In Carlos Casteneda's book (The Art of Dreaming
) he describes an experience where he went to sleep and woke up from that dream into another dream. In that second dream he fell asleep and woke up again, into a third dream. In that third dream he experienced a corporal reality. His book Separate Reality
describes in some detail moving in and out of different realities.My own dreaming experiences, while not so "powerful" have non-the-less served as guides for personal growth, for changing my course of direction in life, for entertaining and for relationship building.
For example, from the dream world instructions were given for me to cultivate more receptivity from others. To be open to "receiving" as well as giving. This came about through a lucid dreaming experience. (A classic book in this realm is Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming
by Stephen Laberge.)While I do not practice lucid dreaming with much intentionality my dreams often are spontaneously lucid. Several have been "big dreams": Dreams that are emotionally powerful and portend change in ones life course. Good to pay attention to such dreams! The following words describe one such big dream.
My right hand moved up and on it a white angel was dancing. I was astonished and delighted. Then my left hand rose up and out of the ether appeared a second angel. It began dancing in my left palm. In my growing astonishment and delight I explained "Look, I have Angels dancing on my palms." An audience then appeared in my dream. Angels were dancing on their palms.
I woke up from that dream into a second dream and explained, again, "Look, Angels are dancing on my palms." The audience in that dream also then experienced Angels dancing.
I woke up again into my own bed and shared that dream with my wife, Joanne. She said, "How wonderful. Your left hand is the hand of receiving. You give generously with your right hand but don't often allow yourself to receive."
Impact!
Since that time, maybe as much as a year ago, I have been more mindful of openly receiving the gifts of the Universe, from complements to agates on the beach. From that experience I received a deeper awareness of the Feng Shui of giving and receiving. The awareness that too easily and readily receive is to have even more energy and potency in giving! Reiki The Original Reiki Handbook of Dr. Mikao Usui
!This dream was cultivated by me as I had been working on open, active and intentionally receptive listening; both in my life and in my practice. The dream emphasized to me the physiological state of my left hand and right brain being more open and less blocked to being fully present in the moment. I have been paying more attention to the awareness of moving energy from the Universe through my being with my left palm (chakra) being a major receptive channel.
This awareness leads me to express the importance of intentionality in dreaming. In Laberge's book he describes (in my words) the mantra, "Tonight I am going to sleep, and when I sleep I am going to dream. When I dream I can be aware of my dream and learn to enter into it." One may need to practice this for weeks before being able to "enter" into dreams. In the mean time the act of intentionality encourages more dreaming. Also, taking any piece, image, vingette from the dream and entering it into art, writing, speaking, poetry or whatever, will prime one for bigger and bigger pieces of future dreams. Eventually, whole stories can be remembered, with characters, emotion, color and plot. These can become "life course" guidances.
Holding intentionality to remembering dreams and to entering into them as one falls asleep guarantees more exchanges between waking and dreaming.
In the mean time there are guides as to how to use dreams. One of the most celebrated dream workers and teachers is Jeremy Taylor (The Wisdom of Your Dreams: Using Dreams to Tap into Your Unconscious and Transform Your Life
). His book is full of excellent guidance. One of his beliefs which I subscribe to is that dreams always serve health and wholeness.In my dream sharing I have learned to pay special attention to the feeling state upon waking. This can guide one into dream interpretation.
Also, there are no "bad" dreams. Being chased by a dragon or beast or mad person is suggesting one look at what is pursuing. Learning to turn around and face the "beast" with the open question of "What do you have to teach me" transforms the energy from terror and fear to lightness and love.
And, as with all of life, remember that "gratitude" is the elixir.
