Seminar Content
Speaker: Lewis Mehl Madrona
In this live webinar, Dr Lewis Mehl-Madrona will offer his perspective on multidimensional dreaming in indigenous cultures, and how this might inform how we hold and think about dreams in the context of psychotherapy.
Among Indigenous North American peoples, dreams are central to spiritual, cultural, and practical life, functioning as profound sources of knowledge, guidance, and healing. Dreams are not merely private, subconscious experiences; rather, they are considered authentic channels through which individuals receive insights from the spirit world, ancestors, or the broader universe. Many nations, including the Ojibwa, Dunne-za, Huron, and Sioux, hold that the dream world is as real and consequential as waking life. For example, vision quests – a key rite of passage – are often undertaken to access guidance and spiritual power through dreams or visions, requiring fasting, solitude, and ritual preparation.
The content of dreams can be prophetic, directive, or offer warnings; for instance, dreams might foretell important personal or communal events, provide solutions to problems, or bestow songs, names, or healing knowledge from animal spirits. Some groups, such as the Huron and Menomini, believe that dreams must be publicly enacted or honoured for their power to manifest, and respect for an individual’s dreams within a community grows as those dreams prove true in waking reality.
This close relationship between dreams and reality means that dreams play a vital role in shaping individual identity, social structure, and cultural continuity. Far from being passive experiences, dreams are acted upon, discussed communally, and integrated into ritual, healing, and social decision-making, reflecting a holistic worldview that recognises all realms of existence as interconnected.
