dreamwork

Dreamwork: Let’s Talk About Sex!

Sex! Who doesn’t like that topic, right? Sex in dreams can be common. It can be great and not so great in dreams. I mean, if we’re dreaming of having sex with our favorite celebrity we don’t even question it! It’s great, it’s awesome, and it’s most likely a result of our subconscious processing the times we consciously look at them and feel attraction.

However, sex in dreams isn’t always so awesome. Sometimes we may be having sex with an ex, a friend, or stranger. If we are in a relationship in the waking world and we have sex dreams about someone other than our partner we may feel weird, or like a cheater. We may even feel violated or confused. Perhaps we enjoyed the dream and feel guilty for that. Maybe we even dreamt that our significant other had sex with someone other than us and we wake up mad at our partner. Who hasn’t been there? Am I right? I know a few husbands – including my own – on the receiving end of that anger.

Nine times out of ten a sex dream is never about sex. In fact a dream is rarely about anything outside of yourself. In the dreamscape the other person is an aspect of you. It could be a realized or denied aspect. Alternatively, it could be an aspect you wished you had. What your subconscious/higher self is telling you in the dream is that you need to look at integrating or accepting these aspects.

Sex, in waking life and in dreams, is about connection. What connection in waking life do you have with the person in the dream? If they are a close friend it could be that you admire them in some way and want to incorporate those traits into your personality. This does not necessarily mean any physical attraction in the waking world. Basically, how you view the person in reality can be a clue to the personality trait or aspect that needs to be integrated. Sometimes you may view that person – in cases of it being an ex – as something negative. Yes, you do need to integrate and accept those negative aspects of yourself along with the positive aspects. Your higher self/subconscious is showing that those qualities are part of you and that’s okay. This goes for sex with strangers in dreams as well. This is about looking at hidden, unknown, and denied aspects which have no other representation except for that of a stranger.

In the case of dreaming that a partner has slept with someone else is a reflection of insecurities and lack of self-worth. You may have trust issues that need to be looked at, including issues in trusting yourself. Keeping in mind that everything in a dream is an aspect of you: the two people you see having sex in your dream are two different aspects that you are so far removed from that you can only see it as a third party perspective. You may be denying those sides, or don’t fully understand them yet. You may have conflicting or contradicting feelings and beliefs in the waking world that your subconscious is working through.  It may show you through a sexual dream how those two aspects that seem separate can actually be connected to each other and to yourself.

Sex dreams are also about processing past trauma. If you have been sexually abused or raped in any form the dreamscape may be a safe place for you to work through the trauma and start the healing process. These can be really scary dreams or nightmares. The fear and terror one can have in dreams like these are all very real emotions. Even if you have never been abused in the waking world yet have a dream of being raped it can feel awful and shake you for some time.

Dreams are a way for the subconscious to process or even “yell” to get us to look deeply into something we have been avoiding. This isn’t being done to distress us, it’s being done so we can heal. Shoving down a situation and forgetting it ever happened is not a way to deal with anything it will come to the surface and ask to be properly dealt with.

Dreaming of having sex outside of your preferred orientation in the waking world does not always point to underlying homo- or heterosexuality. These types of dreams are most likely about integrating a certain kind of energy. Having sex with the opposite sex, whether it’s your preference or not, indicates the need to get in touch with your feminine or masculine sides, respectively. The same goes for dreams of having sex with the same sex. Sex in dreams doesn’t reflect who you have attraction to in real life, it reflects the part(s) of yourself you need to pay more attention to. Those aspects, whether positive or negative qualities, deserve your attention and acceptance. Acceptance of the Self, fully and completely, is one healthy step on the road to integration and healing.

P.S. Sometimes dreams of sexual attraction, infidelity, and homo/heterosexuality can point to those things in the waking world. Though chances are if that’s the case you will know them and will not require a dream dictionary to decipher those messages. Your waking self is already thinking, feeling, or doing those things. If you feel your intuition is telling you those things in dreams it’s because you already suspect something in your waking world. This points to the same message of any sex dream: your subconscious is asking you to look at and accept these things in your life, to stop avoiding and denying them.

Brightest Blessings,
Phoenix Rose
–
Connect on social media:
FB – www.facebook.com/phoenixrosereadings
Twitter – @PhoenixRoseCM
IG – echoside_phoenix_rose
Pinterest – phoenixrosecm
–
Shop – EchoSideCreations.etsy.com
Blog – EchoSidePhoenix.blogspot.ca

Dreamwork: Dare to Share

One thing that I came across as a young teen was Scott Cunningham’s recipe* for a prophetic dream tea. I have used that recipe for many years now with amazing results. Sometimes we cannot know the results of prophetic dreams if we are not sharing them. One of my favorite stories, a huge confirmation that some of my dreams have more to tell me than basic dream dictionary meanings is the dream about the freezer and the pizza.

