Drawing by Megan MacGregor
We all dream, even those of us who claim they don’t dream. The substance of our dreams varies according to who we are, where we are, why we believe we are. Most of us have BIG dreams at some point in our lives that we may or may not recall.
Tonight, while working on my novel, I thought I needed to be reminded of how stories rise from dreams, and clicked over to Lita Dreaming for a new post. And I lucked out. Here’s the post:
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The other day a dear friend, a man I’ve known for over 30 years, called to share a dream that excited him but made him wonder if he was crazy. Having known him so long, I couldn’t guarantee he isn’t crazy, (kidding) but I know his dream is not.
In the dream he hears himself say; “Lord, what is the meaning of life?” The answer he hears is, “To live it.”
I’d call this type of dream, A Little Big Dream, simple, spiritual and to the point. It’s the type of dream that sets you pondering and makes you feel instinctively that you’re not alone.
To be fair, some might ask, is this the voice of his waking conscious mind reminding him of what he already knows or is it the voice of something other than the dreamer himself? The more you pay attention to your own and other people’s dreams, the more easily you recognize that there are common threads that link us when it comes to dream experiences.
The question of what is consciousness in waking and dreaming is the subject of much exploration in the field of lucid dreaming. One of my favorite lucid dream authors, Robert Waggoner, writes about his awakening to the humbling realization that although lucid in his dream, he could direct the focus of his experience, but he (his dream ego) was not in control of the experience or all the characters anymore than he could be in waking life:
“…I knew that something was “behind” the dream, even when lucid. There was simply more than the waking self conscious in the dream state…the conscious unconscious, the creative system – something – hid behind the creations, yet could be seen in the creativity…I knew too that I did not control the unconscious and its expressions…”
Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self; p.6
Sometimes this “something” is a Voice, like the one my friend experienced hearing, (Waggoner also talks about a Voice). These dreams crack me up because of their sheer directness. I shared my Voice revelation dream with him (the one I recently told you about in my post, “The Observer or the Observed”). I wanted him to know that he wasn’t alone in his experience.
We talked about his dream for a long time; I guided him through the Lightning Dreamwork process, the quick, non-intrusive dream game developed by Robert Moss as a guideline for sharing dreams and discovering their energy. After we finished, his dream shines with its message of soul purpose and soul consolation. Despite the difficult circumstances of his life, it illuminates his heart with courage and sparks a desire for something deeper, attainable with the help of his dreams.
What makes life worth living? What’s it all about? What is the meaning of life? To live it.
But what if you don’t care to live it? What if it’s so hard, you want to give up or if somehow the meaning has gone out of it, you’re just marking time? This is true for an astounding number of people in western “civilized” cultures, and it has nothing to do with the tanking economy.
Dreams offer profound revelations, spiritual truths that fill the aching void in us and give us the courage to live more fully. When we put our ear to the pillow, we create an opportunity to open our hearts to the messages of hope and inspiration that can come from dreams. Dreaming is the royal road to soul recovery; bidden or unbidden, our dreams light our way home.
Robert Moss’ new book, Dreaming the Soul Back Home: Shamanic Dreaming for Healing and Becoming Whole, is a goddess send for anyone who wants to explore the soul healing aspect of dreaming.
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We already own some of Moss’s books. I think we’ve just added a new one to he library.
aw mon,, got that one wrang!!!
in connection with bozos last comment,,, LA Dodger’s no -hit last night…..
Without my nocturnal dream-space activities, I would be only half a person. That is fact. For me. And likie DJan, I also spend time with my beloveds who are Elsewhere. It is magnificent.
I know what you mean!
Hi guys! I’d like to share a dream & synchro I had yesterday.
During the early hours of the morning/middle of the night, I woke up remembering an intense dream. I wrote it down.
During the dream I was fighting in a warzone, alongside a friend that I’ve known for many years. He was telling me that I’d need to learn to defend myself and he explained he’d been through this before, so he knew from experience. At the time of the dream, I felt he was telling me he’d experienced this in a previous life. Not for the first time, I was left with a feeling that my connection to this person could involve being connected in a past life or past lives.
After writing down my dream I went back to sleep until morning.
Then, the synchro happens. I always receive something called “Notes from The Universe” an affirming, positive thinking message from the author Mike Dooley.
On this morning, I received a message about how angels are always working behind the scenes in our lives. On the email, there is always a PS. which usually highlights a book or dvd that the author wants to sell and I tend to ignore it. However, on this day I noticed that he was highlighting a link to a video he’d seen on youtube. His specific message read…
Vicky, you won’t believe this YOUTUBE story about life-after-life!
On second thought, you probably will. 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWCUjx4nI98
I was intrigued and watched the video. It is a news story about an 11 year old boy who has vivid recollections of a past life in which he died during fighting in world war two.
This gave me much to think about.
In isolation, my dream was my subconscious reaffirming an idea that I’d already thought about consciously. However, when I saw this video that same morning, I was left with a feeling that it was the universe possibly affirming that my intuition was correct.
Also, I really wanted to share this dream synchro but given that it involved a person I know, it was too complex to explain to anyone in my own circle. Your dream post has given me this opportunity to share it here. So, thank you!
Off to check out your link! Oh, wait, I know that story. James Lenienger, right?
Very cool dream synchro!
You’ll probably find this four part You Tube of James’ story interesting too V.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuwtDawOIN8&feature=related
and this book was a pretty good read as well;
https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Survivor-Reincarnation-World-Fighter/dp/B004Z4M3I4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339310531&sr=1-1&keywords=Soul+Survivor%3A+The+Reincarnation+of+a+World+War+II+Fighter+Pilot
I liked it.
Thank you!
… you want to give up or if somehow the meaning has gone out of it, you’re just marking time? I don’t see that this alters the message ‘to live it’. No matter what, we still have to live it – full stop. No doubt, there are lessons from this whether we think the meaning has gone or not. All will, hopefully, be revealed one day.
Long ago I tried to learn how to dream lucidly but it wasn’t to be. My dreams are rich and satisfying, often, so I decided not to mess with them. I visit my departed ones often and wake smiling. Spending time with them is always available to me in my dreams.