Monday, May 3, 2010

Green light from Vermont


Boulder, Colorado
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Oracles can be vague and mysterious. That's how they stay in business long-term. The adjective "Delphic", derived from the famous oracle at Delphi, is a synonym for "ambiguous." But sometimes oracles speak with amazing clarity.
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In my weekend workshop in Boulder, we played an oracle game I invented. This involves getting people to write something that is on their minds on one side of a small index card, then gathering the cards into a deck. The next step is to ask everyone who is playing to come up with a clear theme on which they would like guidance. The players then take turns to draw a card at random from the deck, and they are primed to receive whatever they find written on it as a message from the oracle of the universe.
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In the Boulder circle, a woman named Sarah wanted guidance on whether she should move to Vermont. She smiled over the message on the card she pulled, which ended with the statement, "Follow your joy."
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Looking over her shoulder, I noticed that this message was not only written in an unusually fine calligraphic hand; it was penned in green ink. "Vermont means Green Mountain in French," I observed. "And the state is famous for its Green Mountains. If it were my card, I'd take the fact that it is written in green ink as a pretty strong sign from the green state." I turned to the group. "Who wrote that card?"
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A woman named Maureen identified herself as the author. "I'm from Vermont," she told us with a grin, reinforcing the signal.
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For full directions for playing the Coincidence Card Game, please see The Three "Only" Things: Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence and Imagination.

7 comments:

  1. Thank you for this post. It jogs my imagination about a current issue.

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  2. Robert,

    The "Library Angel" brought your books to my attention -- I think in relation to the dissertation I'm beginning (I'm working on my PhD in Education and will be crossing all boundaries with my research). I've just finished reading "The Three 'Only' Things" and parts of Dreamgates. They're fantastic and explain what's going on in my personal life (a very long story). I even had a dream right in the middle of "The Three 'Only' Things" that proved to be very informative (yes, I had to take a "power" nap/brain break).

    Thank you for the work you do. I'm glad you are writing about these things. The whole world can't be "crazy" even if some people may think I am(lol). Education has to be one of the slowest institutions to change and is doing so much harm to so many people.

    "Educational Psychology" is a total dinosaur. Synthesizing many perspectives and ontolgies as you have done in your work is a monumental move forward.

    And I can't wait to play this fun game with some of my friends and neighbors. I am thinking about starting a dream group.

    Thank you,
    Vanessa

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  3. Dear Vanessa - It's grand to hear your voice. Thanks for your generous spirit and your willingness to follow your dreams. I would love to see dreamwork part of the education system - and of course, education psychology - at all levels. We have a number of educators who've been taking my training as teachers of Active Dreaming and in my dream their influence will grow.

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  4. Thank you, Robert, for responding. We share the same dream, then. It is a dream I also share with a beloved author who passed away recently. I want to fulfill his dreams for education, although I could never do what he would have been able to do; he was a true genius. He was not finished with his work. I would like to take part in your training in the future. For now, I hope there is space available in your workshop in Portland, OR in June(I live just 80 miles south of Portland).
    Vanessa

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  5. Vanessa - I'm sure we have room for you and your many gifts in the Portland workshop next month and I'll look forward to welcoming you into our circle. I'm moved by your account of wanting to complete a friend's work.

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  6. Robert-I thought I responded to this, but it seems to have gotten lost in cyberspace. Just want to thank you for the invitation to the June workshop in Portland. I will show up (with check in hand, since I have not heard back from the scheduling person and the date is rapidly approaching). Thank you for the comment about continuing the educational work. Joe was an educational theorist. I will merely be demonstrating some of the ways his brilliant theory can be applied. He had been fascinated with dreams since childhood and he had worked with the Sioux Nation throughout his career. He wanted dreamwork added to education and educational research, which was something he could not emphasize to the extent he had wished, so I am excited to have the opportunity to learn more about your techniques to help make his dreams come true. And it looks like many of us have the same dream! Vanessa

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