In celebration of Pisces season, let's soar into the enchanting world of dreams! Pisces, marking the transition from winter to spring, embodies the threshold between light and darkness, death and rebirth, as well as the conscious and unconscious realms. This astrological sign is deeply connected to dreams, visions, and imagination.
Dreaming is a journey we undertake each night, a gateway to a realm where anything is possible, crafted by our subconscious mind. Imagine entering your dreams consciously, fully aware, and navigating their direction. This is the magick of lucid dreaming.
Lucid dreaming offers insights into our inner world by accessing the unconscious mind's hidden depths. It's a potent tool for manifestation, personal growth, and self-discovery. Additionally, it serves as a medium for divination and connecting with the spiritual realm. The dream's vivid and surreal nature provides an ideal environment for tuning into intuition and receiving otherworldly guidance.
Lucid dreaming is a skill, and like all magick, it requires practice and intention.
Setting intentions with Nighttime Rituals
Creating a nighttime ritual to prepare you for lucid dreaming is essential. Watching television or scrolling through social media interrupts sleep cycles and should be avoided a couple of hours before bed (I promise the depths of your subconscious mind are far more interesting than social media!) Try going to bed around the same time every night. Your room should be dark, quiet, and peaceful. You could do meditate, take a bath, or light stretching to relax the nervous system. Saying affirmations before bed, such as "I will have a lucid dream" or "I remember my dreams"
Alcohol and drugs are also not conducive to lucid dreaming as they interfere with REM sleep.
Keep a Dream Journal
We all dream, but some of us just don’t remember them. People typically forget their dreams within five minutes of waking up! Keeping a dream journal upon waking is crucial. The best method is to keep a journal next to your bedside, so when you wake up, even in the middle of the night you can write them down super quick. Chances are if you wait, you will forget! Write down bullet points first, then go back and expand upon them. Give your dream a title. Keeping a journal tells your subconscious mind that these dreams are important to remember! So the longer you keep a dream journal, the easier it will be to remember longer and vivid dreams.
Once you have been writing in your dream journal for some time, you may start to notice patterns or common objects. These are your personal dream signs. They can act as landmarks for you and help you quickly identify a dream and achieve lucidity. Common dream signs include teeth falling out, sudden nakedness, seeing people who have passed.
Another way to induce lucid dreaming is the Wake and back to bed method. Wake yourself up after about 5-6 hours of sleep and stay awake for about 20 minutes. During this 20 minute period, you can use the bathroom, read your past dreams, set your intention for lucid dreaming and do a reality check. Then simply go back to bed. Close your eyes and meditate until you go back to sleep. Catching this last cycle of REM sleep is when people have the most vivid, lucid dreams.
Enhancing Dreams with Mugwort
Herbal allies can also support the practice of lucid dreaming, and mugwort is one of the most powerful. Traditionally used by witches and dreamworkers, mugwort is known to enhance dream recall, deepen intuition, and stimulate vivid, lucid dreams. You can incorporate it into your nighttime ritual by drinking mugwort tea before bed, bathing with our new moon milk bath, placing dried mugwort under your pillow, or using a mugwort-infused oil to anoint your temples before sleep. This herb is believed to activate the third eye, making dream states more accessible and enhancing your ability to become lucid. However, mugwort is potent and should be used with intention. Start with small amounts to see how it affects your dream patterns.
Reality Testing
During the day, ask yourself, "Am I dreaming?" It may seem bizarre to doubt your own reality but questioning reality will train your subconscious to do the same while dreaming.
There are often several clues that can help you identify if you are in a dream. One way to do this is throughout the day, perform reality tests to question whether you are awake or dreaming. For example, try to push your finger through the palm of your hand. Repeat to yourself," This is not a dream. This is not a dream." You will begin to train your subconscious mind to do this. If you are dreaming, your finger will go right through the palm of your hand!!
Another reality check is to close your mouth and pinch your nose. Can you still breathe? If you can, you're dreaming! Looking in a mirror (which often appears distorted) or jumping (experiencing a super slow descent) are other ways to recognize a dream.
Dreams can have a deep effect on our waking lives and can even help create clarity and confidence in physical reality.
Becoming Lucid
The moment you realize you are in a lucid dream is exhilarating! The dream world is your oyster. You are truly limitless. What will you do? The first few times you will probably get overly excited (like I did) and knock yourself right out of lucid dreaming. Getting too excited can either pull you back into unconscious dreaming or fully wake you. This can be frustrating. Lucid dreaming is a delicate balance and the ability to remain lucid is a skill. You want to engage with dream while staying aware that you're dreaming.
Here are some stabilizing techniques to help you stay lucid:
Try spinning around a couple of times or observing your surroundings—this helps stabilize the dream world. You can also say words like "lucid" or "focus" as you move to serve as a reminder to help keep you lucid while dreaming. It's best to move slowly and consciously. Once you're established, let the adventure begin! The best thing about dreamland? Physical laws don't apply. No gravity, no space, no time. A creative wonderland where your imagination is free of limitations. Maybe you want to explore, embark on an adventure, connect with someone you've lost, talk to your soulmate, write a song, or seek answers to your deepest questions. Dreams can have a deep effect on our waking life, and can even help create clarity and confidence in physical reality.
For some, lucid dreams can help with recurring nightmares. When they can harness the power of control within their dreams, they can face their fears directly, rather than running away all the time.
Lucid dreaming takes time and patience to master, but persistence is key! Remember that everyone is different, so find the techniques that work best for you and embrace the journey.
I hope this inspires you to become an oneironaut. It's a whole new world just waiting for you!
Sources:
Fontana, David. Teach Yourself to Dream. A Practical Guide to Unleashing to Power of the Subconscious Mind. San Francisco, CA. Chronicle Books, 1997
Hoss, Robert. Questions about Dream Language: 90% Lost. http://www.dreamscience.org/faqs/
Moss, Robert. The Secret History of Dreaming. Novato, CA: New World Library, 2009
Tuccillo, Dylan et al. A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming: Mastering the Art of Oneironautics. Workman Publishing Co. 2013.
