Festival of
Dreams 2025
A regional event in collaboration with the international associationfor the study of dreams
October 10th – 12th
At the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History Downtown Santa Cruz
705 Front St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Official Festival Schedule
Choose a Day to view events, times and locations
Saturday October 11th
Time
Location
Event
Presenter (s)
9:00am
to
9:45am
Personal Journeys Symposium in the Garden Room
Dreams and Artwork in My Cancer Journey
In 2024 I was diagnosed with cancer. During the subsequent surgeries, radiation, and naturopathic treatments, I recorded dreams and did art to cope with the ups and downs. In this presentation I will talk about the key events in my cancer journey and how dreamwork and artwork helped.
Dr. Jayne Gackenbach
9:00am – 9:45am
Personal Journeys Symposium in the Garden Room
Dreams and Artwork in My Cancer Journey
Dr. Jayne Gackenbach
In 2024 I was diagnosed with cancer. During the subsequent surgeries, radiation, and naturopathic treatments, I recorded dreams and did art to cope with the ups and downs. In this presentation I will talk about the key events in my cancer journey and how dreamwork and artwork helped.
9:45am
to
10:30am
Personal Journeys Symposium in the Garden Room
Eight Common Signposts to Help You Identify Health-Related Dreams
When we think of dreams, we usually expect them to offer insights regarding our psychological health and well-being; rarely do we think that they may offer credible guidance regarding our physical health. In this presentation we examine common dream signposts that warn us of potential health problems.
Bhaskar Banerji, PhD
9:45am – 10:30am
Personal Journeys Symposium in the Garden Room
Eight Common Signposts to Help You Identify Health-Related Dreams
Bhaskar Banerji, PhD
When we think of dreams, we usually expect them to offer insights regarding our psychological health and well-being; rarely do we think that they may offer credible guidance regarding our physical health. In this presentation we examine common dream signposts that warn us of potential health problems.
9:00am
to
10:30am
Boardroom
Dream Psychotherapy© with Psyche and Eros
This workshop invites participants to explore trauma recovery through Dream Psychotherapy©, using storytelling and ritual. Inspired by the story of Psyche and Eros, this workshop offers a structured journey to rebuild trust, embrace pleasure, and cultivate a healthier relationship with sleep. Participants will engage in curating a personal myth, letter-writing to Eros, which will complement their morning ritual.
Marilyn Manzi
9:00am – 10:30am
Boardroom
Dream Psychotherapy© with Psyche and Eros
Marilyn Manzi
This workshop invites participants to explore trauma recovery through Dream Psychotherapy©, using storytelling and ritual. Inspired by the story of Psyche and Eros, this workshop offers a structured journey to rebuild trust, embrace pleasure, and cultivate a healthier relationship with sleep. Participants will engage in curating a personal myth, letter-writing to Eros, which will complement their morning ritual.
9:00am
to
10:30am
Third Floor Gallery
Dreaming Back our Connection with the Earth
This experiential workshop will explore our primordial connections with the Earth. Through guided meditation, we will use our dreaming mind to connect with various Earth artifacts, journeying back in time with these elemental travelers to witness their stories and reflect on their meaning for our own lives today.
Dr. Marilyn Fowler
9:00am – 10:30am
Third Floor Gallery
Dreaming Back our Connection with the Earth
Dr. Marilyn Fowler
This experiential workshop will explore our primordial connections with the Earth. Through guided meditation, we will use our dreaming mind to connect with various Earth artifacts, journeying back in time with these elemental travelers to witness their stories and reflect on their meaning for our own lives today.
9:00am
to
10:30am
Collaboratory on the Third Floor
Honoring Deceased Loved Ones: Intersecting Visitation Dreams & Shrine-making
This creative, active workshop will provide a space to honor our dreams with the deceased. Following a brief discussion about visitations and the intersection with working altars and shrines, there will be an art activity crafting a personal altar/shrine to honor deceased loved ones and encourage dream incubation. All materials provided.
