Send all subscription and unsubscribe requests to

Richard at rcwilk@aol.com

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z

Electric Dreams

Volume 3 Issue #6

26 July 1996

ISSN# 1089 4284

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z

Electric Dreams - on the World Wide Web

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~mettw/edreams/home.html

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z

-- Send Dreams and Comments on Dreams to:

Bob Krumhansl <bobk829887@aol.com>

-- Send Dream Questions and Concerns to

Victoria Quinton <mermaid@daemon.apana.org.au>

--Send Dreaming News and Calendar Events to:

Peggy Coats <pcoats@cruzio.com>

-- Send Requests for Dream Groups to:

Chris Hicks <shadow45@netonecom.net>

--Send Articles and Subscription concerns to:

Richard Wilkerson: <rcwilk@aol.com>

--For back issues, editors addresses

and other access see

ELECTRIC DREAMS ACCESS INFORMATION AT End of file

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z

Download a GREAT COVER for Electric Dreams 3(6)! Jesse Reklaw

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~mettw/edreams/home.html

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z

CONTENTS:

EDITORS' NOTES

Welcome to ED 3-6 Richard Wilkerson

Electric Dreams Education Program - Chris Hicks

Electric Dreams Education Quesionnaire

See Dream Section for Bob's Notes

Poem: DREAMER DERRING-DO - By Taylor Esta Kingsley

QUESTIONS AIRING COLUMN - Victoria Quinton

Special Topic - Kids on Electric Dreams? A collection of

opinions, dreams, interviews and resources.

DREAM GROUP UPDATE - Christopher Hicks

Interview: with Roberta Ossana by Victoria Quinton

Software: The Dream Map : Store & Record Dreams on Mac

By Daniel Cummings

Article: Dream like contact with magic

(Part II of Please (don't) Fix it!! by Eulalia

Review: ASD XIII and Cyberspace By Richard Wilkerson

Interview: with Kephrea by Victoria Quinton

Article: Dangerous Dreams: The Risks of Online Dream Sharing

By Richard Wilkerson

Dream Work Tools - Review of products at ASD XIII

G L O B A L D R E A M I N G N E W S - Peggy Coats

BETA TESTERS FOR DREAM PROGRAMS

DREAM POETRY JOURNAL INVITES SUBMISSIONS

AUSTRALIA, EDGE OF THE SACRED TOUR WITH DAVID TRACY

ILLNESS AS DREAM, HEALING WITH METAPHORS

WORKING WITH THE DREAMING BODY

DREAM MEDICINE RETREAT IN MOUNT SHASTA

DREAMS SOUGHT FOR BOOK ON PRECOGNITIVE DREAMING

DREAMS & SECRETS PROJECT

ONIROS PUBLISHES COMPLETE WORKS OF HERVEY DE SAINT-DENYS

DREAM LECTURES BY PIERRE GRIMES ON VIDEO TAPE

FREUD & JUNG, TWO NEW BOOKS

DREAMWORK SEMINARS IN SANTA BARBARA

DREAMS IN THE WORLDS FAMILY

+ D R E A M C A L E N D E R LATE SUMMER/FALL 1996

======================================================

Index To Dreams & Dream Commentary Sequence for EDv3n6

(Following the Title is the author and the date of the

dream/commentary or submission - in the format of

Year-Month-Day/YYMMDD)

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

WELCOME

A NEW (ED) DREAM ORDER

FROM THE CONTRIBUTORS

JESSE

ISLAND

THANKS

C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C

C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C

COMMENTARY ON DREAMS FROM PREVIOUS ISSUES (with the Dreams):

-JOURNEY:

Commentary on "Old Lady on a Motorcycle" (ED3:V3N5) by Island

(96.06.25)

Commentary on: "Animal Island" (ED3:V3N5) by Island

(96.06.25)

-FEAR:

Commentary on: "The Roof God and Uncle Joe" (ED3:V3N5)

by Island (960625)

Commentary on: A Snake Hater's Dream (ED3:3_5)

by Island (960529)

Commentary on A Snake Hater s Dream by Fuzz (EDV3N5) by

BobC

Commentary on: "The Night of the Biting Zombies " (ED3:3_5)

by Island (960625)

Commentary on: "An Arrow out of Nowhere" (ED3:V3N5)

by Island (96.06.25)

-PUZZLES:

Commentary on: The Gnome of Depressive Death (ED3:3N5)

by Island (96.06.25)

-SHARED WRAP-UP COMMENTARY FROM THE DREAMER:

-PUZZLES - SOLVED (?)

Commentary on Island s "The Avocado/Magnolia War

by Island (960625)

Commentary on Island s Shadowbox by Island (960625)

N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-

N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-

NEW DREAMS:

-TRAVELING DREAMS - INCIDENTS ON A JOURNEY:

Vehicles: Giant Rabbits by Marietta suburb-

Dream: Thesis Topic: by JK (960627

by JR)

Commentary on Thesis Topic

by Wise Crone (960629)

Driving Car toward Pepperell on 119

Dream: Tim, the crackhead

by JesseL (960627)

Commentary on Jesse s Tim,

The crackhead by Wise Crone

Rollerskates through the Park

Dream: A Struggle by Penrod (951228)

Flying/Skateboarding through Paris

Airport/Zoo

Dream: Bank Problem by RE (960627

by JR)

Driving like skiing through ice after

shopping

Dream: The Free Gift by GD (960627

by JR)

Large spacecraft trip to Jupiter

Dream: Voyage To Jupiter

by MarkL (960720)

On a Star Wars ship in Outer Space

Dream: Star Wars by JesseL (960627)

On a Spaceship

Dream: Aliens, The Good, The Bad,

and the Ugly by Island

(96.06.14)

Transported to the Moon

Dream Excerpt: "Feeling (Not Drawing

Down) the Moon" by Island (96.06.15)

Inside a Giant White Ball

Dream: The Global Experience

by Nutcracker (960608 -#366)

Walking: Hiking over hillsides by Santa Cruz

Dream: No Trespassing

by DR (960627 by JR)

In field at daytime noticing Alien Craft

(UFO)

Dream: Alien Taste Test

by BR (960627 by JR)

-FOCUS ON EMOTIONS:

1) FEARS:

Ghost or Spirit of malevolent

intent/Fear & Escape -

Dream: Demon Attack

by Wren The Valiant (960715)

Commentary on Wren s Demon Attack

by Cliff

Eels and lizards & Shopping and driving-

Dream: The Free Gift

by GD (960627 from JR) (see Journeys)

War and Peace-

Dream: The World Had All Agreed

by LM (960627 by JR)

Alien beetles and gunmen-

Dream: Voyage To Jupiter by MarkL

(960720) (see Journeys)

2) SADNESS:

Tears and loneliness-

Dream: The Crying Angel

by Nutcracker (960608)

3) ROMANCE

In the Workplace, At the General Store-

Dream: Making out in the back room

by JesseL (960627)

-LUCID DREAM EXPERIENCES:

Shared lucid dream/precognition ..

Dream: (and reality) by Jason (960

ELECTRIC DREAMS ACCESS INFORMATION

2ND DISCLAIMER

END CONTENTS

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

Editor's Notes

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

Hello all adult Electric Dreams subscribers! What? Yes, it's

our duty to tell you that if you are not an adult, you had

better ask your parents permission to read further. Or maybe

not. This is one of the many issue with children and dreams

that we are examining this month. And as usual with Electric

Dreams events, the examination is not so much an academic

exercise as a grappling with a issue that will change or

define the nature of our interaction.

Besides the comments and essays and interviews that

Victoria Quinton has coordinated for you, we also have

several Questionnaires & mini questionnaires. If you have

interests in the direction of Electric Dreams or have raised

you children in a dream aware environment, please fill these

out and send'm in.

Victoria has also offered us a multitude of interviews &

Mini-chats this month with dream personages, including

Roberta Ossana, Linton Hutchison, Linda Magallon, Kephrea and

Kelly Bulkeley.

This Year's Association for the Study of Dreams con xiii

was an amazing event in the history of dreams and cyberspace.

The expo is still available for viewing at

http://www.dreamgate.com/asd-13 providing you with a history

and index into cyberdreaming in the sciences, the arts and

dream sharing as well as the fabulous explosion of web sites.

Be sure to check out the scattering of related articles in

this issue. For instance, how would you like to beta text

dream journaling and content analysis software? Drop me a

line.

What kinds of future projects have been generated by the

ASD conference? A couple are the Dream Fountian, a way to

weave dreams thoughtout the know universe and the Dream

History project a joint project proposal to build an online

collected story. We are also learning how to use the new

bulletin boards available online and seeking ASD volunteers

for next years conference in Asheville, North Carolina.

One major issue that came up was whether or not dreams are

too dangerous to share in Cyberspace. What's your opinon on

this? See my article Dangerous Dreams.

Despite the dangers, we are continuing with our Dream

Groups and forums for you to discuss freely your dreams and

ideas and opinions on dreams. See Chris article on the

progress of the Dream Groups.

We are also sensitive to the fact that dreams, like any

personal text, can be mis-used and thereby offer a variety of

educational programs and pointers to other seminars, classes

and programs online. If you are interested in the future

developments on ED and Education, see Chris Hicks plans and

join in building an informed community.

Eulalia has sent the 2nd half of her article on dreams and

magic. Note that the Spanish characters for pre-sentence

question marks are boxes in ASCII.

Another offshoot of the ASD conference was that Peggy

Coats was able to network with more dream concerned people

and provide you with a wonderful Global Dreaming News and

Events Calendar for the Fall of 1996. However, we still want

to hear about events in your regional areas. Read your local

papers and check out the bookstores for events in dreaming

and send them in to Peggy.

Also this month we have an offering from the

Cyber=Dream Pioneer, Dan Cummings - a program for macs that

will work with your dreams and images. Check it out - then

tell us what you think! And while on the topic of software,

Cypress has sent us a summary of their project that was on

demonstration at ASD xiii.

Don't forget that we now have WONDERFUL, BEAUTIFUL covers

that you can download and use as screen savers or print as

covers for Electric Dreams. Jesse Reklaw has also provided a

gallery where you can get backissue covers, and if you are

feeling particularly inspired, you can illustrate a backissue

yourself. We have dozens still without covers!

http://www.nonDairy.com/ED/covers.html

And be sure to check out Jesse R's Weekly Dream Comic on Slow

Wave

http://www.nonDairy.com/slow/wave.cgi

As a matter of fact, if you feel really creative, how about

putting up your own dream web page? Yes, we will hold this

page for you on the Electric Dreams Web site, contact

Matthew Parry

mettw@newt.phys.unsw.edu.au

And finally, our dream editor, Bob Krumhansl has come upon

a whole new system for organizing the dreams sent in to us.

The organization is natural and self-apparent, but Bob also

gives the full story at the beginning of the Dream Section -

be sure to read the additional Editor's notes there and enjoy

the dreams, dreams, dreams.

Hey, how about we send in our FIRST DREAMS for next issue?

It really feels to me like we have moved into a new channel

and I think that a collection of the communities first dreams

would be, well, simply wonderful.

See you all soon in CyberDreamSpace

Richard Wilkerson

rcwilk@aol.com

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

ELECTRIC DREAMS' EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

Hello to all Electric Dreams subscribers!

