The Wilderness of Dreams: A Journey Into Soul and Wholeness
In an anthropocentric and industrial world that objectifies, where animism and mystery are shunned, dreaming and keeping the transpersonal alive is resistance work.
A transpersonal and spiritual practice I have been engaging with this season has been entering the wilderness of my dreams. In this esoteric space, I listen for the messages my psyche has for me. My practice consists of asking the dream-maker to gift me a dream right before falling asleep, sometimes, I will also ask the dream-maker to reveal something related to a specific question I have in mind.
Every night I dream and the dream-maker responds. Once I enter awakened-conscious reality by morning, I will keep my eyes closed and go over the dream with my mind’s eye to remember and catalog the dream. Scanning the dream feels almost like watching a movie. If at first nothing comes I court the dream by hanging on to the one image that I can remember and focus exclusively on it.
Soon enough, like roots connected to a network of trees, one image will lead me to a bifurcation of other images, sensations, and scenes. Once the dream reveals itself to me once more in an awakened state, I will reach for my phone and verbally record my dream. Most times, I will not analyze my dreams while recording them. I simply let the perfume of the dream hang over me throughout the day allowing for the dream’s odor to waltz with my conscious state.
Dreams became my silent companions throughout the day. Some symbols revealed their meaning instantly, while others lingered, whispering their mysteries long after I had woken. By recording my dreams upon waking and working with my psychotherapist and housemate, who also happens to be a psychotherapist and was generous enough to hold space for me! I have uncovered hidden desires, patterns, and the ways my unconscious is guiding me toward deeper self-awareness and integration of my wholeness. My dreamwork practice has also helped me get into a more intimate relationship with my soul and has made me a keen listener to symbols. The symbols, persons, and more-than-human beings that present themselves in my dreams help me get to know my parts better.
One evening, I dreamt of a very terrifying woman, the image of her is forever imprinted in my mind’s eye. This woman is wearing a wedding dress and she hovers above a long candle-lit dining room table with the finest embroidery and cloths. The scene looks like a wedding but there is no one there but the ghostly bride who spits fire through her mouth, eyes, and ears as she flies over the porcelain white dishes, silverware, and elegant tall candles.
With my housemate, KT, we went through the different symbols in the dreams and listened for associations. After going through all the associations I discerned that this vivid imagery and scene was my soul trying to tell me to be more assertive (represented by the fire) and that I needed to marry and be in union with the part of me that is terrifyingly assertive (represented by the wedding dress and private ritual/ dinner).
In this process, I also unearthed an unconscious pattern: I often struggle with being assertive and falter by letting the people-pleaser in me take the driver's seat, causing me to abandon myself and cross my own boundaries. With this insight, I also noticed how I struggle with being loyal to who my dreams are motioning me to embody.
The vision of the terrifying fire-spitting woman still stalks me periodically. I try paying attention when she chooses to pop up in my mind’s eye. It is almost as if my unconscious were drawing a tarot or an archetype from the accordion files of my many parts of Self, hinting at the persona it wishes for me to embody for a particular situation. I think drawing a mental image of her has been helpful for this reason. I can call her in as an ally, in moments where I need to be more assertive.
Another evening, I received a gift from the dream-maker. This dream came when I had just begun grad school and was embarking upon this path of becoming a therapist, back then I missed being a wilderness guide and had some doubts about my career path…
In this dream, I saw three versions of myself—my 11-year-old, 29-year-old, and 40-year-old selves—on top of a mountain, holding hands while floating on a cyan lake, forming a triangle. Dark clouds loomed while thunder and lightning struck around us. We could feel the electricity of the lightning and the ripples it created in the water against us. I remember feeling a rapturous delight when feeling into the connection of holding hands with a younger version and an older version of myself in combination with the electricity in the water offered by the lightning beings.
This vision affirmed my path, symbolizing the integration of my past experiences with my evolving identity. This dream, when explored through active imagination and gestalt techniques, revealed unconscious material that was essential to my personal and professional growth.
Through an exploration with my Gestalt therapist, “we dreamed the dream on” by stepping into and embodying each symbol and character and giving these a voice. In the spirit of Gestalt, the clouds, the lake, even the color of the lake, the lightning, the 11-year-old, the 40-year-old, and the mountain, were all given a voice, and each had their own wisdom and sensations to impart. I realized this dream was inviting me to embrace my wholeness; to integrate my inner child and my wise elder, to trust my journey, to celebrate my growth, and to acknowledge that I am on the right path in my career. This particular dream-work process demonstrated how working with dreams can reveal conditionings, and fantasies and as Fanny Brewster says, “offer images that feed the soul” (Brewster, 2023 p.114).
Dreamwork In Psychotherapy
Spiritual experiences and transpersonal practices may help in psychological healing. In the wilderness of dreams, we travel into the underworld and make contact with soul. The soul speaks to us in dreams by offering us deep imagery, visions, and revelations pointing us toward where we want to go or more importantly, how we want to walk in life.
