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ABSTRACT
Dream
Incubation, Healing, and Spiritual Practice in the Ancient World
Anne
Hill, doctoral candidate, University of Creation Spirituality.
Anne Hill is a writer, teacher, musician, and dreamworker. She is
the author, with Starhawk, of Circle Round: Raising Children in Goddess
Traditions (Bantam, 1998). Anne is a certified dreamworker through the
Marin Institute of Projective Dreamwork, and has taught in the US,
Canada, and England. annehill@serpentinemusic.com
Summary of Presentation
Dream
incubation is a new frontier for many dreamers experimenting with dreams
and healing. This paper looks at dream incubation theories and techniques
for healing and divination, with an emphasis on those of classical
civilizations. Specific examples will be explored, within the context of
the spiritual worldview of its practitioners.
Learning Objectives:
Participants
will achieve an understanding of the modern uses of dream
incubation techniques. Participants will identify the origins of dream
incubation practices. Participants will be able to define the term
"dream
incubation", and cite at least one example of its use.
Questions:
Define "dream incubation" and cite one instance of its use. What
are the
origins of the practice of dream incubation? How is dream incubation used
in
a modern setting?
Abstract
Dream
incubation is a new frontier for many dreamers experimenting with dreams
and healing. It is used in a modern context for
healing, primarily through spiritual and psychological guidance. The
beginning of the recent interest in ancient incubation systems, and the
start of their influence on modern psychotherapy, can be traced to Jungian
C. A. Meier's inquiry in the mid-20th century. Yet little is generally
understood about the specific historical practices and beliefs of the
ancient dream priests and priestesses, nor how widespread dream incubation
was in antiquity. This paper looks at dream incubation theories and
techniques for healing and divination, with an emphasis on those of
Classical civilizations. Originating in the Near East, dream incubation
spread through the Mediterranean during the first millennium BCE, possibly
much earlier, and greatly influenced the development of early Western
philosophy, medicine, law, and religion. The early Near Eastern origins of
incubation and their relation to the shamanic practices of Central Asia
will be outlined. Specific examples of developed incubation practice
in the early Classical period will be explored, particularly the healing
cult of Asklepios, the Pythagoreans, and the Orphic mystery tradition of
Greece and Southern Italy. Traces of these ancient practices in
Plato, Strabo and other early writers will be referenced, and mention of
incubation practices in early Christianity and mystical Judaism will also
be discussed. Ancient practices will be presented in the context of the
spiritual worldview of their practitioners, and implications will be drawn
for the current and future practice of dream incubation by modern
dreamers.
References:
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on
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Press.
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Eliade, M. (1981). A History of religious ideas, vol. 1, From the Stone
Age
to the Eleusinian Mysteries (W. Trask, Trans.). Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
Hamilton, M. (1906). Incubation or the Cure of Disease in Pagan Temples
and
Christian Churches. London: W.C. Henderson & Son.
Kingsley, P. (1995). Ancient philosophy, mystery and magic: Empedocles and
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Kingsley, P. (1999). In the dark places of wisdom. Inverness, CA: Golden
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Meier, C. A. (1967). Ancient incubation and modern psychotherapy. [1949]
(M.
Curtis, Trans.). Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
Tick, E. (2001). The practice of dream healing: Bringing ancient Greek
mysteries into modern medicine. Wheaton, IL: Quest Books.
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