Inner Life Summer Residential

Learning meditation, dreamwork and reverie in a face-to-face group setting is what many students have requested. During the summer, when most can get away for a few days, prices at Virginia Beach are sky high. I’ve developed a wonderful alternative, with the opportunity for a mountain vacation getaway.

TS 506, the required course on the inner life, will be offered as a five day residential experience from August 13-19, 2006, at “The Big House” a civil war era mansion at Mountain Valley Farm, home of the A.R.E. camp.

We’ll study from the standard syllabus, but we’ll adapt it to take advantage of our small group situation, where we’ll eat together, study together, meditate and dream together. (See below)

The room and board costs are low ($350 covers both your room charge and three gourmet meals a day) and it’s a chance to do enough work on site to pass the course with no or little work afterwards. Our group will be small, minimum of four students, maximum of eight.

The weather will be great, hiking opportunities abound from the porch, there’ll be a square dance to join down at camp, and many other pleasurable activities beyond our course syllabus. We are in the heart of Blue Grass country. The world famous Galax Fiddlers convention is the weekend before our class starts, and there's another the weekend we end (in either case, students may make advance arrangements with the Big House to stay early or late in order to attend either of these events).

Shuttle service is available from the Big House to the Roanoke, Virginia airport. Fee is $60.

Let me know if you are interested and we’ll stay in touch, answer questions, etc.

At this residential session, students will live together and eat together in a Civil War era large plantation house. Classes with the instructor will be held during the day, with special “homework” practice and journaling sessions in the evenings.

The learning objectives for this required class will be met through the following activities:

a. To master the basic skills of dream recall, recording and interpretation, we will work together to practice dream recall techniques. We will have daily dream interpretation sessions to learn the basic methods. A special DVD will allow students to master these skills in individual work.

b. To gain exposure to the interrelations between dreamwork and the other disciplines in an ongoing inner life dialog, we will make connections between the dream themes and themes that emerge in meditation and reveries, and in artwork we’ll produce.

c. To learn how to establish a conscious dialog with the dreaming mind for the purpose of working with important personal issues, we will explore two dream incubation methods. The first involves dreaming for someone else, where we can see group themes in the dreams and explore the relationship between a symbol as an aspect of self and as an objective representation of others. We will also explore the hypothesis of Edgar Cayce, confirmed in research with the dream incubation workbook, that the application of a dream insight results in clearer dreams.

a. To develop a working familiarity with one major form of meditation and to be exposed to the scientific study of meditation and the implications of that research for the field of Transpersonal Psychology, we will learn together two forms of meditation, concentration and mindfulness. We will have daily meditation sessions together. We will read and discuss some research on meditation and explore its applicability to our experience.

b. To further explore the role of meditation in recognizing and dealing with issues that shape the student’s life perspective, we will discuss our experiences in meditation and correlate them to lifestyle issues.

a. To understand the nature of creativity and how it can work in the student’s life, we will use reverie to explore the source of creativity. We will employ several domains in which to express our dreams and reveries in arts and crafts and explore the relationship between dream experiences, shamanism, and indigenous art.

b. To experience a hands-on experience with the creative process, we will use breathwork, altered states of consciousness to contact the creative forces and give expression to them in our individual fashion.

c. To learn how the Right Brain factors into the creative process, and the heart functions, we will explore techniques for drawing with half a brain, versus with heart..

a. To gain familiarity with the history and variety of methods for exploring the imaginal realm, we will read and discuss Mary Watkins book and try some of her exercises.

b. To gain an understanding of the psychological, philosophical and spiritual significance of the imagination, and the implications for an inner life, we will correlate our reveries, our dreamwork and our artwork into the creation of personal mythology and see how that compares to our physical life story compared to our spiritual life.

To develop a framework of understanding of the nature of an inner life, its spiritual significance, its development through various disciplines, and its interface with issues in daily life, we will discuss how our various experiences during class, our personal history, and our understanding of the transpersonal can be seen and applied through an analysis of the inner life..