A lot of you know me already, but for those who don't I am

Christopher Hicks, Electric Dreams' Education Director. As

part of my role as Education Director I attempt to provide ED

subscribers some assistance in continuing their personal

exploration of the fascinating world of dreams and dreamwork.

Eventually there will be a structured program of suggested

readings, on and off line resources, online dream classes,

reviews of dream related web sites, dream groups, and other

dream related activities. This program will provide a

Dreamwork Map for all, from the curious wanderer to the

experienced dreamworker.

At this time the ED educational program exists in concept

only. Some of the mentioned components, such as dream groups

and lists of dream related web sites, have been around for

some time now. These components, however, are not integrated

as aspects of a comprehensive program yet. To explore what

we do have to offer check out our web site at---

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~mettw/edreams/home.html

Your help is needed in developing the details of this

program. In completing the following questionnaire and

returning it to me, you will help to identify what needs to

be included in the program. In addition, I will try to

provide individualized assistance (offering suggestions,

resources, notices of upcoming activities, etc.) until the

educational program is up

and running.

I thank you in advance for your help.

--Christopher Hicks

z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z

DREAMER DERRING-DO

By Taylor Esta Kingsley

copyright 1996

Dreamer,

Return to the dark sleep.

Dreamer,

Dare to dream the dream.

Dreamer,

Leap into other worlds

behind the veil

of your gently closed

eyelids.

Dreamer,

Dance the sacred dance.

Dreamer,

Remember your knowingness.

Dreamer,

Claim your ancient power!

Dreamer,

Return to the dark sleep.

Dreamer,

Dare to dream the dream.

z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z

ELECTRIC DREAMS EDUCATION QUESTIONNAIRE

z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z=z

*For each question please indicate which venue (email,

newsgroups, and/or

World Wide Web) you would prefer. You may choose one, two,

or all of the

venues.

1. Are you interested in working with your own and/or

others' dreams?

(via email, newsgroups, and/or WWW)

2. Are you interested in joining a dream sharing group?

(via email,

newsgroups, and/or WWW)

3. Are you interested in learning more about dreams as they

appear in

history? (via email, newsgroups, and/or WWW)

4. Are you interested in a detailed look at how past

cultures dealt with

dreams and dreaming? (via email, newsgroups, and/or WWW)

5. Are you interested in a group reading & discussion of a

dream related

book? (via email, newsgroups and/or WWW)

6. Are you interested in learning more about psychological

theories related

to dreams and dreaming? (via email, newsgroups and/or WWW)

7. Are you interested in learning about various dream

working techniques?

(via email, newsgroups and/or WWW)

8. Are you interested in becoming involved in dream related

activities?

(via email, newsgroups and/or WWW)

9. Are you interested in learning about techniques to

improve your dream

recall abilities? (via email, newsgroups and/or WWW)

10. Are you interested in learning more about Lucid

dreaming? (via email,

newsgroups and/or WWW)

11. Are you interested in building your own dream related

web page? (via

email, newsgroups and/or WWW)

12. Would you like to help in some way with the development

and/or running

of some aspect of the education program?

**Note: I welcome all comments, suggestions, and

correspondence whether

covered in the questionnaire or not.

============================================================

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=

QUESTION AIRING FORUM

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=

Victoria Quinton mermaid@daemon.apana.org.au

http://daemon.apana.org.au/~mermaid

share a dream; exchange a thought

School of Thinking:

http://www.mel.aone.net.au/sot/lgstscho.htm

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Question Airing Forum no 3.

Hello everyone

I am sorry not to have been at the ASD conference, but from

accounts across cyberspace, it seems to have been busy and

rewarding.

This issue one of the focuses is Children and Dreaming. I

have a feeling this thread will take on a life of its own,

incorporating issues of censorship and allowing children

individuality in "responsible" surroundings.

I suspect children have much to teach, or remind us about

courtesy of their "dreams".

Since my daughter is 2 1/4 now, I am especially interested in

this topic.

The "Australian Corner" has hidden itself away for an

indefinite time.

Perhaps that may be because dreams and the imagination itself

transcend borders.

mermaid 8*)

==== Lucid Dream Discussions on IRC =====

Some others and I are starting a Lucid

Dreaming discussion channel on DALnet IRC, #Lucidity, we're

still deciding on the meeting times and I'll be posting them

in the alt.dreams.lucid once we've decided them, they look

like they'll either be 9:00pm EDT or 10:00 EDT. If your

interested I can e-mail you times once we've decided them.

The

DALnet home page is http://www.dal.net.

============ Lee Holmes Lucid Dreaming Manual

This is a question to all of you who've looked through the

Lucid Dreamer's Manual which I distributed a while ago. Has

anybody had any positive experiences due to it? Has anybody

found a variation of any of the techniques which seem to be

particularly effective? I'd be interested in hearing your

personal lucid dreaming techniques and favorite pastimes as

well!

>Viel Gluck and Happy Dreaming!

>Lee

holmes@cycor.ca

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=

Special Dream Airing Forum:

Children, Dreams, and Cyberspace ???

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=

Could Electric Dreams have a children's section or are we and

adult venue? This is the question that we are exploring and

we invite your response.

We have especially been asking those of you who have

raised your kids in dream conscious environments, how you

handle nightmares and other kinds of dream sharing, at what

age it is appropriate to share what kinds of material.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Re: children and dreams. From Linda Lane Magallon to

Victoria Quinton

Although I did dreamwork with my own children (Vic and

Teresa), it wasn't until 1984-5 when they were 11-12 and 7-8

years old, respectively. Thus, they already had fully

developed language skills.

At first, the dreams they were likely to share were of the

nightmare variety. Nightmares were the ones that propelled

them into their parents' bed in the middle of the night...or

early morning. They were more than willing to talk out that

sort of experience. I took the opportunity to try out

whatever flavor of dreamwork I was learning at the time. This

way we domesticated the aliens and tamed the monsters.

Several dreamwork techniques can be effectively applied to

nightmare resolution. I like the work of my colleagues: Bob

Trowbridge (dreamvoyager@earthlink.net) and Fred Olsen

(dreamtrack@gnn.com). http://www.dreamgate.com/dream/reentry

As I shared my non-titanic dreams, Vic and Teresa eventually

got the idea to talk about dreams that were not troubling.

That's how I learned that we, individually, could have

psychic dreams and, as a family, could experience mutual

dreams.

Except to resolve the nightmares, no one else in my family

has been interested in doing dream interpretation. Rather,

they share dreams as stories...interesting vignettes from the

night time theater of the mind. Teresa now does this on

almost a daily basis. It's part of her telephone

conversations with her friends to report the dream of the

night.

So when you consider children and dreams, please don't stop

at nightmares! That's just an entry point. There's so much

more. My children have experienced flying, lucid, OBEs,

funny, punny dreams. They weren't limited by mundane

expectations of what a dream shoulda oughta be...or by how

"practical" it should be in terms of serving the needs of

waking life.

Sweet dreams,

Linda

http://members.aol.com/caseyflyer/fbnc/fbnc01.htm

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A resource: books on Dreams for kids from the Novato Center

for Dreams:

gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org:70/00/orgs/iidcc/tools/9

The Novato Center For Dreams Online Site is:

http://members.aol.com/jilgregory/ncd/jillhome.htm

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Interview with Kelly Bulkeley

by Victoria Quinton

VQ: At what age do you consider a child ready to talk about

dreams?

KB: I think children are ready, and eager, to talk about

dreams at a very early age, usually between three and four

years old. The older they get, of course, the more capable

children become of discussing the more detailed, nuanced

dimensions of their dream experiences. But if grown-ups can

make sure to modulate their own comments to match the child's

level of interest and verbal ability, they can have wonderful

conversations about dreams with quite young children.

VQ: Does a child need a certain level of language in order

to discuss dreams?

KB: More important than a child's level of language is the

grown-up's ability to be an empathetic listener. As with any

form of dreamwork, the key is always to stay close to the

dreamer's own experience. With children, this means avoiding

big words and complex sentences, and showing that the

grown-up really understands the feelings the children are

expressing through their dreams.

VQ: What sort of questions could one ask a child about

dreams?

KB: Some of the questions I've found most productive of

interesting conversations are a) basic questions about the

particular details of the given dream--what did the animal

look like, who were the people, what kind of place was it,

etc.; b) questions about how the dream's images relate to any

other stories, videos, etc. the child is familiar with; c)

questions about different possible endings for the dream; and

d) more generally, questions about where the child thinks

dreams come from. I also think it's very fun and interesting

for grown-ups to share their *own* dreams with children.

Besides showing the children that the grown-ups trust them

enough to share their own dreams, this practice can also give

the grown-ups some surprisingly sharp insights into their

dreams!

VQ: What resources do you know of to deal with nightmares or

night terrors?

KB: Night terrors are not, strictly speaking, dreams at all;

they are considered disorders of arousal. Most children have

night terrors every once in a while, so there's nothing

parents need do other than comfort the child when the night

terrors occur. (Although if the terrors persist, a doctor

should be consulted.) Regarding nightmares, Ann Sayre

Wiseman's book "Nightmare Help" can be of some use, as can

children's books like "There's a Nightmare in My Closet" by

Mercer Mayer and "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice

Sendak. I've found that reading children story books about

dreams can be one of the best ways to help them reflect on

and talk about their own dream experiences. Alan Siegel and

I are currently working on a book, tentatively titled "The

Dream Catcher's Workbook," which we hope will provide parents

and children with the most up-to-date information on how to

understand children's dreams and nightmares.

VQ: Does a child need to be a certain age/ developmental

level to differentiate nightmares from "dreams"?

KB: . Pretty early on, children make their own

distinctions, their own "typologies" of dreams--they'll

discriminate their good dreams from their bad dreams, their

funny dreams, and their weird dreams. In discussing dreams

with children it's very important to let them express *their*

experiences first, before imposing adult theoretical grids

onto their dreams.

Well, there you go! I hope that's the sort of thing you

were looking for. Please let me know if there's anything else

I can do to help you with this. Take care,

Kelly

Kelly Bulkeley received his Ph.D from the University of

Chicago Divinity school and his M.T.S. from Harvard Divinity

School. He is the author of _the Wilderness of Dreams:

Exploring the Religious meanings of Dreams in Modern Western

Culture, Spiritual Dreaming, a Cross-cultural and Historical

Journey and numerous other articles in _Dreaming _ and other

Journals. His activity in ASD and other dream venues is

extensive, and he is currently teaching at the Graduate

Theological Union in Berkeley, and is the Chair of the ASD

board of Directors.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

No to children's section on ED

For the record, I can't see the ezine catering to children

and keeping the openness and frankness that adolescent/adult

dreams demonstrate and deserve. This goes mainly for the

dream content and the dream commentary. Tailoring both to

children would be an impossible task to accomplish while

still preserving the original spirit. As suggested by

Nutcracker, perhaps someone else could take on a project for

a "Children's Edition - Ezine" or perhaps it could be a

separate ED project. There are several books directed

specifically at children and their dreams written at a childs

level.

However, dealing with childrens dreams from an adult

perspective, from a parents perspective, would be very

helpful to all parents of younger children and the theme

should be followed and very much a part of ED. A special

focus issue at least once a year, and a regular

column/section if we find a spokesperson (Victoria?) would be

very appropriate.

