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DREAMSEARCH AND THE COMPUTER

By Bjo Ashwill, MS, LPC

ABSTRACT
Presented At ASD Conference, 1996

Dream search has been going on for thousands of years. We peer into our dreams in many different ways and styles. Now the computer is an additional tool we can use to glean those insights. The computer is like a multi-faceted lens. We can choose to move in close and personal, like a macro lens on a camera, examining the fine details, magnified. We can swoop out like a telephoto lens and see the detail in relation to its dream environment. We can even fly up to outer space in a satellite view of the entire inner world picture.

In addition we can imitate the workings of our dream creator, Ms. Creativity, Herself, by using the raw material of the dream narrative to break apart, reassemble, and tumble unlike things together. This creates insight as we spin through the mosaic of our lifelong metadream.

Jung suggested a 100 dream series to work with when he analyzed someone's dreams. I extend that to every dream a person has recorded. I believe it is all one dream, when viewed from a longitudinal point of view. It is our "body of work" over a lifetime

I began this work in progress computer software package because I kept asking myself, "Didn't I dream that symbol before?" I used WordPerfect 5.1. I recorded my dreams. Then I created some rather lengthy macros to do the tasks I needed done. The centerpiece is the capability of searching all your dreams for a particular symbol and creating a sub file of only those dreams. I added the ability to figure the percentage of times this symbol appears in the total master document. I created my own personal symbol dictionary from the dream narratives which is many times more complete than any symbol dictionary you can buy.

I loved the speed with which I could pull together information. If I had decided to check out if I'd ever dreamed about cats before by skimming each dream in my dream journals, I'd still be here working on the first symbol. From this simple beginning, more and more ways to use this information gathering method became evident. Now that the software package is complete, I am able to choose many different styles and techniques to view or play with the material. I can use left and right brain techniques, depending on my personal style and mood of the day.

The centerpiece is the great search engine. From there you can:

1. Create your own personal symbol dictionary.

2. Create dictionary of different cultural and spiritual interpretations of symbols and words.

3. Count and tabulate the most frequent (chose your own number) symbols in your dreams.

4. Create categories of your dream material. Examples of categories are :male characters, female characters, neutral characters, settings, objects, actions, emotions, colors, etc.

5. Pull together sub files of all the dreams you've ever had with a particular symbol in it.

6. Find dreams where two symbols often show up in the same dream.

7. Do archetype searches.

8. Examine problem solving techniques implied in dreams.

9. Create a time line and examine the changing of a symbol over time.

10. Time line events. Analysis of ages mentioned in dreams. same age as dreamer, generational (parents) what specific ages of childhood.

11. Tracking special dates like birthdays on a time line. Do I have reoccurring dream motifs.

12. Search out the many faces of the shadow.

13. And the bottom line: Use the computer to reorganize the material to create new spontaneous relationships with one's own set of symbols.

Not only is the information intriguing, but you can then use other techniques to gain more insights. Such as:

1. Dialoguing with dreams characters and images.

2. Describing and doing a character analysis of the dream characters.

3. Placing symbols in relation to each other and exploring what this might mean.

4. Changing the dream. Rewriting it.

5. Break dream into specific scenes.

6. Tell the story of the dream in general terms to get the basic plot and structure.

7. Generate list of tasks dreamer can do in waking life. (example: dreams hiding in small place. tasks: stretch body out, make large gestures. get into open large spaces. open something symbolically. declare self.)

8. Keep a day residue journal.

9. Work dreams from the different perspectives: physical health, sexual, spiritual, work, relationship, childhood events, family, etc. This is a partial list of what this computer software is capable of.

People ask, "Aren't you just chopping up the dreams into little pieces?" "Won't that destroy all the built up meanings of the wholeness of a dream?" I must answer yes. I am chopping up the dreams and separating out pieces that were created to be together. The implication I hear in the voices of my questioners is that this destroys any value the dream may have. I disagree. I think it augments what we already are learning from working a whole dream. We are given the gift of a complete dream. The simple act of trying to translate that into language alters it. I honor my dreams as they are. Using the computer to tease out more insights does not take away the whole dream. It still is there.

This article is copyrighted. All rights are reserved for the author.