Students completing the assignments given and performed during our five day session will receive the grade of B. Students wishing to earn the grade of A will complete the Dream Solutions! Workbook project, and write a report on their experiences with the project and the relationship of those experiences to ideas presented in the text, The Dreaming Mind.

The Dreaming Mind, by Robert Van de Castle. Obtain your copy through amazon.com prior to coming to class.

Students need to make preparation for travel to the class location. Students are expected to arrive Sunday afternoon. There will be an orientation with the instructor and the Big House staff after dinner on Sunday. Class sessions will begin on Monday morning at 9AM.

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Big House

Handbook

for

Atlantic University

Programs

We’re so pleased you’ve decided to join us!

This booklet will help you know what to expect at your Big House Atlantic University program. There is some important information inside, so please read the entire booklet. If you still have questions about your program or the Big House, contact::

Sandy or John LaPrelle

284 White Rock Furnace Road

Rural Retreat, VA 24368

Phone: 278-686-5878

Email: arecamp@valink.com

BIG HOUSE HANDBOOK

for

ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS

Table of Contents

A LITTLE HISTORY 4

LIVING IN THE BIG HOUSE 5

Inside 5

Outside 5

WHAT TO BRING 6

LAUNDRY FACILITIES 6

A NOTE ABOUT MEALS 7

KEEPING IN TOUCH-ADDRESS & PHONE 7

A NOTE ABOUT CIGARETTES 8

SURROUNDING RESOURCES 8

TRANSPORTATION 9

DIRECTIONS & MAP Back Cover

A LITTLE HISTORY

The Big House is a large three-story farmhouse, located on a hilltop about a mile down the road from the A.R.E. Camp. It has an interesting history. It was probably built in the early 1870’s for the manager of White Rock Furnace, an iron-smelting furnace that operated on the property until the turn of the century. The “Iron Master” needed a large house to lodge out of town guests who came to the furnace on business.

The LaPrelle family has owned the house since the early 1940’s. Plumbing and electricity were added, as well as the large front porch. While the A.R.E. Camp was getting started in the early 1960’s, the volunteers who built the first latrine and worked to make the road passable stayed at the Big House. With the Camp going strong in the 1970’s, the house became a summer site for Atlantic University sessions. Through the years, the A.R.E. has used the house for numerous programs and events. We hope you enjoy your stay at The Big House! Make yourself at home!

LIVING IN THE BIG HOUSE

Inside the House

It really is a big house, three stories tall. It has two large living rooms, one of which has a fireplace and is set up as a meeting room with plenty of comfortable seating. There is a dining room that seats up to twenty people, and a large country kitchen. Six of the eight bedrooms are set up dormitory style with twin beds for from two-four people (the two remaining bed-rooms are reserved for year-round staff). We will make every effort to accommodate couples, but room sharing may be necessary. There are two full baths, one on the 2nd floor and one on the 3rd floor, and a half bath on the first floor. There are no wheelchair facilities.

The Big House is not your typical conference facility. The house itself is homely, always in need of paint and upkeep; the furniture is old dormitory style, mixed with some home-made benches and a few antiques. It’s not a hotel; there is no food service or room service, and there are no maids.

Outside the House

The area around the house includes fruit trees, generous shade trees, and a large yard surrounded by cow pasture.

The LaPrelle farm is large and mostly wooded, and bordered on three sides by Jefferson National Forest. There are miles of woods to walk in and plenty of cow pasture for picking wildflowers and berries when in season. The A.R.E. Camp is only one mile down a gravel road, and the Camp pond is available for swimming and sunning.

WHAT TO BRING

The following is a general list of items you will need to bring to your Big House program. Each session is different, and your group leaders may require you to bring additional items.

Please mark your name on personal items.

