Dreaming. It’s such an amazing part of being a human. We can fly in our dreams, experiencing the absence of Earth’s gravity. Dreams can shut off our brains long enough to allow us to work out non-linear, creative solutions for our waking lives, and often process or integrate issues seemingly too heavy, too dark for the daylight.
 
Many people, myself included, have experienced talking with loved ones or pets who have left the physical world in our dreams, gaining a sense of peace after the loss. Dreams can warn us about people or situations, or alert us to a surprise or shift headed our way. The possibilities are endless in the dream state!
 
As I describe in Becoming Sar’h: Book One, a dream is what made me finally make the decision to leave my marriage, which was no longer serving my soul journey. All the facts in the world were not enough evidence, for lack of a better term, to leave, but the sensation I received from a dream told me without a doubt that it was time to move on. The dream occurred in May. I left my marriage that June. Four months later, I had an awakening experience that would shift my entire journey in this life and become the topic of my first published book.
 
Similarly, my friend, Alice, told me it was a dream that triggered her leaving her career in medicine. In her dream, she was swimming in the lake at the bottom of a huge canyon. She realized she was alone in this magical place as she became aware of the stunning beauty of the canyon.
 
“When I woke up, I knew I had told myself (through the dream), that this particular part of my journey was mine alone and that it would yield beauty unlike any I had ever experienced,” Alice told me. A few months later, she went through an evolutionary soul experience, which is another story for another time.
 
DREAMING TIPS
Lucid Dreaming, Remembering and Analyzing Dreams
 
Lucid dreaming is the term used to describe being aware that you are dreaming, while dreaming, and even being able to make choices to shift the course of the dream. It was something I first read about as a teenager and knew I had mastered when I had that panic-filled college exam dream – you know the one where you realize you have an exam you did not study for and then you are desperately trying to figure out what to do. Instead of doing the normal panic routine, I realized what was going on in my dream and decided to find friends and invite them out to wine and dinner. I sat there in the dream, drinking wine and enjoying my friends’ company instead. What did it mean? Not much except the simple realization that I am the creator of my reality both awake and asleep.
 
That brings me to the next point. Not every dream is going to mean something or symbolize something in your waking life. I call this story burn off. It’s simply all the stories in all the realities you exist in, playing out. Story lines that you did not choose, that make no sense in waking life, stories that do not belong to you or your journey. To me, story burn off feels like a release of sorts.
 
And, as I spoke of above, there are the times when you know the dream holds a message. You wake up, recall the dream, and deep down inside you know it needs to be examined. Sometimes a dream dictionary like Tony Crisp’s will help point you in the right direction. Other times, it is something for you to decode yourself – at the soul level.
 
My friend, Tess, said it quite eloquently, “I’d say the dream state has been a very personal, unique experience. I found writing my dreams down immediately upon awakening to be very helpful. Otherwise they would fade in moments. Then as time went on, I became more adept at unlocking my own symbolism that I received.”
 
Tess also said sometimes she would ask her soul a question and wait patiently to receive the answer in the dream state. “But usually when least expected,” she added. “So one has to be patient and let (the question) go first."
 
On that note, here are my tips for remembering your dreams and lucid dreaming:

1. When beginning to examine dreams or begin the lucid dreaming experiment, it helps to set the intention before you go to bed. I would like to be lucid in my dreams. I would like to remember my dreams clearly. I am looking for answer to a big life question. Often times I say to my soul, “Show me that which is already there, but I cannot see.”
2. Write your dreams down first thing in the morning. Use the notes section of your phone, or keep pen and paper by your bedside. Don’t just write down what happened but also how you felt about it. Colors, symbols, and sensations are often common ways of communication in dreams – very similar to how the soul communicates with the human part of our selves in images and sensations rather than words.
3. Use your soul senses like intuition to interpret your dreams. If you are a dream dictionary addict, start weaning yourself off of the habit, and use your inner guidance to determine what was communicated in the dream. When you wake up from the dream, ask your soul, “Was there something I should pull from the dream for my waking life?” Be still and listen to the response within. This takes practice but will become extremely natural over time.
4. Discern whether the dream held a message or was simply a story burn off session. Go with your gnost, or inner knowing, when you ask the questions, “What kind of dream was that? Do I need to spend time with the information or move on?”
5. Be patient! I have often had dreams that I knew were so important in my life, but I would not understand them for several years. In this instance, I filed the dream information away as important, yet I did not know why. Then I was able to use the information to my benefit, specifically for my safety, years later.

