I recently took a Lucid Dreaming course with Charlie Morley on Mind Valley, and I got lucid! I learned to keep a dream diary and how to build a relationship with my "dreamer." It turns out our recurring dreams are often things we need to integrate; the course was eye-opening! It’s a lot easier getting Lucid when I’m not on tour working 24/7, but such is life!!!
Dreams have always been my deep-work playground, though I didn’t even think that others did this, too. I’ve faced some intense recurring nightmares—night after night, battling them down, standing my ground, telling these figures I wasn’t afraid, even as they tried to hurt me. Looking back, I should’ve just hugged them instead of fighting and getting so violent in return! My dream life has always been a pretty wild.
One dream was particularly powerful. I was across from a beautiful young man, and a woman was screaming at me, demanding I decide if I wanted him or not. He looked about the age of the child I might’ve had if I hadn’t gone through with an abortion 20 years before. I woke up crying, wrote him a long letter, and processed the emotions I’d never spoken about. The next night, I went back to that dream, sat with him, explained my reasoning, and with love, I let him go.
Since learning that most of what we dream is our own mind—only about 1% being spirits or archetypes—I’d look at some dreams differently now. But it’s such a relief to find other people who do similar work in their dreams. I’m not the only one who’s “whacky” this way!
There are times I don’t even notice I’m dreaming—like when I’m flying through the sky on a blow-up boomerang pillow or playing with a fluffy, platypus-like creature with adoring eyes. Or when fluorescent birds and butterflies surround me, then suddenly I’m half-naked in public, searching for a bathroom! These are recurring dream signs yelling, "You're dreaming!" but somehow, I manage to miss them.
Keeping a dream diary helps me listen to my subconscious. Cuddly animals, wild-coloured birds, and the awkwardness of being naked in public are signals that I’m actually dreaming. They’re there to give me a chance to get lucid, and when I finally see that, the fun begins—That’s if I don’t wake myself up by excitedly shouting, “I’m dreaming”, which has happened more than once!
I set a clear intention before bed and try to do reality checks in my dreams, it doesn’t happen all the time. Some mornings I wake up laughing at how I didn’t realise I was dreaming through all the madness of the night’s adventures! Sometimes I grab my phone in the middle of the night to record a dream and then listen to it in the morning – let’s just say, that if someone gets hold of my phone and listens to my voice messages, they’ll either be in stitches or wildly concerned about my mental health!
When I do think I’m dreaming, it’s time for a reality check! I look at my hands (chances are I won’t have ten fingers, though my dreamer loves trying to trick me). Next, I’ll look at a clock or a phone screen—they rarely act normally! If my dreamer is playing with me, and it all somehow seems ‘normal’, I’ll focus on an intricate pattern; it’ll swirl and shift. Knowing these signs shows me I’m dreaming, and then I get to have some fun!
In lucid dreams, I can call upon my inner child, confront fears, fly over mountains, or indulge in the wildest adventures. Meeting my shadow mate, “Vulcanite,” was a huge turning point. He appeared as a massive, dark figure and mocked my personal development work. He literally evil laughed at me saying “all this love and light stuff you do is rubbish”. I laughed and told him he was rubbish. He let out a deep, hearty laugh. I woke up and then realised he was my shadow! The next night, I went back, got lucid, and called him in again. This time, I tried to hug him, a way to integrate or accept him as a part of myself. My whole body tingled like bubbles dissolving in soda water.
Charlie talks about bending spoons, because in dreams “there is no spoon”. So, I play around with the dream—like walking through walls. After the lesson about being able to walk through walls in our dreams (because there are no walls), I walked through walls and windows effortlessly, even stuck my hand through my own body! But the next time I tried; the wall felt like concrete. My dreamer was keeping me on my toes, so I played around with other signs to confirm I was still dreaming.
One lucid dream, I decided to face my greatest fear. I got lucid and called out “greatest fear come to me”. A man appeared and started decaying right before me. I asked him, “Death? Is death my greatest fear?” He came back to life, and we had a chat about life cycles. He said, "Dying’s great because you start living again." I laughed and said, "Living’s great, but then we start dying." We joked about the cycle, and when I asked if it ever ends, he just smiled and shrugged—guess it’s not for me to know just yet.
In another dream, I was trying to get some answers about the direction of my business. I got lucid and was excited to find the answers I was after. A woman walked past, and sheepishly just told me to “get a job, and then I’ll be happy”. What? Get a job? That’s not the answer I was looking for. So, I went over to two men and asked them the same question. I was giving them options, kind of like multiple choice about the direction I’m wanting to go. They shook their heads at me and I woke up super confused. I started to write in my dream journal. I KNOW that my business is in the making, and that I’m not made to just “get a job”. Then it hit me, they were my limiting beliefs! I love this shit so much!!! Now I need to get to know these shady characters!
As 99% of what we dream is from our own minds, I’m throwing out the dream dictionaries and interpreting symbols in my own way. If I dream of a dog, that symbolises unconditional love to me, but someone else might see a dog as a threat. Dreams are personal, and I’ve realised I can decode my own dreams without someone else's definitions. It’s really interesting to look at a dream and change the weird things into meaning words.
Dream decoding looks at the energetic association we personally hold to the dream aspect. For example, “I was walking down the road surrounded by dogs”. For me, that could translate to “I was walking down the road surrounded by unconditional love”
“There’s a huge marketing extravaganza (unfair elitist club). Somehow, I am working for them, pushing buttons. I don’t agree with it and I don’t know the product. They trap customers on a huge pile of sand (collapsing foundation) convincing them to join the movement to become rich. People are being publicly shamed about their laybys (debt) and told they need to keep paying to be a part of this group. Some tribal men (warriors) turn up with sticks and spears. I know these men, I’ve lived with them. I also knew all of the white men who were ready to go to war with them (even though they don’t know what they’re fighting for). I am stuck in the middle, both sides have my back but I am strong enough to not choose a side. One warrior asked if I felt safe with him. I answered of course. He said he has to fight. I gave him a huge hug, he kissed me on the head, told me he loved me and went in to battle.”
I woke up and wrote down that dream, I reflected on it and I thought about the world today. I do not need to pick a side. I can respect people and their different opinions (when they are not hurting people). Those who are kind to me, I will be kind back. For me, this dream was an affirmation that I choose loving kindness, and that my world is not going to be controlled by some bullshit divide and conquer mentality. Yes, I believe we need to stand up for what we believe in, I also think that not every fight is for everyone to fight. We are no good to anyone if we are burnt out, compassion fatigue is real. Choose your battles wisely, you don’t need to choose them all.
Anyway, that’s a little snap shot in to me dreams!
Anyone else here a lucid dreamer?!