4) Ecopsychology, Cross-Cultural Big Dreams & Shamanic Lucid Dreams

"Dreaming With Bear" Jorge Conesa-Sevilla, Ph.D. International Association for the Study of Dreams conference Montreal, Canada July 10, 2008 http://www.asdreams.org/2008/index.htm

Lucid dreaming continues to be a source of personal, spiritual, and scientific interest, curiosity and even obsession. In the backdrop of these diverse efforts and foci, a more ancient connection between lucid dreaming (spontaneous or induced) deserves renewed scholarly interest. Specifically, there is anthropological evidence that lucid dreaming (dreams in general) had specific biosemiotic and ecopsychological functions, at least when it came to shamanism and other healing arts.

Even though Paul Shepard (1993/2007) does not use these previous terms, he does imply the word kenning to suggest an intimate biosemiotic journey and cognitive positive feedback loop between our experiences in nature, how we interpret and express these experiences, and their ultimate psychological impact, which includes dreaming “big dreams.” Thus, lucid dreaming is one more meaning-system within a grander biosemiotic coda which integrates our intimate learning of natural history with a psychological orientation that must adjust to these real and natural demands—an ecopsychology. Specific to Shepard’s term, kenning, this presentation focuses on the significant loss of telluric meaning and the demise of an ecopsychology. Even with this demise, lucid dreaming remains an ancient door to a Paleolithic mind disturbed and confused by its synthetic and meaning-less modern surroundings.

Reference

Shepard, P. (1999/2007). The biological basis of bear mythology and ceremonialism. The Trumpeter: 23 (2), 74-79.

Bio: Jorge Conesa-Sevilla, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology, Northland College, Ashland, Wisconsin, USA. My interdisciplinary research focuses on the juxtaposition of both biosemiotics (natural signs) and ecopsychology, particularly studying our estrangement or alienation from nature as the root cause of psychological illness, modern societal upheaval and disintegration.

Discussants

Bio: Judy Gardiner, New York, NY, has been analyzing, writing about and researching her dreams for 15 years. This led to scientific information she had never known, and her self-study transformed to a cosmic wake-up call illuminating the union of Science and Spirit. Her work with Montague Ullman focuses on this transcendental quality of the dream. Specifically, Gardiner will concentrate her discussion on my 11-year dream, on "big dreams," transpersonal dreams, the work of Jung, and how species-connectedness and ecopsychology fit in. Gardiner will also relate her own work with Montague Ullman to my 11-year dream, plus give a brief update on Montague's health, as he recently suffered a mild stroke two weeks ago.

Bio: Curtiss Hoffman, Ph.D., IASD Vice-President 2007-2008, is an archaeologist and consciousness researcher who has taught in the Anthropology Department at Bridgewater State College, USA since 1978. He is particularly interested in Jungian approaches to dreaming. He has and interest in Wagner’s work because of its archetypal symbolism. He was the host of the 2006 conference. Curtiss will concentrate his discussion comments on Jorge's and Ryan's papers.