Dear Dream Tending Community,
Today, I feel something new in relation to the world soul. I celebrate the actions taken in the United States Senate in relation to the climate crisis. For decades, many of us have worked through local advocacy and international activism, in organizations like Greenpeace and the United Nations. We were motivated by a dream rooted in both our yearning and our survival. Over these past years, as the danger increased to critical levels, it seemed, at times, hopeless. The inevitable lurked behind every environmental occurrence, behind every failed action. Now, perhaps, something new.
The generative spark alive in our desire, the living images in our dreamtime, are now illuminating. They are coming into visibility and realization. Of course, the crisis pushes the agenda. But, so too does Eros. The love we feel individually and collectively for the landscapes, the animals, the things that we cherish is coming forward. In the realm of the dreaming, images of the beautiful are increasingly accompanying images of the horrific.
Let’s continue to gather in community and support one another. Together, let’s nurture the generative seeds of the emerging possible. . .
Warmly,
Steve Aizenstat
A Simple Exercise of Planet Tending
1) Before sleep finds you this evening, locate an object of beauty from nature that captivates your attention.
2) Place it under your pillow or by your bedside.
3) As a dream incubation, visualize the detail of the object when falling asleep. Notice its aesthetic particularity. Relax into the beauty of the moment.
4) In the morning, upon awakening, sketch or doodle one or two of the dream images that visited in the night.
5) Find the beauty in whatever or whoever shows up. Even in those images that are unpleasant or difficult, discern a particular quality that when enhanced offers something of splendor.
6) Imagine a way of gifting this glimmer of beauty back into the world.
Remember, you are engaging in this praxis as part of an extended community. Feel our collective support and care.
Volume XXXXVI – Celebrating the World Soul
Inside The Curious Mind
This is a quote that resonated with me this week…
“Listen to your heart. It knows all things, because it came from the soul of the world, and it will one day return there.”
~Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
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.
