What if your dreams weren’t symbols to decode… but living encounters?

Celebrating seven years of Dream Journal episodes, host Katherine Bell welcomes natural dream work practitioner, artist, and druid priestix Laura Smith Riva for a fascinating conversation about rewilding the dream, animism, and reconnecting with the living intelligence within dreams and nature.

Together they explore how dream figures can be experienced as relational beings, how ritual and creativity help integrate dream wisdom, and how fear, vulnerability, and imagination open doorways to transformation and healing.

You’ll hear powerful dream stories, live listener dream exploration, and practical guidance on how to begin working with your own dreams.

What “rewilding the dream” means

How animism changes the way we understand dreams

Why dream symbols may be experienced as living encounters

Techniques used in natural dream work

How ritual, art, and creativity help integrate dream messages

How dreams support healing, intuition, and imagination

Ways to start your own dream practice

00:00 Rewilding the dream: animism, dream wisdom & spiritual awakening02:06 What is druidry? nature spirituality, animism & learning from trees07:22 Natural dream work explained: why dream symbols are living experiences12:06 Sacred dream encounters: fear, transformation & emotional thresholds16:36 Dream rituals & creativity: using art, altars and symbolism to integrate dreams31:50 Listener dream analysis: how dreams reflect memory, ancestry & emotional healing47:15 How to start dream work: practical steps, courses & following your dream intuition

Laura Smith-Riva is a Natural Dreamwork Practitioner and Priestix of the Green Mountain Druid Order in Vermont. She works with dreamers from many parts of the globe and in her personal work is interested in the connection to the natural world through dreams and vision work and offers expressions of her journey using art, poetry and prose.

Visit Laura Smith Riva’s work:👉 https://laura-smith-riva.com

Explore Experiential Dream Work:👉 https://experientialdreamwork.com

If you enjoy conversations about dreams, spirituality, creativity, and personal growth:

✔ Subscribe✔ Like the video✔ Share with a dream-loving friend✔ Comment with a recent dream or insight

Find a video clip of the conversation @ExperientialDr