Establishing a practice of writing down dreams and regularly sharing them with a group of people can provide a place to unpack our sometimes mysterious, enigmatic messages. In a group setting, multiple levels can be revealed. Helen Landerman, Ph.D., is a Certified Dream Facilitator by Jeremy Taylor’s Marin Institute for Projective Dreamwork, offering dream groups in Tucson.

Dreams bring important messages. During the industrial revolution in the mid 1700s, because of the inventions of the spinning jenny and the power driven loom, vast amounts of cloth could be produced. But the sewing of the cloth could only be done by hand. Then, one night, Elias Howe has a nightmare in which he is being boiled in a pot by African natives. When he tries to climb out of the pot, the Africans poke him with spears that have holes in the points. This curious detail of the holes in the points of the spears, gives him a breakthrough for his invention, the sewing machine.

We can see the Jungian principle of how the frightening shadow in the dream holds within it the gift of the very thing we need. A foreshadowing layer of this dream: the sewing machine will lead to sweat shops. This story is an example of how dreams, and especially attention-grabbing nightmares, can change the world.

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