Dream Groups by Betty Henderson

In 1993, I started a dream group in Houston. I didn’t know much about dream work, and neither did any of the other members, but we learned. We read books and took classes and continued meeting. We went to the Jung Center and studied with Jim Hollis. The dreamwork deepened.

Over the years, some of us have moved away to other parts of Texas and as far away as Nantucket and Sedona. One woman passed away at an early age. Three of us have married. One spouse has died. Twenty four years later, the group is still meeting. Couples from the group travel together and the spouses have also become best friends. We call it the Dream Team. The members are all best friends, with a bonding that comes from sharing our dreams – as well as our loves and sorrows.

In 2005, after I moved to Kerrville, a city in southwest Texas, I started another dream group. Several new friends found out about my interest in dreamwork and immediately wanted to start a group.  By this time I had been to an introductory dreamtending workshop with Steve. The new group had some ups and downs. We invited new members – some stayed, many decided it wasn’t for them. In 2008, I took the 6 month dreamtending program at Pacifica. The dream group eventually settled into six members and we still meet twice a month.

Again, sharing dreams has changed our lives. The group is a major support group for all of us. One woman now has Parkinson’s disease as does the husband of another group member. We have cared for each other as parents and siblings passed away. We work dreams, write poetry and do art work. It seems that dreamwork is the key to making these kinds of life-long attachments.

In 2015, I took the certification class in dreamtending. Our kiva from that class still meets every month via Skype to tend dreams. My partner from the class, Kim, and I meet once or twice a week to tend dreams on Skype. We have become so close from this work, even though we live thousands of miles apart and rarely see each other in person.

Last year, I approached a friend who owned a yoga studio and asked if she would be interested in creating a new dream group at the yoga space. Gwynn was very excited and we advertised the new group, hoping to find people who were interested. We had a big crowd and 17 people said they were interested in an on-going group. And then I suffered a stroke and was out of commission.

A few months later, I saw my friend from the yoga space, Gwynn, at a luncheon and she asked if I was ready to start the group. I was! We were just about to send out the invitations to the on-going group when another tragedy occurred. Gwynn was killed in an airplane accident. It took some time for all of her friends to recover from this shock, but eventually I spoke to her partner at the Yoga Space and she was enthusiastic about starting the group as this was something Gwynn really wanted to do. We started the group a year ago.

That group too has had a lot of attrition as people figure out whether this kind of work fits in their lives. But now it has become such a sweet group of women – two of whom are amazing artists and one who is a medium. At the last meeting, one woman brought a huge painting of hers and we walked into the painting, into the imaginal world and spoke with the living images of the painting. Some of us didn’t even know each other a year ago but the bonding is truly incredible.

I also lead dream groups with my sweat lodge group when we gather twice a year for the Vision Quest encampment and for the Earthdance.  In January, along with my friend, Jyl, I lead a dream incubation weekend with the same group.  It is really wonderful how these groups allow us to see deeply into ourselves and into each other. And also to hear the calls of the earth, as we listen deeply to her dreams.

I think too of the strong community of dreamers who go to Montana. We rarely see each other but the connection is always still there.

Dream groups can play a remarkable role in our lives. I look forward to having more tools to help us all open ourselves to our dreams.