Kimberly Mascaro, PhD, LMFT
9:00am – 10:30am
Collaboratory on Third Floor
Honoring Deceased Loved Ones: Intersecting Visitation Dreams & Shrine-making
Kimberly Mascaro, PhD, LMFT
This creative, active workshop will provide a space to honor our dreams with the deceased. Following a brief discussion about visitations and the intersection with working altars and shrines, there will be an art activity crafting a personal altar/shrine to honor deceased loved ones and encourage dream incubation. All materials provided.
11:00am
to
11:30am
Societal Transformation Symposium in the Garden Room:
Dreams Across Time: Listening for Leadership in Ancestral Wisdom
This talk explores how leadership can emerge through listening to dreams, especially those carrying ancestral wisdom. Drawing on Indigenous perspectives, Hindu traditions, and epigenetic research, we’ll examine dreams as cross-generational dialogues—and consider how integrating ancestral insight can support more grounded, ethical, and responsive leadership in today’s complex world.
Raashi Bhatia
11:00am – 11:30am
Societal Transformation Symposium in the Garden Room
Dreams Across Time: Listening for Leadership in Ancestral Wisdom
Raashi Bhatia
This talk explores how leadership can emerge through listening to dreams, especially those carrying ancestral wisdom. Drawing on Indigenous perspectives, Hindu traditions, and epigenetic research, we’ll examine dreams as cross-generational dialogues—and consider how integrating ancestral insight can support more grounded, ethical, and responsive leadership in today’s complex world.
11:30am
to
Noon
Societal Transformation Symposium in the Garden Room:
Dreams That Reflect Socio-Political Trends
I will aim to show that the concept of dream wisdom encompasses the spirit of the times we are living in but also a deeper understanding both of our outer lives in society and about our deeper wisdom, which might enable survival of the species.
Jennifer Choate, MD
11:30am – Noon
Societal Transformation Symposium in the Garden Room
Dreams That Reflect Socio-Political Trends
Jennifer Choate, MD
I will aim to show that the concept of dream wisdom encompasses the spirit of the times we are living in but also a deeper understanding both of our outer lives in society and about our deeper wisdom, which might enable survival of the species.
11:00am
to
Noon
Boardroom
Dreams and Gems: A Sparkling Invisible World
Jewels have inspired people since early humans picked up shiny pebbles and found them magical. Gems and jewelry seen in dreams, as in waking life, are shimmering symbols of power and hope. Through imagery, stories, and active imagination we will journey into the heart of gemstones for guidance and adventure.
Jane E. Carleton, MA, GG-GIA
11:00am – Noon
Boardroom
Dreams and Gems: A Sparkling Invisible World
Jane E. Carleton, MA, GG-GIA
Jewels have inspired people since early humans picked up shiny pebbles and found them magical. Gems and jewelry seen in dreams, as in waking life, are shimmering symbols of power and hope. Through imagery, stories, and active imagination we will journey into the heart of gemstones for guidance and adventure.
11:00am
to
Noon
Third Floor Gallery
Chartres Dream Circle
The Chartres Dream Ceremony is a cross-cultural Indigenous dream ceremony. Dreamers meet in a circle, opened by a traditional Native American smudge and followed by dream sharing while a person “glyphs” using images and symbols to illustrate the dreams. The ceremony is a place-based process that creates community and culminates, through group process, a collective dream narrative.
Apela Colorado, PhD, Katrina Arriola, MA, and Kimberly Mascaro, PhD, LMFT
11:00am – Noon
Third Floor Gallery
Chartres Dream Circle
Apela Colorado, PhD, Katrina Arriola, MA, and Kimberly Mascaro, PhD, LMFT
The Chartres Dream Ceremony is a cross-cultural Indigenous dream ceremony. Dreamers meet in a circle, opened by a traditional Native American smudge and followed by dream sharing while a person “glyphs” using images and symbols to illustrate the dreams. The ceremony is a place-based process that creates community and culminates, through group process, a collective dream narrative.
11:00am
to
Noon
Collaboratory on the Third Floor
Dreams-Driven Masks Creation
Dreams can be a source of artistic inspiration. Often filled with surreal imagery and personal symbolism, dreams can translate well into the language of mask-making. Masks embody transformation, making them ideal for expressing the hidden, dreamlike aspects of the self. Join us for an imaginative introduction to the art of dream-inspired mask-making as a form of self-exploration.
