This workshop arises in response to an observation by psychologist, dream researcher, and parapsychologist Robert Van de Castle, gleaned from his examination of birth dreams in Our Dreaming Mind (1995): “The unconscious mind of the pregnant woman seems able to monitor and detect biochemical imbalances, tissue abnormalities, or structural defects in the uterine environment and communicate an awareness of disturbed functioning through dream imagery, which is sometimes fairly literal, sometimes symbolic. Dreams can sometimes act as nocturnal sonograms and relay visual images that bear a symbolic resemblance to the mysterious events transpiring in the mother’s womb.” In his 1989 study Oriental Birth Dreams, Fred Jeremy Seligson presents statistical figures on the frequencies of primary dream symbols in conception dreams (taemong) indicating the genders, personality characteristics and future careers of the children they represent. Dream theorists and researchers such as Patricia Garfield, Robert Moss and Eileen Stukane echo many of Van de Castle’s and Seligson’s findings and assertions, indicating the prodromic, diagnostic effects of birth dreams, and likening them to a form of pre-modern sonography. With attention to the spiritual, psychological and biological aspects of birth dreams, their medical applications, epistolary, and poetic forms, this workshop begins with a brief examination of their nature as personal mythologies. Through discussion and analysis of a variety of taemong both classical and modern, participants will gain an understanding of the common narrative building blocks of these genealogical stories. We will then apply these elements to compose our own birth dreams both individually and collaboratively.

Authors:
Loren Goodman, Yonsei University, South Korea

About the Presenter(s)
Professor Loren Goodman is a University Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer at Yonsei University in South Korea

See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule

Bookmark