As far as the Web Page goes, I think that ultimately we

should identify our Web Site "for adults only" for purposes

of those browsers which filter out sites from the younger set

- just to be on the safe side from the witch-hunters of the

Internet. Jeepers, there are some adults that think our

project is a ticking bomb for vulnerable adults. Perhaps at

some future date a "Kid's Corner" could be developed and

maintained open to anyone. This solution allows the site to

be flagged for those wishing to limit their children viewing,

and would place us on the record as identifying that some

topics discussed are controversial. Many themes (sexuality,

violence, and belief systems) touched by dreams, commentary,

and even some articles could be misinterpreted by narrow

minded adults very easily. I can imagine some off-balance

person stating "I read it in Electric Dreams or the Electric

Dreams Web Page and I thought I'd bring it to reality." Very

wishful thinking, but the danger is potentially there.

Bob K.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Dangers of A Children's section on ED

Since I already feel that Electric Dreams is dangerous and I

don't like what it does with dreams for adults, I can only

double this for children. We have known for a long time in

the dream field that it is wrong and dangerous to tell other

people what their dreams mean. This practice undermines the

person's ability and inner authority in making decisions for

themselves. Even this so called modified "Ullman" technique

you all use on Electric Dreams does not completely protect

the dreamer from other people's manipulation and wild

projections. Please, not only would I ask you to not

interpret children's dreams nor encourage them to do so in

any way, but I would like to see you stop this practice with

adults as well.

Dream Friend

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hi all,

Here's my .02 worth:

I say keep it adult with maybe articles pertaining to

kids/dreams several times a year (if warranted).

If someone else out there wants to start a kids ezine, let

them do it.

Nutcracker

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

About Children's Dreams:

1. I would really like to read some *actual* children's

dreams as recorded by their parents. If anyone with

children could take the time to do this, I think it would

be vary interesting. (Most of the "children's dreams" i

read are quick paraphrasings. Are children's dreams really

not much more than that?)

2. At ASD 13 I saw a presentation by Denyse Beaudet, Ph. D.

called "The Dream Monster Swallowed Me All Up: a dream

pattern across childhood and adulthood." I found this paper

very informative. Perhaps someone could interview Dr.

Beaudet? Or maybe someone could write a summary of her

paper (alas, I didn't take very good notes, otherwise I'd

volunteer). I have the abstract though, if anyone is

interested.

+jesse

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A Survey of a Dream aware family in San Jose

ED Web could have a Children's section providing a rating

like pg-13 is a good idea. We suggest you send a mesage to

parents that we are sensitive to the implications of our

material, such as nightmare inducing dreams or sexually

explicit or violence. Also the message to dreamer to self

regulate their submissions to alert them that this is a

general public board and not just for adults.

The idea of having different age group pages doesn't appeal

to us - just - kids and not for kids.

San Jose, CA 1996

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"ZACH'S DREAMS"

I have a son, Zach. He is eleven months old now. I

cannot help but wonder if he dreams. I have my suspicions

that he does. I have only a father's watchful observances to

base this on--the small movements of his eyes while asleep;

the swinging of his little arms, as if to ward off some

nap-time annoyance. To be honest, my suspicions are rooted

more in a father's intuition than on anything else.

Whether he does dream or not, I know that he *will*

dream! And I anxiously ,await the day when he and I, son and

father, can sit and share the wondrous images of the previous

night's dreams. I recall some of my own childhood dreams,

filled with super heros and cartoon characters. I can also

recall some frightening images as well, from those childhood

dreams. Again, I look forward to the day when I can

sit/stand/kneel/lie with Zach and help him to work through

any frightening Dreamtime experiences!

Of course, the dreams of a child are precious, as are

those of all of us. But with children, it seems to me, the

important difference comes in the approach, or technique

used. Should a parent sit down with their child and use a

technique like the modified Ullman technique used in the

Dream Wheel

dream groups, where the dreamer is asked clarification

questions before the dream is taken as if it were the

commentors'? I don't think so. I tend to agree with

Linton Hutchinson in this area (I admit that I know only a

little of his approach in this area--Thank you Victoria for

bringing this much to my attention). Children like to play

and be active. It only follows that they would enjoy acting

out there dreams and working with them in an active way. A

small child is probably not going to enjoy, nor benefit from

an in-depth discussion of the symbolic appearance of the

Trickster Archetype in there dream. But, they might have fun

playing a game with Mom or Dad, where they get to *be* the

Trickster!

I don't see how we can ignore our children's dreams!

Nor do I think we should try to do so. Some might warn of

the dangers of working with adult dreams in a non-therapeutic

setting. These same persons might feel even more strongly

against working with children's dreams. I do not agree. We

see books for children that help them to learn about their

faces, hands, feet, and the world around them. Although they

can be embarrassing, we do not restrict the discussion of

anatomy and sexuality to a therapeutic setting. If a little

boy or girl starts asking Mom and Dad questions at bath time

they are answered, albeit carefully. So, why should dreams

be any different?

I plan to be very open, supportive and encouraging of

Zach when he begins to speak and share dream images, and

later full dreams! I won't try to use his dreams as

diagnostic analogies to his life. But, I will share his joy

and wonder at a mysterious and surreal realm that comes to

life each night.

I will offer support and assistance to whatever degree he is

interested, just as I would with any other area of his life.

My son has a face (complete with a nose, eyes and mouth). My

son has two arms and two legs.

Just as I will play silly little games to teach him to

identify these and learn what they can do, so too will I play

games with him to help him learn about Dreamtime!!!

--Christopher Hicks

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I think Electric Dreams should have a kids corner. When I

was two years old I dreamt I was flying. The dream was so

real that I still remember it vividly.

In fact that dream is my oldest memory .

My dream:

The early morning son has begun to shine in my room. My

adventure into dream land is just about done. I'm standing

in my crib watching myself fly around my room. I didn't want

to land, but I knew that I had to. When I woke I was

standing in my crib in the same position.

My four year old son lost his father this past winter, and he

had a dream

about him.

Blake's dream:

Mommy, I dreamt I saw Daddy he was wearing a long black cape

and a mask. He

wanted to hug me, and I was scared. When he hugged me he

turned to stone

I would also like to share a poem I wrote about dreams.

Dream

Dream, dream, tell me so the secrets of my very soul.

Oh dream of magic sleep fill my mind with the answers I seek.

For my heart needs to know the secrets of my very soul.

Dream, dream, of innard light shead your tourch of insight

into my wakeing

mind

Oh set me free my sweet, sweet, dream of mine...

Do you know anything about Carl Jung? He has a lot of ideas

about dreaming and the human pyche. Let me know if you do,

because if you do not I could fill you in. I think dreaming

is an important step in understanding the unconscious mind!

Jennifer Wood

++++++++++++++++++++

Jennifer - cool idea, I think we should have a focus next

issue on "First Dreams"!

-R

++++++++++++++++++++

Michael Schredl schredl@as200.zi-mannheim.de

Dear Victoria Quinton,

In Electric Dreams Vol. 3 No. 5 you write about children and

nightmares. I recently finished a study which might be

interesting. I enclosed a summary of an article I had

submitted to DREAMING (Journal of ASD). Although I had no

personal or practical experiences with children having

nightmares the scientific viewpoint may be valuable.

Abstract of "Anxiety dreams in school-aged children"

Authors: Michael Schredl, Ruth Pallmer and Alyaa Montasser

Institurion: Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim,

Germany

Postal address:

Dipl. Psych. M. Schredl, sleep laboratory, Zentralinstitut

fr Seelische

Gesundheit, Postfach 12 21 20, 68072 Mannheim, Germany

The article shortly reviews the literature on nightmare

frequency, nightmare content and possible causes of

childrenÆs nightmares. The empirical study was designed to

test three hypotheses: firstly, anxiety dream frequency as

related to trait anxiety; secondly, the most common theme of

nightmares being äBeing Chasedô. Thirdly, assuming continuity

between dreaming and waking life, it has been hypothesized

that specific dream themes are related to anxiety experienced

in waking-state, e. g. examination dreams as a result of

examination anxiety or realistic threats in dreams a product

of general anxiety. A sample of 624 children (10 - 16 yrs.)

was investigated by means of two questionnaires (a

questionnaire about bad dreams and an anxiety inventory)

whereby all hypotheses were confirmed by the results.

Longitudinal studies would serve as potential valuable tool

to clarify the relationship between waking life and

anxiety-laden dream content. In addition, it seems to be

useful to inform parents, child caretakers, teachers and

children about the simple methods in dealing with nightmares.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Questions to Linton Hutchison from Victoria Quinton

1/ At what age do you consider a child ready to talk about

dreams?

Since Beck and I share dreams every morning, it made sense to

include Sterling in the process. For a long time Sterling

being younger, didn't really know what dreams were but though

Beck and I were just telling stories to each other. She

wanted to join in so she made up her dreams which were just

bits and pieces of stories or things that had happen to her

that she remembered.

What was important was establishing the pattern and not

necessary her reporting of her dreams. I would start

including your children in this dream process as soon as

possible. I think that Sterling was around 5 or 6 before she

first realized what dreams were.

Another inclusion we used was in conjunction with our dream

group work with other people in the community. The girls

would come to dream group and be the first ones to share a

dream with all the usual fuss and positive regard that

performing in front of a group can bring to a small child.

Then off to bed after the group members would ask a few

questions about their dreams.

2/ Does a child need a certain level of language in

order to discuss dreams?

Children seem to understand the feeling tone of the dream

rather than the symbolic meaning contained in the pictorial

icon represented by the dream. It seemed that a lot of early

dreams contained a one-to-one correspondence between waking

and dreaming realities. Interactions that were worked out in

the dream seemed to be in relationship to animals quite a bit

as well. Using a more playtherapy approach where action and

movement is substituted for words seems to be a more

effective method to working with childrens dreams. Words for

children seem to get in the way when they can act out the

dream, or paint the dream or use figures to get to the

feeling tone of the dream experience.

3/ What sort of questions could one ask a child about

dreams?

Again I think that I would use more play than questions in a

non-directive approach to having children work (play) with

the dream images they remember. It seems that children would

rather "act" than reflect on an experience that happen during

the night. When eating seems to be a waste of time for most

children, recalling and answering questions about a dream is

going to be a close second to trying to get them in bed or

take a nap. If you incorporate the dream experience into a

game, a painting, a drama or other activity that contains a

little more life than asking questions, the experience will

be rewarding for the child and encourage them to continue to

report dreams in the future.

Asking questions about the creation that the child is

involved in can be beneficial to the child but only as a

secondary function for working with the dream. How do you

feel when you see yourself in your picture? If you could draw

this dream again, what might you create to make you feel

safe?

Using more open ended questions How (process) what (persons)

when (time)may allow for a deeper exploration as long as it

doesn't interfere with the process that already is in place.

You might want to stay away from WHY questions - most WHY

questions are asked by parents when the child has done

something wrong and will normally evoke a shutting down of

communication rather than facilitating it.

4/ What resources do you know of to deal with

nightmares or night terrors?

Two books that are great for working with children's dream

Deputizing Children's Dreams by Katherine West and Nightmare

Help by Anne Sayre Wiseman who was at the ASD conference.

Beck and I have been putting material together on Children's

Dreams and should have something out next year.

5/ Does a child need to be a certain age/

developmental level to differentiate nightmares from

"dreams"?