This happened circa 2006-2007-ish. I was attending workshops with my best friend’s mom (whom I’ve become really close with over the years). I had dreamt that I was with her oldest daughter. We were in an apartment cleaning out a broken fridge. She finds a pizza at the bottom of the fridge and says that this should be okay to eat. It wasn’t okay to eat. It was the weirdest thing and we ended up throwing it away.

Fast forward that day to the evening time when I would have went over to their house for the workshop. I tell my friend that I dreamt of her oldest daughter, explain the dream – she’s looking at me wide-eyed – I feel nuts. She said, “Oh my god” and called her daughter into the room to tell me about her morning. Her morning consisted of cleaning up the freezer that had broken and leaked everywhere. She had to throw out a ton of food that was completely ruined. Except for a pizza which she thought would be fine, however it was not fine. She cooked it and it was terrible and had to be thrown out too. Hence why she was at her mom’s house that day, because she and her boys needed to eat.

Another experience, which was not necessarily prophetic, but opened my eyes to shared dreams happened around the same time frame as the dream above. I dreamt I was at a house party. I was with one of my male friends, his girlfriend was no where to be found. We didn’t know why she wasn’t there. My boyfriend at the time was at the party, but seemed to wander off. I went out back, the backyard was really long and lead to a wooded area. I could see my boyfriend down in the woods. I yelled and hollered. I couldn’t seem to get into the woods, I have no idea how he got in there. He looked like he was freaking out, but he wouldn’t listen to me so I headed back into the house to join the party.

I woke up and immediately wanted to tell the boyfriend about him freaking in the woods. As I’ve learned sharing what happened in dreams can result in learning. He cut me off to tell me his dream. He was in the woods. Left from the cabin we were all in. It was something like Evil Dead, I suppose. In his dream he was freaking out because he couldn’t get his way back to the cabin. So, this blew my mind, just how similar those dream scenarios were.  We were seeing the other friends later that day and I couldn’t wait to tell them about it.

I was so freaking excited to share our experience with this couple friend of ours. Like I said, mind blown about the alignment of the dreams between me and then-boyfriend. The male friend, who I was at the house with in the dream cuts me off to say he dreamt of us at the party. Even telling me whose house we were at. Saying the same thing, his girlfriend wasn’t there and my boyfriend wandered off. Holy guacamole! I’m still blown away by this experience. My female friend – the girl friend who did not show up to the party in the dream – says she was dreaming about driving around. That’s all she did in her dream was drive around looking for her boyfriend. Him and myself blurts out, “I/He was at the party!”

I am not sure how, what, why inspired that event to happen between the four of us. From then on, I share my dreams with others, and encourage others to share their dreams with me. I have since noticed other alignments, dreaming about similar themes between people, and stuff like that.

I now keep a dream journal online for the world to see (crazy, right?!)
Can be read here: echosidephoenix.livejournal.com

*Prophetic tea recipe by Scott Cunningham:
Or buy my organic blend here:
https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/470231858/christinas-herbal-dream-tea-20g?ref=shop_home_feat_1

2 parts rose petals
1 part mugwort
1 part jasmine
1 part peppermint
1/2 part cinnamon

Brightest Blessings,
Phoenix Rose
–
Connect on social media:
FB – www.facebook.com/phoenixrosereadings
Twitter – @PhoenixRoseCM
IG – echoside_phoenix_rose
Pinterest – phoenixrosecm
–
Shop – EchoSideCreations.etsy.com
Blog – EchoSidePhoenix.blogspot.ca

Dreamwork and Crystal Combinations: Labradorite, Lepidolite, and Moonstone

Since the last blog regarding crystal combinations I have worked with a new trio. The results were pretty intense. I found I fell asleep faster, and the dreams were vivid, and with great recall. Using same meditation technique described here, or see below.

-Labradorite is a stone that aids in reducing stress and increasing calmness, which is great for falling asleep. Helps to increase intuition, psychic abilities, visions, clairvoyance, prophecy, communicating with higher realms and spirit guides, accessing Akashic records, and moving between realms. This quality will help in getting to a state of lucidity. This stone encourages new ideas, which will help you be open to new experiences in the dreamscape. This is also a stone of protection, which I look at it as protection from nightmares, and night terrors.

