Archetypal Dreamwork and the 12 Steps: The Recovery Chronicles #00

I came to the dreams by way of recovery. Most of my friends in recovery know this and have supported my journey over the years. I could not have possibly known in the early part of the new century when the alcohol had stopped working and the genie of rage had escaped from his lantern, that I would one day awaken as a teacher and healer.

A preposterous idea which had neither seed nor sun in the years, days and months leading up to my bottom, when all hope had been lost. No amount of pride, shame, or denial could offer a shield from the moment of clarity that said, "I'm done."  It was not a fantastical moment, there were no bright lights, no burning bush, nothing to portend the true coming storm. It was simply a moment of clarity where I knew that I must change or die.

When we hit bottom, finally admit we are powerless over alcohol and that our lives have become unmanageable, we hope for freedom from the mental obsession and physical compulsion to use or drink. We are small minded in that moment, for there is no way to understand the possibility of actually finding our soul again. We have no concept of our true potential and what is possible for us. We do not understand grace or how grace could enter our own lives. We must learn...sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly.

Today I follow a spiritual path rooted in 12 step recovery work and tempered by the wisdom of my dreams. I understand and embrace gratitude for my alcoholism. Today I work with others and their dreams. With my clients who are in recovery, I share that special bond of the band of fellows that we are in our shared language and understanding of 12 step work as the foundation of all that we do.

The basic tenets of the 12 steps are steeped in a gnostic approach to spirituality, namely that we choose a God of our understanding and enter into a personal relationship with that God to maintain a daily reprieve from our alcohol-ISM.  The truth is that all "AA's ", code word Spiritual Warrior!, become Bodhisattvas if they so choose.

A Bodhisattva is essentially one who journeys into herself to find the cause and acceptance of her suffering. Through this process, she learns humility, she learns compassion for herself, she makes her amends. She comes to terms with her past, neither regretting it nor wishing to close the door on it. Her difficulties are alchemized into love through the grace of God and a whole new set of values displaces her previous beliefs. In the huge upwelling of gratitude that comes from this experience, she wishes that all could be enlightened to this compassion and love, that all could find healing. She then actively chooses to return to the world and to carry this message of hope to others. This concept is the foundation of Step 12, "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps (the journey inward), we sought to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

In these postings, I will share my experience of recovery and how the dreams have supported, challenged and opened me in unexpected ways. I will share guidance and tips as to how you can begin to bring the power of your dreams to support your recovery work. And I will offer insights and stories from my own dreams and recovery work.

How is it then that our dreaming life can help us?

The dreams are like a lantern shining God's light into our darkest corners. They also illuminate our Divine potential as human beings with a purpose here on this earth now, today. Dreams will bring us repeatedly to the felt experience of acceptance of our powerlessness, showing us the subtler nuances of how our lives are unmanageable. Our Higher Power will come over and over in the guise of various Archetypes to provoke us, to teach us, and to guide us towards wholeness. We look to our dreams to more fully reveal our habitual patterns, the character defects which block us from our Higher Power, so that we may learn and understand that they are not our only choice. The dreams will support our 11th step work by providing us with the felt experience of our deep connection to Higher Power. They open us to our own Gnosis, the Promises, and a wisdom that is unique to each of us for carrying the message of our recovery and the hope for others.

Please subscribe to my blog, bookmark this page, or send me your email address to receive a link to these postings. I will be posting about every other week.

Practicum: Start writing down your dreams. Along with the dream narrative, make a note of what step you are currently working on and/or what character defect seems to be most troublesome in your life. If you have trouble remembering your dreams, check out my Tips for Dream Recall.

Check out my website if you would like to explore your dreams with me: www.archetypaldreamworks.com. Feel free to share comments or questions here. I will answer all who take the time to write.

To find all posts from The Recovery Chronicles simply enter "recovery chronicles" into the search bar on the right hand column of this blog.

Link to The Recovery Chronicles #01...the next post.

In fellowship on the Road of Happy Destiny,
Laura Smith

Plumbing the Deep Well - Tips for Dream Recall

"I don't remember my dreams", is a woe often expressed by folks who would like to open to the possibilities offered in working with dreams. It is also expressed by those who are already working with their dreams when they hit that inevitable "dry spell".

We all dream. Remembering our dreams takes presence, lightheartedness, and tenderness.

Basic tips for dream recall:

1. Never judge yourself over a perceived lack of dreaming or your ability to recall dreams. The resulting frustration further hinders our ability to recall. It is important to hold your dream recall with tenderness. Laying in bed before falling asleep, express your desire to be in relationship with your dreams. Set an intention to remember your dreams. You may want to meditate on your current dreamwork practice/homework, recalling certain moments of current dreams you are working with. You can also try reading material that inspires you or material which contains teachings that are important to you. Recently, I began reading from The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying...this has prompted the recall of many dreams.

2. How we wake up is critical. Avoid using an alarm clock, or find an alarm clock that awakens you gently. There are some out there that use the sound of ocean waves or rain. I use often the Zen Clock  which has a progressive alarm. Waking up naturally to your own body's rhythm is best. Over time, if you choose, you can train yourself to wake up without an alarm.

3. Upon awakening, it is important to stay present with the dream. Repeat it in your mind several times if you can. The dream is quickly lost back down the deep well by a mind that jumps into the day ahead of the body. Even if you remember only a snippet of a dream, hold on to it in the way described above by repeating it several times in your mind. A snippet can be a scene or tableau, an image, character, or feeling (emotional or physical in the body).

