The Dream Journal

Alchemy is the ancient process of transforming lead into gold, and we speak with Sue Scavo and Bill St. Cyr about how dreams provide a crucible which accelerates our personal and even our societal transformation. Bill brings up the idea that maybe our “gold” is there all along covered by a protective layer of “lead”, and that the lead protects us from being exposed (the way that lead protects us from x-rays) until we are ready to let our gold come to light. Among many other ideas we also touch into the idea that fully accepting where we are is part of the process of moving forward.

We take a call from Mary Anne from Santa Fe who shares a dream about giving birth to a white orb and then… a plastic bag!

Live ambient music by Rick Kleffel.

Show aired on December 5, 2020.

The Dream Journal is produced at and airs on KSQD Santa Cruz, 90.7 FM, streaming live at KSQD.org 10-11am Saturday mornings Pacific time.  Catch it live and call in with your dreams or questions at 831-900-5773.

The complete KSQD Dream Journal podcast page is found here.

You can also check out The Dream Journal on the following podcast platforms:  Rate it, review it, subscribe and tell your friends.

Apple Podcasts

Google Play

Stitcher 

Spotify

If you want to contact Katherine Bell with feedback, suggestions for future shows or to inquire about exploring your own dreams with her, contact [email protected], or find out more about her at  ExperientialDreamwork.com.

We speak with Dr. Isaac Taitz about lucid dreaming therapy and image rehearsal therapy which both can be used to relieve nightmares and improve mental health conditions.

We also took a call from Lucille from Cambria who spoke about dreams she has had of deceased love ones and also shared a recent dream about an eleven year old boy coming out of the shadows.

Bio. Isaac Y. Taitz, Ph.D., is a Southern Californian clinical psychologist and youth specialist, as well as a published author, researcher, and speaker. Dr. Taitz founded All Mind Health to treat a wide variety of issues and populations. His specialties are in sleep treatment and solution-focused therapy. Dr. Taitz earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Palo Alto University and his B.S. in Human Development with honors from Cornell University. His research focuses on the application of dreaming (lucid and otherwise) to mental health issues including depression, PTSD, and bereavement. He is also the administrator of continuing education for the International Association for the Study of Dreams.

The books that were mentioned in the show are Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker and Where People Fly and Water Runs Uphill by Jeremy Taylor.

allmindhealth.com

Live ambient music by Rick Kleffel.

Show aired on November 28, 2020.

The Dream Journal is produced at and airs on KSQD Santa Cruz, 90.7 FM, streaming live at KSQD.org 10-11am Saturday mornings Pacific time.  Catch it live and call in with your dreams or questions at 831-900-5773.

The complete KSQD Dream Journal podcast page is found here.

You can also check out The Dream Journal on the following podcast platforms:  Rate it, review it, subscribe and tell your friends.

Apple Podcasts

Google Play

Stitcher 

Spotify

If you want to contact Katherine Bell with feedback, suggestions for future shows or to inquire about exploring your own dreams with her, contact [email protected], or find out more about her at  ExperientialDreamwork.com.

We spoke about Adam’s Santa Cruz roots, then dove into lucid dreaming topics including the levels of lucidity, where we might go when we’re dreaming, whether we encounter non-self beings when we dream and the possible dangers of thoughtlessly colonizing this interdimensional shared dreamspace.

We played some of Adam’s dream-inspired music and talked about his podcast, “Is This a Dream?” which he describes as an homage to lucid dreaming rather than a how-to program. He concludes by saying that lucid dreaming gives him energy and has made him “a better version” of himself.

Adam Cotton is a composer and guitarist originally from Austin, Texas. He grew up playing in experimental rock bands and went on to get a music degree at UC Santa Cruz where he studied composition, classical guitar, music production and forest frolicking. Eventually he ended up in LA and cofounded the psychopathadelic rock band PLaNETS while also working as a composer and sound designer in the film world. He has written guitar ensemble music which is performed around the country. Adam has been fascinated by lucid dreaming since he was a kid. Recently he decided to throw together a podcast series on the subject called Is This a Dream?, a lucid dreaming podcast.

You can reach Adam Cotton at his various social media spots: @isthisadream_ (instagram)

Some of his recent music can be found here: https://cometsincaves.bandcamp.com/album/volcanic-shoes

Live ambient music by Rick Kleffel.

Show aired on November 21, 2020.

