Behind Greatness by Inspire North

178. Dr. Stephen Aizenstat - World-Renowned Professor of Depth Psychology / Imagination Specialist / Founder of Dream Tending - “Bringing the Witnessing Presence”

Jan 26, 2024

01:08:04

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Welcome back to Behind Greatness. We are sitting down today with Stephen at his home in Santa Barbara. Among other things, he is the founder of Dream Tending and the Academy of Imagination in California. He’s a depth psychologist and he has been exploring dreams for over 4 decades. He conducts dreamwork and imagination seminars and workshops throughout the world, including presentations to the UN and to legislators in the US. We dive into the language of dreams, hearing the imagery and the intelligence of the planet learned through the dreaming state. He explains the imperialistic impulse in our dreaming and the importance of asking the questions in the dreaming state. We learn about the witnessing presence, treating the dream as the very beginning: the “ongoingness of the conversation” and “the difference that makes all the difference”. And we talk about leaning forward with curiosity in facing malevolent dream characters and “allowing the creativity that is indigenous to come to life”. A trip.

Ask yourself, “who is dreaming the dream?”

For other episodes on dream talk, see Antonia Mills (ep88), Athena Laz (ep100), Kenneth Oppel (ep106), Fr. Nathan Castle (ep140)

Stephen,