God's Language

Tomorrow, I will be facilitating a dream group in an event sponsored by Dreamwork Canada. If you are interested, you can find more information at https://dreamworkcanada.squarespace.com/.  We will be using a group process of exploring dreams which I was trained in with the Haden Institute.  In this process we consider dreams to be God’s Forgotten Language.

Dreams are a way in which God “speaks” to us.  However, our culture has lost the knowledge that  God is communicating with us through our dreams.  In the case of dreams and in many of the other ways in which God speaks to us, we no longer understand how God is speaking to us or even that God is speaking to us.  God does speak to us in many different ways and in many modes.  In the case of dreams, God uses the language of metaphor and symbols.    By exploring the images in dreams and treating them as metaphors and symbols, we can unpack the message and meaning contained in the dream.

Our culture generally does not appreciate the value that dreams bring to each of us.  We maintain that dream come in the service of health and wholeness of the dreamer and of society.  As a Christian, I have faith that dreams are used by God to help us become the people that God intends us to be.  However, even if you don’t believe this, dreams can still be understood as necessary and beneficial for our health and wholeness and will enable us to live life more fully.

If you would like to explore what dreams can say to you, the best way to begin is to record you dreams by writing them down i.e. keep a dream journal.  That will assist you in remembering your dreams which can be a challenge for many people.  Look at the images in the dream and begin to explore the images by identifying the associations you have with that image.  For instance, if it is a building, what kind of a building is it – a house, a school, a government building.  What is the purpose of the building and what kind of activity might occur in the building.  Look for the ‘aha’ moment when the meaning is revealed in this exploration. 

There are many books which can help you on this journey into the world of dreams.  Many sources are available on the internet but as with all information of the internet, be careful not to be led down rabbit holes.  A good place to start is the Dreamwork Canada web site which has resources listed and information on upcoming events where you can gain experience with working with dreams.

I will close with the prayer we use when working with dreams in our group process.

Holy Dream Maker, Creator of All,
Be with us as we open our hearts and minds 
to the divine wisdom in our dreams.
We thank you and honour You.
As you guide us in the way to health and wholeness,
may we be open to the blessings of your message.

May you be blessed to know the meaning of your dreams on your journey.

 

Magic in God’s Forgotten Language

 Some of you may be aware that I ascribe to the understanding that dreams are God’s Forgotten Language.  In biblical time – ancient times in general, dreams were considered to be ways in which God or gods spoke to people.  The Christian and Jewish scriptures are full of accounts of God speaking to people in dreams and visions. 

Both the Christian Old and New Testaments have accounts of God doing just this, speaking to people in this way.  By one count, there are 39 times in which God speaks to people in dreams and visions.  Can you think of any examples of this?

If we accept the understanding of dreams by those people in biblical times, does it follow that this is true for us today?  Today, dreams are generally not understood as a way that God speaks to us.  The understanding of dreams changed in the Enlightenment with the development of a scientific approach to the world and things had to be seen under a microscope or through a telescope or in a test tube to be believed.  Even the development of psychology puts dreams into a reductionistic, materialistic approach to understanding them. This began to change in the twentieth century through the work of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung among others. 

How then can we approach our dreams today to learn the language of dreams in which God or the divine is speaking to us?  The first step in this understanding is to realize that dreams come from a place in which our logical, rationalistic minds are not in control.  Dreams use the language of symbols.  In considering what our dreams are saying to us, we need to explore what these symbols mean for us.  The next step in the understanding is to be aware that in dreams it really is all about us i.e., the content of the dream is a representation of aspects of the dreamer.  A third step or understanding is that dreams come in the service of health and wholeness of the dreamer.

One effective way of exploring what the dream images is through a process that has been dubbed ‘the Six Magic Questions’.  This is not actually ‘magic’.  However, this was the way one participant described the process as it seemed to work like magic at getting to the meaning behind what can be rather puzzling aspects of dreams.  Here’s a brief introduction to the six ‘magic’ questions which can be used to explore images in dreams:

Six Magic Questions

 I am...X

1. My purpose as X        is...

2. As X                         I like...

3. As X                             I dislike...

4. As X                             I fear...

5. As X                             My greatest desire is...

6. As  x                            I would tell the dreamer..

 

I used this method on a recent dream in which there was a car with the paint job was on fire but apparently not consumed.  Here’s what the method revealed:

Six Magic Questions

 I am... car paint job

1. My purpose as a pain job is to protect the car from rust and to enhance the appearance of the car

2. As a car paint job I like how I look

3. As car paint job I dislike it when I am damaged by accident and become rusted

4. As car paint job I fear that I will not be cared for by the car owner

5. As car paint job my greatest desire is to appear perfect and spotless

6. As a car paint job I would tell the dreamer that it is okay not to be perfect. 

I am offering an opportunity to explore this method in a workshop in which the participants will be introduced more fully to the method and have opportunities to apply it to a biblical story and well as dreams of the participants. 