Bill Plotkin, in his book, Nature and The Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World (2008), explains this concept further, “there are the many ways we listen to soul. The soul speaks to us in images (visual, auditory, or kinesthetic), in symbols, and metaphors — for example, through dreams, deep imagery, visions, and revelations.” (p. 39) Engaging with dreams is a valuable transpersonal practice that helps individuals interact with symbols, feelings, parts, and shadows, further allowing a deepening and understanding of our multidimensionality and our wholeness.
In Race and the Unconscious: An Africanist Depth Psychology Perspective on Dreaming, Fanny Brewster (2023) quotes Hillman (1979) who explained this notion in the 70s, “Shadow is the very stuff of the soul, the interior darkness that pulls downward out of life and keeps one in relentless connection with the underworld” (1979, p. 56) (Brewster, 2023, p.112).
For Hillman, making contact with the underworld and soul is equated with psychologizing (Brewster, 2023, p.112). Hence, listening for what dreams whisper may help us access a blueprint that yields the opportunity to deepen into the messages the soul has for us. Hillman (1979), regards personifying as a necessary mode of understanding the world and being in it. Hence, elaborating on the importance of personifying symbols, images and animals that may appear in dreams may help to understand our underworld, how we view the world, and how we hold our presence in it. Bringing in dreams into psychotherapy can prove to be a very generous practice. The therapy room can be fertile soil for the unconscious and conscious to cross-pollinate and for the individual to harvest the fruit of metaphor and sow seeds of desire.
Stepping into the wilderness of dreams and moving slowly to turn every rock, and feel into the sensations, the aura, or general feeling of the dream, ask the different characters in the dream to speak, embody different symbols, and pay attention to how the dream spores want to pollinate awakening reality can help one understand their patterns, desires, come into contact with shadow, or simply feel nourished by the images offered by the dream-maker.
My dreamwork practice is a way for me to continue making contact with my soul.
This transpersonal practice has brought psychological healing by helping me integrate my shadow (unconscious) and gather greater self-awareness and tools to recognize my hidden desires. As Butler says, “the psyche does not waste spit”, meaning, everything in the dream is a door, a pathway to soul, and an opportunity to deepen our understanding of ourselves.
In an anthropocentric and industrial world that objectifies, and destroys, where animism and mystery are shunned, and where there is a collective soul-wound, dreaming and keeping the transpersonal alive is resistance work.
How To Enter The Wilderness of Your Dreams
Set an Intention Before Sleep
Before falling asleep, ask the dream-maker for a dream. If you have a specific question, gently hold it in your mind as you drift off.
Invite the Dream to Unfold Upon Waking
Keep your eyes closed in the morning and replay the dream in your mind’s eye.
Focus on any single image, no matter how small—it may lead to other memories.
Record the Dream Without Immediate Analysis
Speak or write down everything you remember without filtering.
Let the “perfume of the dream” stay with you throughout the day.
Engage with Dream Symbols Consciously
Notice if any dream images, feelings, or themes reappear in your waking life.
Allow symbols to “stalk” you—pay attention to when and how they return.
Explore Deeper Meanings Through Reflection or Therapy
Ask yourself: What emotions did I feel in the dream?
Consider working with a therapist, friend, or journal to explore possible associations & interpretations. There is no right or wrong way to draw associations. Go with your gut and let it flow.
For example, with my dream of the frightening fire-spitting bride, my association with the wedding dress was marriage, and then my association with marriage was union… further, my association with fire was assertiveness- hence union + assertiveness = integrating the assertive aspect of me that lives in the shadow.
Personify and Interact with Dream Figures
Try drawing or visualizing important dream characters.
Ask: What message do they have for me? How can I embody their wisdom?
Use Gestalt or Active Imagination Techniques
Step into different dream characters and speak from their perspective.
Give voice to the landscape, objects, and sensations within the dream.
Allow Dreams to Guide Your Waking Life
Notice patterns over time—what recurring symbols or messages appear?
Integrate dream insights by embodying their lessons in your waking life and daily actions.
Dreamwork is a practice of deep listening—to the self, the unconscious, and the mysteries that speak through symbols. By cultivating this awareness, you create a bridge between your dream world and waking life, allowing transformation to unfold organically.
What messages are waiting for you in the wilderness of your dreams that you could cross-pollinate into your awakened reality?
Are you curious about entering the wilderness of your dreams? Do you find yourself drawn to connect with the messages of mystery and soul? My dear colleague and housemate, KT Glusac is facilitating this Dreamwork group in person in Oakland, California:
DreamWork Group: “An in-person dream integration group for folx who are curious about exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness, working with their shadows, and learning more about working with dreams in community. Herbal dream tea, music, art, and ritual will all be pillars for our work together.” Learn more.