Collective challenges and catastrophes, like an earthquake, a tsunami, or a man-made disaster, roil the dream tides. Hurricane Irene is no exception. I’ve read several hundred dream reports since Irene, then rated a category 3 hurricane, was declared to be a clear and present danger for millions of people up and down the East Coast. Quite a few of these recent dreams seem to be tracking the hurricane, although it would be perilous to base any forecasts on them.

Some of the reports are from dreamers who have been asking to connect with the hurricane, and if possible, to work a dream shift to coax it to head out gently into the Atlantic rather than wallop inland areas in the United States. One intiative along these lines has been launched by a lively Facebook group, “Good Night, Irene – Dream the Storm Out to Sea”, launched byveteran dream researchers Ralf Penderak and Jean Campbell.

Two dreamers report seeing family members named Irene who seem, in the dreams, to have given the hurricane their faces. Bonnie was amazed, in her dream, to find that her sister-in-law Irene, had become immensely heavy, so heavy that as she sat in her chair she couldn’t bend. This obese Irene person is talking, talking. The dreamer thinks, She’s good enough to be an actress. Waking, she asked herself: “Is this Hurricane Irene, unbending, about to dump heavy rains on us?” With that came a cheerful thought. If the personified Hurricane Irene is a good actress, maybe the storm won’t be all that bad.

Of the many Irene dreams I’ve read today, my favorite comes from Valerie, a member of my personal Active Dreaming circle with whom I’ve been sharing dreams and traveling into the dream worlds for years. She incubated a dream of Irene last night – in other words she asked to dream of the hurricane and if possible to help in mitigating its effects. Valerie dreamed that she was a selkie, a creature out of Celtic lore that can appear either as a human or as a seal. In seal form, she scampered about on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, then farther north, with a sack of Wonder bread. The bread was truly a wonder because as she placed  it along the shore it soaked up any excess water that could flood these areas. As selkie, Valerie swam under the docks and placed more Wonder bread in the water between them. She saw people watching her, but because she was in seal form she could not explain herself and swam away.

I gave myself the general intention of dreaming of Irene last night, but nothing as proactive as seeking to push her out to sea. I dreamed I was in the editorial offices of a major newspaper – a huge space with cubies in the middle and glass-walled offices along the windows. I was concerned about what was happening with a column I was writing for this paper (in the dream situation); I was assured that the column was fine. Further, I was charged with an immediate new assignment: to write short, snappy “editorial inserts” that would run on page 2 of this paper every day. I was excited by the chance to tender new creative ideas in this way, though I realized this job would require me to monitor the news much more closely than has been my habit.

The calm in the high offices, which seemed to be in a Manhattan skyscraper, was notable in the dream. I hope the fact that the column in the dream was “safe” presages structural stability for those tall buildings. Though I’m excited by the idea of reaching a lot more people in the simple way suggested by the dream, I have dream envy of the selkie with the Wonder bread. I have never been able to think of a good use for Wonder bread until now.