-Lepidolite is another calming stone. It triggers deep meditation, theta state, which is a dream state used in lucidity – or astral projection. This stone stimulates coincidences and synchronicity – little moments that catch your eye, seem to line up – this is great for setting intentions on triggers for lucid state in the dreamscape.

-Moonstone yet another calming stone (yes, I want you to have a really restful sleep, it triggers lucidity and helps with recall!) this stone is said to cure sleeplessness, and drives away nightmares. It creates a channel for prophecy, helps access subconscious, intuition, and clairvoyance. This is a stone that provides protection for night travellers – I see this as the travellers of the dreamscape, and the astral travellers.

Clockwise from top: lepidolite, moonstone, labradorite

I will repost the steps to the meditation I do before falling asleep:

Place crystals under pillow, in pillow case (so they don’t get knocked everywhere), or you can put them in a drawstring bag under your pillow if you don’t want them inside the case.

Meditation:
– Take a few deep and calming breaths
– Focus on the crystals under the pillow
– Visualize their energy merging with my energy and filling my entire body
– I think of the particular qualities of the stone and state it in my mind “lepidolite to reach theta state, labradorite for visions, moonstone accessing subconscious” (they all promote calm and relaxation, so I do not state that)
– If I have a purpose, such as receiving a message from a spirit guide, I state this in my mind now
– Take a few more deep breaths and drift off to sleep as I sense the calming energies around me

Brightest Blessings,
Phoenix Rose
–
–
–
For more info on healing crystals check out some of my go-to sites:
https://www.crystalvaults.com
https://www.gemselect.com
http://www.healing-crystals-for-you.com/
–
–
Connect on social media:
FB – www.facebook.com/phoenixrosereadings
Twitter – @PhoenixRoseCM
IG – echoside_phoenix_rose
Pinterest – phoenixrosecm
–
Shop – EchoSideCreations.etsy.com
Blog – EchoSidePhoenix.blogspot.ca

Dreamwork: Key Habits in Dream Recall and Becoming Lucid

I have been reading, very briefly, on Huna – a Hawaiian philosophy that uses dream skills as a way to be objective of our Self.  I have found that many of it’s practices are things I already innately do. This system has just given me a set of language for things I was naturally doing which in turn inspires lucid dreaming.

I would love to discuss Huna further, however this week I will list some key behaviours, or habits, which I have used with success:
– Relaxation meditation in bed before sleeping
Lucidity requires the body to be in a deeply relaxed state. Having a good night’s rest also allows our memory to be clearer for dream recall. 
– Setting the intention in my mind that I will remember my dreams
This is very important in telling your subconscious, or Higher Self, your goals. Intention setting is very powerful, not just in dreamwork, but in all aspects of goal-setting.
– Do not move upon waking, stay as still as you can and reflect on what you where just thinking or doing the moment before waking
Jumping up out of bed is really jarring to the body and mind. Some think of me as a person who takes forever to wake up. And it’s true! It’s not that I am asleep, it is that I am recalling and reflecting on the dreamscape. Sometimes I fall back asleep and dream some more. This is where powerfully lucid dreams can happen.
– Ask yourself questions 
Such as, but not limited to: What happened? Who were you with? What did they say? What did the environment look like? What did the atmosphere feel like? What time period were you in? What dimension? Were there smells, sounds, sensations that you felt? How did you feel emotionally, mentally, physically? Did anything remind you of real life? Have you ever dreamt this before?

– Write down anything of importance and interpret any symbols that stood out
I do not write down every single dream, and every single symbol, just the ones that stood out to me. I often find as I’m in the process of interpreting I will remember more of the dream itself. Until you get the hang of dream recall and lucidity you may want to journal daily.
– In waking life create habits that have you questioning whether you are in a dream or not
As I have stated in Strive to Become Lucid, our dream habits will reflect our waking habits. 
I am still in research phase of the Huna philosophy and do not want to talk further until I have implemented other aspects and experienced them, as this blog is based on dream skills that I have experienced.
Happy dreaming!
Phoenix Rose
–
Connect on social media:
Twitter – @PhoenixRoseCM
IG – echoside_phoenix_rose
Pinterest – phoenixrosecm
–

Dreamwork: Dream Interpretation

In last week’s post we discussed creative triggers that can spark lucidity in dreams.  This week I would like to discuss dream interpretation.  I will not be listing a dictionary of what all symbols could possibly mean.  There are several resources online where you can find these meanings.