 
ASPECT INTEGRATION IN THE DREAM STATE
For those who really want to dive into the deep end of awareness…
 
For those of you looking to go even deeper in the dream state, I cannot talk about dreams without talking about aspects. As I wrote in Becoming Sar’h: Book One, aspects are identities our souls created in the past to answer the question, “Who am I?” They often take on their own voice and cause chaos and confusion in our lives if we are not conscious of them. Sometimes we create aspects to fill roles in certain situations, like daughter, wife, or business owner. Additionally, past life aspects or identities come into play and even ones created in dreams and other realities.
 
When we are unconscious of them, aspects can drag us in all directions. They can literally haunt us. Sometimes, when I thought I was dealing with a ghost or earth-bound spirit, it turned out to be my own aspect haunting me. Most importantly, instead of trying to run off rogue aspects, usually they need to be invited in for integration. The dream state is a common place to integrate aspects because it can be an easier place to do so. Lindsay, who recently shared with me the following story, knows this all too well…
 
One night, Lindsay found herself in a lucid dream where she was in a dark, windowless attic of a house, surrounded by unopened boxes. Her husband and brother were there with her in the dream. While exploring the attic, they noticed a doorway hidden behind the boxes that had been sealed shut and decided to break it open and explore what was beyond the door. 
 
They entered a room with more unopened boxes, but in this room there was a window with light beaming in. Lindsay described, “We knew we were there for something important but we didn't know what.”
 
Suddenly, coming up from the floor, Lindsay heard a terrifying, demonic voice, one that came from an energetic being that she couldn't see. However, she could feel it shout, "DO YOU REMEMBER ME?"
 
The energy began flying around the room and attacking Lindsay, trying to get into her body.
 
“I was scared shitless, and I tried everything I could think of to send this evil being away and keep it from getting into me. Nothing was working. In desperation, I called out to Archangel Michael to send this evil thing packing, but even that didn't work. Michael did not show up to help. I then realized that no one was going to help me. In that moment of panic and mortal terror, the demon flew into my body, and I suddenly woke up in a cold sweat with the most intense fear I have ever felt surging through my body.”
 
Lindsay said she lay in bed for a few hours breathing and shaking through an incredible amount of fear.
 
“Lying there I realized that demonic energy was me. That was an aspect of my soul that was ready to come home, to integrate into me. That was why it went into my body."
 
Lindsay added that she was beyond thankful that she had done the aspect integration while sleeping.
 
“That aspect would have scared me so badly while I was awake, I probably would have thought I was losing my mind. I was also glad that I had two people I love and feel very safe around with me in the dream state while it was happening.”
 
Lindsay said this experience reinforced her deep inner knowing that as a soul, we’ve had all sorts of experiences. “From the most saintly, pious human to the most evil, fearsome expression of darkness, we have experienced all of it. There's nothing we are not or have not been,” she added.
 
What an experience to show her – and us through her story – that we, as souled beings, contain everything – light, dark and everything in between. It reminds me of the quote from Ascended Master Tobias, “A denial of the dark is a denial of half of yourself, if not more” (Crimson Circle).
 
For more of Lindsay’s stories, you can visit her website here.
 
IF YOU WANT TO GO EVEN DEEPER…
 
Interested in exploring aspects more? I highly recommend the Crimson Circle organization’s Aspectology School Online February 24-26  or check the website at www.CrimsonCircle.com to see if there is a class in your area.

