The Big Book of Practical Spells: Everyday Magic That Works - Judika Illes 2016

Dreams
Other powers: your Magic Allies

Before we begin serious spellcraft, let's linger a little in dreamland.

Dreams allow us to receive and transmit magical communiqués although we may not remember them upon awakening nor do we always understand them. Sleep and the dream state are where healing and rhythmic readjustments most frequently occur.

Although some use the phrase “just a dream” to indicate a hopeless cause or a figment of the imagination, there are many who believe that we each possess a special dream soul that actually journeys while we sleep. The experiences we have in dreams are genuine, just operating on a different plane of existence. We can meet the ones we love, have adventures, journey to spiritual realms and seek crucial information.

The caduceus, the modern emblem of the medical profession, a staff encircled by two entwined snakes, recalls the wise, healing serpents that inhabited those early hospitals.

Ancient temples of healing, the first hospitals, offered herbal therapies, hydrotherapy, aromatic essences and cleansing smoke, but also invited the ailing and infertile to sleep and dream on the sacred premises. It was believed that divine spirits would communicate remedies through dreams and perform miracle cures.

Although states of tension and fatigue can occasionally stimulate an energy surge effective for emergency enchantment, unless you are sufficiently rested you can't consistently access your true magical potential.

How much sleep do you need? Enough to wake up feeling refreshed and enough to dream. Some believe that the true purpose of sleep is to provide access to the dream state. Our souls need these opportunities to visit other realms and other powers, to replenish our own forces and solve personal mysteries. The malady known as sleep deprivation may actually be dream deprivation.

There are of course always exceptions. People suffering severe disharmony, on any level, physical, spiritual, emotional, are often unable to sleep. Some have dreams too intense to handle. Others are petrified of communication with the Other Side; they cannot believe that Earth and her universe mean them any good.

Whether you recall your dreams or not, you do dream. Some people dream in color, others solely in black-and-white. People typically have five dreams every night, each successively longer than the last. The longest, most significant dream is usually the last one, the one that occurs on the threshold between sleep and waking.

You can train yourself to remember your dreams. You can, if you wish, develop the technique of lucid dreaming whereby you retain consciousness and awareness during your dreams. Using this technique you can actively participate in your dreams, ask the questions you want, have the adventures you want versus just having your dreams happen to you. You can induce the dreams you wish or need to have.

Active dreaming is a process that requires patience and focus. Many of these skills can be acquired on your own: In the following pages we'll explore some magical tools that will assist you. Although most see results quickly and dramatically, true mastery of the dream state takes time. If the topic intrigues you, there are entire books devoted to lucid dreaming as well as dream laboratories, societies and workshops that can encourage and assist you to take control of your dreams.

If a dream holds a special message for you and you don't understand it as it was intended, the dream will likely repeat itself until you do.

There are people who make dates with others to meet in dreams. When they awake, both can recall the shared dream. Twins, in particular, are believed to have an aptitude for this art. Lovers, separated by distance, have trained themselves to meet in the dreamland, where they can enjoy the romance denied them during the day.

You are most likely to receive communication from other life forces during your dreams. If you request information or assistance from any spiritual entity, you will likely receive the answer in your dreams, perhaps immediately but also perhaps days or weeks later. Sometimes the information you receive is intended for someone else. A friend once had a dream about me that was so intensely vivid that she tracked me down while I was on vacation to describe it. Unknowingly, she was reporting the response to my secret petition. She didn't understand the details of what she was telling me, but I did. When others turn up in your dreams, share the information and request that others share with you.