Dreams have long provided a powerful venue for healing, and an unparalleled point of entry into the mythopoetic realms. Many indigenous cultures, such as the Senoi of Malaya used dreams to create a bridge between waking reality and a repository of collective wisdom about how to live in harmony with each other and the more-than-human world. The ancient Greeks created dream incubation chambers in healing temples at Epidaurus and elsewhere, where supplicants could evoke a visitation from Asklepius, and receive guidance for the alleviation of their ailments. Modern psychotherapists like Carl Jung, James Hillman, Strephon Kaplan Williams, Edward Tick and Stephen Aisenstadt have explored the power of dreams to guide the journey of soul from within. Robert Moss has pioneered a neo-shamanic approach to entering the Dreamtime – “a sacred space, a hidden dimension of reality into which you can travel along the paths of dreaming.”
We will explore all of these paths at Yggdrasil. Our focus will not be interpretation, but rather a living embodiment of the dream through interaction with its imagery, dialogue with the beings we encounter, immersion in the interior landscape of the dream itself, and a translation of the energy of the dream into movement, art, music, poetry and other forms of creative self-expression.
At Yggdrasil, tending some of our dreams will be synonymous with tending our sacred wounds; others – those Jung called “big dreams” – may deepen our relationship to visionary calling. Still others will introduce us to diverse intelligences with whom we can enter into meaningful dialogue. Most dreams will naturally court the mythopoetic realm.
The very idea of Yggdrasil is a dream being called into relationship with waking state reality. But as the ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi and contemporary psychotherapist Stephen Aisenstat might both wonder, “Are we dreaming Yggdrasil, or is Yggdrasil dreaming us?”