The categories that our children have regarding dreams are no

dreams, good dream, and bad dreams. We try to give them the

idea that if they don't remember their dream in the morning

chances are if they look for it, they will find it somewhere

during the day. And sure enough, more times than not, an

event or situation will present itself during the day that

triggers something about their dream. The good dreams are

usually dreams that have a positive feeling associated with

it; they have won a race, helped someone, sang a song etc....

The bad dreams have some type of challenge that is unresolved

that is some buried trauma or unfinished business associated

with it. We usually reenter these dreams and rescript those

dreams using helpers if the dreams too scary or creating ways

of

self-protection i.e., being invisible, being able to create

millions of armies, becoming bionic etc.... After Sterling

has usually killed, stomped, hit or defeated this enemy, we

work on rescripting, including some type of dialogue or

finding out just what this enemy wanted or perhaps had to

give. When the child starts a dialogue and communicates with

the enemy, a deeper recognition of what's really going on

sometimes

emerges.

Linton Hutchinson, Ph.D.

Webster University

Altamonte Springs, Fl

hutchib@iag.net

+++++++++++++++++++

Dream: NO SUN

In an expansive suburban back yard, Theo (my 3 year old son)

and I walk into a doghouse and sit down. It is really very

large, more like a shed, and empty except for a bench. I sit

on the bench, in the corner, and Theo crouches down on the

dirt ground between my feet and legs. Facing the only

doorway, I notice the contrast of the dark, empty, colorless

interior that frames the brightness and many colors of green

that are across the yards. I know I am looking across many

yards. As I am looking out I hear/feel a sound, a whirling,

pulsing sound, like a boomerang, coming up from behind the

doghouse. I have no idea what it is and as it approaches

overhead I freeze in fear. I am in the corner, my arms are

outstretched to the side, my legs are somewhat open, my son's

head is down--he is pre-occupied with something on the

ground. I feel vulnerable in this open position and know that

I must lean forward and cover and protect Theo with my body

but I am terrified and cannot move. Suddenly all light turns

to darkness. We are sitting there in complete blackness and I

know that there is no longer a sun, there is no reflective

light, no possibility of light. I realize that this is what

is meant by "In the beginning there was a darkness that

covered the world."

Commentary by BobK:

If this were my dream, I would feel distanced from my

neighborhood and environment. I am close to my 3 year old son

in a nurturing and protective way, but we are isolated from

the rest of the world. We are in a "doghouse" together (A

bare-bones environment? Is it for misbehaving or did we enter

in the spirit of exploration?). While there, our isolation

becomes complete as darkness encompasses us completely. It's

just him and me, in our own world, on our own. I sense the

end of sunlight, the end of an era - it's terrifying and sad.

How will I adapt to the new darkness? Perhaps someone can

shed some light on this situation! How about YOU? Help!!

Please!!!

+++++++++++++++++++++

There seems to be some trends appearing in all the above

comments.

-- Parents would like to have more information about dealing

with dreams and kids.

-- Whatever we do with the Web site, the E-zine should remain

for adults. Just who adults/children are is unclear. If

Linton & Linda M. are correct, the verbal/written textual

nature of the E-zine is not of particular interest to kids

anyway.

-- Having a place to post children's dreams for adults to

read may be a possibility.

-- Split on the Web, though most don't want to censor the web

site - if anything it would be a special children's corner.

RCW

+++++++++++++++++++++

Lost comments and Rating systems

If your comments on this topic were not published, it was an

error on the part of the editor, not a judgement on your

comments. Please resend if they did not show up.

One set of comments I left out were the exchange of ideas

from the last Electric Dreams Staff meeting, where the idea

first came up around the new Web Rating systems that are now

appearing, SafeSurf being the main model.

http://www.safesurf.com

Also, see

http://www.surfwatch.com/

http://www.microsys.com/CYBER/

If you get a chance, for the next issue please stop by one or

more of these site and tell us how you would rate:

1. The overall Electric Dreams Homepage on the Web.

2. The Electric Dreams Ezine, this issue.

3. The last DreamWheel or dream group you were in.

Send those ratings to Richard Wilkerson at

rcwilk@aol.com

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

D R E A M G R O U P UPDATE

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

This is the first of what will now be a regularly

appearing column in each issue of Electric Dreams. Its

purpose is to update and inform everyone of how the Dream

Wheels are going. This is especially important in this time

of rapid growth and continued development of the Dream Wheel

groups!!!

DREAM WHEEL IN A NUTSHELL

For those who are not familiar with the Dream Wheel dream

sharing groups here is a short description of what they are

and how they work.

Dreams are submitted. A dream(s) is chosen by random process

and distributed to the entire group. Group members ask

*clarification*questions of the dreamer, who then has an

opportunity to respond. Once all the questions and answers

have been sent group members comment on the dream using a

modified version of the Ullman "If this were my dream..."

technique. The process and techniques used support and

encourage a non-threatening environment that often leads

insights and positive growth for both the dreamers and the

commentators!

EMAIL DREAM WHEELS

The current email Dream Wheel (Dream Wheel 10) is just

wrapping up as this issue of Electric Dreams is being

distributed. This Dream Wheel has four dreams running. The

number of dreams in a group varies, but is usually between

two and five; occasionally there are more or less than this

average. At just about the midway point of this Dream Wheel

I had to take a few days away from my computer so I turned

the movement of the group over to the group members. Usually

the moderator, myself in this case, sends messages to the

group when it is time to move from one phase to another. The

Dream Wheel kept rolling while its moderator was away! In

fact, throughout the group I have been impressed with the

caring and supportive attitudes and actions of the group

members. Several times a member sent email to the group with

a question about the process, or a misplaced email containing

important questions or answers. Always, within a day that

same person would send out a "thank you" to all the group

members who responded! And, I am pleased to say, that the

group is just as caring and supportive in working with the

dreams. There is a palpable sense of this group's

cohesiveness. Dream Wheel 10 is not just a bunch of people

emailing each other about dreams. It is a group of people

that share an interest in dreams and a belief that working

with dreams can bring about positive growth and a better

understanding of one's self. I have sensed this sort of

thing in past groups and it seems to be growing stronger with

each new Dream Wheel!

WWW DREAM WHEELS

The Dream Wheels on the World Wide Web are a very new thing.

In fact, the July Dream Wheel is only the third group run in

this venue. Currently we are only running Dream Wheels at

Beck and Linton Hutchinson's Dream Link Web site (many thanks

to the Hutchinson's for allowing us to use their site). The

July Dream Link Dream Wheel is nearing the point where it

will enter the Comment Phase. Like the email Dream Wheel

groups, this group uses the modified Ullman "If this were my

dream..." technique. The process of how the dreams,

questions, answers, and commentaries are communicated to the

group is different. The dreamers and participants in these

new WWW Dream Wheels have been very understanding as changes

have been made in the instructions. The same

non-threatening, supportive environment has carried over onto

the Web with us. The dreamer, who provided the dream for the

current Dream Wheel has commented on how much insight can be

gained just from answering the questions of the other

participants--not to mention reading the commentaries!

Check out the July Dream Wheel on Dream Link at:

http://www.iag.net/~hutchib/.dream/

click on Dream Wheel from the main page for instructions on

how to find the group!

THE FUTURE OF DREAM WHEELS

There are many exciting things coming in the future of the

Dream Wheel groups! In addition to the email and WWW groups,

there will be other new venues, such as newsgroups and

bulletin boards, and even live chat groups coming soon!!! We

are also planning to start some smaller, un-moderated groups

very soon.

HOW DO I GET MORE INFORMATION ON JOINING THESE GROUPS?

If you want to join, or want more information on any of the

Dream Wheels simply email me, Chris Hicks, at:

shadow45@netonecom.net

Here's an example of how easy it is:

"Hi Chris I would like more info on the email Dream Wheels!"

or WWW Dream Wheels, or un-moderated Dream Wheels.

This is an exciting time of growth and development for the

Dream Wheel groups. Everyone is welcome in our groups

whether you choose to be an active member or "lurk" for a

while to see how the group works. Come and join us!!!

--Christopher Hicks

Education Director

DREAMS, DREAMS, AND MORE DREAMS!!!

Oh yes, I almost forgot--Dreams! We always need dreams to

use for our groups. This is especially true now as both the

email and the Web groups are nearing completion. If you have

a dream(s) that you would like to submit send them to me at:

shadow45@netonecom.net

Please include a short title for each dream and let me know

what pen name you would like to use.

===================

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

Interview with Roberta Ossana

by Victoria Quinton

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

VQ: Who is the intended audience for Dream Network?

RO: When I first took responsibility for the publication,

it was my impression that many of readers were lay and

professional dreamworkers and/or people already committed

to valuing their dreams. Given there had been a fair

amount of time for networking/information sharing among the

'core' readers, we felt -- since we all dream every night

-- that it was time to prepare the publication to meet the

general public. We have since that time published a

combination of scholarly, well referenced articles as well

as experiential/heart sharing articles written by dreamers

like you and I. Response we have received, continually,

since attempting to span that distance has been very

enthusiastic: something for all dreamers!

We are selling quite well at the bookstores we reach through

our distributors, which indicates a receptive lay

readership; many of the 'core' readers are still

contributing/with us and there is always excitement in the

letters of new readers who, through word of mouth or 'on the

newsstand' have found us. One of our goals is to raise

individual and cultural appreciation for the value of dreams

and -- since we do all dream

-- it would seem a simple and direct answer to your question

is a 'general audience.'

VQ: Was there a dream you had that inspired you to

join Dream Network?

RO: Yes. It was a precognitive dream that had me in the

summer of 1975. It was like a full length extravaganza...

full color, light and sound.

An incredible experience! I had no idea what had just

happened... but intuitively knew that it was significant,

important. It was the first dream I ever recorded... and I

did so with most dreams that followed. This enhanced my

dreaming life considerably! I began asking questions,

searching out whatever I could get my hands on related to

dreams. Several years after that summer of '75 dream, the

mayor of our town, Port Townsend, WA., put a notice in the

local paper asking if there was anyone out there who would

be interested in coordinating an event for the 35th

anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter.

There were other reasons, which I won't go into

here, which compelled me to call together a group of

colleagues for the purpose of brainstorming ideas about

what we might do for this occasion in our village. The

ideas that were springing forth from everyone's creative

minds brought to mind vivid images from the dream. I

mentioned this to the

group and in less than a split second, on man said, "Well,

we've got to do it then!" So, we each took a piece of the

work away from that meeting and pulled together a full day

and into the evening event. I can only say that the event

itself, the experience, was walking the intersection where

dream reality meets with everyday experience. It was like

walking through the dream, step by step. Virtually nothing

was missing. There was a moment of silence which everyone

gathered was asked to observe to contemplate/pray for world

peace. In that moment of silence, my destiny was sealed. I

knew this is the path I would pursue.

VQ: What would be your initial advice to those

starting out with their own "dream work."

RO: In a way, I was forced to adopt the term, dream work...

as it was well established by the time I became

publisher/editor of the Dream Network Journal. I would

rather answer the question

"...... initial advice to those starting to awaken to the

value and importance of their dreams." Also, I would prefer

to suggest, rather than advise.

May I? I would suggest it takes time. It is a subtle art.

