Dear Dream Tending Community,
“Homecoming” stirs many emotions. When literalized, it can stir experiences of un-ease even distress. On other occasions it opens the heart with the promise of reconnecting to loved ones.
The nostalgia for home runs deep. In myth, the Odyssey, Homer yearns to get back to Ithaca. ET longs to get home. In wonder tales, Alice and Dorthey adventures, as well, seek guidance and support to return home. We all know “a place called home.” It might be a landscape, a room, or a state of mind/emotion. Worldwide, in all cultures we share a common desire. There is good reason why the phrase, “home is where the heart is” resonates so deeply for so many.
Home opens the promise of Deep Belonging. And, if ever there were a time to reconnect with sense of home, now is that time. Let’s support one another and make a return to soul’s home place. For the next three days, let’s not just observe “Tending Tuesday,” but let’s, as well, add Wednesday and Thursday. Each day let’s identify three soul images form Dream or Imagination. Then, lets add the image of a dear friend or mentor to the company. Finally, let’s invite our imaginal guests over to a “home place,” either a familiar dream motif or a deeply felt familiar landscape. Welcome their presence and experience the Deep Belonging of “Homecoming.”
In the dreamtime,
Dream Tending Skill Set:
1) Identify three figures from imagination or dream that are supportive familiars.
2) Find objects that depict each imaginal presence.
3) Determine a home place, a temenos, that originates from a dream setting or an actual landscape.
4) Make a sketch or construct an “alter” that represents this home place.
5) Place the soul companion in or around this sacred place.
6) Take at least fifteen minutes each day to come home and experience your sense of belonging.
Inside The Curious Mind
A quote that resonated with me this week…
“Can I really believe I am worth an hour a day? Am I, who have given my life to others, selfish enough to take one hour a day to find myself?”
— Marion Woodman,
Coming Home to Myself: Reflections for Nurturing a Woman’s Body & Soul
Learn the Power, Purpose and Intelligence of Dreams
Unleash your creativity and innate genius
Stephen Aizenstat
Stephen Aizenstat, Ph.D., is the founder of Dream Tending, Pacifica Graduate Institute, and the Academy of Imaginal Arts and Sciences. He is a world-renowned professor of depth psychology, an imagination specialist, and an innovator. He has served as an organizational consultant to major companies and institutions, and as a depth psychological content advisor to Hollywood film makers. He has lectured extensively in the U.S., Asia, and Europe. He is affiliated with the Earth Charter International project through the United Nations, where he has spoken. Professor Aizenstat is the Chancellor Emeritus and Founding President of Pacifica Graduate Institute. He has collaborated with many notable masters in the field including Joseph Campbell, James Hillman, Marion Woodman, and Robert Johnson.