Interpreting your dreams is fascinating work and gives an interesting perspective on your subconscious mind. Even if you remember only one thing from your dream last night, look up the symbol meaning. I have listed my two frequented resources for dream meanings at the end of the post. Write the interpretation down in a notebook or your phone.  Many people suggest keeping a dream journal, to be honest, I very rarely journal, but I do have a place to write down those really weird dreams before they’re forgotten.

When first interpreting your dreams do not over analyze.  The number one factor in interpreting a dream is how you felt in the dream, or immediately upon waking.  The feeling and atmosphere dictate more clearly how the dream symbols should be interpreted than the symbols themselves.  If you dream that you’re in the dark, but you are not afraid then this is good indication that this dream is about learning and integrating unknown aspects of yourself, bringing them into awareness for learning and growth. Another could dream that they are in the dark and terribly afraid – same dream symbol – however, they are in denial or have fears about these unknown aspects of themselves.  Same dream, different meanings.

For the next week, pick out 1-3 things you remember from your dream and note their interpretation. Include the following information: how you felt in dream/upon waking, what resonates from the dream symbol interpretation, what doesn’t resonate from the meaning, how you feel this applies to your waking existence.

If you don’t remember any dream symbols, then take note of how you felt, or how you think you felt in the dream. E.g., happy, sad, scared, weird, etc. For further clarification, dream symbols are anything from a person, place, thing, colour, animal, plant, ocean… You name it and there is a dream meaning for it!

Brightest Blessings,
Phoenix Rose
–
–
Connect on social media:
Twitter – @PhoenixRoseCM
IG – echoside_phoenix_rose
Pinterest – phoenixrosecm
–
–
Dream Interpretation Resources:
–www.dreammoods.com – they also provide a great app, completely free, you can log your dream symbols, they even offer a voice recorder so you don’t have to type first thing.  Just try and understand your morning ramblings later in the day, hah! 🙂

-The Complete Dream Dictionary: A Practical Guide to Interpreting Dreams, Pamela Ball, Castle Publishing 2000

Dreamwork: Creative Triggers for Lucid Dreams

Lately a few people have mentioned to me the occurrence of “weird dreams,” or dreams that are rather vivid and busy. Weird is a subjective term and means different things to different people, but I assure you that “weird” is quite normal in the dreamscape.

Weird, strange, or peculiar dreams can be one of the best spring boards to dreamwork.  In my experience I have three different types of dreams: lucid, prophetic/psychic, and the typical strange dream we’re all used to.

I’ll start by discussing my experience with lucid dreams because they require triggers. In lucid dreams I become aware that I’m dreaming.  I know that I am the conscious creator and if I feel the desire I can mold and shape things in the environment, including the people, places, and scenarios.  I can decide to sit on the ceiling, ride a bike through the air, or become another person.

In my Strive to be Lucid post I mentioned that when you start becoming lucid you may startle and wake up.  It is possible to push past this and stay lucid in the dream.  Unlike the typical, or prophetic dreams that I experience lucid dreams don’t tend to have any hidden meanings behind them for me, they are more like a VR experience.

Nightmares and stressful dreams have been huge moments for me in triggering lucid dreaming.  The first time I did this is was very empowering.  I had been meditating on the movie quote below regarding turning your back on the monsters in your dreams.

Nancy Thompson: [referring to the Balinese way of dreaming] But what if they meet a monster in their dreams? Then what?
Glen Lantz: They turn their back on it. Take away its energy and it disappears.
-A Nightmare on Elm Street, New Line Cinema, 1984

Learning to turn your back on, and take away energy from, the “bogeymen” in your dreams is monumental.  For me, the first thing in lucid dreaming, in pushing past that startled feeling that wakes you up is fearlessness.  There is nothing to fear in the dreamscape.  Even when you are facing your biggest fear there is still nothing to be scared of because it’s all an illusion.  It’s make-believe.  A virtual reality world YOU constructed.

I believe that the subconscious creates upsetting images and situations to get our attention to look at things in our lives that we are ignoring, avoiding, or in denial about.  Consciously make the decision in the waking world that when you are in these compromising, unsettling situations in the dreamscape that you will take the opportunity to become lucid and make changes.  Even if you are not successful with this method there is still something to be learned.  This is where dream interpretation comes in.

More on that in next weeks blog, in the meantime focus on what creative triggers you can be using to set lucid dreaming in motion.  Stay tuned for more techniques and guidance in dreamwork coming soon.

As always, would love to hear your experiences.  What triggers have you used to reach lucidity?