4. Keep your dream journal near the bed. I use my iphone notepad. Whatever works for you. But write down everything you remember from the dream. Try not to interpret, judge, or shrug off the dream. All dreams carry meaning and snippets can often be quite powerful in their simplicity! No dream is a “bad” dream.

5. Keeping our dreams ever present is a practice. And, remember, we all have seeming “dry spells”. But my experience has shown me that what I think is a dry spell is a cluster of snippets, images and feelings which have moved my work forward in profound ways.

*****
Some additional observations and insights into working with dream recall:

~ I have noticed that going to bed earlier and waking up earlier naturally improves my dream recall.


~ I have noticed that if I disengage from electronic devices at least 30 minutes before going to sleep, this improves my dream recall.

~ I have noticed that if I wake up during the night that I will often remember a dream upon awakening. If I don't take a moment to write it down, I may not remember it even if I think I will.

~ Sometimes, I will write a dream down, go back to sleep and then the next day when I read the dream, I can't recall it even though it is written down. It's ok...keep it in the mix, it has meaning...even the fact that it can't be recalled despite your notes is information.

~ Increased stress in my world-side life distracts me from my spiritual life. This affects my dream recall. Even when we think we are not dreaming, it's not true...we are! We simply are overly distracted by our world-side lives. Take some time to slow down, check in with your dreamwork practice/homework more frequently. Incorporate mindfulness practice such as meditation or yoga into your life.

~ I have a trick I sometimes use that works when a dream goes back down. I imagine a deep, dark well at the bottom of which are my lost dreams and I dive down in with the intention of finding the dream. I allow myself to swim and then sink. Sometimes this works. A visual re-entry point back into the subconscious can help.

Artist: Henrik Aarrestad Uldalen

The Inner Solstice

When I think of the Winter Solstice, I think of the ever present cycle of life giving way to death giving way to life. It is the breath, the fullness and the release, like the ocean rising and falling with the pull of the moon. There are many mythologies associated with the solstice that go back to the ancients. Most carry a message of hope for the return of the light.

And what of our inner solstice? How do we experience the return of our own light? When our day wanes dark and the night reigns, do we feel the gathering of hope? Do we feel a quickening in our veins as we approach that moment when the sun stands still? A pause in the great cosmic breath is perhaps a place for reflection before we begin the arc to fullness once again.

There are very real lessons in the mythologies and traditions of the solstice. It has to do with faith, acceptance and humility. Do we believe in that darkest moment that the light will return? Even in our highest moment, do we understand that darkness will reign once again? How can we allow space for the inevitable return of darkness without giving way to hopelessness? And how can we step with joy and humility into the fullness of our returning light?

As someone who has worked with others both in addiction recovery and through dreamwork, the mythology of the great cycle of life is encountered over and over as we face into each issue. Faith, acceptance and humility can't be found in idolatry or temples or the greatest teacher, but must be found within. And, it is not a singular event but one which we must continually return to. It is a process of becoming balanced, surrendering over and over to the great cycle.

When we live in the bated breath of anticipation of life and also learn to honor the embrace of darkness, we can find our own discernment within the rhythm of living.

Here is a winter solstice dream from my dream journal, that may be important to feel into during this current time:

Dream: I see doves peeling out of the earth from a mass grave that is around a huge old oak tree. As each dove peels free from the dirt, it rises up into the sunlit sky, first one, then twos and then small groups.

Blessings to you during this darkest and longest night..as you rest in the belly of the divine mother...may you find faith in the return of the light.

"Spirit Rising" by Marina Petro

The Wounded Healer = Bodhisattva

 I had believed that climbing to the top of the mountain was to win, to come out on top, to survive. Before I understood there was a journey, I was simply the survivor of my life. Was this not better than becoming the victim of life? I disdained the victim, believing that to have survived was simply the better position to take. The simple truth of the survivor is that they move through life as a victim too.

And thus a terrible spin is born out of this simple reaction to the traumatic elements of our lives that would have us striving to be on top so as to dominate our fears, or becoming so overwhelmed by our fears that we hide so as not to be seen, never to speak from our hearts.

The survivor/victim are two sides of the same spinning coin. The survivor sees them self as the hero in the mythology of the trial in which they believe they survived. The victim believes that their experience is beyond their control from a place of believing they should have control. Their lot is hopelessness. 

But what is sacrificed at the altar of the hero, is the girl. And, perhaps what is laid at the altar of the victim is the boy. Most of us live either in one of these extremes or embody elements of both depending upon the situation and our trauma identified reaction to it. Either way it amounts to the loss of the soul self. 

The Alchemist's Hand - North Node Promise

This is my version of the Alchemist's Hand. I call it North Node Promise.

The dreams provide us with the imagery, often set in a metaphorical story, to move us into the feelings necessary for alchemy to occur within us. Alchemy, in the psychological sense, implies transformation, integration of opposites, and ultimately the transmutation of our inner conflicts into inner harmony.

"In reference to the divine work of creation and the plan of salvation within it, the alchemistic process was called the 'Great Work'. In it, a mysterious chaotic source material called materia prima, containing opposites still incompatible and in the most violent conflict, is gradually guided towards a redeemed state of perfect harmony, the healing 'Philosophers' Stone' or lapis philosophorum: First we bring together, then we putrefy, we break down what has been putrefied, we purify the divided, we unite the purified and harden it. In this way is One made from man [masculine, yang] and woman [feminine, yin]."

Büchlein vom Stein der Weisen, 1778

The dreams are as rich with archetypal imagery as the great hermetic works of the alchemists and mystics. As an Archetypal Dreamwork Practitioner, I work with clients to explore the images and motifs to help illuminate what they might mean for each dreamer.