Dreamtime and the Sand Way in Healing and Transformation

Dreamtime and the Sand Way in Healing and Transformation

Bob Sandman Coalson, MSW, LICSW, is an adjunct professor at Saint Martin’s University, Lacey, Washington, where he teaches courses in the psychology of dreams. His clinical background includes: trauma recovery specialist, sandplay therapist, storyteller, and consultant with interest in cross-culture perspectives on dreaming and shamanism.

Abstract

Jung was quite specific about the role of dreams, image, fantasy, and creativity as indispensable elements for healing and transformation in his life. So, it is not surprising that we find evidence of these same qualities spread throughout the mystical and shamanic traditions from ancient to contemporary time. Shamans and religious mystics are credited by many as the first dream workers. The medicine work, rituals, and ceremonies they practiced were not only guided by dreams but also influenced by the understanding of how the alchemical elements – earth, air, fire, and water, served as catalysts in the quest for transformation and healing.

During this presentation we will launch a journey that will connect us to a deeper understanding and appreciation for some of these varied traditions. Illustrated by a colorful slide presentation, we will explore how the alchemical earth element, sand, and dreams hold a fascinating place in the Tibetan Buddhist kalachakra, Navaho sand painting, Jungian sandplay, and Rafalawasch sand drawings.

For Tibetan Buddhists the sand mandala is the central motif of the kalachakra initiation ceremony in which initiates seek to attain Buddha-like stature. This is a ceremony that covers a period of several days during which a sand mandala is created. The guru overseeing the ceremony and his monk assistants not only analyze their dreams to ensure the conditions of constructing the mandala are propitious but also discuss the dreams of the initiates seeking the kalachakra initiation.

Navaho sand paintings are the centerpiece for another form of ceremony wherein sand is utilized as an alchemical element to create a ‘healing way’ that restores balance and harmony, or a ‘blessing way’ for such occasions as birth, marriage, or a new life challenge. Sand paintings have also been used to treat nightmares of Navaho veterans returning from war. The ensemble of symbols comprising a sand painting are created by a medicine man involving chants, fasts, prayers, and the monitoring of dreams during the period in which the ceremony is conducted.

Sandplay is a Jungian oriented form of therapy that utilizes a small tray of sand and a variety of realistic characters and figures. A sand tray creation conveys a dreamlike expression in symbolic form that promotes a healing of the psyche. Drawing on case examples from his practice, the author presents sandplay as both a process form of therapy and as a reliable tool for nightmare treatment.

Finally, the author provides a snapshot of a dream healing ceremony called sand drawing taught to him by a sousafie (medicine man) from the Rafalawasch culture – an island people in the western Pacific’s northern Mariana Islands. Sand drawings are an intriguing form of ceremony that combines a sand drawn human figure accented by the energy charkas and a dream journey. The sand drawn figure, a kind of sand-ego composite of the person seeking help, is the central object of the dream healing that is transferred onto the seeker as the finale of the ceremony.