Symposium and workshop will awaken the dreamer, change the dream and create action

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — Local physician Dr. Lesley Fernow, is excited to announce a mid-winter remedy for cabin fever, an energizing symposium called “Awakening the Dreamer — Changing the Dream” being held at the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church on Friday, Feb. 15 from 6-9 p.m. and followed the next day by an all day “Getting Into Action” workshop. 

PACHAMAMA ALLIANCE — The symposium “Awakening the Dreamer — Changing the Dream” and a “Getting Into Action” workshop will be held on the evening and during the day Feb. 15-16 respectively at the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church. Both events are from the Pachamama Alliance, a globally respected organization whose goal is to encourage people to examine the collective beliefs, assumptions and habits that guide their lives and that are threatening the sustainability of society and the future, and are being presented by Dr. Lesley Fernow. In 2011 Dr. Fernow, middle in the light purple shirt, and her daughter Dana, kneeling on the left in the front row, traveled into the Ecuador rainforest with the Pachamama Alliance.

    Both events are from the Pachamama Alliance, a globally respected organization whose goal is to encourage people to examine the collective beliefs, assumptions and habits that guide their lives and that are threatening the sustainability of society and our future. “The multimedia program is a sobering discussion of where we are now in history and how we got here, and an energizing, uplifting discovery of how we can personally imagine and create a sustainable, just and fulfilling presence on the planet,” Dr. Fernow said.

    Dr. Fernow is known for not being content with the status quo. In her medical practice she has continually tested the newest innovations and models for care, from being the first doctor to use computerized medical records in Piscataquis County to introducing the community to the concepts of hospice care in 1980 to opening a house calls-only practice in 2008. 

    VIEW FROM ABOVE — Dr. Lesley Fernow and her group with the Pachamama Alliance first saw the Amazon River while flying overhead to a stay with the indigenous people, the Achuar, in Ecuador in South America. They were located about a 45-minute plane ride from the last civilization, with no roads or power lines.

    In 2011 she went with her daughter Dana to Ecuador with the Pachamama Alliance, traveling deep into the rainforest to experience one of the most remote places in the world. In the jungle they met and spent time with the indigenous people the Achuar, whose way of life has been unchanged for thousands of years. They stayed in remote villages, traveled the Amazon River by canoe, meditated in the jungle and shared dreams with the elders. 

    By her own admission, “The experience was life-changing.” Not only did Dr. Fernow see people who lived in balance with the jungle around them, but also she talked with them about their concerns about the impending destruction of their environment and their world by oil development.

    LOCAL CULTURE — Dr. Lesley Fernow, far left, listens to a performance by a village woman in the main home during her trip to a remote settlement in Ecuador in 2011. She will sharing be what she learned during an evening symposium and all day workshop Feb. 15-16 at the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church.

    Historically, the Achuar have been isolated warriors, fiercely keeping out strangers. Many missionaries and adventurers were killed in the 20th century trying to “civilize” the tribal people. They are also described as a “dream culture” because they share their dreams daily among the tribal members, and place great emphasis on the dream interpretations. They believe that they can by intention change the outcome if they can change the dream.  

    In the 1990s the shamans and elders realized they were all having dreams of the end of their world.  Simultaneously, they were reporting a common dream of the eagle and the condor “flying together.” Their interpretation of this dream was that it foretold the necessity for their people, the Achuar (represented by the image of the condor) to reach out to the “people of the North” (represented by the eagle)  to find a solution and save their world from destruction. From this reaching out, the Pachamama Alliance was formed.

LIVING QUARTERS — Staying with the Achuar meant residing as the indigenous people do in dwellings surrounded by jungle. During her trip to Ecuador, Dr. Lesley Fernow met with the people who live in balance with the jungle around them and heard their concerns about the impending destruction of their environment and their world by oil development.

    While Dr. Fernow became involved accidentally with the Pachamama Alliance in 2011, she believes it was “meant to be.” She is now excited to bring the story to her own community through the symposium and workshop, hoping that in the process it will connect others with the profound lessons of her trip. The symposium is visually and spiritually engaging.

    HOW TO GET THERE — Transportation was either on foot through the jungle or by river.

    “It is a wonderful way to “warm up the winter and beat the winter blues,” she said. The workshop, on Saturday, Feb. 16 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Congregational church will be an opportunity to think more deeply about our current course, to connect with others, and to develop a personal and community action plan. Dr. Fernow will also share the photographs from her trip and provide information for those who might also be interested in making the journey to the rainforest. 

    For more information, please call Dr. Fernow at 992-6822 or go to www.pachamama.org/workshops.