The Dream Journal is produced at and airs on KSQD Santa Cruz, 90.7 FM, streaming live at KSQD.org 10-11am Saturday mornings Pacific time.  Catch it live and call in with your dreams or questions at 831-900-5773.

The complete KSQD Dream Journal podcast page is found here.

You can also check out The Dream Journal on the following podcast platforms:  Rate it, review it, subscribe and tell your friends.

Apple Podcasts

Google Play

Stitcher 

Spotify

If you want to contact Katherine Bell with feedback, suggestions for future shows or to inquire about exploring your own dreams with her, contact [email protected], or find out more about her at  ExperientialDreamwork.com.

We spoke about the journey of Chris Thomas to reconcile dreamwork with his Catholic faith beginning with his upbringing in the Catholic church through a decade of dreamwork to his current enrollment in the Haden Institute’s Spiritual Companionship program. Sometimes erudite and sometimes touching and personal we touched on doctrine and history as well as the role of personal revelation in the modern church.

We spoke about the book The History of Last Night’s Dream by Rodger Kamenetz.

Near the end of the show, we took a call from Madelaine which pointed us to experiences of synchronicity and how waking life moments can point to us toward the divine Beloved.

Bio. Raised in a traditional Roman Catholic home in Canada, Chris Thomas felt a call to the Catholic priesthood but was led by circumstances to study architectural history and preservation. He is best known for his study of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. Near the end of his career as a university teacher and researcher, Chris became fascinated with dreams and dreamwork and, in 2009, began to work on his dreams with Bill St Cyr. Since then, Chris has returned to the study of theology and its relationship to what we are shown in dreams. He is currently  enrolled in the program in spiritual direction and dreamwork of the Haden Institute of Asheville, NC which trains spiritual directors and dreamworkers committed to seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance along lines proposed by Carl Jung.

You can contact Chris at [email protected]

Show aired on November 12, 2020.

The Dream Journal is produced at and airs on KSQD Santa Cruz, 90.7 FM, streaming live at KSQD.org 10-11am Saturday mornings Pacific time.  Catch it live and call in with your dreams or questions at 831-900-5773.

The complete KSQD Dream Journal podcast page is found here.

You can also check out The Dream Journal on the following podcast platforms:  Rate it, review it, subscribe and tell your friends.

Apple Podcasts

Google Play

Stitcher 

Spotify

If you want to contact Katherine Bell with feedback, suggestions for future shows or to inquire about exploring your own dreams with her, contact [email protected], or find out more about her at  ExperientialDreamwork.com.

Were there three snakes in your dream or four? Numbers have important, deep and sacred meaning in our waking lives and in our dreams. We lean into the spiritual purpose of those numbers with author and dream practitioner Doris Snyder. We also touch into her new work on day dreams.

We take a phone call from Julie asking about the possible significance of the recurring number 3 that shows up in her dreams.

Bio: After 20 years in finance, Doris followed her heart and became a student of the healing arts. A big believer in transformation, she has found dream work to be one of the most profound ways to explore our inner landscape. Dreams provide a connection to our inner wisdom. Whether facilitating dream groups or working one-on-one with clients, Doris keeps the process organic, meditative and creative. A member of IASD, Doris has led workshops on Numbers in Dreams at their annual conferences including the Annual Dream & Spirituality Conference at Kanuga in NC. She is the author of Numbers in Dreams and is currently finishing a book on Daydreaming. She can be reached at [email protected] and on instagram at spirit_chip.

Show aired on November 7, 2020.

The Dream Journal is produced at and airs on KSQD Santa Cruz, 90.7 FM, streaming live at KSQD.org 10-11am Saturday mornings Pacific time.  Catch it live and call in with your dreams or questions at 831-900-5773.

The complete KSQD Dream Journal podcast page is found here.

You can also check out The Dream Journal on the following podcast platforms:  Rate it, review it, subscribe and tell your friends.

Apple Podcasts

Google Play

Stitcher 

Spotify

If you want to contact Katherine Bell with feedback, suggestions for future shows or to inquire about exploring your own dreams with her, contact [email protected], or find out more about her at  ExperientialDreamwork.com.

We had an All Caller show with a technical Mercury-retrograde twist… no phones! By the end of the hour Max had figured out that I could hold a phone to the microphone so we did speak to three callers in the last 20 minutes of the show.

