Dreaming

Castaneda (1 p. 115) wrote extensively about dreaming, revealing that shaman sought to make use of ordinary dreams as an “entrance for human awareness into other realms of perceiving.”

 

In his book, Magical Passes, Castaneda (1 p. 117) asserts that there are two types of dreams; ordinary dreams and energy-generating dreams. However, in his book The Art of Dreaming, Castaneda (2 p. 231) describes a third type of dream; a dream that is not an ordinary dream, and yet it is also not an energy-generating dream, but a dream that is constructed by a dreamer projecting their intent.

 

Therefore, we classify dreams as three basic types (see Table 1). The first type is an ordinary dream, which Castaneda (1 p. 117) (2 p. 164) described as, “…the product of our mentality, our psyche; perhaps something that has to do with our neurological makeup”, “…a phantom world of projections, where nothing generates energy, like most of our dreams, where nothing has an energetic effect.” Hobson (3 p. 4) describes five characteristics of ordinary dreams (Table 1).

 

The second type of dream is called a lucid dream, because the dreamer has clear perception and a rational awareness, similar to that of waking consciousness. The essential characteristic of a lucid dream is that the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming, within the dream itself. Lucid dreamers are typically able to intentionally guide or exert some degree of control over aspects of the dream. We classify lucid dreams as neither ordinary dreams, nor energy-generating dreams, but similar to the other type of dream described by Castaneda (2 p. 231) in which the dreamer projects “… their thoughts in dreaming in order to accomplish the truthful reproduction of any object or structure or landmark or scenery of their choice.” LaBerge (4 p. 109) delineates five basic characteristics of lucid dreams (Table 1).

 

The third type of dream is called an energy-generating dream (Table 1), because according to Castaneda (1 p. 116) the dreamer is able to perceive energy directly – energy from elements with an energetic basis – instead of perceiving merely phantom projections, like ordinary dreams. In other words, energy-generating dreams are perceptually based on energy, similar to the way ordinary waking perception is based on energy emanating, or reflecting, from objects.

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Dreaming is a practice that can activate new possibilities for perception that that lie beyond the boundaries of ordinary daily awareness. Dreams include many of the characteristics of right hemisphere cognition and can enable new possibilities, through; open attention, non-verbal imagistic thinking, enhanced creativity, novel associations, and divergent thinking. In addition, right hemisphere vigilance is superior during drowsiness and sleep states, thereby lending support for “a hierarchical reorganization of cognitive mechanisms “, wherein the right hemisphere can gain superiority as one slips into sleep and dreaming. Indeed, some research suggests that a right hemisphere predominance continues during dreaming. Moreover, lucidity activates frontal regions associated with volitional control. Consequently, the state of consciousness achieved during Shamanic Dreaming provides a perceptual environment that significantly differs from the perceptual environment of ordinary daily life, thereby offering “something more than, and above all something different from, the carefully selected utilitarian material which our narrowed, individual minds regard as a complete … picture of reality.” Indeed, the perceptual conditions encountered in Shamanic Dreaming, not only enable perception to experience new possibilities, but may also open it to perceiving energy directly, since sensory perceptions, which ordinarily dominate, are greatly diminished. 

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RESOURCES:

Magical Passes by Carlos Castaneda

The Art of Dreaming by Carlos Castaneda

Being In Dreaming by Florinda Donner

Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LaBerge

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1. Castaneda, Carlos. Magical Passes: The Practical Wisdom of the Shamans of Ancient Mexico. New York, NY, USA : HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1998.

2. —. The Art of Dreaming. New York, NY, USA : First HarperPerennial / HarperCollins Publishers, 1994.

3. Hobson, J. A. The Dreaming Brain. New York, NY, USA : Basic Books, 1988.

4. Kihlstrom J., Schacter D. Sleep and Cognition. Washington DC, USA : APA Press, 1990.

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