Not a quick-fix remedy for whatever ails or troubles one. I

would encourage that individual to record and contemplate on

their remembered dreams. To begin sharing their dreams

with someone they trust.... whether there is an attempt to

understand the meaning of the dream or not. If nothing more

than for enjoying the sheer genius and beauty of the

imagery and story. Certainly, setting aside time especially

for dreamsharing, such as

in a dream group, is beneficial and would be encouraged. I

would suggest that they begin to give dreams a respected

place in their life. Read good books on the subject. Begin

familiarizing themselves with the subtleties of symbol and

metaphor.

Realize that any given dream may yield its purpose and/or

meaning in layers, over time. Sometimes it takes years before

the full depth of meaning surfaces. I would say it becomes a

way of life, the symbolic life dancing and interfacing with

synchronicities... and that from this dance new paths are

revealed, new ways of viewing our lives and paths. I would

caution them to be prepared for a sometimes perilous,

painful and often joyous journey. Our culture is not rooted

in truth. Our dreams are. These are some of the things

I've learned that I would want to share.

Now, of course, if this person were to have approached me

in line at the post office or grocery store, which often

happens,. I would say perhaps only one of these things.... or

suggest the Dream Network and/o r a good book!

VQ: Have you learned more about "dreams" from books or

word of mouth?

RO: I've learned more about dreams from dreams.... than I

have from books or word or mouth.

DreamsKey@sisna.com

Website: http:\\www.hmtp.com/new/dream/dream.html

Voice Mail (801) 461-9003/Subscriptions 800-861-3732

PO Box 1026

Moab, UT 84532

"Encouraging individual & cultural appreciation for

the value of dreams and mythology."

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

The Dream Map

Store & Record Dreams on Mac

Daniel Cummings windeatr@sirius.com

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

------

The Dream Map is a database to help you record and store your

dreams. Dreams can be typed into the database along with the

date and the title of the dream. However, there is a big

difference between the Dream Map and an ordinary text only

database. The Dream Map uses a hybrid text and graphical data

entry method to assist the dreamer in understanding the

dream. The Dream Map consists of five "filters" or "layers"

through which you can categorize, expand and explore the

dream content. These layers put dream content analysis

methods into a graphical, interactive form. The dreamer

explores the Spaces in the dream, the Characters in the

dream, the

Artifacts in the dream, the Moods in the dream, and the

Insights or messages from the dream. The combination of

graphical layers and icon placements allows you to record and

see interesting aspects of one dream or emerging patterns in

many dreams.

This version of the program is a single user version. The

next version will be networked, allowing many dreamers to see

their dreams arranged on the map alongside others on the net.

The present system allows for 28 dreams to be recorded at a

time.

Dream Map does not *interpret* dreams, it serves as a helpful

tool to *explore* dreams.

The application works with a Power Macintosh or a 68k

Macintosh and needs about 4

Megs of free ram to run.

Details and a demo version for downloading can be found at

the dreamMap webpage.

http://www.itp.tsoa.nyu.edu/~windeatr/dreamMap.html

Here you will also find a link to other computed dream

projects happening at the dreamMosaic.

Enjoy!

Daniel Cummings windeatr@sirius.com

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

Unlocking the Secrets of Your Dreams

by Jayne Gackenbach

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

-------------------------------------------------------------

--------------

Unlocking the Secrets of Your Dreams is a noncredit

introductory course that is delivered on the World Wide Web.

The course consists of five lessons which teach you to

interpret and work with your own dreams, both alone and in an

electronic group session. Each lesson is accompanied by an

assignment where you will put what you have learned into

practice, and answer a questionnaire about your dream

experiences. You will receive feedback on the completed

assignment the following week. Throughout the course you will

have access to a student bulletin board where you can share

your ideas and impressions about dreams with others enrolled

in the class as well as an active dialogue with the

author/instructor, Jayne Gackenbach.

Here are some comments from students who have taken the

course: I think this must be an Herculean effort on your

part, and it is appreciated. I am finding it interesting and

challenging. As with the rest of your feedback, I find it

FASCINATING and am already imagining ways to adjust my

clinical

work from it's influence. Everthing looks great! Very nice

graphics - touches that part of dreaming that is marvelous

and wonderful. I find your comments and students' feedback

help me to understand better. Once a path of communication is

established, who knows where it can lead and that's

exciting, if a little scary...

[*******************]

Lesson 1 - Introduction to Dreaming

The first lesson presents some basic information about the

importance of dreams, the physiology of sleep and dreaming,

and techniques for enhancing the recall of dreams.

Lesson 2 - What Do Most People Dream About?

Have you ever wondered if other people dream about the same

things as you? This lesson will look at the content of

typical dreams.

Lesson 3 - Dream Work Tools and Techniques

Lesson 3 discusses the language of dreams, and explores

techniques for examining and understanding their meaning.

Lesson 4 - Dream Connectedness

Are dreams just a personal experience or do they have a

broader context? This lesson explores the way our dreams

connect to the world around us, and the effect that culture

has on our attitudes toward them.

[Image]Lesson 5 - Selected Topics

This lesson covers a variety of topics related to dreaming

including nightmares, children's dreams, psychic dreams, and

the effects of health on dreams.

About the Course Author/Instructor

Jayne Gackenbach is highly respected in the field of dream

research. She holds a Ph.D. in general experimental

psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University and is a

past-president of the Association for the Study of Dreams.

She currently manages ASD's web site

(http://www.outreach.org/gmcc/asd). She has been the keynote

speaker at many conferences, lectured at the Smithsonian

Institute, and was invited to present her work on lucid

dreams to the Dalai Lama in India.

She is the editor/author of five books, including "Conscious

Mind, Sleeping Brain: Perspectives on Lucid Dreaming" with

Stephen LaBerge, and more than seventy articles which have

been appeared in both scholarly journals such as "The Journal

of Mind and Behavior" and popular national magazines

including "Psychology Today" and "OMNI". In addition, she has

appeared on Donahue, Shirley, Man Alive, and other television

programs in the U.S. and Canada.

Most recently she has been working with a Cree dream shaman

to study the dreaming practices and attitudes of Native

people. Dr. Gackenbach teaches at Grant MacEwan Community

College.

Dr. Gackenbach draws on her work on higher states of

consciousness/lucid dreaming and her understanding of Central

Alberta Cree dream practices to illustrate many of the

concepts in the course.

Lesson one will be available on-line Mid-

August. You will have

one week to complete each lesson and submit the assignment

before you are given access to the next lesson and

assignment. Enrollment is limited so please register soon.

The course runs for six weeks (one lesson/assignment takes

two weeks) beginning the middle of August, 1996. This $129

value is being offered at a low introductory price of $39

(US currency) $49 (Canadian currency) . JB.

To Register:

Internet Dream Course: http://www.outreach.org/dreams

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

Dream like contact with magic

by Eulalia

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

Part I : Please Fix It is in ED(3)5

A Spanish version of this article is available

at:

http://www.dreamgate.com/dream/eulalia/eulalia.htm

From Barcelona... Part II.

Eulalia

Entering into the transpersonal stage means to extend our

conscience border beyond the skin. Everybody has the

experience of some oneiric premonition in a way. Who didnÆt

know a ôdeja vuö situation? Many people can tell stories

about these subjects. Space and time barriers are lighter in

dreams. Once I dreamt I was watching on TV a new about an

earthquake in the Aegean Sea. Two days after I forgot the

dream already. I read in a newspaper that actually the

earthquake in the Aegean Sea happened but two hours later

than my dream. There are magic characters in dreams also. I

have been visited for three flying ladies for many years. Of

course, you can think I am crazy (may be), but I know them

and they use to teach me, counsel me, enjoy with me and sing

all together. The only thing is that they can be people or

birds but it doesnÆt matter to me such a insignificant

detail. Are they fruit of my subconscious? Are they angels?

Are they outcome of my neural chemistry?... They are. It is

enough for me

Dream like spiritual initiation

The great question always has been: Who I am? This is the

ancient meaning of the Zen word Koan.

All the mystic schools taught and teach about the true I. To

discover ourselves like spring and creators of oneiric

universe (specially in lucid dreams) could be the first step

towards a superior comprehension of reality. In Zen there

are koans about enlightened dreams and it is recommended to

continue with attention in the practice inside the sleep.

Stephen Laberge explains the way Tibetan Buddhism and Sufism

work with dreams. Minoic Civilization in the Mediterranean

Sea, 4000 years ago, had a very interesting ceremony named

ôIncubation of dreamsö based in a beautiful legend of the

Egyptian Goddess Isis. Everywhere, everytime man and woman

related dreams with death and spirituality.

Sometimes in my dreams the Ineffable takes shape and appears

like the Sea.

I want to finish this little article with a sentence of

Al-Halla, the great poet and mistic sufi: "Go to tell my

friends that I shipped towards the Great Sea and my boat is

breaking upö

--------

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

ASD XIII and Cyberspace

By Richard Wilkerson

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

The Association for the Study of Dreams conference XIII in

Berkeley California was the largest ASD conference ever and

people were turned away at about 500 participants. Another

novelty of the conference was that for the first time ASD

made plans and funded a special computer and dreaming

exhibit, featuring not only program demonstrations by

individual developers, but the collective & individual

projects concerning dreams on the Net.

For four days the Communal Dreaming Room was a networker's

paradise. Not only did we have 2 IBM PC and a MAC for

everyone to play with, but a half dozen other computers and

laptops that folks brought in to display and exhibit their

wares and communities.

At other times and places I will be reviewing the

individual programs and projects, here I just wanted to give

a summary and pass on the general feeling of excitement I

felt that comes with the opening to a new horizon.

In the mornings we had presentations , panels & classes.

Those on the net may feel that this is now all part of a

daily routine, but there are still many who haven't a clue as

to what is going on. The gap is lessening between pioneers

and the general public, but not as much as I had expected and

there is still a great deal of work & education to be done at

the front gate. One of the things I have learned is that just

because we are all in a general cooperative spirit doesn't

mean we are all in the same community. I originally felt that

the Web would be a place where distributed resources would

allow for a collective holding of shared material freeing the

individual to pursue his or her own unique identity. In other

words, we would each hold on our site a piece of the

collective info, but focus on what makes us unique. Electric

Dreams is like this, and I thought the rest of Cyberspace

would be too. Not so. Individuals need and want cyber real-

estate. I don't want to judge this, just recognize that while

each person may share some distributed info & we also seem to

need a place we can call our own. To address this, I am

suggesting a collective project - That we get all interested

parties together and *share* a web spot where we create the

History of Dreams and Dreaming Site. This would be a site

that was co-owned and would grow from interest more than

planning and dictates. Those who are interested would

contribute. If you are interested in this project, drop me a

line.

Another oversight on my part on planning this ASD event

was that I somehow didn't realize until too late that this

was really the first International Meeting of Cyber-Dream

Pioneers, and never called an official meeting. Perhaps,

like cyberspace itself, its best to just let events happen.

It was wonderful to see so many of the people I had only

known online face-to-face. But I would also like to thank the

many, many folks who helped put this event together. I have

built an acknowledgement page especially for you that will go

down in the history of cyberspace and dreaming. (See the ASD

XIII confernence site for the Acknowledgement page)

For those of you who like to experiment with new

programs, there were several products being demonstrated, at

various stages of development, and they were all interested

in having beta testers. Bjo Ashwill has a wonderful content

analysis program that will be available. John Gallagher &

David Hochman are developing a national dream registry and

will eventually be able to develop dream weather reports for

researchers. There were several dream journaling and

interpretive assistance programs, including the work of Sarah

Richards, Timothy Tate and Cypress Inc - see reviews below.

