By Angela Pometto
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the issue of 6/17/04)

Throughout the Bible, dreams are looked upon as a way for God to communicate to His people. Through dreams, He warned the Egyptian pharaoh about the seven years of good crop and seven years of famine. He granted Solomon wisdom to rule and blessed him for his request. He instructed St. Joseph to take Mary as his wife and, later, to flee to Egypt.

Also through dreams, Ed Butler was given the knowledge and courage to save his co-worker’s life. That co-worker was Rita Dwyer, a member of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Vienna, who has since devoted her life to learning about dreams. Dwyer was working as a chemist during the space race of the 1960s to find more powerful fuels. One of those fuels exploded into her body, and there was nothing she could do to help herself.

"I thought I was dying," Dwyer said. But she was saved by Butler. He had dreamed of the accident several times before, so when it happened in real life, he knew exactly what to do.

After the event, Dwyer began to pay more attention to her dreams and started learning about them. Her real start came after meeting a nun from California who introduced her to a dream network that became the Metro D.C. Dream Community. It also introduced Dwyer to the Association for the Study of Dreams (ASD) that sponsors dreams conferences all over the country. Dwyer was not a traveler, but she sent her money to attend a conference held in Charlottesville.

"It was the best $100 I ever spent," Dwyer said. She has continued her involvement with ASD, and served as president and executive officer.

Biologically, dreams are neurons firing during sleep. Psychologically, the dreamer can know the meaning of the dream. There are focusing techniques for understanding dreams. The most basic is to look at the dream in terms of personal life. It is easy to see dreams as only parallels to real life and ignore the different levels: physical, emotional, spiritual, work, friends and family.

"For anyone to say your dream means this or that is unethical," Dwyer said, "Only you know your life experiences." Each person interprets a particular dream differently and only the dreamer can determine its true meaning.

"It is a puzzle or mystery," said Dwyer. In a typical dream sharing group, people go around and share a dream. Each member personalizes the dream, which often inspires the dreamer to think about it differently. They work together to shed light onto the mystery. Each person brings a different piece to the puzzle.

Throughout her years working with ASD, Dwyer has always brought her Catholic spirituality to the table. She considers dream work an excellent way to evangelize through witness.

"I never put down other faiths," she said. "I honor where they are and call them some place higher." When she explains her interpretation of a dream, it is explained through the eyes of a Catholic. Whenever she speaks in public, she always begins with a dream episode from Scripture.

"Standing up has made a difference," she said.

At first, those involved were not keen on considering a spiritual level. Dwyer was given the opportunity to produce an issue of the "Dream Time" news letter. She decided to write about spirituality in dreams, and the issue was so well received that the whole society began to change to include spirituality.

"I’m only one part, and I don’t take credit," Dwyer said. "What happened to me happened."

Before beginning to look at the spirituality of a dream, people should define their spiritual ideal.

"We each have our own star," said Dwyer. "We see big, bright stars and want to be like them, but we’re not them." That big star could be called the spiritual ideal. It’s something to work toward, but "we need to wear our own star," she said.

It’s okay to not work with dreams, but it is good spiritual practice to listen to them. "We receive guidance from dreams. It’s not for everybody, but it enriches life." It is not possible to work with every dream, but certain dreams have higher energy and are ingrained in the memory, even after waking up. High energy dreams often have a greater significance and the dreamer should attempt to bring some sort of understanding to it.

"God thinks in stories," Dwyer said. Like the parables of the Gospels, dreams tell stories. Understanding the dreams can lead to understanding God better.

"I really want to inspire more Catholics to pay attention to their nightly gifts and to God speaking to us, at times, though them," Dwyer said.

It is also a way to receive answers from God. Before going to sleep, some ask God for advice or help. According to Dwyer, God-sent dreams can be either "pat on the back" dreams or "kick in the pants" dreams — helping the dreamer to see how near or far he/she is to acting as God wants.

As in all areas of life, though, discussions about dreams should be approached with discernment. There are still a lot of unusual ideas out there. As a scientist, Dwyer has learned to be an open person. "Even if I don’t agree, I listen," she said, but she looks for warning signs. Dwyer ignores anything that goes against scripture, Catholic teaching or what is true. Sometimes the dreams themselves can be misleading. If she experiences a sneaky or underhanded dream, Dwyer is sure not to act that way in reality.

James Dwyer, Rita’s husband, has been very supportive of his wife, claiming that he could give her talks himself. He understands when people call her at home to ask for help in a dream interpretation.

"Dreams are insights or messages from God," Dwyer said. "I try to do something to honor the wisdom that comes to us at night."