All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream. Edgar Allan Poe
Dreams are today’s answers to tomorrow’s questions. Edgar Cayce
There is no such thing as a dream with only one meaning.
All dreams and dream images are “overdetermined,” and have multiple meanings and layers of significance. Jeremy Taylor
The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind. Sigmund Freud
I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man. Zhuangzi
Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake. Henry David Thoreau
Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. Carl Jung
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Nearly two years ago ( right before my birthday ) I drove up towards the lovely old Quaker Meetinghouse in Abington, PA. It was a sumptuous Autumn day. The dazzling November sun stood high above and smiled upon the fall foliage in all its multicolored splendor. Leaves of burgundy, gold, mahogany, and rust wore their costumes proudly under the brilliant sapphire sky. As my car made its way up the hill I felt as if I was being reborn again. My soul was being restored to its default setting – miraculous pure glory!!
Backstory: Around 2010 or 2011 the idea came to me to return to dream work. It was the right time to reopen that particular door. Perhaps I was looking for experiences I could rely on that were abundant and easily accessible. Yeah I am one of those people – I remember some of my dreams almost daily. Even today when I felt relieved that I had no recall, an hour or so later the storyline from last evening’s drama appeared in my waking mind. As a child and adolescent I had thought everyone dreamed regularly and remembered the details, not just the nightmares! In college I took a dream course with one of my friends. We had a blast. We studied and processed dream material from Freudian, Jungian and Gestalt perspectives. I still prefer Jung to this day. I think that he has a more evolved perspective than Freud and a more transpersonal approach than Perls’ Gestalt philosophy. My boyfriend at the time ( yeah him !) and I would process our dreams together every morning, He has the moon in Cancer and mine is in the 4th house so dream sharing came naturally to us. I have been fortunate to find some very sensitive and intuitive men throughout my adulthood who are active dreamers like me. When I was in high school though, I felt isolated about my active dreaming and terrified of the pre-cognitive dreams that I was experiencing. Fortunately I came to terms with the dream process through support from others and studying Psychology.
So around 2011 I decided to follow my intuition and seek out a dream class. I found an evening dream workshop in my community. I remember entering the dimly lit church and walking through the dark corridors. There was magic in the air. The class itself was not that informative but many of my fellow students were truly major dreamers. They spoke about lucid dreams, recurring dreams, psychic dreams, astral travel, returning to dreams after awakening, and more. They were my people! One woman mentioned Pendle Hill ( one of my sacred places) and Quaker meeting early on in the evening. I knew that was a sign. Later when we exchanged contact information she told me about an ongoing group held at Abington Meeting.
History of Abington Meeting and Short Stable: According to http://abington.quaker.org/ The original meetinghouse was erected between 1698 and 1699. By the middle of the 18th century Abington’s meetinghouse was the only building large enough to hold Quarterly Meeting. This is the event held 4 times a year when all the monthly meetings in the area come together to conduct business. In 1760 a blacksmith shop was built adjacent to the meetinghouse. Many Quakers came to meeting in horse-drawn vehicles or on horseback; by having a blacksmith shop and engaging a smith for the day they could have their horses shod while they worshiped or attended to business. This structure still stands and is currently known as “the Short Stable”.
Abington Dream Group: So I arrived at the Short Stable and entered this historic building. I immediately had a deja vu experience. I felt at home and I was beaming with joy. I was welcomed by the leader and other dreamers as if they were expecting me. In fact it felt like I was at my own birthday party. To call the situation surreal would be an understatement. The room was filled with love and sparkled with electricity. The energy from the roaring fireplace seemed to ignite and sustain the group’s ability to share and process the dream material put forth. It may sound like a cliché, but my initial visit felt like an actual dream.
We use Jeremy Taylor’s dream theory and format to operate the group. Jeremy Taylor has been writing and practicing his own version of Jungian dream work for over forty years. He emphasizes that the dreamer’s perspective is the most important and that all dreams occur to teach us something. Like Jung, he stresses the symbolic and multi – layered nature of dreams . He also insists that the dreamer will feel it in their heart when they hear the correct interpretation.
The intersection of this sacred space and the people who are attracted to it is what makes this group extraordinary. The people are new friends I have known forever and the insights made manifest are amazing. I included this Dream group in the Returning Home Series because the Divine dwells here for me. Dreamwork is a lifelong route for me to access the divine but this particular group is Divine in action. Some doors are better kept locked and shuttered. This door however led me back home.
Tell me about your take on dreams –
Do you have regular recall?
What do dreams mean to you in the overall scheme of your spiritual life?
Do you have a favorite dream theory?
What types of dreams do you have?
How do your dreams influence your definition of reality?
