Berkeley, CA - Dream Studies Open Forum Returns, 9/10/07

From Kelly Bulkeley:

I'd like to invite you, your friends, and colleagues to the "Open Forum in Dream Studies," hosted by the Dream Institute. Our meetings this year will focus on a theme that the Dream Institute's director, Meredith Sabini, and I feel is an urgent topic for the dream studies community to address -- "Ecopsychology and Dreaming: Exploring the Depths of Deep Ecology." The questions we'll be discussing include these: To what extent do dreams reveal the depths of our relationship with the natural world? In what ways are personal dreams affected by collective environmental problems? What is the dreaming response to those problems? Can closer attention to dreams help inspire more people to change their waking world behavior towards nature?

Many of us who believe strongly in environmental causes are frustrated at the lack of psychological depth and spiritual self-reflection among our allies, who seem to be trapped in the same materialist paradigm that lies at the root of our unhealthy interactions with nature. This year's Open Forum gatherings will attempt to develop a deeper understanding of the psychospiritual forces that can help us overcome these challenges and cultivate a better relationship with the natural world.

The first meeting of the year will be Monday, September 10, 7:30-9:30pm, and two special guests have tentatively agreed to share their insights with us: Marc Barasch, author of Healing Dreams and long-time advocate for greater environmental awareness; and Ryan Hurd, recent graduate of JFKU's Dream Studies program with training in archaeology and ecopsychology. Please join us for what promises to be a very stimulating session.

Future meeting dates: October 8 and November 5.

The Dream Institute is located at 1672 University Avenue in Berkeley; phone # 510-845-1767.

Please spread the word, and we hope to see you there!

Jodorowsky Interview

Filmmaker, and all-around Renaissance Man, Alejandro Jodorowsky (responsible for the films El Topo, and The Holy Mountain) has managed to blow my mind on more than one occasion (usually with the above-mentioned films). A few years ago, I got to meet him at the California Institute of Integral Studies, where he gave a presentation on the tarot, and his own psycho-spiritual practice, which he terms psycho-magick. Love him or hate him, he's an interesting guy (and I do like his films).

The Fortean Times interviewed him back in July. It's definitely an entertaining read.

Music and Esotericism Conference

Call for Papers

Conference

Music and esotericism:
Art and science of sounds facing the occult knowledge

Rome, 14-18 April 2008
Academia Belgica, 8 via Omero, 00197 Rome

The Conference “Music and esotericism” seeks to bring together those working on the esoteric sciences – notably magic, astrology, alchemy, demonology, divination and cabale – in their relationship to music.

The Conference is an interdisciplinary event, aimed at breaking down the barriers between history, the history of art, of music, of science and of ideas. It is meant to be a multidisciplinary dialogue on musical practice, as studied in the light of specific historical and scientific contexts, in order both to deepen and to share our knowledge of the cultural background of the musical world in terms of science and belief.

Each lecture will focus on either the use of music within cultural and occult scientific traditions, or on the presence of these traditions in music. The multiple approaches will take into account all esoteric sciences and disciplines.

They will be divided into two complementary parts: the first from the viewpoint of philosophers and the way their theories integrate music and the second from the viewpoint of musicians, composers and theoreticians who are either interested in or have sought to integrate their knowledge into their theories or their musical scores.

The discussion will cover the need to take into account these sciences in the European tradition for the Medieval period until the 18th Century, together with the historiography.

These epistemological issues invite historians of science and of ideas to dialogue with musicologists, in order to create together a large network of the multiple relationships which exist between music and the esoteric sciences or disciplines, in order to view afresh the interpenetration of knowledge from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Scientific Committee :
Brenno Boccadoro (Université de Genève)
Charles Burnett (Warburg Institute, London)
Walter Corten (Université Libre de Bruxelles)
Paolo Gozza (Università di Bologna)
David Juste (Sydney University)
Steven Vanden Broecke (Katholieke Universiteit Brussel)
Laurence Wuidar (F.N.R.S)

Timing:
Abstracts (approx. 400 words) should arrive before November 1st 2007.
The speakers will be allowed up to 30 minutes.

L’Academia Belgica : 8 via Omero, Rome

The Belgian Academy of the Arts and Sciences is located in the garden of the villa Borghese. It has a conference and concert room, decorated with tapestries from Brussels dating from the 1550s . The Academy has a good library, focusing on the study of astrology, including the history of astrology. This is because Franz Cumont, from whom the Academia received the archives, is one of the pioneers of the history of astrology in Antiquity.

You will find a map, showing the location of the Academia, together with the necessary practical information on how to reach it (bus, taxi…) on the website http://www.academiabelgica.it/

If arriving by train: from Roma Termini take metro line A to Flaminio.

If arriving by air: the low-cost company Ryanair flies to Roma Ciampino from several European cities. From the airport, take the bus to Anagnina, then the metro - line A to Flaminio) or the bus (2 to 8 euro). See the website www.ryanair.com

Contact adress:
lwuidar@ulb.ac.be
Laurence Wuidar,
23 rue des Griottes,
B- 1180 Bruxelles.

Inscription fees: free.

Activities: a visit to the Villa Farnesina, famous for its astrological paintings, will be organised. The participants can also book seats for the recital of Krystian Zimerman on April 16, in the Santa Cecilia concert room on the Auditorium di Roma.

If our budget allows, we would like to organize a concert dedicated to the sonata cycle of the 17th century, which integrated the zodiac.

As a big fan of both music and esotericism, this sounds like one amazing conference. I'm tempted to submit something, myself. I have long been interested in the intersections of music/sound and consciousness. Why does certain music make us feel certain ways? I trance out plenty to Sufi music (and did my fair share of raves back in the early 90s), but what about some of the more insidious uses of music and sound for mood-alteration? The Muzak Corporation has done a number of studies showing that certain tempos, rhythms, and instrument combinations make for more productive work places, or more pliant shoppers. In the 1970s, disco became as huge as it was, because it was scientifically engineered to make you get up and shake your booty. Countless #1 r&b and soul hits had been analyzed to find the perfect rhythms, and bass lines, which were then re-assembled into hours of fun at Studio 54.

Ask yourself sometime - do you really like that song?

Visitation Dreams

I am collecting stories of people’s experiences of dreams of the deceased. Have you ever had a dream of a dead friend or relative that felt like it was “real”? Have you dreamed of someone, only to find out the next day that they had died during the night?

If so, I would love to hear your story. Right now, I am soliciting dream reports of these types. Based on the reports I receive, I may be interested in talking further with you in a series of interviews.If you are interested in participating in this research, have a dream to share, or have any questions, please direct all inquiries to study@visitationdreams.net.

...and we're live (sort of)!

Well, it seems that Streams of Consciousness is now slowly inching its way out of the gate. I've been slowly working on this site for a while now, and it seemed that now was as good a time as any to open the doors.

What is Streams of Consciousness?

As a researcher in the fields of Consciousness Studies and Dream Studies, I have wanted there to be a site where I would want to hang out, and see what's going on in the field. Eventually, there will be original content, blog posts, news, and a bookstore. For now, though, there are a large collection of links to various researchers, organizations, and blogs - all worth checking out. In the coming weeks and months the site will slowly ramp up, providing original content and commentary from deep within the cavernous trenches of consciousness and dream research.

Stay tuned... wonderful things are in store.