Brightest Blessings,
Phoenix Rose
–
Connect on social media:
FB – www.facebook.com/phoenixrosereadings
Twitter – @PhoenixRoseCM
IG – echoside_phoenix_rose
Pinterest – phoenixrosecm
–
Shop – EchoSideCreations.etsy.com
Blog – EchoSidePhoenix.blogspot.ca

Dreamwork: Strive to Become Lucid

“To die, to sleep – to sleep, perchance to dream – ay, there’s the rub, for in this sleep of death what dreams may come…” – William Shakespeare, Hamlet
 
In the quote above Shakespeare may have been referring to Hamlet’s contemplation of suicide, I look into it further than that.  Death is often referred to as the big sleep, a dirt nap, including witticisms such as “there’ll be plenty of time for sleep when you’re dead,” and we put our pets to sleep when suffering outweighs the quality of life.
“Sleep, those little slices of death – how I loathe them.”
Nightmare on Elm Street 3 (misquote of Edgar Allan Poe)

Why would we ever compare sleep and dreams to death and afterlife?  I am of the belief that this waking life is the real dream.  What we see, feel, experience in the dreamscape is actually closer to what is truly beyond.  Beyond life, beyond death.  The dreamscape gives us a window into the true nature of our core essence. This is why dream recall and becoming lucid is important to our personal growth, and its the reason for doing any dreamwork in the first place.

Dreamwork begins in waking life, or the collective consciousness, or the 3D co-reality we have all agreed upon existing.  By this I mean things that we do in waking life are reflected in the dreamscape.  What we make habit here often becomes habit there.  However, not everything from the waking world runs the same as it does in the dreamscape.  You can use these differences between realms to trigger lucid dreaming.

I will list behaviours that have successfully worked for me as triggers to lucid dreaming.

“Am I dreaming?”

Check the time.  Look at clocks throughout your day.  Most of us already do this, especially when we’re dying to get home from work, but we are not checking the time in a conscious effort.  In my last Dreamwork post I stated that intention is the most important thing with dreamwork.  Rotary clocks work best, but I have successfully used digital clocks too.  Look at the time with intention.  Mentally ask yourself if you’re dreaming. Look away from clock, back to the task you were doing, then look back to the clock. Mentally reflect on whether it’s the same time.  Has only a minute or two passed, or has the clock jumped an hour ahead, three hours behind, again ask yourself, “am I dreaming?” Time is not linear in dreams, sometimes hands may disappear from a rotary clock, or digital clocks will have a messed up display.

Most times asking yourself if you are dreaming will not spawn anything spectacular, but what it does do is create the habit and intention for lucid dreaming.

Try reading or writing.  A lot of us spend a fair amount of time reading and writing.  Whether it be on or offline, great works of fiction, or just piles of work orders.  We all do just as much writing, or typing.  Whether it be filling out forms at work, or writing letters to a friend, or typing opinionated posts on social media, it’s what we do, and it’s a huge form of communication.  It only takes once or twice a day to ask yourself while reading/writing, “am I dreaming?”  Try to do this at a different time from when you checked the clock.  Then think about the words you’ve just read, or wrote.  Do they make sense?  Are they solid and unchanging?  Or is it a new sentence?  Did you forget what you just read or wrote?  If possible take what you just read and put it in your pocket, desk drawer, or cover it, then look again.  Did the sentence change?  Are you dreaming?

“If I was a mirror I’d find another mirror, and look each other dead in the eye – crystal clear!” 
– ICP
 

Look in the mirror.  Mirrors do not have the same logic in dreams that they do in waking life.  In the waking world mirrors reflect back exactly what’s around them.  In the dreamscape mirrors sometimes do not reflect back anything at all.  Think of Alice Through the Looking Glass, the mirror can appear as a doorway or portal in a dream.  Look in the mirror with conscious intention of “am I dreaming?”  Notice whether you look as you do in waking life.  Are you older? Younger?  Do you appear to be a different gender?  Is your features staying the same or is your facial features changing right before your eyes?  Again, do this check at a different time from the clock, and the reading/writing.

These are just three things to do during your day that will eventually become part of your dream world.  If you have not lucid dreamt before becoming aware in a dream may cause you to wake up immediately.  This is normal and will eventually stop, it will become less jarring the more you become conscious in your dreamscape.

I am interested to hear your experiences with these techniques and what worked or didn’t work for you.  Happy dreaming!

Brightest Blessings,
Phoenix Rose
–
–
Connect on social media:
FB – http://www.facebook.com/phoenixrose888
Twitter – @PhoenixRose888
IG – @phoenix_rose_888