Dream work Resources –
http://www.dreammoods.com/dreaminformation/dreamtheory/jung.htm
Films that feature dreams –
Music: I included these 3 videos for 3 different reasons ~
The first is a Grateful Dead song that constitutes ” prep work” for initiation into altered states of being. Its inclusion here is more intuitive than logic bound! The title The Golden Road to Unlimited Devotion is evocative to a place one visits during a deep meditative state. I loooooved this song as a teen and saw myself as the girl in the song. Keep your mind open ……
The second song is Hold On Tight to your Dreams , an upbeat classic by ELO that has cutting edge visuals and an uplifting message. Just like the dream world, it takes you on a mind bending ride.
My final choice is Dream Weaver, a simply beautiful song by Gary Wright accompanied by breathtaking imagery. It is an aural and visual banquet. Partake with abandon!
related posts – https://lindalitebeing.wordpress.com/2013/06/30/musing-we-can-be-heroes-just-for-one-day/
https://lindalitebeing.wordpress.com/2013/09/09/im-gonna-make-this-place-your-home/
https://lindalitebeing.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/litebeings-guide-to-the-movies/
blue door header and fall foliage images courtesy of http://www.imagebase.net/
all other photos by litebeing chronicles © 2013
litebeing chronicles 
I used to remember my dreams regularly, very detailed, and I liked to research & get involved with them 🙂 I still remember them from time to time, & my dreams are almost always ‘weird’ 🙂
I had one recurring theme dream from the ages of about 16-21/22. Different scenarios, but always eneded with me getting shot or going to my execution! They were so real, the feeling of dying, of no escape… to this day I don’t why I had them, then, they *seemed* to come up randomly.
Happy to see I haven’t had a dream like that since!
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the recurring dreams most likely stopped because you learned their lessons to you. I wonder why your recall has diminished. If you want to resume recall I can help you with this!
glad the violent dreams ended for you:)
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I think because I am just so busy and so tired at night & my little live Mini-Thor alarm clock goes off early EVERY morning (haha!) I don’t have a chance to come up slowly… busy Mama lifestyle leaves no room for dream function!!
That’s my theory anyway 🙂
And thank you for your offer xx
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even moms need to dream sometimes 🙂
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I wish I could be of assistance to you because dreams are definitely my thing. I keep a journal but have not been using it much recently because I have been suffering from insomnia. Something stops me from sleeping. The best about dreams for me is the art of interpretation. I recently bought a book Healing Night by Rubin Naiman and I am looking forward to reading it. I need to heal my
night. I know that well interpreted dreams can have healing properties.
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Hi Monika,
I thought of you while creating this post! Really sorry about the insomnia, such a Gemini affliction 😦
Exercise helps. no caffeine after noon, no sugar after dinner, no TV or computer atleast one hour before bed, create a sleep hygiene routine….. This is my professional self emerging here as I have worked frequently with this issue. Let me know how you like the book. I am reading Jeremy Taylor and Lucid Dreams by Robert Moss ( that means they are on night table lol!) I was at my group today and the dreamer did seem to receive some healing through our decoding.
Stay tuned as I plan to devote a post to some of my most memorable dreams. Feel free to come back here and comment if you remember some dreams and feel like sharing later. feel better, I have had insomnia and it is no fun at all.
love, Linda
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Wonderful experiences and not surprising that you felt you knew each other and were welcomed home… I do believe we are re-connecting with our soul groups who are coming together to help open up the energy even further….
Dreams have always been with me, from a young age vivid.. And I am always flying in them… I would love to have access to a Dream group,
My Dreams have become increasingly vivid in some I know I am not on this planet! In others I am often in other countries, and recently I have had many small children with me, Last night I was in Mexico with the children, and was helping rescue them from water… Water is playing a major theme throughout many of my dreams at the moment Linda, …
Wishing you a wonderful Weekend and Happy Dreaming 🙂
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Thank you Sue! Seems like we have more in common as I often travel to places like foreign countries. A few times I even left my body and did some astral travel. Occasionally I have flown. I am considering doing a separate post on some of my most memorable dreams as some readers have been curious.
I hope you are correct about the soul groups. I was at my group today in fact and the love there is palpable 🙂 I hope you can find a dream group in your area to give support and provide wisdom.
Happy dreaming and lots of light, Linda
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Yes, I did run my own development Spiritual group for many years, then a trance group.. and a physical phenomenon circle for several years… This year I retire from my spiritual services as I give demonstrations in Spiritualist Centres around the Midlands… Its time for Me and Hubby now to spend our weekends together ( when I am not working my day job) lol… she says….
Please give me a shout out if I miss your post, as with days away from the pc, my inbox is overrun with new posts from WP…
I know when I have been helping others in my sleep time, strange as that may sound, but I know you will relate…
Astral travel I have had 3 really vivid recalls of that,, and its something you know is not a dream! 😉
looking forward to reading more
Hugs Sue xox
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I would have enjoyed the spiritual development group! That is great that you have helped others in your sleep time. I use mine to rest and seek healing and meaning with some adventure thrown in.
