SOI Makes A New Mark at IASD | June 2024

The School of Images at the International Association for the Study of Dreams Conference, June 2024.

In the beautiful rolling hills of the south Netherlands, within a stone’s throw of Germany, three teachers of SOI attended the IASD (International Association for the Study of Dreams) Conference. This conference is a pre-eminent annual gathering for the exploration of dreaming.  The setting was the Medieval Ruldoc abbey and 250 dreamers from around the world had gathered. The event opened with an interesting keynote about how animals dream and what the implications are for consciousness, given by Dr. David M. Pena-Guzman, an expert on Non-Human Dreamers).

Sheona McEwan started the conference off with a talk on “Using Saphire imagery and Waking Dreaming to Support Children with Anxiety”. In this interactive workshop we followed Simone’s and George’s (two 10-year-olds) journey in dealing with anxiety. Using Saphire exercises, participants found their horse and rode it to the safety of their secret garden. They learned to use the sun in their solar plexus to burn away the fear and finally conquered their (worry) monsters in the cave. Participants engaged in repairing their dreams – one participant’s garden was totally black and burned out, before she watered it and transformed it into a wild colorful tropical garden. Another participant was particularly enamored with using her lasso of light to deal with the monsters! It was also the first time that DreamKids was mentioned in public!

All three Dreamers enjoyed attending the lecture “A Dream Flying Lesson” by Emma Lehtinen, where she read excerpts from her Finnish children’s book “The Guide to Flying in your Dreams.” Her fun and adventurous journey was inspiring. That evening they also had the opportunity to meet up with fellow SOI teacher Lindsey Curtis who lives just around the corner in Belgium.

Claudia Rosenhouse Raiken spoke on the third day. Her workshop “DreamBirth Promotes the Conception, Growth and Birth of a Baby, a New Venture and a New You” was attended by many including  a lady who was 17-weeks pregnant,  a woman wishing to conceive and a manager of a birth center.  Claudia’s workshop was very interactive with many DreamBirth exercises. The women in the workshop found support from their ancestors (Exercise 55 page 112) and who revealed that they see supporting these Dreamers. Claudia was of course very entertaining, sharing many stories of the babies talking to their mothers. You can find many of these touching stories in her book: Messages from the Womb.

Samantha Smallwood-Pounds had the longest to wait but her presentation on the very last day “Return to Grace: Anchoring Alignment through the Art of Dreaming” was truly appreciated. Sheona overheard two long-time conference participants whisper to each other “that was just beautiful, what an inspiring workshop!” No surprise as Samm dove into the art of Kaballah and its power to illuminate and reveal. She led us to experience being replenished by the Source (Exercise 141 / Page 273 / The Kabbalah of Light / Drinking at the Source) and participants skipped down the mountain finding a variety of new shoes. Staying close to Catherine’s spiritual roots, she spoke of the ancient inner wisdom inside of us and that through alignment we can find our inner grace. The School of Images UK will be hosting more workshops involving Samm soon.

We had a great time talking to so many Dreamers and sharing our passion for The School of Images, Saphire Imagery, and dream work. We are looking forward to meeting many more dreamers in the future, whether at another Dream Conference or in workshops and classes (on-line and in person) through the School.

— Sheona McEwan, Certified Practitioner