To lead off the show, I spoke about the various things that I do to keep in balance and to have compassion for those even if I don’t agree with their beliefs. I spoke about needs vs strategies in that we all have the same needs but different strategies to get them met.

Here are some of the quotes I shared during the show:

Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Without, everything seems discordant; only within does it coalesce into unity. Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside awakes. – Carl Jung

The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases. Each of us carries his own life-form—an indeterminable form which cannot be superseded by any other. – Carl Jung

Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people. – Carl Jung

Emotion is the chief source of all becoming-conscious. There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into movement without emotion. – Carl Jung

We choose hope over fear. We see the future not as something out of our control, but as something we can shape for the better through concerted and collective effort.  – Barak Obama

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. – Howard Thurman

We took a call from Lucille who reminded me to be patient with the technical difficulties which were probably enhanced by the combination of Mercury retrograde, the full moon and the thinness of the veil on Halloween.

We also heard from Ray who shared a dream-inspired poem / song that he wrote about connecting with his inner child. Here is the poem:

A little boy came to me last night

My inner child was one with my little boy

Apologies! The audio is now fixed. We spoke about dreams and gender, starting with some basics about queer terminology, then dove into Katrina’s history with her own process of coming out, first as queer, then an non-binary and about how her dreams were helpful. We also spoke about dream incubation, nightmares, dreams and spirituality and so much more!

We took a call from Ellen who had an update about our conversation of last week about psychedelics and then offered a dream which spoke at collective level about how hard it can be to find our own voices.

BIO: Katrina Dreamer is a queer non-binary writer, dreamworker, and energy healer. She also has her own business tutoring and coaching students with learning differences. Katrina is co-host, with Mary Kay Kasper, of the podcast Dreaming Back to the Earth. She teaches workshops at the University of Vermont on dreams as spiritual practice and queer dreaming, and she is the Northern New England representative for the International Association for the Study of Dreams. She is particularly interested in gender identity and sexual orientation in dreams and has started research for a book that explores dreams through a queer theory lens.

You can reach Katrina at her web page katrinadreamer.com or look for her podcast Dreaming Back to the Earth.

Show aired on October 24, 2020.

The Dream Journal is produced at and airs on KSQD Santa Cruz, 90.7 FM, streaming live at KSQD.org 10-11am Saturday mornings Pacific time.  Catch it live and call in with your dreams or questions at 831-900-5773.

The complete KSQD Dream Journal podcast page is found here.

You can also check out The Dream Journal on the following podcast platforms:  Rate it, review it, subscribe and tell your friends.

Apple Podcasts

Google Play

Stitcher 

Spotify

If you want to contact Katherine Bell with feedback, suggestions for future shows or to inquire about exploring your own dreams with her, contact [email protected], or find out more about her at  ExperientialDreamwork.com.

The picture shows Dr. Tom Whalen on the left with his beloved Zen teacher on the right.

Katherine speaks with Dr. Whalen about Dreamwork and Zen each of which he has practiced for over thirty years. He speaks about his synthesis of these two disciplines into what he calls Dream Koan practice. We then delve into our guest’s medical pain practice and what results he has seen in using ketamine to ameliorate treatment-resistant depression.

We took two listener calls. The first was from Ellen who spoke out in favor of microdosing psychedelics. The second was from Dr. Whalen’s cohort Rick Issan Elkin, and he spoke about sacred mythology and their collaboration called The Eighth Wave.

BIO: Tom Whalen is an MD practicing pain medicine. For the last 15 years, he’s been following advances in neuroscience, including the use of psychedelics to treat addiction and PTSD. His passion lies in the realms of spiritual practice. After personally experiencing psychedelics in the 60’s, he recognized the short-term benefit that these provided, and sought a more sustaining form of practice. He began to practice Zen in 1971, and eventually found his lineage teacher in 1997. He has been given transmission in the Maezumi-Glassman-Ancheta Roshis lineage, authorized to be a “teacher.” Thirty years ago, he began practicing Archetypal DreamWork with Marc Bregman and Christa Lancaster, with whom he continues to have weekly sessions. With these two practices, he has synthesized a “new” form of Zen practice, which he calls Dream-Koan practice. He currently offers this practice with his buddy and Dharma brother, Rick Issan Elkin, through the Eighth Wave Community at EighthWave.org

Show aired on October 17, 2020.