I will contact you if i don’t see you around when I post something new. I really enjoy your presence here.
Enjoy your ” downtime”.
peace, Linda
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I understand water to represent emotions.
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Yes you are right.. And that’s because I am working alongside some very emotional issues with people I support I guess at the moment… and while I am very professional in my job and try to detach, I know subconsciously I take on board much emotion due to the world events with empathy..
Thank you 🙂
Sue
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That subconscious, mine just keeps showing me things I think I am over, to keep reoccurring in my dreams. I so understand.
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Listening to Dream Weaver as I type this 🙂
The Dream group sounds so interesting, though I don’t really remember many of my dreams there are some that do stick with me. There was one that was SO vivid I wrote it out as soon as I woke up…I could still see it!
Most of my dreams strangely enough, the really “weird” ones and the ones that are most vivid are usually in the afternoons!! Hmmm…
I do like the way you described your experience with the Quakers because I’m sure it felt really, really nice to feel that you were being welcomed home!! Awesome (in a way) that you can remember many of your dreams! And precognitive ones? ooo…
Hehehe!
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Oh! and this one : All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream. Edgar Allan Poe – that one is totally awesomely freaky. Imagine if we all kept wondering if our lives were dreams within dreams….and isn’t Brahma been called the Cosmic dreamer? The Creator of our world… O.O
Now I’m wondering if we did an experiment like Monika’s series…with LSD or something milder like uhmm…you know the one that cows eat? hehehe….AND then thought about us being in a dream within a dream…..wow!!!!!!
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you can go ahead and trip and report back hehe
My mind is already blown enough. I wonder more and more what baseline reality is anymore, as more and more my vision has been expanded.
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LOL!!!.Okay…when the opportunity knocks, I shall invite him in 😉
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Who is ” him” ?
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Opportunity to go on a “trip”…hehehe.I thought an opportunity to do something “naughty” like taking a psychedelic trip should be appropriately be a “him” instead of a “her” 😛
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glad you provided a translation here! Go be naughty once in a while, you deserve some diversions 🙂
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Hi Shree,
Dream work with others really makes a difference. Whether in my college course or with a partner or now in groups, the common denominator is the kinship and support. As a therapist I have done dream analysis, as well as just analyzing my own dreams or for other people who just ask ( This happens frequently !) Yet I like the process more when it is not isolated. Not all the members are Quakers but the leader is and was given permission to provide this group on behalf of the Meeting. She had a calling to do this and she is a very gifted kind soul, I adore her!
About the afternoons, seems to me you probably get better quality sleep then, maybe it has to do with your circadian rhythm.
love ya, Linda
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Could be Linda…I know my afternoon naps are SO much like deep sleep with those dreams..
It does sound like an interesting session Linda. Even if I can’t remember dreams…well not that many, it would be so interesting to just ‘be a fly on the wall” at one of these sessions!!
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I was there today and I get so much support. It is through the leader that I met someone who asked me to teach my first astrology class and it is next week! One woman reminds me of my deceased grandmother and has her smile 🙂 It is also uncanny that while I was reading a post about ancestors who I never knew but love me, your comment lights up in orange. Just sayin’ ……
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Ooo…hehe. See, I just absolutely LOVE the WAY you look at things!! And that is what I feel I have to learn to do! To take everything that happens with gratitude and to gain back the wonder of daily living!!
By the way…did you get the email I sent you…my reply to your email? It was “funny” because the content of that email came right before your blog on dreams 😉
Ooo…*seeeeeee*!!!!…Just sayin’ 😀
Hehehe
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh and CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! You are going to be great!!! 😀
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Yes I got it and it was very timely 🙂 I plan to write you back in time for you to reply on Monday. Funny I typed Mindy. Do you watch the Mindy project? It is a comedy about a female East Indian Doctor. Just sayin’ ……………
🙂 🙂 🙂 Happy New Moon Shree!
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Oh that’s cool!! And no I don’t watch Mindy…I know it’s on the Fox channel here..but haven’t actually watched it!
LOL…when we strive to look at all things with magic in our eyes…it is hard for the magic to run away..isn’t it? 😉
Ah…if only there is a way to truly embrace it when things get really tough in our lives or when faced with personal hurt and sadness…but then..I’m sure there is. We need to just find it, I suppose?
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when we strive to look at all things with magic in our eyes…it is hard for the magic to run away..isn’t it?
can I tweet this please ?
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Oh…of course you can!
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yea
thanx for the heads up on the clown, where do you find these people? I am lovin this 5 day series. My taste is very eclectic. You also turned me on to the blog about the crazy family, this hit too close to home but I kept reading till it seemed to stop posting. Do you have an alter ego Shree?
