'Lucid dreams have changed my life.' These are the words of former sceptic, Mark Creed. As an industrial chemist, 37-year-old Mark specialised in polymers, and like so many scientists, was schooled in the concept of behaviourism and thought that if anecdotal phenomena could not be physically measured, they probably did not exist.

Read more here: » Lucid Dreams: To be able to control your dream

In a series of articles by Richard Wilkerson we will get a great insight in dreams and their meaning. Richard Wilkerson is behind the DreamGate, a pioneering web community exploring and investigating the meaning of dreams.

Read more here: » Meaning of Dreams: Do Dreams Have Meaning? Part II

Asclepius was the Greek god of healing. His healing sanctuaries were found throughout the known Hellenic world. This tradition was active for almost 2000 years from around 1300 BCE to 500CE. In times of illness and when the physician was unable to help, one would turn to Asclepius for healing. Healing would come about through a visitation of the healing god (or one of his totems – the dog or snake) in a dream. The dream would then result in a spontaneous healing or an indication of what had to be done or undone to bring about healing.

Read more here: » Dream Healing: Asclepius and dream healing

How can dreams be used for healing? Many of the people I interviewed were women who had suffered breast cancer. Their stories were as varied and individual as the dreamers themselves and ranged from little bears helping with house cleaning to dramatic stories of physical and spiritual loss and rebirth played out in dreaming and in waking.
When we finally feel confident in exploring the elements of dream diagnosis, the next step is to explore the elements of healing in our dreams. Diagnosis is presented not to frighten us, but to allow us to begin a journey of healing.

This article is adapted from SHE WHO DREAMS By Wanda Easter Burch.

Read more here: » Healing dreams: What is Healing dreams?

Could Charles Dickens have been a sufferer of a REM sleep phenomenon known as sleep paralysis? It seems likely that he was.

Read more here: » Meaning of Dreams: Sleep paralysis - A Dickens of a dream!

How often have you woken in the night, looked at a digital clock, but it has appeared blurred or doesn't make sense? Have you ever reached out to turn on the light - or any electrical appliance - to discover that it doesn't function properly, or not at all? Have you got vague memories of getting up in the middle of the night, trying to open the door, finding that it won't open and going back to bed? Would you believe it, if you were told that you were probably dreaming? A false awakening is a convincing illusion of having woken when, in fact, you are still in dreaming sleep, so the imagery - although seemingly real - is artificial.

Read more here: » Lucid Dreaming: False awakening and lucidity

Amazingly, as we approach the 21st century, there is still very little known about the inner universe of sleep and dreams. In fact, numerous common misconceptions still exist, many of which are perpetuated by so-called professionals. The author, David F Melbourne, has been studying dreams for 25 years and is known all over the world for his accurate dream interpretations.

Read more here: » Meaning of dreams: Common misconceptions about sleep and dreams

Dreams are a powerful tool in developing deep insight about yourself and your life purpose. They are a priceless source of inspiration and creativity, as witnessed by geniuses spanning the entire range between Einstein and Salvador Dali; both of whom worked with dream and fantasy in their work. The simple 3-step process will enable you to work with your dreams to gain deeper insights into your psyche.

Read more here: » Meaning of Dreams: A Three Step Process For Working With Your Dreams

About dreams and how we can improve our dream recalling abilities.

Read more here: » Meaning of Dreams: Remembering Your Dreams

Raja Janaka ruled over the country of Videha. He was once reclining on a sofa. It was the middle of the day in the hot month of June. He had a short nap for a few seconds. He dreamt that a rival king with a large army had invaded his country and slew his soldiers and ministers. He was driven out of his palace barefooted and without any clothes covering him.

A spiritual view on dreams and the meaning of dreams by Sri Swami Sivananda, an authority in the vedic sciences and traditions.

Read more here: » Philosophy of Dreams XXI: Raja Janaka’s Dream

There is much evidence in existence to support the notion that we all possess the potential to incubate dreams - in other words, conjure up dreams to order. Whether they are romantic encounters, dreams that furnish solutions to problems, or even lucid dreams, with time and effort, they can be evoked. Ancient civilizations were well aware of the potential of dream incubation. The Egyptians, for example, built temples called Serapeums, named after Serapis, the god of dreams. It wasn't unusual for the expectant dreamer to undergo various procedures including cleansing, purging, offering up prayer and so forth, in order to experience the desired dream.

Read more here: » Dream incubation: To evoke a specific dream

The analysis of dreams and their cause by psychoanalysts are defective. They maintain that the cause of dream creation lies in the suppressed desires of the dreamer. Can they create dreams as they like by suppressing desires? No, they cannot do that. They say that desires stimulate or help the dream creation. But they do not know what supplies the material out of which they are made and what turns the desires into actual expression, enabling the dreamer see his own suppressed desires materialised and appearing to him as real.

