A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming (22 page)

2. expectation effect.
The dream world mirrors your own beliefs

and expectations. If you believe you can’t fly, you won’t be able

to. If you expect to find a beautiful lady in the next room over,

chances are you will. You can create in the dream using your expec-

tations. By taking control of your expectations, you usually have

direct influence over the environment. This isn’t always the case,

however—sometimes you’ll have underlying beliefs or expecta-

tions that bubble up and affect the dream world. Even though

you’ve become lucid, you may still find yourself battling night-

mares and struggling with obstacles: the dysfunctional children of

your subconscious mind.

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3. The man in the mirror.
Wandering around your lucid dream,

you will come to realize how intimately connected you are to

the dream environment. Even though things appear to be exter-

nal (there’s a desk over there, a chair, a tree, or a bird, whatever)

these things are actually a reflection of your own self. A chair, for

example, feels solid and real, but it’s still a creation of your mind.

Once you sink your teeth into this concept, your relationship with

the dream changes dramatically. The air around feels alive and rife

with possibilities. Instead of trying to change through the strength

of your willpower, you begin effortlessly shifting yourself (your

thoughts, emotions, and beliefs) in order to change the “outside”

world. In other words, don’t change the dream, change yourself.

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Basics of Creation

Let’s start by creating simple objects. Because our logical brain

operates through cause and effect, using tools such as door-

ways, rooms, potions, or flying devices are all helpful when it comes

to creation in the dream world. Creating an object out of thin air

might not seem easy at first, so these tips will get you started:

1. Blueprint.
Have the object that you want to create in your mind’s eye. Say the desired object is a baseball bat. Hold the image of the

bat in your mind.

2. What’s it like?
That clear picture in your mind is helpful, but it’s often not enough to conjure something out of thin air. Make

sure you feel it; connect some emotion and sensation to the object.

What does a baseball bat feel like? What is its texture, its weight?

Imagine it in your hands, and use your senses. Did you play base-

ball as a kid? Do you remember the first time you connected with

the ball? The combination of your thoughts and feelings is an

unstoppable creative force.

3. Now find it.
Is conjuring these items out of thin air too tricky?

Your left brain is getting in the way, doubting if such a feat is “pos-

sible.” Try to trick your mind by looking for it elsewhere. Find a

doorway to another room and say, “When I open this door or walk

into this room, a giant chocolate bar will be inside” or “There is a

giant four-toed horse in my backyard waiting for me.” If there are

no doors or rooms around, you can close your eyes and intend for

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the object to be there when you open them. Remember to hold the

image in your mind and expect it to be there.

Meeting Friends

You can find old friends, revisit past relationships, or talk with

deceased relatives in your dreams. It’s as easy as making a

rendezvous for coffee on a Sunday afternoon; the experience will

be just as real as if your date were there in front of you.

Who knows if these dream characters are impostors—just

your mind’s projection of so-and-so—or real people? Either way

the encounter could lead to a profound healing experience. The

recently heartbroken person can find closure with an ex, widows

can find peace with their late husbands, or messages can come

from friends who know us best. Let’s take a look:

1. Blueprint.
Again, have the person that you want to meet in your mind’s eye. Say it’s your dad, who passed on a couple of years ago.

Can you bring his image to your attention? It might help to glance

at a photograph during a wake-back-to-bed.

2. Feel their presence.
Attach an emotion to this person; that

much should be easy. Close your eyes and imagine him in front of

you, and really feel his presence. In the case of your father, what

does he look like? Feel like? If he were to walk into the room does

he have a special presence about him? We all do, so feel it.

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3. Find them at a hot spot.
Try looking for them where they’re

usually found, whether it’s your old house, a local bakery he fre-

quented, or the factory where he worked. Make it easier on your

left brain by providing a familiar stage to set your play. Use door-

ways, other rooms, close your eyes, anything to trick your mind

into believing that you’ll find this person nearby.

Creating Works of Art

In the physical world, art

has always existed as a

hastily I make a chamber in the mesa cliff,

way of expressing the inner

with a hidden airhole too small for a per-

workings of the human

son to squeeze in or out. I add a “chimney”

spirit. It’s only limits are

hole on top so the air will circulate, and

that of the creator’s imagi-

then teleport myself inside. I adjust the

nation and the physical

stone like punching a pillow. —chrIS W.

laws of the waking world.

But can’t we start up an

art project in our dreams? Besides its role as an amazing creative

outlet, creating art while lucid dreaming has some “practical” ben-

efits: some works of art can take months even years to create in

the waking world, but not in the dream state. You can build a

huge, complicated work in mere moments. Lucid dreaming also

allows you to experiment with art that could not be physically con-

structed on the planet Earth. For example, if you’re an architect,

don’t wait for that funding to come through—build your dream

building!

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1. Intention.
Wake up before your last REM cycle. Slap yourself on the cheeks, some cold water might help. Now, think about the art

that you want to create. After deciding upon your creation, go to

sleep with the intention of making it.

2. The right tools for the job.
Because your stubborn brain is still somewhat tied to the physical world, it will be helpful to use the

proper tools that you’re used to working with. Once you are lucid,

seek out your materials or create them. If you are painting some-

thing in the dream space, use paint and a brush on canvas. As time

goes on, you’ll find that you won’t need paint tubes. Eventually,

brushes will also become obsolete and you’ll be able to paint with

only your mind.

3. Thinking outside the frame.
Part of being an artist and a lucid dreamer is trying out new things. The dream world is at your fin-gertips, so why paint on just canvas? Try painting a building. Hell,

trying painting an entire planet! Don’t just sculpt a statue, sculpt

a civilization. If you like movies, create one that you can walk

around in. Write a song and ask a sycamore tree to sing it for you.

In the dream world, the only limitation to art is your imagination

and your own concepts of what’s possible.

Thinking Big

Once you’ve mastered the basics, you can create things of

higher complexity and with more ease. You won’t need the

comfort blanket of waking-world logic as you effortlessly manifest

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