DREAMS & THE CREATIVE IMAGINATION
A Retreat
“There is a dream dreaming us.” – Kalahari Bushman
August 23 – August 24, 2020
This dream retreat will be a time to quietly and consciously withdraw into yourself in a beautiful mountain setting. This is a time to be more present to yourself and the world around you. This is a special time to interrupt your daily routine and be still. The dream—the creative imagination—asks the ego to follow rather than to lead, and a retreat asks us to allow rather than to do.
The days will be punctuated in such a way as to allow time to be with yourself, your dreams, your thoughts, and your feelings. There will be times to learn how to work with your dreams in a group, to “make something of the dream” which is not necessarily the same as “interpreting” them. We will be concerned with deepening our appreciation of the dream rather than sharpening our skills at interpretation or explanation.
We will explore dreams with words and images, using poetry, art making, journal writing, meditation and ritual. We will learn the ancient art of “dream incubation” and ask our dream a question and recording its response.
Come to the Dream Retreat with an attitude of playful seriousness and a willingness to work with your dreams and images. The Retreat will be a time to be still. Allow those voices that get lost in the shuffle and drowned out by the noise of our daily lives to be heard, expressed, and honored through beautiful creations.
We suggest you prepare for the retreat by beginning to turn your attention to your dreams and write them down. Also, begin to ask what “this time in your life” is about for you.
What are the questions Life is asking of you at this time?
The Retreat is a luxurious time to pause and quietly, creatively reflect on your life—where you are and where you are going. Give yourself a few quiet, creative days to pause and reflect before you head down the road of your life.
“A dream is a little hidden door in the inner most recesses of the soul, opening into that cosmic night which was psyche long before there was any ego consciousness and will be psyche long after ego goes into eclipse.”
– C.G. Jung
Dream Retreat Guides
Tom Verner
Tom Verner was born in an Irish Catholic coal mining town in Western Pennsylvania under the sign of Aquarius. He has degrees in philosophy, literature and a PhD in psychology. He spent two years in Iran as a Peace Corps Volunteer and seven years in a cloistered monastery meditating, chanting, and learning the importance and power of ritual and community.
Tom has been a practicing clinical psychologist, professor of psychology and literature and a professional magician for forty years.
In 2002, along with his wife Janet, he founded Magicians Without Borders, an NGO that uses the art of magic to entertain, educate, and empower many of the most forgotten refugee and orphan children around the world. Tom is a lover of poetry and dreams, and for forty years he studied with the psychologist James Hillman and the poet Robert Bly. Tom regularly lectures and conducts workshops and retreats on dreams, creativity, magic, journal work, and poetry. The journal work that Tom will teach at Metta Earth with his wife Janet, he learned from his study with the renowned Jungian Psychologist, Ira Progoff.
To learn more about Tom, visit Magicians Without Borders.
Janet Fredericks
Janet Fredericks is a practicing visual artist for 40 years who has her home and studio in Lincoln, Vermont. A Vermont Council on the Arts and New England Foundation for the Arts Fellowship recipient, Janet exhibits internationally and is in many corporate and private collections.
Janet’s current work expresses her continuing interest in the natural environment. With wonderment at its intelligence, interconnectedness and complexities, Janet offers insight into our relationship to what is common and extraordinary in the world around us.
Janet is also co-founder of Magicians Without Borders with her husband Tom Verner. Together they perform around the world for children of all ages bringing love, laughter and hope into difficult lives.
To learn more about Janet, visit her website janetfredericksstudio.com.
Program Details
For fee information, reach out to info@mettaearth.org
Location
Metta Earth is nestled in the quietude of the mountains, the stunning headwaters of the New Haven river with abundant waterfalls and pools for swimming, wilderness trails to walk or bike, and 158 acres of Metta Earth land to explore. The nearest town is Lincoln, VT (see full directions).
Meals
Meals are vegetarian and lovingly prepared with seasonal, local and organic foods. Much of our food comes from our own organic garden and farmstead. Participants have the opportunity to learn about harvesting, cooking, food storage, and other aspects of organic local food.
Lodging
Options for sleeping accommodations feature peaceful rooms in the main Metta Earth house. The Metta Earth main house provides bathrooms, laundry, phones, wireless internet, library, kitchen and dining facilities, and teaching, study, and practice space.
“Let us pick up the stones over which we stumble, friends, and build altars.”
– Padraig O’Tuama