we played versions of a passamaquoddy song "esunomawotultine" (let's trade). we talked about our dream-trades & preparing to trade more dreams.

the song was archived on wax cylinders by a settler-colonial anthropologist in the late 19th century, which you can find in "the passamaquoddy reclaim their culture through digital repatriation," the new yorker, january 2019 (click this text box to visit article).

technological (click)

land acknowledgement resources (click; thanks darren ranco)

everyone invited to light candles, fire, incense, offer tobacco, etc.: offscreen, because images of sacred fire aren't allowed in many indigenous traditions.

tyler, lilah, cory light hanukkah candles offscreen & lead the blessings.

lilah leads us in collaborative reading of two picture books:

"something from nothing," phoebe gilman, a jewish folktale

"kunu's basket," lee decora francis, a penobscot children's story

we thought about storytelling as part of the dream cycle. how we receive culture as children. the importance of intergenerational knowledge transmission in these two stories.

this is the only part of the workshop that was recorded. you can view to the left.

following the format of social dreaming attributed to gordon lawrence, we had a dream matrix. we thought of this as a way to make visible the underlying symbology of this group, part of our fragment methodology.

instead of a meta-analytical discussion afterwards, everyone drew a symbol that stuck out to them from across the dreams in the matrix (or wrote a word/phrase) & held it up to the screen.

click here to learn more about social dreaming/the format of the dream matrix

DREAM MATRIX NOTES
dissonant dreams
everyone wanting to hang
nobody wearing mask
maybe in future? whole foods
planning
what other animals were migrating while we were having workshop
people migrating, congregating, exchnaging brilliant colored candles, coming over distance
guide—front door of store, parting curtain
circles of people, waiting for more to gather
migratory urge for people
escaping—drawing of altar from last time, mirror, via drawing on back of paper --> things can feel different without going anywhere
train track curving around bend, luggage gone; get driver to stop but wouldn't let me, race to get off/find my old stuff
swimming in glacial water, primary documents in glacial ice; sinking into darkness
late to h.s.: lateness, loss, losing control, entrapment
living family member who's passed; accepting his presence/another family member sad about this visitation, wanting to lock herself up and be alone "forever"; that was scary, i could project myself there
grandparent in burning room not wanting to be saved
not remembering precisely when you intend to remember
transit, airports --> hotel or concert venue, being with lots of people
houses—familiar although i've never bee in them but i remember them from other dreams --> now houses that are new to me!
someone packing/someone shows me a mural
feeling of living a dream state past year although life isn't tremendously different
not sleeping soundly, dream & only realize a few days later it was a dream
wake up to see a migratory bird, kept dreaming i was going to miss waking up/i didn't see the bird! but i actually did see it
boundaries b/t dream and reality porous now; angry though it didn't happen
angry at partner—tell them so it doesn't happen but that also spreads the feeling
yahrtzeit of father tomorrow, dream of him
weaving, raccoons
i've never dreamed of myself old
dreamed i was married to someone & they texted me the next day
visit from grandfather, version before his stroke, feeling of gratitude—all his friends there too
feathers, headdresses put out as if for trash collection, feeling of not understanding
old friend coming from CA to ME b/c she wanted to have a baby—then heard from her when awake
believing you can make amends in dreams as foil to anger
embodied weeping, woke up & felt done (re: something i hadn't been able to move past)
fire for yahrtzeit of friend, 4 years since she transitioned—memory box, put hand on forgotten card from her --> connecting through veils
sockets, electricity, channels losing power—distinct smell of oil—give latkes to ancestor, had overwhelming feeling SHE was turning off electricity; mom tells me it's her yahrtzeit
cold beet soup
pregnancy, surprise at the ease of doing it
no labor process, asked for baby i'd had the night before; carry body knowledge of weight --> met my future baby in dream
spirits enter world when ready
masks

freewrite on your hopes, wishes, dreams for this kind of shared space.

share out selections of these freewrites.

please keep sharing with us after the workshop.

Tomorrow, on Sunday evening, we encourage you to dream together with your between-workshop partner, and/or with the entire group. Think about it as a way of activating the ley lines (which we discussed in session 1) between us and our fragments and altar/bundles.

Here’s how:

Right before going to sleep on Sunday, set the intention to meet your partner in your dream that night. Some journaling, drawing, or meditation as you’re getting ready to fall asleep is good for this. You can communicate with your partner at that time if you want (maybe pick a location to meet when you both dream? A sign by which you’ll know to look out for one another? An object to exchange?). Or you can swap dream reports in the morning. Or both.

Just for fun, here are some things you can try that can help you remember dreams or dream more vividly:
- setting an alarm to wake yourself up mid-sleep
- drinking a lot of water before bed so that your body wakes you up during the night
- putting writing materials within arm’s reach and anytime you wake up, immediately start writing as much as you can about what you remember without moving more than necessary
- keeping phone or recording device within arm’s reach and as soon as you wake up, record yourself talking about your dreams

on ley lines (click)