photo by Kevin Lee
DREAMS AND THE INWARD TEACHER:
A WEEKEND ON DREAMS, SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE
AND COLLECTIVE DREAMWORK
with Marcelle Martin and Tina Tau
May 21-23, 2027
(Friday to Sunday)
Program Description
Facilitators
Registration information
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
This weekend workshop invites participants into a deeper relationship with their own dream life and with the Inward Teacher who may be speaking through it. Dreams have long been honored as a source of spiritual guidance, healing, creativity, and revelation. In the Bible, God speaks through dreams. Early Quakers recognized dreams and visions as ways the Spirit can communicate wisdom, warning, encouragement, and prophetic insight.
We will talk about many ways to discover the messages in our dreams and explore them using a variety of methods, including guided meditation, group projective dreamwork, Dream Theater, Dreamweaving, and Dream Seeding. In the large group, we will work with dreams shared by volunteers, trying out several ways that groups can uncover the richness offered in dreams. Some participants will be able to work with a dream in the large group, and everyone will have a chance to share a dream in small groups. The workshop will be a highly experiential way to glean insights about the spiritual guidance available in our dreams. The group processes we’ll work with offer much wisdom; this work is also fun.
No previous experience with dreamwork is needed. Participants are welcome whether they remember dreams often or only occasionally. Please bring openness, curiosity, and, if possible, a dream you would like to explore.
FACILITATORS
MARCELLE MARTIN teaches practices for hearing divine guidance, discernment, and faithfully responding to calls and leadings. For thirty years, she has traveled to facilitate workshops and give talks at Quaker Meetings and Yearly Meetings across the country. She has been a core teacher of Pendle Hill’s Resident Student program. The author of Our Life is Love: The Quaker Spiritual Journey, she has also written four Pendle Hill pamphlets, including Guidance and Revelations in Dreams. She is a member of Swarthmore Friends Meeting, which has recognized her ministry among 
Friends. She lives in Chester, PA, with her husband, Terry.
TINA TAU is a Portland poet, author and dreamworker. She serves on the board of The Grief House and offers dream groups and dream theater there. She has been running dream groups in Portland for 23 years, and was certified as a dreamworker by Jeremy Taylor’s Marin Institute of Projective Dreamwork. She has two recent books: Ask for Horses: Memoir of a Dream-Guided Life, and a book of poetry called Something Too Big to See. A lifelong Quaker, she has deep interest and training in listening to the invisible currents of the sacred, in and around us.
COST & REGISTRATION
2-Night Retreat (May 21-23, Friday through Sunday):
The standard rate for this retreat is $375, with a sliding scale of $275-475. The fee includes program, lodging, and food from Friday dinner through Sunday lunch. Commuter rate is $275.
We are committed to financial accessibility: please pay what fits in your personal budget (at whatever amount), encourage your faith community to financially support your participation if that is appropriate, and let us know if you have additional questions related to fees.
A non-refundable deposit of $50 is required to hold a space for the program unless otherwise arranged. If you need to cancel, the deposit can be applied to a future workshop within 18 months. The balance is due at the beginning of the workshop.
REGISTER HERE
ARRIVAL & DEPARTURE
Friday, May 21: Plan to arrive after 4:00pm, in time for dinner at 6:00pm.
Sunday, May 23: The workshop will end, after communal clean-up, by 2:00pm.
We are centrally located in western Massachusetts, close to both I-91 and Route 2. For those arriving by car, we will send directions prior to the event. Please let us know if you’d be interested in car-pooling.
The nearest Amtrak train station is in Greenfield (MA), ten minutes’ drive away. Vermont Transit and Peter Pan bus lines also stop in Greenfield. Please contact us in advance to see if we can arrange a ride from these stations.
ROOM & BOARD
Our 19th-century farmhouse has hand-hewn beams and wide pine floors, with simple lodging (typically double occupancy) with shared bathrooms. The meetinghouse and the first floor of the main building are wheelchair accessible. Our rustic cabins have electricity, woodstoves and outhouses.
We serve nourishing, home-cooked meals and always offer vegetarian options. Please let us know if you have any dietary restrictions. Part of the community building at each retreat includes the joyful sharing of meal chores and final clean-up.
WHAT TO BRING
- If staying overnight: your own toiletries, towels, and bedding (sleeping bag, blankets or comforter, sheets and pillow case). Pillows are provided.
- Indoor slippers or comfortable footwear
- Outdoor clothing and footwear, anything you’d want if you spend time in the woods
Optional:
- Flashlight or headlamp
- Journal and pen, art supplies
- Any additional supplies for personal practice
Please do NOT bring:
- Pets
- Candles
- Heavily scented products
NOTE: We have limited internet access and cell phone reception. We encourage guests to consider how device use may detract from the experience of being fully present, here and now.