Dreams and Spiritual Direction

July 23, 2019 joanna seibert

Hyde: Dreams 2

Guest Writer Bridget Hyde

“What I have continued to find … is that dreams are sources of wisdom for problem solving and life enhancement. They put us in touch with dimensions of ourselves that are normally hidden and that we need in order to grow toward our full potential.” —George R. Slater in Bringing Dreams to Life (Paulist Press, 1995).

The first dream that I took to spiritual direction was a dream about walking barefoot in the snow. When my foot touched the ground in the dream, I became aware that I was dreaming, and then I started to pray. Now, as I reflect on that dream, I see a person who is becoming conscious of the divine nature of dreams. When my bare foot touched the ground, I became grounded in the grace of the unconscious.

I had been recording my dreams, sharing them with friends, and honoring them with symbol work, but I had not sought discernment in this work from a spiritual director. When I told a friend this dream she begged me to work on the dream with a retired Episcopal priest and spiritual director named Allen Whitman.

I followed her stern invitation and began a five-year study of my dreams with Allen. From this inward study, I became aware of many different aspects of my character. My work in dreams began to show me how to connect the symbolic language of a dream to the circumstances of my life. For example, during a time when I was making a big decision, I had a dream that my airline flight was interrupted. The dream plane was grounded and I was forced to wait before boarding another plane.

When Allen and I worked on the dream, we both realized that I had come to a time of waiting in the decision process. Because of this dream, I waited to take decisive actions. I am so glad I did. It was a wonder to see my work in dreams as a kind of spiritual direction. I started to trust my dreams and their divine nature. Looking back, I see how God has guided me through my dreams, and I honor spiritual direction in dreams as a holy gift.

Bridget Hyde

Bringing Dreams to Life

July 22, 2019 joanna seibert

Hyde: Dreams 1

Guest Writer Bridget Hyde

Dreams are a very dynamic form of spiritual direction. They come to us in the service of wholeness. A visit from a dream brings unconscious information to our consciousness. Dreams carry a divine desire to make us whole, to integrate the conscious and unconscious worlds and find a balance between soul and persona.

There is much talk in spiritual direction about “ego” and how it keeps us from God, from our truest self. My experience has taught me that ego is not in and of itself bad. It is an ego out of balance that does harm.

Don’t we all need egos for our basic needs? It is our ego that drives us to get dressed and go out into the world. My faith tells me that God gave us our egos so we might have the confidence to put forward our gifts, and accomplish necessary, daily tasks. Sadly, some of us fall into situations here on earth that sap the vitality of our egos, our self-esteem. During dark or denigrating times, people often dream of kings and queens. Here, the dream seeks to balance a personal sense of worth by calling forth a regal, powerful archetype.

When an ego is out of balance the other way, it becomes inflated and sees itself above others, immune from harm or wrongdoing. If this happens to a person, the unconscious will sometimes bring a dream of falling from a high place to land on solid ground. The dream will seek to bring the person “back to earth.” Thus, a person may have a dream that a plane crashes, yet they land safely somehow; or another example is a dream where a car stalls and the dreamer must get out and walk. The main thrust of such dreams is to help the dreamer feel grounded, to avoid the fate of Icarus.

Bridget Hyde

What I learned from dr. Taybi

July 21, 2019 joanna seibert

“Before I ventured forth,

even while I was very young,

I sought wisdom openly in my prayer.” Ecciesiasticus 51:13

As I say prayers today for refugees and those trying to immigrate to our country in face of the recent travel bans, I find the previous note from Dr. Hooshang Taybi from 2006 that was on Daily Something yesterday. It is written three weeks before he died in response to my note about the news of his terminal illness. If you are a radiologist or a pediatrician, you will remember Dr. Taybi, best known for his study of children with difficulties that become part of a syndrome. He was professionally noted for his encyclopedic memory of the more than 100 journals he read leading to his classic textbook, The Radiology of Syndromes; but what I most remember is his kindness, humbleness, and caring for others, empowering others, never too important to spend time with you.

A colleague shares a phrase from Dr. Taybi’s favorite Persian poem, “The best way to show your gratitude for having a strong arm is to extend a helping hand to the weak.”1

I see a life of a brilliant man who close to his death still expresses gratitude for those who helped him over 50 years before. Dr. Taybi empowers us still today by telling stories, stories of children with illnesses, stories of how he was empowered, gratitude for all who touched his life even to the end. I continue to see daily the difference gratitude can make in a person’s life. Today I will try to remember and give thanks for those who empowered me and pray that I can pass empowerment and gratitude on to others. I also want to remember Dr. Taybi’s story of what a difference the strangers who helped him made in his life. I hope to try to do this for those who come to our country like Dr. Taybi for a new life.

I also remember that if the present travel ban had been in place, Dr. Taybi would never have come to his America. I think of all of us whose lives would not have been touched by his, but especially the children and their parents who would have missed his medical expertise.

1Ron Cohen, Charles Gooding, “Memorial Hooshang Taybi,” in AJR, 187:1382-1383, 2006.

Joanna joannaseibert.com