The Woman between the Worlds: Dr Apela Colorado

“Dreams are a doorway to the vast, inclusive world of unconscious images and connections.” So says today’s guest, Dr. Apela Colorado of the Worldwide Indigenous Science Network. Truly a “Woman between the Worlds”, Dr. Colorado promotes an understanding between indigenous and modern world perspectives.

Dr. Colorado starts by setting a ceremonial space using cedar and sacred music and offering an invocation. She describes the way she discovered the Circle of Listening she developed after a chance side trip to the Chartres Cathedral in France. This involves drawing the dreams that are shared, a process called glyphing which is often done by Katrina Arriola who also joined us for the show. Dr. Colorado speaks about how she learned to incorporate multiple ancestral lineages and encourages us to say “a dream came to me” rather than “I had a dream.” Katrina speaks about the importance of the communal experience in dream-sharing.

After the break, we two calls. The first is from Ryan from Philadelphia who had attended one of the Chartres Dreamwork Events and describes how several of the participants had strikingly parallel dreams… all about him! The second call comes from Ellen of Santa Cruz who shares a dream featuring a monkey-like spirit and an old friend from Japan.

BIO: Apela Colorado Ph.D., of Oneida-Gaul ancestry, has dedicated her life’s work to bridge Western thought and indigenous worldviews. In 1989, she founded the Worldwide Indigenous Science Network which aims to (1) foster the revitalization, growth, and worldwide exchange of traditional knowledge, (2) safeguard the lives and work of the world’s endangered indigenous culture practitioners, and (3) develop an interface with Western science. She has authored numerous scholarly articles on Indigenous Science and recently published, “Woman Between the Worlds: A Call to Your Ancestral and Indigenous Wisdom”

Find our guest at: WISN.org, FB: @apela.colorado and @WorldwideIndigenousScienceNetwork

This show, episode number 301, was recorded during a live broadcast on March 8, 2025 at KSQD.org, community radio of Santa Cruz.

Intro and outro music by Mood Science. Ambient music new every week by Rick Kleffel. Archived music can be found at Pandemiad.com. Many thanks to Rick for also engineering the show and to Tony Russomano for the answering the phones.

 

SHARE A DREAM FOR THE SHOW or a question or enquire about being a guest on the podcast by emailing Katherine Bell at katherine@ksqd.org. Follow on FB, IG, LI, & YT @ExperientialDreamwork #thedreamjournal. To learn more or to inquire about exploring your own dreams go to ExperientialDreamwork.com.

The Dream Journal aims to: Increase awareness of and appreciation for nightly dreams. Inspire dream sharing and other kinds of dream exploration as a way of adding depth and meaningfulness to lives and relationships. Improve society by the increased empathy, emotional balance, and sense of wonder which dream exploration invites.

A dream can be meaningful even if you don’t know what it means.

The Dream Journal is produced at and airs on KSQD Santa Cruz, 90.7 FM. Catch it streaming LIVE at KSQD.org 10-11am Pacific Time on Saturdays. Call or text with your dreams or questions at 831-900-5773 or email at onair@ksqd.org. Podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms the Monday