Linda Yael Schiller, MSW, LICSW

Integrative and Embodied Dreamwork and Healing

With you as my therapist I finally learned to trust another human being. You helped me discover faith in the world and in myself. I didn’t think that was going to be possible. You have been a real gift in my life.

-- J.C.

The World of Waking Dreams

“Merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream”

 

Greetings fellow dreamers!

This has been a summer of inner and outer travel.  Since my last post in June, I have journeyed on the physical plane (actually by plane) to Berkeley, CA. to present a workshop at the International Dream conference (IASD), then two weeks later to Chautauqua Institute in Western New York to teach a different class on dreams.  On the inner plane; perhaps because of being immersed in the dream world at these conferences, or the alignment of the of planets, or some connection with the Mysteries; or “`D’: ‘all of the above ”, I have also been traveling a lot on the plane of the waking dream world known as synchronicity.

Synchronicity, a term coined by Carl Jung, is defined as  “the experience of two or more events that seem unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance, yet are experienced as occurring together in a meaningful manner”.   Sometimes known as meaningful coincidences, this is the waking dream weave of strange coincidences; of déjà vu; of unusual meetings and “out of the blue” connections and happenings.  Wikipedia states that synchronistic events “reveal an underlying pattern…and a larger conceptual framework”. We accidentally stumble across this world at times, but if we stop, pay attention, and tune in, we begin to see more and more of these other worlds that connect us to a Framework larger than ourselves.

The old adage of  “we see what we are looking for” holds true here.  The more we attend to the signs that the universe provides for us, the more we begin to notice them.  The uncanny quality of this seeing and knowing is connected to our ability to “dream while awake”, to access other ways and other planes of knowing.  It allows us to connect with Spirit and to be refreshed by it.

One example of this happened for me at the IASD conference.  I was walking  along the marina and was explaining to a collegue about the Lao Tse quote (am I a man dreaming that I am a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?), when at that exact moment a large black and yellow swallowtail butterfly flew over our heads, circled a few times, and then landed on the bush next to us.  We stopped in our tracks, delighted, and enjoyed the moment of synchronistic communion with that swallowtail.  And if that wasn’t enough, the next day I attended a workshop about dreams in Bali.  The presenter told us that she asked the local shaman there “What is the best possible dream that a Balinese could have?” and his reply was “To dream of a butterfly on a flower:” When I told the presenter about my encounter, her response was “I think that you received a blessing”; which is just how I felt.

The poets and mystics have always known that there is more to our world than we are consciously aware of or can measure.  Quantum physicists for years now have been in the process of proving Einstein’s theory of relativity.  There really does seem to be a “time-space continuum” that is not solely the province of science fiction or Star Trek.  Jung himself felt there was a connection between the theory of relativity and quantum physics, and scientists are now confirming that our intuitions about time travel and distance consciousness are actually scientifically valid.

Lewis Carroll has an additional view on synchronicity and non-linear time, with the White Queen’s words to Alice in “Through the Looking Glass”:

“…The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday–but never jam to-day”.

‘
’It MUST come sometimes to “jam to-day,”‘ Alice objected.


’No, it can’t,’ said the Queen. ‘It’s jam every OTHER day: to-day isn’t any OTHER day, you know.”

‘
’I don’t understand you,’ said Alice. ‘It’s dreadfully confusing!”

‘
’That’s the effect of living backwards,’ the Queen said kindly: ‘it always makes one a little giddy at first—

‘
’Living backwards!’ Alice repeated in great astonishment. ‘I never heard of such a thing!’
’

–but there’s one great advantage in it, that one’s memory works both ways.”

‘
’I’m sure MINE only works one way,’ Alice remarked. ‘I can’t remember things before they happen.”

‘
’It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards,’ the Queen remarked.

Those following the recent news (outside of wars and politics) know that on the 4th of July the  “hot off the press” news from quantum physics is that that they have found the “Higgs Bosun”: what they call the “God Particle”.  While hard to explain and understand fully, this discovery has to do with patterns of symmetry in nature; and that all matter, even weightless matter, has mass.  This discovery of a new particle may hold a key to understanding the nature of the universe.

Wow.  Makes synchronicity seem almost matter of fact.  Or perhaps just confirms the point- the line between dreams and “reality” is very fine indeed.

Dream on!

Linda Yael

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A dream un-interpreted is like a letter unopened.

-- The Talmud