Dreaming with Plants–a weekend workshop
In his Per Amica Silentia Lunæ, William Butler Yeats writes:
I had no natural gift for this clear quiet, as I soon discovered, for my mind is abnormally restless; and I was seldom delighted by that sudden luminous definition of form which makes one understand almost in spite of oneself that one is not merely imagining. I therefore invented a new process. I had found that after evocation my sleep became at moments full of light and form, all that I had failed to find while awake; and I elaborated a symbolism of natural objects that I might give myself dreams during sleep, or rather visions, for they had none of the confusions of dreams, by laying upon my pillow or beside my bed certain flowers or leaves. Even to-day, after twenty years, the exaltations and messages that came to me from bits of hawthorn or some other plant seem of all moments of my life the happiest and wisest.
Following the lead of our old friend and poet, W.B. Yeats, we will likewise endeavor to avail ourselves of dreams and visions while learning to listen to the “exaltations and messages” that come to us from “certain flowers or leaves.”
The best time for this, quite naturally, is during springtime, when, as Rumi reminds us, “we can slightly recall being green again.” An excerpt from his poem, A Dream That Must Be Interpreted, he writes:
We began
as a mineral. We emerged into plant life
and into animal state, and then into being human,
and always we have forgotten our former states,
except in early spring when we slightly recall
being green again.
That’s how a young person turns
toward a teacher. That’s how a baby leans
toward the breast, without knowing the secret
of its desire, yet turning instinctively.
Humankind is being led along an evolving course,
through this migration of intelligences,
and though we seem to be sleeping,
there is an inner wakefulness
that directs the dream,
and that will eventually startle us back
to the truth of who we are.
–translated by Coleman Barks
Special attention will be given to noticing how we are “being led along an evolving course” and to the “inner wakefulness that directs the dream.” By listening and noticing and dreaming with plants, we will engage in a variety of simple contemplative practices that endeavor to develop capacities for tending lasting relationships of trust between us and the spirits of the plant world.
Where: My dream studio in Santa Clarita, CA
When: The last weekend in April 2016. Friday, April 29 from 7-9 PM, Saturday, April 30 from 9AM-5PM (with an hour break for lunch) and Sunday, May 1 from 9AM-Noon.
Cost: 130.00 per person
This workshop is limited to 10 people. If you have any questions or concerns, or you would like more information, or to reserve a spot, please . . .
0 Comments