I have written 3 past chapters about angels, dreams, near death experiences and visitations. I am a firm believer in heaven and hell. So if there are good angels, there has to be bad ones too. I am not crazy. It is a part of my faith and the Bible says God created angels before man. He also said that the bad ones intermingled with humans. That made him real mad! I believe there are good and bad spirits that walk among us. I believe there are some, who for whatever reason, are trapped in limbo between our reality and other dimensions.
I have been interested in dreams and dream manipulation since I was a little boy. I dream in color. My Bing research says that between 4 and 75% of people dream in color. That's a pretty big range. Where do you fall? My further research says that we dream between 4 and 7 times per night. The theories as to why we dream range from long term memory building, data dumping and telepathic/prophetic experiences. I really don't care about the facts. I just love to dream.
I first got into dreams when I was about 7 or 8. I was watching the Donahue show and this lady was explaining that the best way to remember your dreams, or cue them, is to put a pad of paper by the bed and when you wake up from the dream write down a word, a number and a color and go back to sleep. I tried this process for a couple nights but it didn't help me remember. I do keep a pad of paper by my bed to jot down a note or theme when I wake up. The most effective thing for me has been to simply try to remember and retrieve the dream when I first wake up before I have even gotten out of bed.
My dreams were like what most folks have and usually involved flying or falling. I still remember when I would soar over my neighborhood, just above the tree tops and look at the tiny village of Mokena below. I have never flown over the village in a plane but my dreams were remarkably accurate in their geographic layout. The more I relaxed in the dream the longer the flights. I had no wings. It was just like the film "The Boy Who Could Fly." I enjoy that film to this day. I didn't take off vertically. My flight started from a run, then into a horizontal take off.
Strangely enough, when I dream of falling those dreams are in black, white and grey. They are short, abrupt and I usually wake up. As a young one I learned to comprehend that I was dreaming, while I was in the middle of one. This still happens for me about half of the time I dream. If I try to engage a person or shift the dream I wake up. If I just flow with the dream, and don't try to manipulate the plot, I am able to experience it fully aware that I am in a dream and enjoying the ride.
The subject of my dreams over the last few years revolve around malls, train stations, airports and shopping markets. I don't know why or care but I do have the ability to enjoy the trip. The more open minded you are to your dreams and remembering them, the stronger your ability to remember them gets.
The key is to make it a habit to try to remember a scene when you wake up. Don't try to remember the whole thing immediately or you will forget everything. Take a snapshot in the dream and when you wake up try to focus on the picture and the other elements will fill themselves in. The pad of paper with one written word also helps.
I dream frequently about fish; swimming fish, like coy or trout. I am never trying to catch them. They are just a part of my dream scape. I also have dreams of my teeth falling out in front of people while I am conversing with them. Some of my dreams are easily traced to a program I have watched earlier or a book I am reading, other times they are random. I have practiced enough that every time I am dreaming, I am conscious of the fact that I am in the middle of one.
The coolest thing that happens in my dreams is when my father appears. When I say my prayers I ask God if it would be possible for him to let my dad visit me that night in my dreams. Quite often it works. He is not sick or passing messages to me. He is just another co-star in the dream. Since I have some cognizant knowledge that I am dreaming, it is really cool to see him and talk to him. When he appears there is also a car in the dream. My dad was in the car business for years and he always brings one to my dreams.
After I have taken a scene or snapshot from my dream, when I am not fully awake, I take a few seconds to see if I can remember more. I don't dwell too long on the scene or I tend to forget the whole thing. Throughout the day I revisit the mental snapshot and more pieces come into my conscious reality. I hope this doesn't sound like Syd Barrett's autobiography. I really believe in dream recall and have worked on it for years. Most of the dreams are positive but sometimes very troubling. That is the good part about being partially conscious that I'm dreaming. If it's bad I know I am in a dream and not reality.
I don't know where dreams come from or why we have them. I know they have a purpose. Again, I go back to the fact that us humans use such a small part of our brain capacity, I know there is a dream decoder in there somewhere. I know I love to see my dad alive again and am happy when he shows up. Last night I dreamed I was a John Lennon imitator in a Beatles cover band that featured the real Paul McCartney. In the dream I asked him for his autograph 4 times as we sat in a hotel room waiting for a gig.
That dream I can connect to an ongoing verbal jousting contest I have with my mate Ian, on who was more influential, John or Paul. I say John. He picks Paul. I am also in the process of selling a drum set on EBay. Again there is the mental connection. I am glad I remember even the silliest dreams. Take some time with your dreams. Relax and try to be aware that you are in fact dreaming. It takes practice but gives me great comfort and enjoyment. I don't try to get lotto numbers from them or read the future. I just go for the ride, and what a long strange trip it's been.
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