The beginnings of my archetypal dreamwork

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

I am going to follow Alice’s advice and my heart in

attempting to give you a bit of the flavor of my initial encounter with

archetypal dreamwork.

Marc Bregman came into my life in late summer, 2003. I had

returned from the Assisi Conference in Italy with the seeds of transformation germinating

in my heart. Standing on the mountain where St. Francis and the monks had

lived in caves, I experienced the revelation that the way I’d been living

for more than 50 years was not the only way it had to be. The Franciscans’

example showed me that there were alternatives, although I had no inclination

to follow their example into monastic asceticism.

Back in New Jersey, I stood at the front door of my lovely home,

with my dogs looking down the steps at me and asked myself the question: “why

jeopardize all this?” And the answer was clear. Time was

growing short. I was 58. I needed to begin to live my life, more

abundantly, now, not later.

, who I had met earlier that year, was already in

therapy with Marc, after many years of work with a Jungian analyst. I too

had trod the Jungian path and it was very rewarding for me. But something

was missing. As I delved deeper into the psyche, it was clear that the

divine spark hadn’t ignited for me. My doctor, Bahder, a

remarkably evolved spiritual guy, said to me, “, you are not a

serious student of consciousness.” I reacted, appalled. What did he

mean? I had gone back to school, gotten a master’s in

psychology. I attended Jungian courses and seminars regularly. I

had set myself the goal of reading everything Jung ever wrote and was perhaps a

third of way there.

“You’re a seeker,” said. “Stop

seeking, get off the path and go direct.” His words hung in the air that

day as I stood in my doorway.

I wanted to marry . She had Marc cast my astrological

chart. He saw no obstacles to our future life together, but he suggested

strongly that I enter the dreamwork first. I reacted. Who was this

man, and who was he to tell me what kind of therapy I should be doing? I

was fine with my Jungian analyst, learning more every day. I wanted no

part of it. But I did want to be with . . . so I agreed to a

meeting.

The ambience of Marc’s home and office is well described

by Rodger Kamenetz as I quoted him here a few weeks ago. Marc offered me

a cup of coffee, I declined. Everything about the setup of his place went

against what I had been taught. His office was a cluttered mess, full of

personal belongings and momentos. I had learned that the setting and the

therapist himself should be impersonal, objective, that the frame of therapy

needed to be anonymous. Bregman’s frame was full of violations.

The coffee would have choked me. He had a cup himself.

I was pretty arrogant. I knew a lot and I was prepared to

impress Marc with my knowledge. I asked him a lot of theoretical

questions about his method and its roots. I asked him what books I should

read. He told me he no longer read any books. A red flag went

up. I lived for my books, Jung, Freud, Edinger, Whitmont and the rest.

I asked him about the frame, repeating what I had learned from Langs and

Conforti, asking how he could justify being so loose. He tossed

the first bombshell. “Of course the frame is important,” he

said irritably, “but why does one size have to fit all? The frame

should evolve from the therapy, not the other way around.” I was

blown away.

Although I had planned to limit our talk to theory, I did bring

a dream:

Dream

I am going to a training

program at an IBM facility in New York City. When I get there the room is

crowded and is disarray. The instructor is not yet there. I leave

and go out into the city, walking a few blocks. I meet a black man I know

from Jersey City. He is unemployed. He is well-dressed, wearing a

business suit and carrying a briefcase. I go back to the training

facility. There are now a lot more people there, including people I know

from Fairleigh Dickinson University and from the Assisi program. The

training still hasn’t started, so I leave again. I see the black man, who

is talking to his white girlfriend on his cellphone. He is asking her

what she wants him to bring her for lunch. I rush to get away from him because

I am late for the training. He is describing me on the cellphone as I run

away.

And then Marc threw the second bombshell.

He told me that the black man was the Animus, and that he knew

all about me. That’s why he was describing me on the phone.

I made him repeat it, “The Animus?” He said, “yes.”

And the red flag went up for real and flapped wildly. What was he talking

about? I had read Jung. Men don’t have an Animus, women

do. Men have an Anima, and I blabbed on about that for a few

minutes. “That’s wrong.” Marc said, “All roads

lead through the Animus. He’s the savior, the Christos, the

Messiah. He appears in people’s dreams regardless of their gender,

and has appeared as such in every culture, every religion. His role is to

lead you to the Divine. The Anima has a different function. She works

with both genders too.”

Since that time I’ve experienced the Anima and Animus in

my dreams night after night. She is like Sophia, the Holy Wisdom that

Alice writes about. He’s more of an elder brother, a friend, a

revered teacher, who knows the Divine Father intimately and persistently nudges

me toward Him, so I can know his presence and his love.

I will be glad to write more about this work, and about the personal

growth and change that I’ve experienced since embarking on it.

Also check out www.northofeden.com.

Love,

From:

JUNG-FIRE [mailto:JUNG-FIRE ] On Behalf Of IonaDove@...

Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 8:47 PM

To: JUNG-FIRE

Subject: Caution

As moderator, I think we have to stop promoting booksales on

JUNG-FIRE! I am guilty myself for once, but the purpose here, dear , is

for discussion of Jung's concepts and how they apply to our lives. We run the

danger, in our enthusiasm, to shut off other members fr contributing.

So best to limit ourselves to providing a link n giving yr

personal experience, etc.

We miss Dan n n many other old friends n look forwd to

passing the talking stick around the fire. The political situat the world over

is interesting in terms of Jung's 'opposites' n the need for the coincidentia oppositorum

- who or what will supply the Transcendent Function?

The collective projection on an 'ememy' of any kind serves to

bring the opp choices to consciousness, but then the solution needs to be

found.

Who among the candidates seems likely to provide one? What example

can we find in history, even in the last 200 hundred years has helped bring

this about? The Marshall plan? Gorbachev? Mandela?

Just a thought......

To bed!

Old Lady

ao

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