Jacqueline Lopez
11:00am – Noon
Collaboratory on the Third Floor
Dreams-Driven Masks Creation
Jacqueline Lopez
Dreams can be a source of artistic inspiration. Often filled with surreal imagery and personal symbolism, dreams can translate well into the language of mask-making. Masks embody transformation, making them ideal for expressing the hidden, dreamlike aspects of the self. Join us for an imaginative introduction to the art of dream-inspired mask-making as a form of self-exploration.
9:00am
to
10:30am
Collaboratory on the Third Floor
Honoring Deceased Loved Ones: Intersecting Visitation Dreams & Shrine-making
This creative, active workshop will provide a space to honor our dreams with the deceased. Following a brief discussion about visitations and the intersection with working altars and shrines, there will be an art activity crafting a personal altar/shrine to honor deceased loved ones and encourage dream incubation. All materials provided.
Kimberly Mascaro, PhD, LMFT
9:00am – 10:30am
Collaboratory on the Third Floor
Honoring Deceased Loved Ones: Intersecting Visitation Dreams & Shrine-making
Kimberly Mascaro, PhD, LMFT
This creative, active workshop will provide a space to honor our dreams with the deceased. Following a brief discussion about visitations and the intersection with working altars and shrines, there will be an art activity crafting a personal altar/shrine to honor deceased loved ones and encourage dream incubation. All materials provided.
11:00am
to
11:30am
Societal Transformation Symposium in the Garden Room:
Dreams Across Time: Listening for Leadership in Ancestral Wisdom
This talk explores how leadership can emerge through listening to dreams, especially those carrying ancestral wisdom. Drawing on Indigenous perspectives, Hindu traditions, and epigenetic research, we’ll examine dreams as cross-generational dialogues—and consider how integrating ancestral insight can support more grounded, ethical, and responsive leadership in today’s complex world.
Raashi Bhatia
11:00am – 11:30am
Societal Transformation Symposium in the Garden Room
Dreams Across Time: Listening for Leadership in Ancestral Wisdom
Raashi Bhatia
This talk explores how leadership can emerge through listening to dreams, especially those carrying ancestral wisdom. Drawing on Indigenous perspectives, Hindu traditions, and epigenetic research, we’ll examine dreams as cross-generational dialogues—and consider how integrating ancestral insight can support more grounded, ethical, and responsive leadership in today’s complex world.
1:30pm
to
2:15pm
Cultural Wisdom Symposium in the Garden Room
Where Dreams Walk Beside Us: Dreams and Indigenous Cultures
This presentation examines the integral role of dreams in the daily lives of Indigenous communities, with a focus on Mexican traditions. It explores how dreams function as tools for guidance, healing, and communal connection, reflecting a worldview in which the dream realm is inseparable from everyday life and decision-making.
Alejandra Pérez Reguera Garcia
1:30pm – 2:15pm
Cultural Wisdom Symposium in the Garden Room
Where Dreams Walk Beside Us: Dreams and Indigenous Cultures
Alejandra Pérez Reguera Garcia
This presentation examines the integral role of dreams in the daily lives of Indigenous communities, with a focus on Mexican traditions. It explores how dreams function as tools for guidance, healing, and communal connection, reflecting a worldview in which the dream realm is inseparable from everyday life and decision-making.
2:15pm
to
3:00pm
Cultural Wisdom Symposium in the Garden Room
Sharing Dreams: A Cross-Cultural View
Sharing the dream may be as important as having the dream. We broaden our understanding of dream sharing by looking at dream practices of cultures in Greece, China, Africa, North America and Southeast Asia. Sharing dreams publicly and dreaming for the community aids in addressing personal, socio-cultural, and environmental concerns.
Christian Gerike, MA
2:15pm – 3:00pm
Cultural Wisdom Symposium in the Garden Room
Sharing Dreams: A Cross-Cultural View
Christian Gerike, MA
Sharing the dream may be as important as having the dream. We broaden our understanding of dream sharing by looking at dream practices of cultures in Greece, China, Africa, North America and Southeast Asia. Sharing dreams publicly and dreaming for the community aids in addressing personal, socio-cultural, and environmental concerns.
