Dream amplification and projection
The figure above is an example of dream amplification, depicting a dream I had about life’s rhythms. I have used many methods of dream amplification in my own practice, including quick sketch and watercolor, drawing with the non-dominant hand, sculpture, and haiku. It took a while to put the inner critic to rest, but once I learned to stop judging my primitive artistic skills, I learned the value this practice holds for nurturing emotional and spiritual insight.
The figures below are assignments from a Sofia class, demonstrating the kind of powerful insight amplification may bring when combined with a consistent practice of dream journaling. In my case, the new awareness informed trauma’s influence on the way I dream.
Blackhawk Nightmare
The dream narrative:
I am inside a strange house on a cliff, with no furniture, at night. I notice bright lights out the window on the ocean side, high up. I go to the blinds to peek through. A military helicopter is right outside, and men are coming down a rope and running through the lawn with guns. I run to another window in a dark room, so they won’t see me. They are crouched outside, ready to enter. My heart is pounding. I try to stay quiet and concealed. I don’t think they are here to kill me; it seems like a misunderstanding of some kind. I have no idea why they are here. I am very aware that I couldn’t keep them out if I wanted to. Why should I want to? I haven’t done anything wrong. I move to the center of the house, waiting for the forces to break in.
The written amplification:
I chose to explore the helicopter image because bird images continue to appear in my dreams. This one was frightening to me as I witnessed it in the dream and projected my automatic fear interpretation onto it. However, as I worked with the sketch, my view of the helicopter changed from threat to resource. I have gone through nightmare conversion before and am now recognizing the fear aspect earlier. The adjustment sometimes happens within the dream, but in this case, it happened after waking. I allowed a re-entry to the dream, and I see the men quietly sitting around the house acting as protection against an unknown threat. It is now comforting. I took a picture of the sketch and named the file Blackhawk. This title hit me as yet another form of bird sending me a message.
The following week we were instructed to step more deeply into the amplification. This is a step I would not have thought to take if I had not been assigned to do so.
The figure above shows my first response using the familiar technique before I realized the assignment called for me to try a new creative method. When asked to select a different amplification method, I chose to write a haiku. The entry from my journal follows:
This week I wanted to amplify a different piece of last week’s dream, and before reading directions, I went to my standard creative expression of painting; I sketched looking out the window from the vantage point of the blinds. This method is good for me—it opens aspects that I overlook. Then I realized my mistake, so I wrote a haiku. Truth be told, I used to teach poetry and have always resisted writing verse because my inner critic fiercely goes to work. The techniques complemented one another to show me something I needed to see—what are the “blinds” in my life at any given time?
Through the dark window—
the outside danger is less
than the blinds inside
With this assignment, I understood the lens of anxiety that often blinds my experience. I understood that when I step to the window with the expectation of danger, I feel the full force of the danger even when there is nothing to fear. The blinds demonstrate how this anxiety filters my dreams, especially, but also my waking life. I could see the instant conversion point of dropping the expectation of harm from the special forces and feeling their protection.
While I often resisted these assignments, I was time and again surprised by the level of insight that came through creative expression.
Hart, J. (2023). Dream Education and a Changing Dream Landscape. [Unpublished manuscript]. Department of Transpersonal Psychology, Sofia University. GPHD 8299 Dream Studies Certificate Integration.
I offer sessions that include guidance in amplification methods for your dream, or my own creative expression of symbols from your dream accompanied by a dream projection session.