Greetings!
There is so much to say about the dream state that I hardly know where to start. This may take several posts but at the risk of losing my readers, I think I will need to start with the dream state as real & literal. The typical understanding of the dream state & dreams in general is that they are the result of the subconscious & the brain playing out & processing all that has happened during the day. I don’t dispute this at all. Test subjects, deprived of dream state sleep, quickly become psychotic. Another understanding is that dreams are a way for your subconscious to communicate to the conscious mind via symbols or metaphors. Again, I agree. I own a dream dictionary entitled simply “Dream Dictionary” by Tony Crisp that is decent (although not my favorite.) I recommend that everyone have a good one in their personal reference library as a dream interpretation book is an excellent tool for discovering yourself. Not only is it useful for interpreting dreams but I also use it to interpret the happenings in my waking life as well. I firmly believe that spirit uses our waking life just as easily as our sleeping life to talk to us. Other books useful for this purpose include: “Heal Your Body-the Mental Causes for Physical Illness” by Louise Hay, “Permanent Healing” by Daniel R. Condron, “Feelings Buried Alive Never Die” by Karol K. Truman, “Love Is In The Earth” by Melody & both of the “Animal-Speak” books & “Nature-Speak” by Ted Andrews.
To consider the dream state as real & literal is a little bit farther out there, so to speak. You may not think of dreams as being about or taking place in actual literal places, planes of existence, other dimensions, other lives but consider how often you hear of someone receiving a warning in a dream that comes true or having a dream about an event that then happens in the physical. You can probably remember an instance in which this has happened to you or someone you know. I’ve had many such dreams of prophecy. Of course, I realize that such dreams can be explained away by the idea that your subconscious is aware of things & is communicating them to the conscious mind via dreams. However, I’ve relived & experienced past lives in my dreams. I’ve visited family members that have passed over. I’ve woken up in my dreams. There is a book that I still have entitled “Lucid Dreaming” by Stephen La Berge. I first read it more than 20 years ago & immediately began having dreams in which I was “lucid” or “awake”. In such a state, you feel completely awake, aware & physical in your dreams which is the most amazing thing as it’s nearly impossible to tell that you aren’t awake in the physical. The basic idea in the book is to ask your self many times during the day if you are awake & then test the question by choosing to float. If you are unable to float then you know that you are awake in this 3rd dimensional reality where it is not possible to float but if you float then you realize that you are actually dreaming & it is this realization that has the potential to wake you up in that dream. By asking your self these questions during the day when of course you know that you are awake, eventually you will think to ask your self during a dream. Waking up in a dream is not the same thing as being aware that you are dreaming. It is very possible to be aware that you are dreaming & yet not actually wake up in the dream. To wake up in a dream, is to be fully present in the body that is in that dream. You will know when you have succeeded because you will feel completely physical & the dream will feel completely physical. What I have noticed about waking up in a dream, once you have realized that you are dreaming, is a feeling of being drawn forward into the dream & into your body in the dream. Alternately, as you become more proficient, you may simply be awake in your bed one minute & awake in a dream the next & move from one dream to another fully awake & present in each. Typically, this tends to cause me to wake up in bed multiple times in between or during the lucid dreams.
So, how does lucid dreaming illustrate that dreams are possibly real experiences & literally taking place in other dimensions, realities or planes of existence outside of our physical awareness? Well, experiencing a lucid dream is pretty convincing by itself but what clinched it for me, was many years later after my first experience of lucid dreaming, when I began to have Out-Of-Body-Experiences (OOBE’s). In an OOBE, you experience the process of leaving your physical body in another body, usually traveling to another place. OOBE’s feel equally as physical as lucid dreams & once out of my physical body, I could not discern any difference between them. Everything that I’ve experienced during a dream or a lucid dream, I have also experienced during an OOBE. I’ve experienced past lives in my dreams as well as during lucid dreams & OOBE’s. Likewise, I’ve visited family members in all three formats. These experiences led me to wonder if lucid dreams are actually OOBE’s minus the awareness of leaving the physical body. And I wonder, also, if dreams are experiences taking place somewhere that you experience in a less conscious manner than OOBE’s or lucid dreaming – like watching a live soap opera on television versus actually being in a play on stage.
If you accept the possibility that your dreams are real experiences just as your physical life is a real experience, then you can see that your dreams need your prayer & healing just as much as your waking life. In fact, I feel that your dream life can often illustrate your wounds even clearer than you could be aware of otherwise. By treating your dreams as your own true experiences & doing your work to heal them, you heal yourself & possibly prevent those undesirable prophecies from coming true. The dream state is a magical place & is much simpler to heal than here. Anytime I wake up from an unpleasant dream, especially, I pray: “I ask for the Complete Cleaning Clearing Healing Restoration Protection Forgiveness Prayer * for this dream & for all persons, places, things, events, circumstances & situations involved & I surrender this to the Holy Spirit & specialists who are best to do all that is best for me through grace at all levels everywhere continuously and in divine timing, amen.” It is often a good idea to interpret the dream both symbolically with the help of a counselor &/or a dream dictionary & also literally & heal with prayers & forgiveness work. By doing your spiritual work on issues illustrated by your dreams, you probably prevent them from becoming a reality in your physical life & lessen the problems you already have. For those who do not remember dreams, I recommend saying the above prayer every morning when you awake with the following added to it: * “for all of my dreams & everywhere I’ve been at night during my sleep & for all persons, places, etc.” & continue as above.
To encourage your remembrance of dreams, it is helpful to leave a pen & notebook by your bed with the expectation that you will write down any little glimmer. As you commit to writing what you do remember, you will be encouraging your self to remember with more detail until you will be good at dream recall. Another trick to recalling your dreams, is to not move when you wake up as remaining in the same position that you were in while dreaming seems to help you recall the most recent dream. Rather than immediately moving or getting out of bed, lie there for awhile & see what you can remember. It’s not unusual for it to take several minutes for the dream to come to you. I have a theory about this as well. I have often been aware when returning from an OOBE that while I (my consciousness) has returned to my body in bed immediately, the body that I (my consciousness) has been traveling in, is much slower to return. It seems that body has the memory & sometimes I don’t consciously remember anything until I feel that body rejoin my physical body. It’s a very distinctive subtle feeling of humming. I have also noticed this humming when awakening from dreams & not just after OOBE’s. Once the humming stops, I can suddenly remember the dream or the OOBE.
Are our dreams actually OOBE’s? I don’t know for sure but from my experience it certainly seems a possibility. I would love to hear about your experiences of the dream state.
Live, Love & Laugh in the Light of God 🙂
Dawn
