Dreams
Circle 1
(8-1203)
There are
5 different states of dreaming, the first
being the hypnagogic state. This occurs
at the onset of sleep, it is a transitional
interval between consciousness and sleep,
the nodding off period. In this realm of
neither sleep or awake, many people have
visions or hear voices. Hypnagogic dreams
are fairly common and usually consist of
very clear pictures, often distorted human
faces, or various scenes being played out,
like a movie. Some people report seeing
an eye gazing at them. You might hear your
name being called from a distance, or someone
talking quietly to you. Some people experience
a falling sensation just before sleep, while
others have some sort of sensory shock,
like hearing a sudden noise, or seeing a
flash of light, which can result in an involuntary
mild or violent jerk of the body called
a mycolinic jerk and can temporarily wake
you up.
Hypnagogic
state is also the time when premonitions
can be received and are mainly said to be
reliable. Premonitions can be defined as
an experience, such as a dream or a waking
thought, which, appears to anticipate a
future event, having information that is
not made available before the event. The
person who receives the premonition may
not know precisely what will happen, but
has a feeling of foreboding, which later
proves to be correct; a pending death of
a loved one, a disaster, but sometimes premonitions
can be lucky, lottery numbers or a tip for
the Grand National. From the time of the
premonition to the event happening and can
be anywhere between a day and a few weeks,
even a month.
The second
state of dreaming is lucid dreaming. These
dreams are so real in every respect and
it cannot be distinguished from being fully
awake to asleep. Every detail of that dream
can be recalled, smells, colour, sounds,
conversations are remembered. Once awake
you are left feeling “was I dreaming,
or was it real?” You may have meaningful
conversations with loved ones who have passed,
or find yourself in a friends house engaged
in conversation, see yourself walking around
your house or standing outside looking at
your house from the street, even flying
into the sky at great speed and entering
into another world. This type of dreaming
normally leaves a lasting effect on the
dreamer. Lucid dreaming normally takes on
a spiritual nature and leaves a feeling
of wonder and love. Many people who have
naturally occurring lucid dreams become
more spiritual.
Next comes
the stage of false awakening. Have you ever
woken in the middle of the night and looked
at the digital clock and been unable to
read time? Have you ever woken up and tried
to open the door and it won’t open
so you have got back into bed? Or heard
someone knocking on the door and got up
to answer the door and no one is there?
In some extreme case you wake up in the
morning, wash, eat breakfast and leave for
work, shut the door and wake up and find
yourself still in bed. False awakening normally
surround a fear or anxiety, frightened of
not waking up on time or missing the alarm,
expecting an important visitor or having
to be at work early for the big board meeting.
False awakening is a convincing illusion
of having woken when infact, you are still
dreaming. The situation may feel like it
is real, but it is artificial. False awakening
is similar to lucid dreaming and can sometimes
follow a lucid dream.
Astral travelling
or OBE (out of body experiences) is next.
Is it possible to separate our consciousness
(spirit) from our physical body? Astral
projection or out of body experiences are
very powerful dreams or realities. Out of
body experiences have been widely reported
by people who have been declared clinically
dead, or have been near to death, floating
above and watching the scene below. Astral
travelling is flying or travelling rapidly
to another location, country, plane, being
able to describe the places in great detail.
Leaving your body and seeing yourself float
to another location of the house, going
through walls and floors is a common occurrence.
There is evidence to show that some out
of body experiences and astral travelling
experiences are real. Time, places, actions
can be given, how else would they be able
to gather this information when they were
asleep? On every occasion of astral travelling
or OOBE the dreamers are aware of being
pulled back into the body and on awakening
the experience still lingers.
Finally there
are nightmares. Nightmares manifest as a
vivid visual dream where the story gets
progressively more frightening. You wake
up at a crucial point in the dream shaking,
sweating, heart racing in a state of terror.
Common dreams are of alien monsters chasing
after you; you may be running, fighting,
desperate to get away, or hiding, hoping
not to be found. As you are just about to
get caught, you wake up. In these dreams
you may be screaming and upon waking you
are able to vocalise your terror. Once awake
you calm yourself down and sometimes when
you go back to sleep, you may continue the
dream. Many of us have recurring nightmares
where the characters are different, but
the story line is the same every time. Most
nightmares manifest themselves as a result
of trauma, a life changing event, stress
or fear, and every nightmare is unique to
the person dreaming. A nightmare about rats
would not be a nightmare to someone who
loves rats. The best way to avoid nightmares
is to thoroughly relax and unwind before
going to bed at night.
Written by Spiritgail, Designed
& Edited by Sol ©
Mystic Familiar 2003