If you are interested in being a beta tester, drop me a line

an I will send you name along. rcwilk@aol.com

Another way to summarize the events. Please feel free to

still visit the Conference XIII Education and Index Page.

This site will remain up for another month and has wonderful

summaries of & links to online dream resources in dreams and

art, dreams and research, dreams and dreamwork and the many

other online dream inventions, venues and weboramas.

http://www.dreamgate.com/asd-13

Next year the ASD Conference will be in Asheville, NC and

I won't be able to attend - so if someone is feeling

adventurous - Robert Gongloff could use some volunteers to

put together a computer expo for that meeting.. It is at a

college, so there should be some facilities already there.

What I want to know is, when will we have the first

International Cyber Dreaming Conference?

-Richard Wilkerson

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

Interview with Kephrea

by Victoria Quinton

May 1996

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

VQ Hi Khephera

How did you come to be called Khephera?

Kh It came about very recently, actually. Since my

becoming Wiccan, I had been using the name Aaron Jason (which

should have been my real first and middle names), but it has

since become my real name, as it were. Sooner or later I'll

be changing my name legally to Aaron Jason Leitch.

So, I suppose that left a need for a Magickal Name.

Something to be used only for Ritual purposes, and Priestly

actions (such as most of my correspondence on the Nets).

About half a year ago, I purchased a silver Scarab Ring,

inset with Lapis Lazuli (my ultimate favorite stone). I

hadn't had it on for more than ten minutes when the Name came

to me (from on High I would have to say).

Khephera, or Kepera, Xepera, etc, is the Name of the Egyptian

God Re in His aspect of Creator. Khephera takes the form of

the Scarab. The Ancient Egyptian saw the Scarab hatch it's

eggs in dung, and therefore saw the Scarab as a Being who

could bring life from death and waste. Also, as the Scarab

rolled the dung into little spheres and rolled them it it's

nest, the Egyptian saw the Sun God rolling the sphere of the

Sun across the sky. For someone like me, it's surprising to

have a Sun-God's Name (I'm no big fan of the Sun itself).

However, it adds a good amount of balance to my otherwise

Dark attributes. Khephera literally translates as

"Creation", "Dawning", "Formation", etc. In Hebrew it would

be called "Yetzirah", such as in the Sepher Yetzirah (Book of

Dawning), and as in the Third Qabalistic World: the Astral

World of Yetzirah.

VQ How would you describe your technique(s) of dream

working?

Kh I've never accomplished any real technique of dream

working, per se. I involve myself mainly with Astral Trips

(Visionary workings). I will create an image of the Force I

wish to explore, and then project through that symbol to "the

other side".

As for something more along the lines of dreams, there are a

couple of things. First off, I have a good knack at dream

interpretation. Most likely, my empathic abilities help out

there (though I can't say I'm sure). My intuition isn't

shabby at all, and Divination is one of my strong suits...so

I'm sure that's where it comes from.

Finally, I have had some experiences with dream states as

well. Most of them have happened not while "asleep", but

rather while I was nested in that twilight-place between

dreaming and waking. ;) It is there that I can best

perceive Spirits (I call them Astral Nasties).

Oh, and I also have to add a couple of full-dream

experiences. Many times a Wizard might be attacked while

asleep. Not so much by other Wizards...but by the Astral

Nasties who are attracted by the Energy raised by the Wizard

day to day. More than once I have had dreams where I knew I

was about to fight "something". These dreams invariably

involve my gearing up for a fight, and being quite excited at

the prospect. :) The fight rarely happens once the entity

sees that I am not afraid, and MORE than able to handle it.

Only once have I been actually attacked in a dream- I was

burned on the hand, and the burn showed up on my hand.

However, it was easily dispatched once I realized I was being

attacked. I suppose I could describe most of these

encounters in detail later on....

VQ What would be the first question you would ask

about a dream?

Kh It would have to be: What did you dream? :):):) From

there I would try and interpret it. I would also ask

questions about what was going on in the waking life of the

dreamer.

VQ Would you ask different question(s) about

visualisations/ daydreams?

Kh As per the above, no. But, it is a different situation.

Unless the dream was a lucid one, then the day-dream is more

under the control of the consciousness than a dream.

VQ Would the questions be directed at the dreamer or

the animals/others who may appear in any visualisation?

To the dreamer. Though I believe in the separateness of such

Beings, I also understand that they are ultimately a part of

ourselves.

VQ Do you think that the person whose dream it is would need

knowledge of "The Ancients" to be helped by you?

Kh Not at all. Unless I can see that a God has manifested to

someone, that is For instance, one lady told me she kept

having dreams about a water-bird of some sort (like an Ibis).

I suggested that this could be Thoth (Egyptian God of Wisdom,

Writing, and Inspiration). She replied that she had, for

some reason, been inspired to do a lot of writing recently.

In fact, a lot of Thoth-ian things had been happening to her

as of late- even though she had not previously known anything

about Thoth.

Other than that, each dream is only what it means to the

dreamer.

VQ Do you know much about lucid dreaming?

Kh I know about it, but I don't do it often. Of course,

anytime you Astral Travel that is lucid dreaming. But, as

for going to sleep, and controlling your dreams...no, I don't

accomplish that much.

VQ Has your "style" been influenced more by book

learning or word of mouth?

Kh Hard to say. Everything I know has come from books, word

of mouth, and (dare I say) Divine Reception...kind of

mish-mash of all of it. I suppose Books have been the

largest part of it though...

VQ Would you consider yourself to be a shaman?

Kh That's an interesting question. I am a Wiccan Priest,

and Wicca is definitely a kind of Shamanism. However, the

word "shaman" evokes a specific image in my mind. Someone

who knows the land, and can live off of it, much better than

myself. I suppose I could be called a kind of urban shaman

of sorts <SHRUG>. I can heal, I travel the inner-plains of

consciousness (astral realms), I can affect the weather and

other sorts of magicks, I am extremely empathic, and I am

currently studying herbology.

However, at this point I don't feel connected enough to the

Land Itself to really feel much like a shaman. I'm working

on it, though. ;)

VQ I was just looking over our interview and thinking that

people may ask "what does Wiccan mean"?

If they were to ask, how would you answer that one?

Kh: Definitely no simple answer....;)

But, I would probably say that it is a Relgion based on

either Dual-Theism or at least a view of a Single Divine

Source which operates as two Deities. These Deities are

simply the God and Goddess. Their Names vary depending on

what pantheon you follow.

It was created in the late 40's by a Mr. Gerald Gardner. It

incorporates aspects of various mystical traditions, with a

large amount of WitchCraft.

VQ Where would be a good starting point for people to

find out about Ceremonial Magicians?

Kh: For someone just curious, I couldn't say. Except for

getting into one of the Magick Echoes and asking some of us.

For learning how to do Ceremonial Magick, I always recommend

Don Kraig's "Modern Magick". Modern Magick: Eleven Lessons

in the High Magickal Arts Donald Michael Kraig 1988 (Eighth

Printing, 1993) Llewellyn Publications

ISBN 0-87542-324-8

He teaches you the basics, Golden Dawn style (Qabalistic

Based Magick). From there you can go into any kind of

Ceremonial Magick you wish: Wiccan, Egyptian, Babylonian,

Druidic,

etc...

VQ Where to find Ceremonial Magicians to talk to if

people were interested....

Kh Ah! One of the better places is the Fido echo called

"Magick". Also, just about anywhere on the PODS Network.

Especially "Book of Shadows".

VQ I had spoken to Khephera about my "Amulet" dream; the

amulet had a lapis lazuli centre.:... I still don't have any

lapis lazuli, but I do have a zodiac pendant with a blue

glass centre that appealed to me.

Kh Must be the blue, then. :) Color of the Night Sky?

VQ Well more a royal blue.. actually blue in a flame came

to me through some dream working.

Kh That's always a good way of seeing it. Back when I

started (and it stays with me to this day), I was taught to

project images in "gas-jet" blue. Blue is also one of the

better meditation colors.

VQ Anything to do with the Ancient (if eternal things can

age) Gods?

Kh Of course. ;) Most of my Astral Work and Visions are

centered on encounters with Gods and Angels and Spirits.

VQ How did you come to learn Egyptian?

Kh: If you mean the language, I don't really "know" Egyptian.

I know enough for Ritual, and most of that was quoted from

the Book of the Dead. Other things- like the Magickal Motto

I sign all my posts with, are actually just straight

transliterations. Meaning I took a phrase in English, and

just looked up each word and gave the Egyptian. That's

really a horrible way to do things, as it doesn't allow for

the actual Egyptian language's grammar and syntax. So, I

don't do it often. If you mean Egyptian Magick, I came by

it kind of indirectly. For the most part, I have simply

taken Egyptian Symbolism and pasted it on top of Qabalistic

concepts. Well, not so simply....as I have also put a lot of

study into Egyptian Symbolism and Mythology so as to make

sure the cross-over into the

Qabalah was as "correct" as possible. Not to mention that

the Qabalah has some of it's deepest roots in Egypt anyway,

so it's not such a huge jump from one to the other. Most of

what I know about Egyptian symbolism, Mythos, and Magick

comes from the various wonderful works by E. A. Wallis Budge.

The rest is from Experience with the Egyptian Deities

Themselves...;)

Kh Ar ReX Em SeXem Eref Neter Au-a

VQ What does this mean? :)

Kh It's Egyptian for: "If knowledge is power, then a god am

I" It's my Magickal Motto...inscribed on my tools and

talismans, etc. It sums up the way I feel about the

universe...that knowledge is everything- and that the more

knowledge we possess, the more god-like we become. As Bill

Murray said in "Groundhog's Day": "Maybe God isn't really

omnipotent. Maybe He's just been around so long He knows

everything."

On the other hand, it also adds a bit of Discordianism into

my work. I got this phrase from none other than Jim Carey

(whom I idolize) as the Riddler in "Batman: Forever".

Knowing that my Magickal Motto came from such a source

(rather than Divine Reception or from some Ancient Writing or

Tradition) keeps everything in perspective, if you know what

I mean. :)

The translation into Egyptian was my idea. I could have made

it Latin, but I just didn't want to be like every other

Golden-Dawn style Wizard. I gotta be me! :)

Lastly, there is just one thing I stumbled on after I started

using the Motto. The Egyptian word for Power: "SeXem" is

also their word for "Higher Self". That is...the Egyptian

called his "Higher Self" his "Power". And, as we know, the

Higher Self is the most God-like aspect of ourselves. Thus,

the phrase canbe interpreted:

"If Knowledge = The True Self, then I am like unto a God."

Which basically is an affirmation that you are like a God

anyway...and the way to recognize that power is to recognize

the Higher Self. And how do you do that? By gaining

Knowledge. The Golden Dawn calls this: Knowledge and

Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. (translated: Direct

Communication with the Higher Self).

Blessed Be, may Yahweh and His Asherah guide and keep thee,

Ar ReX Em SeXem Eref Neter Au-a

Rx

Khephera

interview conducted by Victoria Quinton during May 1996.

Be sure to send in email if you want Khephera to tell us more

about Astral

Nastiesà.

