  How do you think that whole process works?

S. TWO:  I have no clue!

I:  What did you learned about dreams from that experience?

S. TWO:  I can't say that I learned anything about dreams.

I:  What kind of questions do you think I should be asking people to learn more about what we did?

S. TWO: I have no idea, since I don't know what your focus is.  It has to come from you.

Interview with (male) Seeker Three (S. Three)

I:  In general, how did you feel about the whole process?

S. THREE:  It was a good process, teamwork.  It was an insightful process, in that we see patterns in several dreams, a predominate one.  The number three was especially prominent, because one person who just remembered a snippet said, "theme of three."  Several other dreams also had a theme of three in them.

I: Do you feel like you were helped as a result of being dreamed for?

S. THREE:   Mainly food for thought.  It seemed like there was fragmentation among the dreams, even though there were patterns.  There weren't any really strong conclusions we could draw from them, but [they] still provided food for thought.

I:  Can you share more about how it was helpful?

S. THREE:  I was helped with some ideas, particularly with expressing my creativity and inventiveness, that came up in some of the dreams.  That plus the support of the group and working together toward a common purpose.

I:  Do you feel like you connected with the people as a result of the process?

S. THREE:  Definitely, yes.

I:  Would you do it again?

S. THREE:  Yes.  This is the second time I've actually done it.  I was chosen also in 1998 when I had a health problem.  I had injured a rib earlier that season and pulled a tendon in my rib cage.  I was seeking help on that.  As I remember, I did get some assistance with that.

I:  How do you think that whole process works?

S. THREE:  Mainly through intention of connection, where people want to help the focus person through us telepathically tuning in to each other through intuition.  Also, the processing helps because it helps to bring out the patterns and see commonalities.  When dreams are all together for a certain purpose, sometimes it's easier to interpret the meaning of all the dreams together than sometimes when you work with a single person's dream.  When you have a lot of dreams together, it's sometimes easier to interpret because you get to see which symbols are significant and which are insignificant.

I:  What did you learned about dreams from that experience?

S. THREE:  I learned that dreams are the mind speaking to you and that together our dreams paint a more holistic picture.  We're all expressing from our individuality and the more expressions we have, the better it is.

I:  What kind of questions do you think I should be asking people to learn more about what we did?

S. THREE:  (no record of answer because the tape ended)

Interview with (male) Seeker Four (S. Four)

I:  In general, how did you feel about the Ceremony and the outcome?

S. FOUR:  I was very intrigued by it because as each was telling the dreams I could see aspects of my life and what was going on.  The hits were numerous.  After we had gone through the process, the members of the group felt that the hits were numerous.

I: In your opinion, do you think you were actually helped by the Ceremony?

S. FOUR:   Yes.

I:  Can you tell me how?

S. FOUR:  There's a certain amount of stress that made me put my hand up to begin with.  In the whole process, it helped me to relieve some of that stress by facing it in the open, rather than facing it alone.

I:  Do you feel like you connected with the people as a result of the process?

S. FOUR:  Oh, very much so.  I made a connection the moment he took me out and showed me who was in my group.  I knew that it was a good group.  I was happy with the people that I saw.  From the get-go, I knew it was going to be good.

I:  Would you do it again?

S. FOUR:  I would, but first I would want a member of my group to have a turn before I had another turn. 

I:  You're saying that you would do it again as someone seeking help, but you would also like to do it again just to help others?

S. FOUR:  Right.

I:  Why is that?

S. FOUR:  Because I deal with dreams all the time.  I've had dreams that are very prophetic and I've had dreams that have helped me to come to terms with issues in my life.  In the process, I've been helping other people with their lives.

I:  What happened today with the sharing, how do you think that works?

S. FOUR:  That goes to a personal philosophy of life.  I believe that, "I am."  And I'm also "a part of."  I can look at each one there as a separate individual, or I can look there as an overall desire among the people that can reach out and touch and communicate.  It's a love bond that normally happens among families or among people that want to help another person.  There is something there that needs to be looked at.

          I can't speak on a scientific level of how, but I do know that thoughts are things.  Thoughts affect.  It was just an interconnection between people.  Love and free will can intensify that connection and desire to be a part of something.

I:  What do you think we learned today?

S. FOUR:  It can be a healing process, it may be prophetic, but it definitely needs to be looked at.

I:  What kind of questions do you think I should be asking to learn more about what we did?

S. FOUR:  I could not add to that.  The only other thing I would like to say about what did happen today is about the terrible amount of apprehension going into this.  When I found out that it wasn't going to be done in mass, but that we were going to break up into our separate groups and go our separate way with our team, it made it much easier.

I:  So you felt much more comfortable in a smaller group?

S. FOUR:  By a 100 percent!

To see the answers to these questions organized by question rather than by participant, click here!