The Dream Journal is produced at and airs on KSQD Santa Cruz, 90.7 FM, streaming live at KSQD.org 10-11am Saturday mornings Pacific time.  Catch it live and call in with your dreams or questions at 831-900-5773.

The complete KSQD Dream Journal podcast page is found here.

You can also check out The Dream Journal on the following podcast platforms:  Rate it, review it, subscribe and tell your friends.

Apple Podcasts

Google Play

Stitcher 

Spotify

If you want to contact Katherine Bell with feedback, suggestions for future shows or to inquire about exploring your own dreams with her, contact [email protected], or find out more about her at  ExperientialDreamwork.com.

You might be amazed at how much insight you can get about your dreams by drawing them! Are your images scrunched together? Are key figures somehow missing from your drawing? All these features can be offerings from the unconscious into the topic of the dream. Katherine speaks with author and dream group leader Walter Berry about how to use drawing to extract meaning from your dreams. It’s a lively discussion with lots of real-life examples. No need to be a fine artist, in fact, formal training can be an impediment to accessing the subconscious in this way. Stick figures and scribbles are welcome, and all have the potential to lead us to our natural sense of awe.

We finished with a call from Bambi Corso who shared a beautiful dream that opened her up to a feeling of awe and a sense of her own potency.

BIO: Walter Berry, aka The Wizard of Awes is a certified dreamworker, having graduated from the Marin Institute for Projective Dream Work and holds weekly dream groups (which have been featured in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times). He has his MFA in theatre arts, is a visual artist and lighting designer in the motion picture industry. He is a past board member for the International Association for the Study of Dreams, a member of the IASD Conference Committee, conducts workshops internationally, appears on multiple radio shows, has written articles for Dreamtime Magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and lives in Southern California.

Walter’s book “Drawn into the Dream” will be coming out soon.

Contact Walter Berry at DrawnintotheDream.com

Show aired on October 10, 2020.

The Dream Journal is produced at and airs on KSQD Santa Cruz, 90.7 FM, streaming live at KSQD.org 10-11am Saturday mornings Pacific time.  Catch it live and call in with your dreams or questions at 831-900-5773.

The complete KSQD Dream Journal podcast page is found here.

You can also check out The Dream Journal on the following podcast platforms:  Rate it, review it, subscribe and tell your friends.

Apple Podcasts

Google Play

Stitcher 

Spotify

If you want to contact Katherine Bell with feedback, suggestions for future shows or to inquire about exploring your own dreams with her, contact [email protected], or find out more about her at  ExperientialDreamwork.com.

We followed Sylvia Green-Guenette’s journey through breast cancer. She shared a series of potent dream images that prepared her and helped her feel supported during her treatment and recovery. She loves to share her dreams hoping they will help someone else. She shares some of the ways that she worked with her dreams and how they helped her feel that she was her own “co-healer”.

We took a call from Justina Lasley from South Carolina who encouraged us all to share our dreams with our doctors to nudge the medical community to pay more attention to them. We also took a call from Holly who loved the concept of the “doctor inside of us” who can speak to us through dreams.

Bio: Sylvia Green-Guenette is a Certified Dream Professional and founder of DreamSeen. Sylvia graduated from the Institute for Dream Studies (IDS), and has been a member of the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD) since 2007. She is a resident of Northern Ontario, Canada. As a snowbird, she spends many winters in Arizona.

She has kept dream journals since the early 1990s. She loves to share her knowledge and experiences as they relate to her growth towards healing and wholeness. As part of her personal spiritual practice, Sylvia regularly dreams for Global Healing. Especially, Sylvia would like today to share some dreams she was gifted before, during and after her journey through breast cancer.

Show aired on October 3, 2020.

The Dream Journal is produced at and airs on KSQD Santa Cruz, 90.7 FM, streaming live at KSQD.org 10-11am Saturday mornings Pacific time.  Catch it live and call in with your dreams or questions at 831-900-5773.

The complete KSQD Dream Journal podcast page is found here.

You can also check out The Dream Journal on the following podcast platforms:  Rate it, review it, subscribe and tell your friends.

Apple Podcasts

Google Play

Stitcher 

Spotify

If you want to contact Katherine Bell with feedback, suggestions for future shows or to inquire about exploring your own dreams with her, contact [email protected], or find out more about her at  ExperientialDreamwork.com.