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

Dangerous Dreams - The risks of online dream sharing

By Richard Wilkerson

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

I was confronted at the ASD XIII conference with the notion

that dreams are too dangerous to be shared on the net. The

general idea was that there is something about dreams which

makes us so vulnerable, so helpless, that in the wrong hands

serious psychological damage may occur.

I started to dismiss this as the speculation of those not

familiar with online dream sharing. I receive a lot of e-mail

from psychologists & others who don't like the _idea_ of

dream sharing online - but haven't actually tried it

themselves. Generally these concerns dissipate upon a trial

experience. A example of this is the account by Jeremy

Taylor which he made public in DreamNetwork Journal 15(1) as

well as Electric Dreams 3(3). I'll also have more to say

later about why this occurs and how dream sharing on the Net

might draw on the experience of face-to-face group sharing

experience, yet in the final analysis constitutes a

fundamentally different environment and ecology.

But wait a minute. One of the self assigned tasks in my

life is to bring our culture into a relationship with

dreaming that moves in a different direction than, for

example, telling our children upon awakening, "Oh forget it,

it was just a dream". Simply dismissing the arguments about

the potency of dreams would be counter-productive.

Now to be fair, the main arguments made were about the

assumption of authority, the potential damage of telling

other people what their dreams mean rather than letting them

come to find this meaning with their own inner resources.

Dangerous material and dangerous uses of the material are

not the same, but do come together, just as with the issue of

gun control and substance abuse.

But be it danger of the dream material itself or the uses

of the material, there are some implicit assumptions I would

like to explore.

A question. Would an interpretation of a short story by

O'Henry draw the same concern, and if not, why? If I were

to tell O'Henry what I thought his story means, wouldn't he

simply take it or leave it like all other literary

criticisms? Even if O'Henry was personally offended by my

interpretation, would the story itself be seen as dangerous?

Probably not, and those who see the dream text as dangerous

would most likely say that we are not assuming to be

authorities over the life of O'Henry and tell him how to lead

it according to the story he wrote. Part of the danger lies

in the dream material itself, I'm told, but the other lies in

the approach to the dream material.

But there are also similarities and similar risks of exposure

in putting out any text, be it a dream story or a short

story.

I take a risk when I put my creation out to be judged and

critiqued and analyzed in the public sphere. If we were

talking about a short story, the risk might have something to

do with my self-image and self-esteem. Was this story as good

as my last story, do people hate my writing style, maybe I

really am a bad writer. Part of this has to do with the

responsibility felt by the writer, the aspirations and hopes

of what public acceptance might entail, and the risks

associated with self-revelation, what I might be letting

people know about myself, my identity. This identity and

self-esteem that might be fragile and suffer humiliation,

embarrassment, chastisement, abandonment, isolation and

scapegoating if the public hated or criticized my work.

Given all of these risks, we still continue to write and put

our writings out publicly to be interpreted, even though we

know that our intentions will often be misunderstood. As a

matter of fact, it is now part of the Post-modern aesthetic

to release the text once it is written. That is to say, that

we no longer demand that the meaning of the text be the one

the author intended. Each reader may find his or her own

relationship with the text and it will be as valid as any

other. Whether the subjective interpretation is relevant to

the culture at the time or not is another matter.

Its been my feeling for sometime that dream texts are

somewhat similar. Certainly the technique of taking the dream

"as if it were your own" moves in this direction. In this

technique we approach a dream as if it were our story, not

the dreamers, and then talk about the ways it is relevant to

us, how the imagery moves us, how we give it meaning and how

it returns to us its significance. The author of the dream is

decentered. Each person in the participating group *has* the

dream. This de-centralization of the ego is furthered in

the work of James Hillman, a archetypalist who would like to

see the dream as having *nothing* to do with the dreamer.

That the dream gains it power from just that fact, that it is

centered around archetypal rather than individual forces.

Are dream texts riskier and more dangerous than say, a short

story we write? I think the answer lies in the direction of

"For those who have ears, sound can be painful". But let me

unpack this quote by looking a century long fantasy that our

culture has purchased.

During the last days of the 19th Century, Freud was putting

the final touches on his favorite book _The Interpretation of

Dreams_. This book was written in the middle of a cultural

horizon that was participating in the idea that with just a

little more knowledge and reason, the whole universe could be

rationally understood. Freud's ideas on the role of the

irrational not only shocked his Victorian Peers, but

eventually swayed them to acceptance. But it was a special

kind of acceptance. This was pre-chaos theory days. The

irrational was accepted, but only as the province of

psychology. The Natural World was still safe and would

eventually be fully understood by the rational mind.

And so dreams became aligned with the irrational and, this is

my point, aligned with psychology. (There is also a hidden

ethic in Christianity about the natural and the irrational

being the same, but that's another topic).

What Hillman and other are saying is that psyche is larger

than psychology - and so too are dreams. Yes, there are

innumerable debts and long traditions and a whole host of

clinical practices that involve dreams, but they are not only

the province of psychology.

Since 1953 and the first REM experiments, the scientific

community has know this. Even around Freud's time there were

a host of natural scientists observing and studying dreams

outside their clinical uses. Many famous writers have drawn

upon dreams not for psychological insight, but for

inspiration in writing. Artists have always know the value of

dreams for inspiration. The Surrealist took dreams beyond the

psychological and aesthetic into the political, showing how

dreams can be used to move us past repressive habits into the

marvelous. Lucid dreamers and extraordinary dreamers, group

dreamers and dream flyers enjoy dreams for the sake of the

experience itself.

None of this is meant as evidence that the dream is or isn't

dangerous. It is a statement saying that the dream is not

owned by psychology and psychologists, nor by clinicians or

the board of behavioral sciences.

I haven't yet been able to understand the arguments that

dreams in and of themselves are simply too psychologically

toxic, too revealing, to apt to cause major psychological

damage in and of themselves. The damage theory seems to come

more from how we approach dreams, what people think and feel

they are doing when they share them with a qualified or

unqualified individual or group.

I will guess that those who are concerned about the danger of

the dream are more concerned about people coming to share

dreams and expecting some kind of psychotherapeutic effect or

environment. The explanation of the danger here will vary

according to the psychological perspective. From the

perspective of the innocent dreamer, the problem is that they

have *already* given over the function of the creation of

meaning and value to a supposed authority. In a sense, we

are all kind of in this position with dreams as we feel any

need to interpret them at all. I don't feel the need to

interpret my going to work in the morning (well, most

mornings) but there is a call I have imposed upon myself with

dreams.

Is this more dangerous than simply going along with the

rest of my culture and society and saying, "Well, it was just

dream" and forgetting it? I suppose it is - in that my path

now includes the dream text and my explorations of it. Going

through it, with it, are then more dangerous than if I had

just left well enough alone.

But it hardly justifies the position that dreams and opinions

about dream should not be shared. Even if we grant that

dreams hold some potential for danger, just what is the

actual frequency that we can expect, let's say a borderline,

to go off the edge from discussion of the meaning of his or

her dream? It seems to me that if the frequency of such

incidence is equal to or less than, say, that of a discussion

of other parts of one's life, that we are really making the

environment way too restrictive and safe for any particular

adult population.

There are a few life practices I am not yet willing to hand

over to the *exclusive* use of the psychotherapeutic

encounter. One is self exploration, another is the

investigation of the meaning and value of life, and another

is the significance of events in my life, including dreaming.

What about the discussion of the meaning and value of your

dreams? Do I have to choose a category to make relevant

remarks about them? Do I have to say, "Now I'm being

spiritual" "Now I'm being psychological", "Now I'm being

artistic", "now I'm being humorous?". Granted, the

dreamworker has been cross categorical and a problem for a

long time. Every major religion began with the core folks

being into dreams - and every major religion eventually

banned dream interpretation. Why? The current thought on this

is that dreams tend to question and play with things, and one

of the things they play with & question are structures of

repressive authority. I guess the Orthodoxy would say that

since there can be no authority on dreams, no one should be

allowed to make meaning of them. The Christian church has

historically make exceptions for saints.

But I'm moving a little off the track. Let me shift from

the exploration of how dangerous dreams and dream

interpretation may be in general to the venue specific

ecologies of Cyberspace dream sharing.

The Ecology of Cyberspace.

I feel it is pretty clear to those both online and offline

that if we were to hold a dream group face-to-face and only

allow people to write notes on a bulletin board, it would be

a very different group than one where voice and body

movements were allowed. Now imagine that everyone in the

group had a mask on and the message board was in a room that

only one person at a time could enter, at any time during a

two week period.

As John Herbert has noted in an unpublished study on the

difference between online and offline groups, one of the main

differences is the reflective quality of the Online groups

and the emotionally pitched quality of the face-to-face

groups. This emotional pitch picks up a bit in real time

chat, but never quite reaches the face-to-face pressure.

This is not a judgement of one being superior over the other,

just a note that it is much more likely for emotional

instability to play a factor in face-to-face encounters.

(However, Herbert did note that online groups were rated

higher in self rating scores of insight gained). The point

here is that in cyberspace there is a time factor, a infusion

of reflective imagination over reactions. There is time to

consider other people's reactions as well.

Another built in factor is the new mix of social and

individual space, we are anonymous and alone in a public

space.

Fred Olsen, during the ASD XIII DreamWork in Cyberspace

Panel told the story of a man who during dreamwork session in

a chat room reported that he touched something and began to

cry. It was a area of his emotional life he had tried to

contact in groups before but felt inhibited. By being both

alone in his room, and also being online with a group, he was

able to access a realm previous unavailable to him.

The other side of this social anonymity is the continual

peer review. Yes, we can say mean things and "get away" with

it because no one knows who we are, but that doesn't mean

that 5 people won't immediately step in and point out how

cruel or inappropriate the remark was. For good or bad, there

is always a kind of self-monitoring that occurs online, part

of the piece in progress idea.

With Dream interpretation on public channels, this means

that someone may interpret your dream in a way that is

extremely undermining of everything you value. But it also

means that a lot of other people will be there to say that is

just exactly what is happening, and model approaches you may

have never guessed at or would have never experienced.

Along with this is the ethic of freedom of speech. Yes, we

have to allow Neo-Nazi's and other fanatics their say, but

this is the price of freedom and most of us still think it is

worth it. In a culture where we practice telling our children

that "it was just a dream" I prefer to have lots of wild

interpretations flying around than repression. This means

that to participate in our society, the adult has to been

able to handle free speech. To begin saying that there are

adult citizens who can't, is a serious theoretical and

political statement.

So, is dream sharing more like rock climbing, psychotherapy

or literary criticism? Are there approaches to the dream and

context of dream sharing that are not safe for most people

and need to be mediated beyond the natural mechanisms of the

Net? My judgement, that it *is* safe, is still un-proven

but gaining experiential evidence. I talked to other

dreamworkers at the ASD XIII conference who have been

exploring dreamworking online, including John Herbert,

Jeremey Taylor, Jayne Gackenbach and Electric Dreams

community dreamworkers and have yet to find *one* single case

of an unhappy camper. Again, there are many who find the

process useless, and don't like the _idea_ of dreamsharing -

but not one bad experience has been reported in now what is

about the 3rd public year and several pre-public years of

online dream sharing. If other adult activities that are

deemed dangerous can boast these statistics, I think they

would be hardly be called dangerous.

