This week has been rather dreamy!

I have been reading up on the Examen, a practise of prayerfulness designed by Ignatius of Loyola and used as part of the spiritual practice of the Jesuits. It has become popular in modern society for those seeking a deeper sense of their own spirituality. Introduced at my last Student Residential for the course I am taking in Spiritual Direction, the link work encourages me to daydream with God.

Jung’s interpretation of what he called the Shadow was much more positive [than Freud’s], a place that was ‘ninety-nine per cent pure gold’…As well as dreams, daydreams have always played their part in exploring the unconscious and in allowing all kinds of material to come into awareness and be accepted…The reflectivity of this kind of daydream thus be both radical and redemptive.

Andrew Walker, Urban Possibilities for Daydreaming

This is all rather timely, as I am also spending time this week preparing for our Midsummer Night’s Dream inspired Petite Retreat, Dreams and Visions, and tonight I am taking my daughter to an outdoor production of Shakespeare’s much loved comedy.

Throughout this evening retreat in The Quiet Garden on the borders of Hampshire and Wiltshire, we will be given permission to daydream, to holy doze, or even take 40 winks! Throughout the Bible God has spoken to people through dreams, and we will be exploring what that might mean for us today. We will also hear a few ‘gobbets’ of Shakespeare, share a summer picnic, and finish with the Examen. A take-home gift will remind us to keep dreaming, to allow ourselves to rest instead of always striving to be ‘holy’, and to let prayer come to us.

There are still some spaces available and I would love to meet you. To book your space, click here.