How Nightmares Can Heal
I’m currently working toward a certification in Dream Tending, an approach to dream work developed by Steve Aizenstat (founder of Pacifica Graduate Institute), following in the footsteps of James Hillman, Patricia Berry, Russ Lockhart and others in the world of archetypal/depth psychology.
Our most recent module was focused on working with Nightmares, and we were encouraged to bring frightening or disturbing dreams to the sessions and create a mask that represents a figure from one of these dreams. I haven’t had what you might call a classic nightmare — the kind where you confront a monster or get chased by a sadistic killer — for many years.
Instead, the dreams that are most disturbing to me usually involve intense emotional reactions leading to physical violence. Considering that I’m very much a “peacekeeper” type who has historically avoided conflict and confrontation whenever possible, it isn’t surprising to me that this is the shape my nightmares take.
Without going into the details of the dream I decided to work with, let me just say that it culminated in me expressing a great deal of anger through flexing my muscles and letting out a primal roar. In the dream I felt full of raw power, and it felt really good to let that energy express itself. Because I felt so powerful I was able to tell someone who had violated my physical boundaries many times when I was a young boy to “BACK OFF!” The unrestrained expression of anger was a little scary, but it felt really good and protective as well.
Lou Ferrigno as The Hulk, from the 70s TV show
When I woke up, I immediately associated the dream with an expression from my youth: “Hulking out.” I have distinct memories of the Hulk TV show from the late 70s where Bruce Banner (played by Bill Bixby) would warn people, “Don’t make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.” Although it didn’t involve physical violence, the roar of anger my dream self unleashed definitely doesn’t feel like it would be socially acceptable, even if it feels completely honest and healthy to let it out.
So I thought that I’d like to work with this image of the Raging Hulk for this session. As I started to sketch out ideas for the mask I began to make associations with the Wild Man or Green Man archetype. It seems to me that the Hulk is a contemporary image of the Wild Man who isn’t bound by societal norms and is therefore able to express his wild emotions, unrestrained, raw and totally authentic. The dream image began to transform from something I felt fearful (and ashamed) of, to an unfamiliar aspect of myself that I wanted to learn more from.
A medieval green man from Rochester Cathedral in Kent
Inspired by Steve’s suggestion to use natural materials for our masks, and wanting to explore the image of the Wild Man, I went out into our yard to source some materials. I was immediately drawn to the blackberry brambles that have claimed a large section of our yard. They reach out like tendrils and are covered in nasty hooked thorns. Even the leaves have sharp barbs on their spines. This plant perfectly embodies the aggressive and protective qualities of the Wild Man from my dreams.
The sweet and fierce blackberry
I donned some rubber gloves and collected a number of leaves for my mask, acquiring more than a few deep scratches in the process. In contemplating the Wild Man, I felt that I didn’t want to make it all about the anger. Underneath the fierce exterior, he is clearly emotionally sensitive and cares about nature, otherwise why would he be so protective? I wanted to include an element of sweetness too, so I picked some leaves from our cherry tree. I also selected some cedar boughs, because cedar has been an important medicine on my healing journey. I then went about creating my mask, trying to let it take form organically, just letting my hands do the work.
This is what I came up with:
Wearing my finished Green Man / Wild Man mask
I felt the finished mask really captured the emotion of the dream, and it was a lot of fun to wear it and fully embody The Wild Man spirit — growling, hooting and roaring with abandon. After our training module was closed I hung the mask up in the little room where I practice yoga, play music and do my writing. I noticed that the gums were very prominent. I’d painted them quite red and inflamed, words that also carry an association with anger. We can become “inflamed with anger” and “see red.” I thought this was simply a nice example of how the unconscious can speak metaphorically through our creative expression, but it turns out there is even deeper significance.
The exercise of picking the blackberry leaves for my mask got me wondering about this plant. I told my wife Debbie (an astrologer and folk herbalist) about my intuitive associations with the plant and the emotion of anger, and she told me that blackberry is related to Mars, the red planet and Roman god of war. The leaves and berries also happen to be good for treating inflammation and ulcers.
The amazing thing is that I’ve always had issues with sensitive gums and have had to deal with inflammation, oral ulcers and receding gums for most of my adult life. Is it possible that this dream has revealed a plant medicine that could help me with this issue?
This is one of those times where I just have to laugh and shake my head in amazement at how Psyche and Soma (soul and body) are interrelated, and the wonderfully mysterious way that Psyche can lead us toward healing and wholeness, if we know how to listen.
Isn’t it incredible how something that started out as a nightmare dream image of a repressed aspect of myself became a guide that led me to a plant that grows in my yard that could be medicine for a real physical ailment? It blows my mind.
The Blackberry Leaf tea I’m swishing twice a day
Time will tell whether blackberry leaves will heal my gums, but I can say that this whole process (which is ongoing) has been incredibly interesting, to say the least. Working with dreams in this way, where we ask what the dream wants from us (or for us) rather than interpreting the images as mere symbols, not only offers us great insight into the depths of our psyche but it can lead us into a more deep and enriching engagement with the world.
Dreams can inspire us to wonder, and I believe that Wonder is ultimately the cure for the modern epidemic of disconnection, dissociation, anxiety, depression and addiction. If trauma is a disconnection from our true nature (which is interwoven with Nature), Wonder is the salve that begins the healing, or “whole-making.”
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