Oneira Temple

Ancient Greco-Roman Dream Incubation + Plant Medicine

This is both a dream class and dream circle where we will share our dreams and learn traditional techniques and plant medicines for dreaming.

Online 6 class series : 6 live meetings plus 6 email video/pdf lessons : a package of 3 plant remedies plus bioregional temple incense.

The course will be 3 months, December 19, 2021-March 6, 2022 with 6 live meetings, 2 weeks apart except of December because of the holidays.

We begin just before the Winter Solstice as we enter the dark and dreaming phase of the year in the Northern hemisphere

||Cost is: $365 paid in full, or $125 per month for 3 months||

Live meeting Are Sundays at 4pm Eastern Time

dates: 12/19, 1/09, 1/23, 2/06, 2/20, 3/06

There is room for 13 people as this is an intimate setting where we’ll be sharing dreams. If need be I will add another section.

Pay in full $365

3 Payments of $125

“Dream Incubation remained central to western medicine from about 600 BC until about 500 AD when the church ended it because they wanted to have the franchise on revelation.”

— ~Peter Kingsley

Oneira means dream and plants that enhance or facilitate dreaming are oinerogenic plants. This comes from the Greek ὄνειρος, óneiros meaning “dream” + -gen meaning “to create.” In this course we will discuss not only plants and plant remedies that enhance dreaming, but also those that encourage sleep and promote nervous system health and attunement that allows for optimal dream work.

This course is based in the ancient practice of dream incubation that was conducted in sanctuaries and healing centers all over the Greek and Roman world. These centers were dream temples that were dedicated to the chthonic god Asclepius who is known as the “god of healing”.

Dreams were considered portals to the otherworld where people were able to engage with the gods who could spontaneously heal them and with other beings, symbols, and archetypal patterns of nature that would provide insight and wisdom along with messages and prescriptions for healing.

Together we will explore the basic tenets of an incubation ritual, dream mythology, symbolism both in waking and sleeping life, the archetype of the god Asclepius, as well as dream interpretation beyond the “narrative arc” based in cross-cultural and cross-generational practices including Jungian psychology, Italian Folk Medicine, and Druidic/Celtic Oneiromancy.

The “narrative arc” is the dominant paradigm for conventional dream interpretation, storytelling, mass media fiction, Hollywood, theater, and even mythology. It is a basic pattern of beginning, middle, end/rising conflict, climax, and denouement or resolution. It follows the same lines as the hero/heroine’s journey and is a valuable architecture, but our dreams don’t always follow preconceived patterns.

Dreams emerge from places before and beneath time and space and are spun from primordial threads that weave constellations that form a variety of narrative patterns beyond the dominant paradigm.

Who is this for:

Anyone who wants to cultivate a dream practice
All levels of plant/herbal medicine enthusiast
Anyone interested in the ancestral practice of dream incubation and the Asclepian healing centers of Ancient Greece and Italy

This course includes:

2 live dream share meetings per month, a total of 6
6 email lessons with video tutorials and pdf’s
Dream and plant exploration worksheets
a package of 4 plants remedies that we will be working with; Kyphi style incense, Asclepius Essence, Dreamtime Elixir, and Sleep-Ease formula.

Topics we will cover (subject to alteration to leave space and openness for the collective of our group to explore and grow together organically):

Starting a dream practice and dream journaling
The elements of Asclepian dream incubation and sapiential medicine
The six stoicheia(principles) of Asclepian dream interpretation
The dream temple at Velia, now Ascea, in Salerno, Italy
Types of dreams
Creating a dream incubation ritual
Jungian dream principles
Dream architecture; the patterns and shapes of dream narratives
Working with dream symbols in both waking and dreaming life
Dream interpretation both within and without the narrative arc
Oneiromancy: dream divination
Plants for dreaming: oneirogens, flower essences, herbs, plant spirit medicine
Herbs for the nervous system, anxiety, and relaxation.
Dreaming for ancestral connection
Dream journeying with plants
Finding your personal plant ally for dreaming

Requirements for class:

You will need to use zoom to attend the live meetings. These meetings will be recorded but live attendance is highly recommended to establish a group connection and resonance.

Once you register, within 24 hours you will receive a welcome email that confirms your registration.

Payment can be made in full or made in 3 monthly payments.

Pay in Full $365

3 Payments of $125

Week to Week Class Outline

(This is basic and flexible meaning that more could be added or some areas may get more focus than others depending on where our time together takes us)

***all meetings will be recorded

Lesson 1

Lesson available- Monday, December 13

1. Beginning a dream practice

2. Using our first plant remedy: sleep-ease

3. Dream Temples and Locations/Layout in Greece and Italy