Dream Studies

Ryan D. Hurd talks with Dr. Kim Mascaro, a licensed therapist, professor, and author of Dreaming with the Earth-Mind. They discuss sacred activism: the practice of blending spiritual growth, dreamwork, and social and environmental justice. Kim shares how surviving the 2023 Maui wildfires deepened her commitment to ancestral recovery and dreamwork, and the two explore decolonizing dream practices, ancestral European medicine traditions, and their shared experiences visiting Paleolithic caves in Southern France.

In this episode, the conversation takes us into:
  • Sacred Activism – how it differs from activism rooted in anger or shadow
  • The Maui Wildfires – Kim's firsthand account of the 2023 fires on Maui, and how the tragedy reshaped her activism and dreamwork
  • Decolonizing Lucid Dreaming – A critique of Western, individualistic approaches to lucid dreaming, and a call to reconnect dreamwork with spiritual depth
  • Recovering Indigenous European Medicine Ways – Kim's journey reconnecting with her Italian and Irish ancestry, as well as the deep wisdom of the Paleolithic caves in Southern France
  • Dreams as a Path to Collective Healing – Kim and Ryan swap ancestral dreams, illustrating how dreamwork nourishes both individual and collective wellbeing
Guest: Dr. Kim Mascaro | Website: Conscious Chimera | Substack: Conscious Chimera Classroom 

Book: Dreaming with the Earth Mind: Paths to Sacred Activism

Upcoming workshop: Connecting with our Ancestors at The Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, September 13-18 2026, with Linda Yael Schiller.

Additional Resources:
About the host: Ryan D. Hurd is a dream researcher, author, and holistic educator. The Dream Studies Podcast explores dreams, consciousness, and the imagination, bridging 21st century science with intuitive ways of knowing. More to explore at DreamStudies.org

Original music and art by Eldest Child (c) 2026

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What is Dream Studies?

What if consciousness studies were to make it out of the academic journals and into your life? That’s the guiding ethos of the Dream Studies Podcast – to support ways of knowing that integrate the best of 21st century thought with the intuitive skills prized by our ancestors: dreams, visions and the imagination.