A spiritual view on dreams and the meaning of dreams by Sri Swami Sivananda, an authority in the vedic sciences and traditions.

Read more here: » Philosophy of Dreams: Introduction to Philosophy of Dreams by Sri Swami Sivananda

Dream poetry.

A spiritual view on dreams and the meaning of dreams by Sri Swami Sivananda, an authority in the vedic sciences and traditions.

Read more here: » Philosophy of Dreams: Songs Of Dream

As some dreams are indicative of future good or bad fortunes, it is impossible for the individual to dream a good or a bad dream according to his own choice, he, being in his present state of bondage, ignorant of the future. The individual soul, in his emancipated state, can certainly exercise his will for the creation of vision in dreams; but the power, in the state of his bondage, remains eclipsed by the superior will of the Universal Soul, who directs his actions according to the merits and demerits of his past conduct; and the suppression of his power is due to his being encaged in the body.

A spiritual view on dreams and the meaning of dreams by Sri Swami Sivananda, an authority in the vedic sciences and traditions.

Read more here: » Philosophy of Dreams XIII: Sri Nimbarkacharya on Dreams

In days of yore there were very able dyers in Marwar or Rajputana. They would give seven colours to the sari or clothes of ladies. After washing the cloth one colour will fade away. Another colour will shine. After some washing a third colour will manifest in the cloth; then a fourth colour and so on. Even so the mind is coloured when it associates with the different objects of the world. When the mind is Sattvic, it has white colour; when it is Rajasic, it is tinged with red colour; when it is Tamasic it has a black colour.

A spiritual view on dreams and the meaning of dreams by Sri Swami Sivananda, an authority in the vedic sciences and traditions.

Read more here: » Philosophy of Dreams XVI: Remove The Colouring of The Mind

Dreams and Death are rock foundations of all philosophy. Dream world is totally different from the waking world. But some facts are strikingly common to both: 1) Sometimes we have a dream within a dream. 2) During sleep, sometimes we are conscious of the fact that we are asleep and we are dreaming. 3) In dreams more often than not we assume a body that is the master of the dream world. 4) Sometimes we feel extremely helpless amidst the facts of the dream world. We cry and we weep to the extent that the physiological system is affected.

A spiritual view on dreams and the meaning of dreams by Sri Swami Sivananda, an authority in the vedic sciences and traditions.

Read more here: » Philosophy of Dreams XXV: Dream Hints

In both states—waking and dreaming—objects are “Perceived”, i.e., are associated with subject-object relationship. This is the similarity between the two.

The only difference between the two states is that the objects in dream are perceived in the space within the body, whereas in the waking condition they are seen in the space outside the body. The fact of “being seen” and their consequent illusoriness are common to both states.

A spiritual view on dreams and the meaning of dreams by Sri Swami Sivananda, an authority in the vedic sciences and traditions. In both states—waking and dreaming—objects are “Perceived”, i.e., are associated with subject-object relationship. This is the similarity between the two.

Read more here: » Philosophy of Dreams X: Waking as a Dream

What raises us above other known sentient beings is our ability to be conscious of our own consciousness. But what does this mean, scientifically?

“It is now widely accepted that all knowledge, from the beginning of time, is available to each of us, an intelligence that is carried at the cellular, subatomic level. Highly evolved individuals who have touched the hem of the eternal and communed with the infinite through their higher consciousness, made that quantum leap but have been unable to transfer their understanding due to limitations imposed by language. Because language is incomplete and fragmentary, merely registering a stage in the average advance beyond the ape mentality. But all of us do have flashes of insight beyond meanings already stabilized in etymology and grammar.”

Read more here: » Consciousness: What is Consciousness?

Chuang Tze, a Chinese Philosopher, once dreamt that he was a butterfly. On waking, he said to himself, “Now, am I a man dreaming that I am a butterfly, or am I a butterfly thinking that I am a man?”

A spiritual view on dreams and the meaning of dreams by Sri Swami Sivananda, an authority in the vedic sciences and traditions.

Read more here: » Philosophy of Dreams XXIV: Dream of Chuang Tze

Dream Poetry.

A spiritual view on dreams and the meaning of dreams by Sri Swami Sivananda, an authority in the vedic sciences and traditions.

Read more here: » Philosophy of Dreams XII: Waking Experience Has Relative Reality

Through the play of the mind in dreams and deliriums nearness appears as a great distance and a great distance appears as proximity. Through the force of the mind a great cycle of time appears as a moment and a moment appears as a great cycle. The unreal world appears as real whereas it is in reality a long dream arisen in our mind. This world is nothing but a long dream. The mind sports and creates an illusion. Through the play of the mind the dream-world appears as real. The following story will illustrate this fact.

A spiritual view on dreams and the meaning of dreams by Sri Swami Sivananda, an authority in the vedic sciences and traditions.

Read more here: » Philosophy of Dreams XI: The Unreality of Imagination