Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish between an out of body experience and a lucid dream. Usually, the distinguishing factor is that the dreamer is aware of leaving the body and can look back and see his or her sleeping self, but feel consciously awake and separate. A lucid dream creates the same ‘wakefulness’ and allows the dreamer to control events in the dream. But that dream scenario is usually far different from the waking world, whereas someone who is out of body typically experiences what appears to be the normal familiar settings…unless he or she soars off into the cosmos.
Dale Dassel recently sent me what he called a lucid dream, but it seemed very similar to an OOBE to me.
For background, Dale and his father had just returned home to Georgia from a trip to east Texas when Dale had the dream. They’d been looking for a house near where they lived for 16 years in the Jefferson/Longview area of east Texas. As they headed home, Dale made a detour to take a look at their old family home in a wooded neighborhood. He thinks the visit to the house was a catalyst for the dream.
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“I was standing at the top of the driveway (the house is on a hill), where the concrete pad slopes down towards side yard. Instead of the hedgerow bushes (as seen in the photo), the edge of the concrete was bordered by a wood-textured fence painted in glossy beige paint. That was obviously a dream element, because such a fence has never existed there in real life. I walked over to it, then reached out both hands (fingers wide) and touched the fence. And I could really feel it! I could feel the nubbled surface and thick paint.
“I struggled to maintain my hold on the dream, and the scene quickly re-materialized. I turned around and looked across the driveway at the house. The car port wasn’t there, and I saw the outer screen door side entry (the back door), right beside the brick chimney. Everything looked exactly like it did when we lived there! The sun was shining and the sky was beautiful blue. It was late dawn, probably about 9:30 in the morning.
“A tremendous wave of elation overcame me and I rushed towards the house, opened the door, and stepped inside to the kitchen. The wood-paneled walls, cabinets, bar, wall decor were all exactly like it was before, but it was a blur because I saw the familiar figure of Mom sitting in the chair at the kitchen table. She stood up and turned as I came approached. She was beautiful, younger and cancer-free.
“My heart soared with joy. She smiled at me, and I threw my arms around her in a loving embrace. I think I was crying, but the experience was so powerful that I can’t remember now. But I could feel her – the familiar shape of her body, just as real as touching my own hand right now. It was wonderful – pure elation – the strongest emotion possible. It was so moving and powerful that the dream dissolved and I felt my body as I lay in bed, warmly tucked under the covers.”
Having had only one other lucid dream (in March 2013), I can verify that it was the exact same sensation – I could feel my physical body lying in bed, numb and tingly, vibrating on some low frequency, while my consciousness was ultra-vivid and clear. The dream imagery was incredibly bright and vibrant, like an over-saturated photo exposure, and I could literally, physically feel whatever I touched. It was unbelievably real.
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Dale is convinced it was a lucid dream, because the house is no longer exactly like it was when he lived there. Yet, he also could’ve been out of body and visiting his deceased mother in an after-death reality where she lives or visits a house that is exactly like the one where they’d lived. Would a lucid dream be any less real? When you move into alternate realities, it seems the distinction between those two states blurs.