1:30pm
to
3:00pm
Boardroom
Dream Cultivating Resilience with Dreamwork and Tarotpy© with Psyche and Eros
Imaginal practices such as dreamwork and Tarotpy (the presenter’s process that integrates depth psychology and Tarot) guide us towards resilience and equilibrium even amidst times of upheaval and heartbreak. The closer we are to the imaginal realm, the more attuned we become to its intelligence. This deeper wisdom helps us to navigate natural cycles of life, death, and renewal. Oracular decks will be provided by the presenter, but attendees are also welcome to bring their favorite oracle, tarot, or other symbolic deck.
Lauren Z. Schneider, CAMFT
1:30pm – 3:00pm
Boardroom
Dream Cultivating Resilience with Dreamwork and Tarotpy© with Psyche and Eros
Lauren Z. Schneider, CAMFT
Imaginal practices such as dreamwork and Tarotpy (the presenter’s process that integrates depth psychology and Tarot) guide us towards resilience and equilibrium even amidst times of upheaval and heartbreak. The closer we are to the imaginal realm, the more attuned we become to its intelligence. This deeper wisdom helps us to navigate natural cycles of life, death, and renewal. Oracular decks will be provided by the presenter, but attendees are also welcome to bring their favorite oracle, tarot, or other symbolic deck.
1:30pm
to
3:00pm
Third Floor Gallery
Your Dream-Inspired Poetry or Songs
Did a dream inspire a poem or song you’d like to share? Sign up to share your creation! Participants are invited to perform their creations and, if they wish, briefly describe the dreams that inspired them. This session celebrates the artistic power of dreams through poetry and music, offering a space to listen, share, and connect.
Katherine R. Bell, PhD
1:30pm – 3:00pm
Third Floor Gallery
Your Dream-Inspired Poetry or Songs
Katherine R. Bell, PhD
Did a dream inspire a poem or song you’d like to share? Sign up to share your creation! Participants are invited to perform their creations and, if they wish, briefly describe the dreams that inspired them. This session celebrates the artistic power of dreams through poetry and music, offering a space to listen, share, and connect.
1:30pm
to
3:00pm
Collaboratory on the Third Floor
Leadership & Mentorship: Dream Group Leadership Training
This experiential workshop incorporates a range of established, emerging, innovative, and embodied dreamwork techniques that explore dream themes from personal, collective, archetypal, and allegorical perspectives. Victoria guides and empowers participants to lead dream groups, modeling deep listening techniques that encourage active engagement among the participants to call forth the collective wisdom of the group.
Victoria Rabinowe
1:30pm – 3:00pm
Collaboratory on the Third Floor
Leadership & Mentorship: Dream Group Leadership Training
Victoria Rabinowe
This experiential workshop incorporates a range of established, emerging, innovative, and embodied dreamwork techniques that explore dream themes from personal, collective, archetypal, and allegorical perspectives. Victoria guides and empowers participants to lead dream groups, modeling deep listening techniques that encourage active engagement among the participants to call forth the collective wisdom of the group.
3:30pm
to
4:30pm
Invited Symposium in the Garden Room
When Souls Dream, the Cosmos Dreams
Many dream reports suggest a presence of an infinite, loving, and sacred cosmic consciousness. Are we physical beings having a spiritual experience or spiritual beings – souls – in a physical experience? This session will explore this question in the light of resuscitation accounts and quantum physics and provide dream examples that suggest our fundamental nature as spirit.
Robert Hoss, MS
3:30pm – 4:30pm
Invited Symposium in the Garden Room
When Souls Dream, the Cosmos Dreams
Robert Hoss, MS
Many dream reports suggest a presence of an infinite, loving, and sacred cosmic consciousness. Are we physical beings having a spiritual experience or spiritual beings – souls – in a physical experience? This session will explore this question in the light of resuscitation accounts and quantum physics and provide dream examples that suggest our fundamental nature as spirit.
