Shamanism and Lucid Dreaming

Beyond Dreaming
1

There seems to be a lot of similarities between the techniques of shamanism and lucid dreaming, and of course lucid dreaming is one of the tools used by shamans.

I was struck by this while reading posts by members of the ‘way stations’ they are building in dreamland as kick-off points for LD. This is also a technique used by shamans - an example in the modern ‘core shamanism’ is the secret garden proposed by the likes of Hank Wesselman (see sharedwisdom.com/)

Dealing with spirits in the underworld is a skill shamans must develop - either through charm, manipulation or play – and this would also seem applicable to dealing with dream figures. Bending visualisation to the will is a technique both shaman and LDer could use but its success depends a lot on the personal strength/integrity of the traveller.

I would be interested in other members’ opinions on this topic and links to useful sites. How much is the character of the dreamer relevant to LD or is its manipulation a morality-free zone? After all, shamans use power for good or bad.

2

I too am struck by the similarities. I first read Carlos Castaneda 25 years ago. Like most readers, I was amazed by the feats of power. HOWEVER, I totally missed the connection to dreaming. I remember him talking about it and thinking, oh, dreaming, OK. I remember Don Juan telling Carlos to find his hands in a dream and wondered what the big deal was.

Now I am re-reading these books after being a lucid dreamer for a number of years and am totally amazed how much Shamanism and Lucid dreaming are linked.

3

Lucid dream not only has a link whith shamanism but also with the yogi of the far east and the zen monk.
Not so weird cause with consciousness you have 3 options.

  1. being awake.
  2. being a sleep.
  3. third option is the integration of those two.
    Lucid dreaming falls under option 3 and there for connects to shamanism, yogi and the zen monk and allso other forms of spirituality and consciousnes like hypnosis/trance to name one.
4

LDing is also oft linked with magic, sorcery, mediums, eastern meditation techniques, which is why I as a Christian often get raised eybrows and concerned questions whenever I mention that I am a lucid dreamer (either that or they give me the :uh: look). I try to steer clear of these things because from my experience seeking after such skills and practices opens doors to negative and deceptive “energy” powers and spirits. Some are prolly rolling their eyes, but dasayeet.

5

You know me :tongue: , I am also, like you, am a Christian. It is amazing how quickly something like lucid dreaming picks up a bad name because “other” belief systems make use of it. I enjoy studying things like Shamanism, Buddhism, and such. Will I ever renounce my faith for another belief? The answer is a resounding no! :grin: I agree with you and believe that there are negative energies out there and one must be careful.

However…

I am firmly convinced that many of the visions of old testiment prophets and new testiment saints were in reality lucid dreams, and am continuing to pursue this avenue of investigation as well.