{"id":54,"date":"2014-04-09T05:12:19","date_gmt":"2014-04-09T09:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/dreamgates\/2010\/08\/the-dream-group-as-model-for-a-new-kind-of-community.html"},"modified":"2014-04-09T05:23:35","modified_gmt":"2014-04-09T09:23:35","slug":"the-dream-group-as-model-for-a-new-kind-of-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/2014\/04\/the-dream-group-as-model-for-a-new-kind-of-community.html","title":{"rendered":"Dream groups as models for a new community"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"dream<\/a>
dream sharing at Mosswood Hollow<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Community, as Peter Block defines it in a provocative \u00a0book, is about the experience of belonging. To belong is to feel at home, to know you are among family or friends. When something belongs to you, you are an owner; you have a stake in something. Playing with the word, Block notes that belonging evokes longing to be – to come fully alive, to embody fully a deeper purpose in life.<\/p>\n

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The model leader in the kind of community Block seeks to midwife is one who can bring the right people together in the right way, name the right questions for group exploration (“what can we create together?”) and listen as others find their voice and their power. Such things are best done in small groups, which Block promotes as the best agents of transformation.<\/div>\n
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It strikes me that dream-sharing groups are now at the vanguard in developing the kind of social space that Block advocates. Dream groups are typically small (six to twelve people) and establish a different kind of space, and a deep sense of belonging to an intentional community. They are circles in which each member receives the gift of deep listening, the chance to play leader or teacher, and the opportunity to tell their life stories and re-vision those stories.<\/div>\n
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In Active Dreaming circles, we recognize the need for strong leadership to provide the structure and dynamic within which extraordinary group experiences can be shared. This includes selecting and defining a safe and protected physical space. It means gently insisting on time limits (dreamers can get things done on time), building and maintaining circle energy and keeping everything moving for the two or three hours of a typical session, and making sure that everyone feels at home and that everyone’s voice is heard. Part of the leader’s job in an Active Dreaming circle is to ensure that a lively alternation of discussion, movement and conscious group dream travel keeps everyone alert and engaged..<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Above all, the leader will enforce simple rules that ensure that no one present – least of all the leader herself – will try to claim authority over anyone else’s dreams or life story. We are only permitted to comment on each other’s material by saying “if it were my dream” or “if it were my life.” In this way, we offer associations and suggestions while encouraging the dreamer to claim the power of her own dreams – and to take the necessary action to embody their energy and guidance in the world. Finally, the leader of an Active Dreaming will give her power away repeatedly by inviting others to take charge in leading the processes.<\/div>\n
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In these ways, we fulfill Block’s definition of the mode of leadership required to restore and re-story our communities: “Perhaps the real task of leadership is to confront people with their freedom.”<\/div>\n
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The quotes are from Peter Block,<\/i> Community: The Structure of Belonging (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers)<\/i><\/div>\n
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For more on community dreamwork, please see my book Active Dreaming<\/em><\/a>, published by New World Library.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Community, as Peter Block defines it in a provocative \u00a0book, is about the experience of belonging. To belong is to feel at home, to know you are among family or friends. When something belongs to you, you are an owner; you have a stake in something. Playing with the word, Block notes that belonging evokes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":224,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,2],"tags":[285,325],"class_list":["post-54","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-active-dreaming","category-dreamwork","tag-community-dreaming","tag-dream-sharing"],"yoast_head":"\nDream groups as models for a new community - Dream Gates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/2014\/04\/the-dream-group-as-model-for-a-new-kind-of-community.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dream groups as models for a new community - Dream Gates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Community, as Peter Block defines it in a provocative \u00a0book, is about the experience of belonging. 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He is the creator of Active Dreaming, an original synthesis of dreamwork and shamanism. Born in Australia, he survived three near-death experiences in childhood. He leads popular seminars all over the world, including a three-year training for teachers of Active Dreaming. A former lecturer in ancient history at the Australian National University, he is a best-selling novelist, journalist and independent scholar. His nine books on dreaming, shamanism and imagination include Conscious Dreaming, Dreamways of the Iroquois, The Dreamer's Book of the Dead, The Three \"\"Only\"\" Things, The Secret History of Dreaming, Dreamgates, Active Dreaming and Dreaming the Soul Back Home: Shamanic Dreaming for Healing and Becoming Whole. His most recent book is The Boy Who Died and Came Back: Adventures of a Dream Archaeologist in the Multiverse. Over the past 20 years, he has led seminars at the Esalen Institute, Kripalu, the Omega Institute, the New York Open Center, Bastyr University, John F. Kennedy University, Meriter Hospital, and many other centers and institutions. He has taught depth workshops in Active Dreaming in the UK, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Brazil and Austria and leads a three-year training for teachers of Active Dreaming. He hosts the \"\"Way of the Dreamer\"\" radio show at www.healthylife.net. He has appeared on many TV and radio shows, ranging from Charlie Rose and the Today show to Coast to Coast and the Diane Rehm show on NPR. 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