“Verticality”: Into the Dream Thru Writing, 2/20

13 Feb “Verticality”: Into the Dream Thru Writing, 2/20

Amy Irvine McHarg, by Susie Grant

“In the dream life you don’t deliberately set out to dream about a house night after night; the dream itself insists you look at whatever is trying to come into visibility,” poet Jane Hirchfield

Amy Irvine McHarg’ story is the stuff of a bodice-ripper, an over-the-top romance novel with a happy ending.

Only it’s true.

In digestible sound bytes, it is a tale of a woman who has a baby, flips out, but eventually find solace with the help of a guide who hands her the keys to her unconscious as revealed through her dreams. Think “Diary of a Mad Housewife” meets Carl Jung.

Marc Bregman of North of Eden was that guide.

Bregman along with partner Christa Lancaster and master analysts and teachers Bill St. Cyr, Susan Marie Scavo, and Robin Chase are conducting an archetypal dream workshop, the 5th Annual North of Eden gathering, Friday, February 21 – Sunday, February 23. The in-depth exploration affords participants an opportunity to step into the sacred landscape of their dreams through String Work, a powerful group dream enactment process.

(The cost of the Archetypal Dreamwork $375 and does not include meals or accommodations.)

For more, see related post.

Prior to the dream retreat, local author Amy Irvine McHarg offers a one-day workshop at Ah Haa, Thursday, February 20, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.: “Verticality: Dropping into the Dream through Writing.”

Some of the greatest literary works, as well as some of the best-selling genre writing, have been inspired by the authors’ dreams: “Jane Eyre,” “Kubla Khan,” “Stuart Little,” “Frankenstein,” “Jekyll & Hyde” as well as “Twilight” and “Misery.”

Through guided writing exercises, the exploration of gnostic writing, shared work, and lively discussion, participants will learn to cultivate on the page stronger imagery, intensified feeling, and heightened sensuality, using images/sensations from each writer’s dreams.

“What we will be looking for is the crack in the horizontal writing, the way we look for it in the dream,” explains Irvine. “Sometimes, the writing will suddenly go flat­, which often signals that we have jumped away from something. This is where we can go in, open things up. Or the writing will jump away from something hot, sensual. This too is where we can go in and burn, baby, burn. Sometimes we will workshop a volunteer’s writing, looking for the openings. Sometimes we will do exercises to help us find the cracks, and to help us dive in with abandon. The point is always to see what else is below.”

The cost of the writing workshop alone is $75. (Needs-based scholarships are available.)

A free public presentation about archetypical dreaming will be held at the Ah Haa School on Thursday, Feb 20, from 6-8 p.m.  (Not suitable for children.)

For more information on Archetypal Dreamwork, visit www.northofeden.com.

AND

Click the “play” button and listen to my conversation with Amy Irvine McHarg.