DREAMWORK CANADA is an ecumenical group (Anglican,
Mennonite, United Churches) that tries to reconnect, develop and
help carry on the vital Judeo-Christian dreamwork tradition which has
functioned in the Church from the time of the Old Testament. We are
offering two opportunities via Zoom to explore our dreams as one of the
ways God speaks to us. Each session will enable participants to explore
dreams from different approaches within a Christian context using the
concepts of Carl Jung.

 

Tuesday, February 28, 2023 6:30PM—8:30 PM ET
Exploring Dreams Through Six Magic Questions
Led by Rev. Greg Little
The participants will be introduced to the process for using the “six magic
questions” approach to exploring dreams. This approach can unlock
the meaning of dream images and the meaning of their dreams. The
participants will have opportunities to work with other participants in
applying the method to dreams in a small group setting.

Tickets and Information dreamworkcanada.squarespace.com/

May you have a blessed dream life on your journey.

 

Dreams, God’s Forgotten Language

 

Today, after Easter Sunday, we are in a time when Jesus Christ was raised from the dead.   One may ask, how are Christians to know what God is calling us to do and be in the world today?  One way is to listen to what God is telling us in our dreams.  

 

Dreamwork Canada is offering three opportunities via Zoom to explore our dreams as one of the ways God speaks to us. Each session will enable participants to explore dreams from different approaches within a Christian context using the concepts of Carl Jung. We will be offering an opportunity in learning how indigenous communities relate to their dreams. Our first workshop will feature an opportunity to explore an indigenous approach to reconciliation through dreams.

 

Workshop Opportunities

 

Tuesday, May 10, 2022, 6:30 PM—8:30 PM  ET

Dreams and Reconciliation-Hope for the Future of us All.

Led by Dr. Wendy Whitecloud

 

Tuesday, October 25, 2022  6:30PM—8:30 PM  ET

Movement, Body and Faith in Dreams

Led by Alexandra Caverly-Lowery, MDiv, ThM.

 

Tuesday, February 21, 2023  6:30 PM—8:30 PM  EST, ,

Six Magic Questions, led by Rev. Greg Little

 

For more about the workshops and the leaders please visit our website: www.dreamworkcanada.squarespace.com

 

To register, follow this link: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/bloor-street-united-church/events/dreamworks-exploring-gods-forgotten-language-2/

 

Dreams, God’s Forgotten Language

                                                                         

Jacob’s Dream

Many of you will know that I hold dreams to be very important in my life and as a phenomenon which is universal in people’s experience.  To be clear, I am speaking of dreams which people experience in their sleep and not the hopes that people might have for their lives – although night dreams can express that aspect of people’s lives.

In this modern age, particularly in the scientific age, dreams have not been given much credence.  They were and often are dismissed as being a mechanical process which, at best, was a way for the brain to process and clear out the detritus of the previous days’ activity.  Historically, however, this was not the case.  Dreams were understood to be a way in which God, or gods, or demons communicated with people.  Indeed, dreams play a significant role for Christians and Jews in the way that God communicated with people of the Bible as the shown by the illustration of Jacob’s dream above. 

We Christians are about to enter the season of Advent which is the preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Christ child.  The Christmas story is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the role that dreams as messages from God to the Holy family - from the annunciation to the dubious Mary that she would bear the son the God and the announcement of that miracle to her shocked husband to be.  There were many other divine dreams such the warning to the wise men not to return to the tell the despicable king Herod of the birth.  That is just a taste of the riches of the Christmas story from the perspective of how dreams are used to communicate divine messages to people.

One of the challenges which we face today is to understand how God is speaking to us in dreams.  Modern people, for the most part, now longer understand what God is telling us in our dreams.  In effect, we no longer know the language of dreams.  I have been involved, for many years, in helping people understand how to do this through the insights and inspiration of Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist.  Along with my wife Lorna and others we will be offering an introduction in how to work with our dreams to understand them as a way in which God speaks to us.  We will be holding a workshop at the end of this coming January.  It will be offered via Zoom which has the challenge of new (to us) technology but also the advantage that it can be accessed regardless of the participants’ location.  The information of the workshop is provided below.

Dreams:  God’s Forgotten Language

      Friday Jan 29, 2021 (7:30 pm – 9:00 pm)  

                  Saturday Jan 30, 2021 (9:30 am – 4:30 pm)

Cost $40

Join us on Zoom and explore the language of dreams.

This workshop will offer opportunities to an approach to understanding our dreams as one of the ways that God speaks to us.  Within a Christian context, participants will learn about dream interpretation using the concepts of Carl Jung and have opportunities to explore their own dreams as well as working with the dreams of others in a group context. 

This workshop will offer opportunities for those who are new to Jung’s approach to working with dreams as well as those who are familiar with the concepts and practice of Jungian dream work.

Tickets and information ― https://dreamworkcanada.squarespace.com/