Whether you are working with lucid dreaming or aspect integration, I am here to support you. You can sign up for a soul session, in-person or via Skype, on my website NewEnergyCreator.com. If you have questions, please fill out the contact form, and I will get back with you shortly.
 
In the meantime, keep dreaming – both awake and asleep!
 
In gratitude,

Lauren and Sar'h

It was Christmas Eve 2014. I was one month into my 34th year, and I was stuck in the middle of the Sulu Sea. The boat - some sort of loosely motorized outrigger - attempting to take us back to the village where we were staying had broken down shortly after the molten, Filipino sun disappeared behind the turquoise waves. 

I looked to see if Sablayan, the small Filipino village I had fallen for with for its over the top grimy authenticity and for the fact that a long blonde-haired woman on the back of a motorcycle tended to insight a mob of curious children, even appeared as a pin point on the horizon. It did not. I shrugged, leaned against the rail of the boat in my tribal print bikini and handed my beer to a handsome young Swedish man who opened it for me.

I never know where I actually am in geographic space, but the people around me do. We were somewhere between 20 and 10 kilometers off the eastern coast of the Occidental Mindoro Providence - one of the larger of the 7,000 plus islands that made up the archipelago that is the Philippines. 

Observing the Tagalog dialogue between the men manning the boat, the crew I was traveling with - four men ranging in age from 24 to 37 - discerned that the boat’s propeller had been damaged when hitting the tail end of Apo Reef, where we had spent the day in scuba diving heaven. Apo Reef is the world's second-largest contiguous coral reef system, and the dive master I was traveling with said it was just as, if not more, beautiful than the famous Great Barrier Reef. We had the joint to ourselves that day.

The only light we had left shone from the small sliver of a moon that glinted through the fog, and a short, young Filipino man holding a flash light. Another had gotten into the water with mask and snorkel while the first flashed the light down on him in the clear water that now appeared a deep black except for the slightly golden edges appearing on the crest of the wave. 

He was taking the bent propeller off, the Swedish beer opener reported. The tiny boat, not meant for such journeys, rocked wildly in the wind and waves. Once the propeller was off, the Filipino men were beating it with some sort of metal object - definitely not a hammer - which was par for the course for this country or any third world country for that matter. In my far flung adventures, I was always amazed at how people made do with whatever was available.

The shortest of the men dove back in the water to reattach the freshly flattened propeller. During this whole process, which maybe took an hour yet seemed longer, no one seemed outwardly concerned - not the 24-year-old Swedish students, not my travel partner Nate - a 37-year-old Jewish American lawyer, not me - except the German professional in his early 30s who had a girlfriend waiting for him back on land, wherever that was.

He paced the tiny deck in the rain gear he packed - typical, extremely prepared German. His behavior served as a reminder of why we should all worry. I turned my back to him and sat with the others chatting idle while sipping my beer - San Miguel Pale Pilsen - one of two beer choices in the country. All of us had learned quickly and separately before we met one day before - if you received a cold one, it was going to be a good day. These had been chilled on ice. Fancy AF.

The two young Swedish men who were studying marine managemet and had come to the Philippines for two reasons - to learn about Filipino culture on their country’s dime since most of the men working on Swedish ships were from there and, most importantly, to scuba dive, get wasted, and ponder truths as 20-something year olds do. They were a joy to be around. We all had our stories, and they couldn’t remain hidden in these travel conditions - wounds and scars are always more visible “on the road” where the conditions greased the wheels of conversation. Instead, we allowed for them. It’s no coincidence that the German’s girlfriend happened to hold a degree in Psychology.

Nate and I were here because we had no where else to be. The United States shut down at Christmas time. We didn’t celebrate the holiday. Although one step off the plane in Manila was all we needed to realize that Filipinos were madly obsessed with Christmas. There may not be enough to eat, but there were Christmas decorations covering every square millimeter of space in the country. Filipino children knew every English word to every Christmas carol and they sang them while holding their hands out for change. Nate and I both loved adventure and to dive. He had picked the destination. I agreed. The German engineer and his girlfriend were on vacation, and although they ended up the butt of many jokes, once they got to know us, they really let loose.

