My name is Patsy Fortney and I am a student, analyst-in-training, and teacher of North of Eden Archetypal Dreamwork. I am on the leadership team of North of Eden and also work as a freelance editor, writer, and indexer. I am married with two grown sons, and I live in Vermont, USA.
As a student of the dream and of Archetypal Dreamwork for over 20 years, I can say without hesitation that it has saved my life.When I first walked into Marc Bregman’s office in 1991, I was curious, but underneath that curiosity was a profound longing for something I couldn’t name. My life was fine--I was happily married with two small sons, good friends, and a home in the beautiful state of Vermont. I had everything I wanted, so why did I feel so empty?
The first dream I worked with Marc was about an awkward teenage girl who was in my house. I was terrified and angry and ordered her to leave. I demanded that my husband get her out. I was more than anxious--I was hysterical.I learned that hysterical was what ran under my veneer of calm, amiable, and lighthearted, and what drove the controlling, caretaking behaviors that defined me.
Hysterical was how I really felt all the time. And my dream showed how aggressive I really was, to the girl who had come, and to my husband. Not a pretty picture. Especially given that the awkward teenage girl was my essential, true, soul self. She was awkward in my dream only to show me how I judge that vulnerable place in me . . . but I have discovered over and over since that first dream that this girl is anything but awkward. My dreamwork journey has gifted me with a direct, visceral experience of who I really am by continuing to show me who I am not, and by inviting me to live from who I am--beloved of God and so, so much more than I ever imagined.
The life my dreams have saved is the life of the soul-girl in me. This site is her platform, my place to speak, my place to share the continued unfolding of her heart in me.
As a student of the dream and of Archetypal Dreamwork for over 20 years, I can say without hesitation that it has saved my life.When I first walked into Marc Bregman’s office in 1991, I was curious, but underneath that curiosity was a profound longing for something I couldn’t name. My life was fine--I was happily married with two small sons, good friends, and a home in the beautiful state of Vermont. I had everything I wanted, so why did I feel so empty?
The first dream I worked with Marc was about an awkward teenage girl who was in my house. I was terrified and angry and ordered her to leave. I demanded that my husband get her out. I was more than anxious--I was hysterical.I learned that hysterical was what ran under my veneer of calm, amiable, and lighthearted, and what drove the controlling, caretaking behaviors that defined me.
Hysterical was how I really felt all the time. And my dream showed how aggressive I really was, to the girl who had come, and to my husband. Not a pretty picture. Especially given that the awkward teenage girl was my essential, true, soul self. She was awkward in my dream only to show me how I judge that vulnerable place in me . . . but I have discovered over and over since that first dream that this girl is anything but awkward. My dreamwork journey has gifted me with a direct, visceral experience of who I really am by continuing to show me who I am not, and by inviting me to live from who I am--beloved of God and so, so much more than I ever imagined.
The life my dreams have saved is the life of the soul-girl in me. This site is her platform, my place to speak, my place to share the continued unfolding of her heart in me.