Clothing

Summer Shirts, T-shirts

Warm Shirts

Short Pants

Long Pants

Sweatshirt or Sweater

Lightweight Jacket

Underwear & Socks

Sturdy Shoes for Hiking (sneakers are best)

Lightweight Shoes

Swimsuit

Poncho or Rain Coat

Toiletries

Swimming Towel

Bath Towel & Washcloth

Toothbrush & Toothpaste

Comb/Brush

Soap & Shampoo

Sunscreen

Personal Hygiene Supplies

Bedding

General Items

Laundry Bag

Stationary & Stamps

Pens or Pencils

Notebook for dreams/journaling

Water bottle

Daypack (small backpack)

Optional Items

Camera and Film

Books

Musical Instruments

Insect Repellant (non-aerosol)

Ensolite Pad (for overnight hikes)

Flashlight (for overnight hikes)

What Not to Bring

Pets

Radios or Tape/CD Players

Gameboys or Electronic Games

Alcohol or Illegal Drugs

The house has one washer and one dryer and a back yard solar dryer (clothesline!)

Meals are served family style in the large dining room. Menu planning utilizes the Cayce readings on diet and health whenever possible; a balance is sought between today’s food tastes and the healthful dietary suggestions in the readings. Plenty of fresh vegetables are used; some come from the A.R.E. Camp garden.

The daily menu is designed to accommodate the vegetarian diet, with vegetarian options at all meals. Participants with a restricted diet should let us know their needs in advance. Please send us a note outlining your dietary needs when you send in the other completed forms from your registration packet.

The Big House has one telephone line available for limited use; long distance calls must be made collect or with a calling card.

NOTE: Cell phone reception can be poor due to the remoteness of the region and the many hills and valleys.

Nearby the Big House are several State Parks and Wilderness Areas which offer a variety of opportunities for exploration.

Hungry Mother State Park is about a 30 minute drive. This park has a lake for boating, fishing and swimming, public swimming pools and nature trails.

Grayson Highlands State Park, about an hour’s drive, offers beautiful views, a visitor’s center with gift-shop, and some rugged trails for hiking to some of the most beautiful spots in Virginia.

Mount Rogers is the highest point in Virginia, and is about an hour’s drive from the Big House. This designated Wilderness Area has trails for hiking.

The Big House is accessible by car, bus, or plane. Please indicate your travel plans on the arrival/departure form included with (your registration materials or this booklet).

By bus: The nearest bus stations are in Marion, Virginia or Wytheville, Virginia (pronounced “with-ville”). Please arrange for arrivals to be after 2:00 p.m. on Sunday and departures before noon on Saturday. There is a $15 per trip fee for bus pick-ups and deliveries.

By plane: Flight reservations should be made to and from Roanoke Regional Airport. Please arrange for arrival and departure times as close to noon as possible. The airport is a two-hour drive from the Big House. There is a $60.00 fee for airport pick-ups and deliveries ($35.00 one way).

By car: Please see map on back cover. Arrivals should be planned for after 2:00 p.m. on Sunday and departures before noon on Saturday unless otherwise noted.

A.R.E. Camp is located in the mountains of Southwestern Virginia, about 90 miles southwest of Roanoke, just 10 miles from I-81.

Take the Rural Retreat exit (exit 60) off I-81. Turn towards the McDonalds onto Route 90 East. Continue straight on 90, crossing Route 11/Lee Highway at the light, and on through the town of Rural Retreat. Cross the railroad tracks. As the road leaves town, it becomes Cedar Springs Rd. Continue south on Cedar Springs Rd until you get to the community of Cedar Springs (exactly 6.0 miles from the light at Route 11). Bear right in Cedar Springs, onto Route 614/Cedar Springs Rd, toward the town of Sugar Grove. Go 1/2 mile, turn right at the sign for A.R.E. Camp, onto White Rock Furnace Rd. Continue on this gravel road across the cattle guard and through the farmyard. For Big House programs, turn left up the hill before the first cattle gate.