Dream a Little Dream…
By Cristina Smith
…under the influence of dreaming, reality suffers a metamorphosis….if we choose to recondition our interpretation system, reality becomes fluid, and the scope of what is real is enhanced without endangering the integrity of reality. Dreaming, then, indeed opens the door to the other aspects of what is real. ~Carlos Castenda
Dreams have been humankinds’ direct connection to other levels of consciousness for time immemorial. We may contact our Gods, divine information, delve into deep psychological issues, work out day-to-day problems, commune with ancestors or enter fantastic realms every time we enter the proverbial arms of Morpheus.
Morpheus, also known as the Sandman, was the Greek god of dreams. The son of Hypnos, the god of sleep, his name means “he who forms, or molds” (from the Greek morphe). Morpheus’ function was to shape and mold the visions which men saw as they slept, in the manner in which the gods wished them to be sent to mortals.
Techniques for dream work and dream awareness, generally reserved for initiates, have been found for millennia in occult systems worldwide. Dream interpretation is often a specialty cultivated by members of the priest/shaman class. Spiritual experiences like initiation, prophecy and divination in dreams are found in traditional cultures globally.
The doorway to dreaming in the Western occult tradition is found on the Tree of Life (Qabalah) in the ninth Sephirah Yesod. There are many kinds of dreams which may fall anywhere on the Tree, depending on content. The dreams that are earth plane business such as working out personal issues with yourself or others, past lives and all other topics related to human existence happen below the Abyss which separates the realms of this world from higher planes. Archetypal, mythic, non-human dreams occur above the Abyss.
Adepts develop the ability to access esoteric information unavailable any other way through dreams. For example, in Tibetan Buddhism there is a class of dreams labeled Milam Ter or ‘dream treasures’. These treasures are teachings that are considered to be the creation of enlightened beings that were stored or hidden in order to benefit future generations. Expert practitioners, usually Teachers, retrieve these treasures at the appointed place in history and bring them out into the world.
The seeking of auspicious dreams, or ‘vision questing’, is an age-old phenomenon. In ancient Egypt, Thothmes IV, before he became pharaoh, slept near the Great Sphinx and received instructions to clear the sand from that already-ancient monument. A carved stone stele records the dream and deed. In one of many visionary dreams described in the Old Testament, the Hebrew patriarch Jacob slept with his head on a stone and dreamt of a cosmic ladder reaching from Earth to heaven. The Native American tradition of the dream quest continues to be practiced as a right of passage.