Then I saw something in the water. Then another something. And another. Large, slick, black creatures approached the boat. It took my eyes a second to adjust to the dark waters that surrounded us in every direction.

“Dolphins!” I yelled. 

On cue, we heard the boat engine start up and felt the kick back as the boat began to move forward. The man holding the flashlight moved to the bow of the boat, serving as a human headlight as we bumped and shifted toward the village. 

Simultaneously, the dolphin pod began traveling with us, putting on a show of grand proportions. They where leaping and arching and spinning on both sides of the boat. The pod followed us until the water got shallow. 

It took me a minute to realize that I was involuntarily clapping furiously and yelling “Bravo” in my Texas accent, which came out when I was tired or tipsy. Bouncing up and down, I realized I was the only female on the boat, which didn’t matter until emotions were involved. I could tell the travelers and the natives alike were as amused as me yet contained their excitement in acceptable forms of masculine behavior.

This is how my life tended to operate. Close calls, lots of stumbling, followed by a grand performance. Just when I thought we might be swallowed up by the black waters, we weren’t just saved. We weren’t just relieved the boat started again. We were fucking escorted by a dolphin pod to the village where we were staying - where we were about to be invited into a politician’s home for Christmas eve dinner, which included a 30-day old chicken (Filipinos always told you the age at which the chicken was killed) and later to his cock fighting operation for cocktails served in paper cups. 

That night, the travel family - formed during a shared van ride the day before and sealed through the utter frustration of trying to find a diving operation and place to sleep in the village - sat down with our maps travel guides and made a plan. We had to pool money because there was no working ATM anywhere in the village. We decided to make our way to Coron, another dive spot, for the next adventure. 

The bus to San Jose left on Christmas morning, and we would all get on it. The following day we would take a ferry to Coron. We had quickly learned that nothing - absolutely nothing - was easy in the Philippines. As a group we could fill up boats and our bargaining power rose. Plus, we all kind of liked each other. I played the role of the storyteller. The tall Swedish guy with bright blue eyes and abs of steel decided to be my starry eyed audience - I love an audience. Nate was in charge of telling wildly inappropriate jokes that you couldn’t not laugh at, and would help the Swedish dive master with the dive plans. The Germans would organize things, take thousands of photos, and make sure we showed up on time. 

When I laid down on the damp, mosquito-net covered cot that night, I pinched myself. This was my life. The one I created. The one I finally owned. For the first time. I couldn’t help but think of the majority of my friends who were nestled in their pajamas with their families and many, their children, stuffed full of Christmas Eve dinner. The presents they had saved all year to buy only to be opened, enjoyed briefly and eventually discarded into closets, garages and junk rooms sat wrapped under the tree. They were totally and completely obligated to the people around them. To their jobs. To fulfilling some sort of imaginary quota of success. Most of them enjoyed it. Others simply went through the motions, like I had previously done.

I was on the adventure of a lifetime, completely untethered. No obligations. Nothing to lose. It’s not everyone’s dream. But it was mine. I existed, and it was stunning. I fell in love with myself all over again in that moment. 

Samurai Song
Robert Pinsky, 1940

When I had no roof I made
Audacity my roof. When I had
No supper my eyes dined.

When I had no eyes I listened.
When I had no ears I thought.
When I had no thought I waited.

When I had no father I made
Care my father. When I had
No mother I embraced order.

When I had no friend I made
Quiet my friend. When I had no
Enemy I opposed my body.

When I had no temple I made
My voice my temple. I have
No priest, my tongue is my choir.

When I have no means fortune
Is my means. When I have
Nothing, death will be my fortune.

Need is my tactic, detachment
Is my strategy. When I had
No lover I courted my sleep.