3:30pm
to
4:30pm
Boardroom
Exploring Collective Identity Through (Big Data!) Dream Sharing
This session explores the intersection of dreams and group culture using a new app that reads the dream room. By analyzing dreams as collective expressions, the session highlights how personal dreams reflect group dynamics and offers a novel approach to humanizing big data for meaningful connections. Bring a dream!
Kyle Napierkowsk and Emily Cook, PhD
3:30pm – 4:30pm
Boardroom
Exploring Collective Identity Through (Big Data!) Dream Sharing
Kyle Napierkowsk and Emily Cook, PhD
This session explores the intersection of dreams and group culture using a new app that reads the dream room. By analyzing dreams as collective expressions, the session highlights how personal dreams reflect group dynamics and offers a novel approach to humanizing big data for meaningful connections. Bring a dream!
3:30pm
to
5:00pm
Collaboratory on the Third Floor
A Deep Dive into Group Dream Practice
A dream is like a movie but, in a movie, a director might consciously choose a meaning, while a dream is full of unconscious meanings. In a dream group, we can ask a dreamer questions to begin to discover the unconscious meanings of their dream. Group members can also express their reactions to a dream as if it were their own and can add ideas and knowledge from their personal experience. This workshop will be a deep five into dream group practice.
Norman Brown, PhD and Marsha Hudson, PhD
3:30pm – 5:00pm
Collaboratory on the Third Floor
A Deep Dive into Group Dream Practice
Norman Brown, PhD and Marsha Hudson, PhD
A dream is like a movie but, in a movie, a director might consciously choose a meaning, while a dream is full of unconscious meanings. In a dream group, we can ask a dreamer questions to begin to discover the unconscious meanings of their dream. Group members can also express their reactions to a dream as if it were their own and can add ideas and knowledge from their personal experience. This workshop will be a deep five into dream group practice.
4:30pm
to
5:15pm
Special Event!
Boardroom
Digital Alchemy Unveiled: The Human-AI Creative Connection
This presentation explores the concept of “digital alchemy,” showcasing the fusion of human creativity and Artificial Intelligence. It follows the collaborative journey of artists and AI in crafting an animated video inspired by D~Dreaming—where intuition merges with technology to generate visionary art beyond individual limits. Note: The video contains flashing lights and rhythmic shamanic drumming.
Mara Flynn
4:30pm – 5:15pm
Special Event! Boardroom
Digital Alchemy Unveiled: The Human-AI Creative Connection
Mara Flynn
This presentation explores the concept of “digital alchemy,” showcasing the fusion of human creativity and Artificial Intelligence. It follows the collaborative journey of artists and AI in crafting an animated video inspired by D~Dreaming—where intuition merges with technology to generate visionary art beyond individual limits. Note: The video contains flashing lights and rhythmic shamanic drumming.
6:30pm
to
8:00pm
Keynote in the Atrium
Embody the Multiverse of Your Dreams – An Indigenous Circle Calls
Dr. Apela Colorado
6:30pm – 8:00pm
Keynote in the Atrium
Embody the Multiverse of Your Dreams – An Indigenous Circle Calls
Dr. Apela Colorado
6:30pm
to
8:00pm
Closing Ceremony in the Atrium
Closing Ceremony
Saying goodbye to the dream experience!
Offered by local hosts
6:30pm – 8:00pm
Closing Ceremony in the Atrium
Closing Ceremony
Offered by local hosts
8:30pm
to
9:00pm
the Atrium
Merry Band of Dream Pranksters: Costume Parade around Town
–
8:30pm – 9:00pm
the Atrium
Merry Band of Dream Pranksters: Costume Parade around Town
9:00pm
to
10:30pm
the Atrium
Dream Ball! Dance party hosted by DJ Steve
–
9:00pm – 10:30pm
the Atrium
Dream Ball! Dance party hosted by DJ Steve
Festival of
Dreams 2025
Contact us to inquire about volunteering
Contact info@FestivalofDreams.net
In the meantime, keep informed by joining our Facebook page or look for us on Instagram #KeepSantaCruzDreaming The International Association for the Study of Dreams The Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History or browse around our web page from last year.