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LOL the clown…well I follow Rara’s blog..another awesome blogger..and she shared a post from Le Clown’s blog..
As for the My Parents Are Crazier than yours blog, I truly am not sure how I got to her blog..lol.
I don’t *think* so..I’m sort of a jumble of different characters…that’s what I feel at times..hehe.
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One reason that might be that you can remember the afternoon dreams are because you are really already rested, after naps are almost like luxury astral trips.When I was living with my brother, I had his oldest daughter room, she has her own place, and I slept in her bed. I used to dream of her all the time. Energy in beds, which is why we should safe guard our sleeping environments. 😉
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Oh…hmm..that’s an interesting way to look at it! And thanks for the tip..though the only one that really ever shares my bed now is Jack…my doggy..hehe.
Hmm…I wonder if I’ll know when he’s hogging my bed too much if I start having doggy dreams! Now, *that* would be a trip!!
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That part didn’t really apply to you, I just thought it was an interesting observation.
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Hehehe…I know…but it *was* an interesting tip too!!
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😀 My niece is not someone whose energy I really wanted to sleep in either. lol
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Yes, the dream group sounds fun. I have always been fascinated by dreams. I feel as if I am genuinely somewhere else.
Prior to entering analysis, back in the mid-nineties, during a very difficult time in my life, I had many lucid dreams. I would dream that I woke up, and in the dream I would be exactly where I really was which made the dream seem as if I were awake and quite real. Then, in the dream something weird or bad would happen and at some point I would wake up, or have the feeling that I was waking up. It was very confusing and scary.
Probably the strangest dream I can remember was one in which I was on the ground and looked down, feeling as if I was stuck and saw that my midsection had become a tree. Whoa!
During my analysis I kept a dream diary and occasionally reread it. It’s amazing how the metaphors for my life come through in the telling of a dream.
Great post!
Debra
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Hi Debra,
I love your tree dream – very potent with symbolism. I have also had many false awakening dreams, which begs the question – what does AWAKE look like?
thanks for sharing.your dreams with us
peace, Linda
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Thank you Linda!
That’s a great question! I never thought about it that way, but maybe that is the message.
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🙂
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I wish I had a dream group, that just sounds so fascinating to me. The Short Stable would just blow my mind, I can feel its history just from the pictures. I have had some very interesting dreams lately and it would be so nice to be able to discuss them with people like your group,
I love Dream Weaver, have it on my iTunes, always been a favorite.
Much love, great post.
Namaste
✿ღ✿ღ.¸¸ღ♫*¨`*•..¸ƸӜƷ ✿ღ ✫❀
Sindy
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Hi Sindy,
I have been thinking a lot about you lately. Dream groups can be wonderful – the right mix of souls in the right location and voila! I was at Short Stable today and I can tell you it is awesoooome. I love old places with pure loving energy. I would seek out a group or create one! I searched and searched and now I have 2 groups! I wanted it so much and I ” attracted ” (your lingo) it to me !
much love back dear Sindy xx
PS I saw Gary Wright with Peter Frampton and Yes in concert and of course he played Dream Weaver , this video is so beautiful – take a look ..
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I used to have a variation on a frightening theme, I was always in a house, usually a different one every time, it would be dark outside and someone or something evil or wanting to do me harm out in the dark. They stopped and I have not had those dreams in years!
Well last night, and I had only been asleep about an hour, (which means in a pretty deep sleep) I was in a really nice house, with polished cement floors. I was having a really nice dream, sitting on the floor and stretching, a friend (that I am no longer friends with) was there. All of the sudden, a dog that I don’t know but in the dream was a family dog, a German Shepard started barking and growling at the back sliding glass door. Suzi says, someones in the yard, someones in here! I rush to see and it was a person but like they had been frozen by a volcano or something like clay, or the scary angels in Dr. Who, that move when you blink. I said get a knife, my heart was racing and I ran to the kitchen to look for a knife and then I woke up. My heart was still racing.
Now the “statue” had a prominent feature, one it was a man and two he had a goatee like beard, with his arms outreached like he was coming for me. Once awake I realize that statue was David (the bf who left me) Suzi the friend who hurt and left me, both Cancers, and I was feeling very rejected yesterday. As I wrote this earlier to some friends I got most of my answers but it was crazy!
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Sindy,
Jeremy Taylor says that dreams never tell you something you already know so even a recurring dream would illuminate new data with each occurence. I would ask myself about the identitiy of the dog and the function of the sliding glass door. With your lunar profile, dream work should be a very powerful tool for you!
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As I was writing about it I got a lot of understanding. Then last night again a dream with Dave. A lot of dreaming. In real life I just cut my thumb really badly with a knife. lol Go figure, I really can’t be trusted with knives.
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