Lucid Dreaming

Often revered by sages and shaman as a deeply spiritual visionary experience, the elusive lucid dream is not so uncommon in this new age of light.
As we enter into the millennium, we find ourselves at the doorstep of a golden age of awareness, with our soul already having completed much of the internal work necessary to transcend the earth's heavy dimension. We are now knocking upon the door of communion with worlds beyond.
Awareness in a lucid dream, much greater than even an unusually vivid dream, rivals or exceeds the consciousness found in the daily awake state, and offers the dreamer a new dimension of experience. Inspirations for artistic creations, additional life choices, or a meeting with a deceased loved one, are a few of the many gifts we may find within the dream world.
Many of the gifts needed for experiencing lucidity and out of body travel often come quite natural to spiritual seekers, but refining these gifts remains the responsibility of the dreamer. Finding one's centermost core, touching the delicate center of trust and oneness within the soul brings many rewards—gifts of remembrance of nighttime travels that are too often forgotten by the conscious mind.

What might we do to facilitate lucidity?

Moments of solitude, contemplation and introspection can bring great healing to a soul, and it is through healing that this natural ability of visionary dreaming returns. Lucidity is often lost at a young age, taken from the child that must endure life in harsh surroundings, punished by the world for its uniqueness. Lucidity is a gift that returns—with the acceptance of ones individuality.
Techniques of journaling, dream analysis, vision questing, bodywork, drumming, fasting and many other forms of expression bring about the natural alignment of the etheric bodies, alignments of awareness that allow the memory of our nighttime activities to seep into the conscious mind—as having a lucid dream is not an activity that you must achieve. We don't have to worry about creating the experiences; it is merely about remembering them.

The intensity of the challenges in our lives often deplete spiritual light from our essence, leaving our souls thirsty for truth and longing for the forgotten memories of the other worlds. But by choosing a path of seeking, we may find that the necessary tools for healing always exist with any challenge. And of the many modalities for restoring hope to a soul, journaling can be one of the most powerful.
The energy created by writing about oneself, is that of digging beneath the surface, exposing wounds that allow a seeker to more clearly see internal injury and suffering. And it is this vision that ultimately perpetuates healing, allowing light to naturally, unconsciously and automatically replace what was once darkness—as opposed to a conscious effort of trying to pull light into the body. This indirect method allows one to raise their vibration while grounding deeply in the earth in a very balanced way—with a person retaining more control over their choices.
When I first began to journal, at the insistence of my Shaman teacher, I spent the allotted time with my notepad recounting the events of the day. But as I progressed and the years passed by, I found a more direct approach for my efforts. Rather than spending my energy physically writing, I found more expression contemplating the day's events, while allowing my pen to focus more upon writing about my frustrations. In this way, I began to reach deeper into my core fears, resulting in more time to contemplate the self-imposed limitations in my life.
Of course this can be frightening initially, until one realizes that fear exposed to light soon dies. And it is perhaps not something that is moved toward swiftly. At first, I spent only a few moments a week journaling, but as I grew in confidence and the ability to actually expose and release unconscious fear, I soon found great enjoyment in these moments of solitude—the resulting freedom so liberating that journaling became one of the most important activities in my life. I found that in exposing my fear and suffering, I was opening a door for its release from my body. Although it took many months before I consciously found this to be healing, over ten years later, I still find it an essential part of my life.

As our consciousness lifts and we begin to take our destined places in the world, mystical expressions begin to weave their magic through us and into the environments in which we live. As if being rewarded for our perseverance, our memory continues to open, eventually enabling us to receive more conscious support from dimensions beyond. What types of experiences might we expect?

Once after falling soundly asleep, my light body leaving my physical body in bed, I found myself quite conscious and drifting though the back wall of my home. Making my way into the backyard, I was now standing in front of a row of daffodils. Marveling at the intensity of the experience, I fully realized that I was out of my physical body.
In a state of consciousness that far exceeded my normal daily experience, my eyes widened in amazement—I was now watching a faerie hover just above a daffodil! Her cute and petite figure, barely five inches in height, was held tightly in a small sphere of yellow energy.
Also in their light bodies (astral), two neighbors stood nearby but were unable to perceive the faerie. As their eyes met my own, they unconsciously sensed that I was experiencing an amazing event and a slight tension wracked their bodies, pulling my own spiritual vibration downward. Turning back to the faerie still hovering in my garden, she now appeared semi-transparent, but still remained within my perception.
Leaving me slightly disappointed that she had almost disappeared from my vision, her own excitement was not hindered, and she began to race upward in flight before turning to fly horizontally in a circle several feet above our heads. Whizzing around and around within the small opening in the trees, she expressed the purest joy at the excitement of being seen and acknowledged by a human.

This experience profoundly influenced my life. Even the air had consciousness in that moment and it enabled me to perceive a dimension and truths that most often stay far beyond my awareness. Earth spirits often remain with us, yet it is our ability in a moment to transcend the earthly physical experience that allows this great magic to be revealed. I perceived her, because I could first feel her presence, and I could feel her presence, because of the wholeness returning to me—a gift of my seeking.

As we heal and find a deeper trust in ourselves, and oneness with our surroundings, we allow our memories to the surface—often along with many forgotten dreams and desires. It is the acceptance of our inner sense of direction that brings us closer to our innate powers, as we allow intuition to become master over our lives. It is then that our wisdom may more fully return, bringing with it the knowledge of our most passionate longings.

Learning to bask in moments of solitude is one of the most powerful tools in reclaiming this lost power of our nighttime travels and remembrance—is only a dream away.

John Stone, a native of Texas, teaches classes on vision questing, spiritual visions and out of body travel. He has recently authored The Spiritual Life, a book about psychic protection, and The King of Camelot, a book about the life of King Arthur.