Still, I want to stay open to the potential dangers and

encourage those who do feel dream sharing is dangerous online

to help us see this, and ways we might avoid harming one

another with our often frank and honest assessments of one

another's dream stories. As a matter of fact, I we now have

a wide variety of venues in which to discuss this. The first

is the Electric Dreams E-zine itself. While we hold some

editorial discression and power, we are generally open to

publishing just about anything that is related to dreams.

Electric Dreams also has a Bulletin Board that can be used

for this issue and we encourage "Watch Dog Lurkers" on any or

all of our dream groups. And now ASD, the Association for

the Study of Dreams, is also reviewing this issue and has a

public bulletin board to post relevant topics in this area.

I would also like to suggest the original alt.dreams as a

forum for discussion as well.

Let's say that dream are potentially wonderful, and save the

dangerous warnings for a culture that hides away and

represses dream discussions.

=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

DREAM WORK TOOLS - Review of products at ASD XIII

Dream Disc-tionary, created by Cypress Specialty

Software, brings the power of the PC to dream studies.

Designed for use on a PC with Windows, Dream Disc-tionary

features a symbols dictionary, dream journal, diary entry,

quick lookup and add word functions.

The basic dictionary contains over 2000 symbols. You can

customize the dictionary by adding symbols and definition of

personal significance.

Dreams stored in the journal can be searched for

recurring symbols. A report will be displayed indicating

the dates and dream titles in which a selected symbol

appeared.

Other reports include: Quick Analysis, Dream/Diary

summary, Symbols Definitions, Related Symbols definitions

and Reference List. Reports can be viewed on screen or

printed.

Even if you are new to dream work, this program can

introduce you to dream analysis with demos, sample cases, a

program manual and online help files. Also included is a

suggested reading list.

If you have Internet access, you can see an online demo

by visiting the CSSI web site at

http://www.cypressi.com

In the sample demo you can lookup symbol definitions in the

basic dictionary.

The Dream Disc-tionary sells for $49.95. For more

information contact Cypress Specialty Software, Inc.

By phone at: (714) 952-8328

By e-mail: dreamdisc@aol.com

By U.S. mail: CSSI

P.O. Box 2514

Cypress, CA 90630-1214

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

G L O B A L D R E A M I N G N E W S

July 26, 1996

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w

GD News is a distributed news and events project sponsored by

Electric Dreams, DreamGate and The Novato Center for Dreams.

Please send all material to the Dream News and Calendar

Events editor, Peggy Coats

pcoats@cruzio.com

w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=w=

==== I N D E X ====

BETA TESTERS FOR DREAM PROGRAMS

DREAM POETRY JOURNAL INVITES SUBMISSIONS

THE DREAM FOUNTAIN

AUSTRALIA, EDGE OF THE SACRED TOUR WITH DAVID TRACY

ILLNESS AS DREAM, HEALING WITH METAPHORS

WORKING WITH THE DREAMING BODY

DREAM MEDICINE RETREAT IN MOUNT SHASTA

DREAMS SOUGHT FOR BOOK ON PRECOGNITIVE DREAMING

DREAMS & SECRETS PROJECT

ONIROS PUBLISHES COMPLETE WORKS OF HERVEY DE SAINT-DENYS

DREAM LECTURES BY PIERRE GRIMES ON VIDEO TAPE

FREUD & JUNG, TWO NEW BOOKS

DREAMWORK SEMINARS IN SANTA BARBARA

DREAMS IN THE WORLDS FAMILY

PARTICIPATE IN THE DREAM WHEEL ON THE WEB

SOMNIAL TIMES SEEKS DREAMS

D R E A M C A L E N D E R LATE SUMMER/FALL 1996

========= BETA TESTERS FOR DREAM PROGRAMS

The Researchers from the ASD XIII conference are interested

in getting help on testing out their new programs and

programs that are in development and will be ready later this

year. These programs include content analysis programs for

your dream texts, statistical programs for symbols, national

dream registries and other dream analysis & journaling

programs. If you are interested in participating, send your

name and snail address to Richard Wilkerson, rcwilk@aol.com

and I will put you on the list for product distribution.

========= DREAM POETRY JOURNAL INVITES SUBMISSIONS

PEGASUS DREAMING, a new Dream Poetry Journal edited by

Patricia Kelly, is seeking submissions of poetry inspired by

dreams. This is a good place for those who are interested to

get published, and a great place for those who are not to

enjoy the wonderful expressiveness of the dream psyche. The

maximum length is 30 words, and a donation of $5 is requested

if you would like to run a dream-related ad. For more

information, contact The Shield

Institute, 450 7th Avenue, Suite 1804, New York, NY, 718)

803-0194.

=========== THE DREAM FOUNTAIN

Get your dreams published in dozens of publications and Net

venues!!

I've had an idea for awhile that I wanted to try out with

dream texts. (with humor) Back in the old days, we used to

go to one therapist, maybe for 10 or 20 years , and the idea

of the theraputic container was established. To become rid of

our neurosis we had to learn to stick with one intimate other

who mediated all our psychological material.

Times have changed (no value judgement - just facts).

Insurance companies won't pay for that approach anymore and

short term counselling articles & concerns fill the journals.

But in the grassroots dreamland the idea of singleness

and loyalty still lingers. Those who post a dream on

alt.dreams are unlikely to post on alt.jung. Those who post

with Electric Dreams are unlikely to post on DreamLink or in

a dream group.

I have an idea. Remember the practice of Rush Week? It was

at the beginning of the freshman college year and one would

get to visit for a day *all* of the frat and sorority houses.

So why not a Rush Program for Dreams?

We could even have "cycles" where a dream is passed around

and comments are harvested and collected and later printed as

well.

I'd like to start slow, just a few dreams, careful to get

permissions, ect. The Rush Dreams would be cycled through a

variety of venues that publish dreams both online and

offline.

Project Name: "The Dream Fountain", as we will be cycling

and re-cycling dreams through wonderful spouts of conceptual

sculptures, venues and cyber-ecologies, lifting the dreams up

and allowing them to funnel back down into the origninal

pools.

Dreamers: you can plug in at any one of several points in the

Fountain, for now send you dreams to Electric Dreams with a

MARK that indicates permission to cross-post: (F) or

Fountain, or [DF] for Dream Fountain permission granted.

Dream Tenders and Posters: (Oneirofonts) If you are

interested in being a key player in this, and offering a

venue that you would be willing to post or publish others

dreams once or twice a month, drop me a line. Be clear about

your parameters (one dream a month, posting on alt.dreams and

then copying and sending results once a month, publishing in

a local newsletter...and so on)

contact Richard Wilkerson,

rcwilk@aol.com

=========== AUSTRALIA, EDGE OF THE SACRED TOUR WITH DAVID

TRACY

If you have wished for an opportunity to explore your

personal soul work in the company of people who have retained

a living connection to "primitive imagination" you might be

interested in a tour being led by David Tacey Director of the

Center for Archetypal Studies at La Trobe University,

Melbourne Australia.

Participants will accompany David to the Red Center of

Australia where they will live among the Pitjantjatjara

people and learn from a people who operate in many different

levels of reality, as we do, but at levels that are different

from ours. The "deep listening" and "dreaming" that is

possible in this environment may confront the participants

with an unusually clear experience of Soul.

The group leaves Los Angeles Sept 25 and returns Oct 6, l996.

After a 3 day orientation period in Sydney, the group will

fly to Alice Springs.

Accomodations will include hotels and 4 nights camping under

the stars in a comfortable swag which is a bedroll mattress,

pillow and sleeping bag all encased in a waterproof canvas.

Group is limited to 15 persons. For info Email

<australi@cdsnet.net> or

call 541-899-8843

============== ILLNESS AS DREAM, HEALING WITH METAPHORS

Bob Trowbridge has recently published a new book entitled

"The Hidden Meaning of Illness: Disease as a Symbol &

Metaphor" from A.R.E. Press.

Working from the premise that dreams are meaningful, and, if

life is meaningful, we can work on our life experiences just

as we work on our dreams, Bob presents a philosophical

framework and practical tools for dealing with illnesses as

dreams, using illness as a physical metaphor which can lead

to greater healing. The ISBN number for the book is

087604358-9.

If unavailable in your bookstore, copies can be ordered

directly from the author: Bob Trowbridge, 1050 Crestview

Drive #29, Mountain View, CA 94040.

Questions? Call directly at 415) 961.9109.

=============== WORKING WITH THE DREAMING BODY

Arnold Mindell is a noted Jungian analyst, who developed

process-oriented psychology, or Dreambody Work; a powerful

way of working holistically which integrates body, mind and

spirit. Process or Dreambody work deepens many therapeutic

modalities such as body work, communication and system

theories, dreamwork, physics and spirituality.

Virginia Dennehy, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist, will be

offering a workshop on process work meeting once monthly,

August through December, in Oakland, California, at the

Skyline Community Church, 12540 Skyline Blvd. Participants

are asked to commit to the series, and the cost is $75 per

session.

For more information, contact Virginia Dennehy, 539 Lincoln,

Palo Alto, CA, 94301. Telephone: 415) 326-6115.

============ DREAM MEDICINE RETREAT IN MOUNT SHASTA

The Creative Harmonics Institute in Mount Shasta, California,

will be presenting a three-day wilderness retreat August

15-18 with Shanja Kirstann. the retreat will feature

innovative dreamwork techniques, expressive approaches to

dreamwork (including drawing, dancing, singing, drama and

enactment of dream ritual) and methods to attune to the

visionary and dreamtime realms such as meditation, toning,

drumming and poetry.

Shanja Kirstann is a seasoned leader of Vision Quests, a

former teacher at JFK Graduate School of Consciousness, and a

student of Jean Houston and Marian Woodman.

The retreat includes three vegetarian meals daily, bathrooms,

and 40 acres of wilderness with trails, river, cedar grove

and labyrinth. Fee is $295.

For more information, contact Creative Harmonics Institute,

P.O. Box 940, Mt. Shasta, Ca 96067, or contact Shanja

Kirstann at 415) 256-1312, e-mail

<shanja@aol.com>.

========== DREAMS SOUGHT FOR BOOK ON PRECOGNITIVE DREAMING

Walt Stover is in the process of publishing a book through

A.R.E.

(Association for Research and Enlightenment) on precognitive

dreams, and needs additional dream material. For more

information, contact him directly in Marietta, Georgia at

707) 565.6215.

For those of you who are precognitive dreamers, chek out the

Central Premonitions Registry at

http://yaron.clever.net/precog/ -- a place to register

precognitive dreams.

=================== DREAMS & SECRETS PROJECT

Want to participate in an interesting exhibit featuring

dreams and secrets?

Peter Rosvik, of Vasa, Finland, is creating an exhibit to be

shown in 1997 and needs your help. The idea is that anyone

who desires to participate will send an envelope containing a

small text about dreams that never came true, or dreams about

the future, along with a small object that is meaningful,

symbolic, or of secret value known only to the sender. You

can make your own envelope, or enhance a purchased one in any

way you choose.

Just mark the envelope with the title of the project: DREAMS

AND SECRETS and send to:

Peter Rosvik

Hovrattsesplanaden 3 B 2

FIN-65100 Vasa, Finland

Mark your name and address on the back of the envelope so

Peter can thank you for your participation. Please note that

the envelopes will remain sealed, so the contents are secure.

For more information on the project, contact Peter at

<peter.rosvik@pp.qnet.fi>, or telephone +