An inspiring example of such is the experience of Black Elk described in Man and His Symbols. As a deeply ill young boy he had a vision in which ancestors gave him symbols promising a new way of life for his people. A few years later he suffered from debilitating phobias which only subsided after he acted out his vision with his people under the guidance of the medicine man.
| The ritual made many, even the animals, happier and healthier. |
Similarly, participants of dream groups consistently report just such a moving experience of the group collective. How does it happen that such a collective emerges? It often seems that the group has begun to take shape even before the first meeting, as if the decisions to join had already linked the participants. Astoundingly, many of the dreams told in the group turn out to be closely related to what is going on in the lives of others in the group. So it really feels as if the dream told by an individual has emerged from everyone sharing in it.
Although a dream group is not group therapy, Jung's opinion about the matter is interesting. He preferred the depth of the dialogue setting for therapy in relation to the group setting with its attendant social aspects. Yet it is independent of the setting in which dreams are told that they bring life to all parts of the Psyche, be they in light or shadow, logos or eros. Further, there are by now very many accounts of the healing influence of shared dreams.
We are very eager to make the years of experience with groups in the psychotherapeutic practice available to you. We are very hopeful that the familiar enrichment will also unfold in our forthcoming dream groups.
