The Hidden Treasures of Dreaming - Spirit of Ma'at

Why then do we undervalue this twin side of ourselves? If we are right-handed, wouldwe ever think of cutting off the left arm, simply because it is not as useful as the right?Who is it that tells us our right brain is not useful?The answer, of course, is: the left brain! Having claimed our attention, the left brainrefuses to relinquish its prerogative. It tells us that the cognitions of the right brain aredreams, and that dreams are mere fantasy. But are they?Dreaming and FantasyBefore we go on to describe the forgotten powers of dreaming, we must dispel thenotion that dreaming and fantasy are one and the same. The left brain, being willful,aggressive, and competitive, sets itself goals that it proceeds to realize. Fantasy is theleft brain's way of twisting our true dreaming to its own purposes.For example, we might fantasize that our boss is fired for stealing money from thecompany, and, lo and behold, we are offered his job! Fantasy is self-serving. Ourclaims, expectations, desires, longings, and resentments color the fantasy and itsoutcome.True dreaming is free of such conniving. Instead, it responses playfully, like a childdoes. Presented with a grimace, it will stick its tongue out. Presented with a beautifulwoman, it will light up with a wondrous smell or a beatific landscape. Dreamingresponds to what it perceives, not simplistically, not foolishly, but in a manner that isdirect, spontaneous, and creative.We will call this responsive dreaming ''Active Imagination.''The ''Health Foods'' of RelatednessImagine an infant deprived at an early age of its mother. It cries and cries -- andcontinues to cry into adulthood.What do we feed it? Words. ''Talking cures.'' Unfortunately, however, talking curesaffect only the mind. They cannot affect the poor body, still longing for the soft touch ofa mother's caressing hands, the sweet sound of her cooing, the luminosity of her eyesand smile.Words only wrap the unfortunate story of loss more securely around the suffering body.They cannot cure the body of its hunger. Only through ''in-forming'' the right brain --using Active Imagination to feed it lived experiences, the embodied relationships, thesustenance it so desperately needs -- only this way can the void of patterning beaddressed. By in-forming the right brain through the Active Imagination, the twistedconfigurations patterned by early lack can be unraveled and reconfigured.