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One way to make the process a little faster is suggest to yourself waking up periodically through out the night. Personally I aviod this unless I'm exuasted because when I wake up I tend to stay awake for some time. But if you can mannage waking up and falling asleep all the more power to you and the more dreams you can remember and the more you can record.

Once you have learned how to recall dreams and started to record them you'll be ready for the next phase of the program. In your day time routine periodically stop, for like one second, and ask yourself if you are awake and if you are dreaming- this is called a reality check. If possible spend some time in a place that is dream like to you. While there pick out the things that seem most dream like and reflect upon them. If you have the time meditate and let yourself day dream. If you can do this every day, even for just five minutes, you'll find lucidity is much easier to achieve in the later stages. Have you seen this place before in your dreams? Why does it fit your dreams? Return home. In your journal write about some creative need you would like to address. Place your pen and journal near you and allow yourself to go to sleep. It is best to not dwell on dreaming or any intentions for dreams because the mind won't always present the best results under preasure. In the morning, before you get up, keep your eyes closed and replay to the best of your ability any dream you had. Record them and go about your usual routine. Don't forget to give yourself reality checks periodically through out the day.

Now is time to contruct your dream temple. This is the place you will most likely be having dreamings. Where ever you sleep most often. Look around the place and get a feel for it. How does it make you feel? Are there books and clothes spread about? Any unsual pictures or posters that stand out? Furniture that is obscure? If so it would help greatly to reduce the clutter. Pick up any messes. Tidy up your bed. Move you furniture. Remove any attention grabing posters or pictures. Do this until you are comfortable with your sleeping space. Walk around and visualize a warm light surrounding this room. It should be comforting and protective. Let it re-affirm a desire to have lucid dreams. Let yourself believe this room is your dream temple and you may safely have lucid dreams. Go to sleep, not dwelling on any of this. In the morning recall your dreams and record them.

Continue your next day with frequent reality checks like usual. If possible meditate in a dream like spot. Day dream when possible and afferm your desire to have lucid dreams. At night clear you mind and let yourself fall asleep. If you awake in the middle of the night do not open your eyes. Instead recall the dream and enter a state of mediation. Try to pick up on the dream where you left off and continue it. In the morning recall and record your dreams.

This day continue your usual routine, nothing special is required today. Just maintain reality checks and where possible observe things that seem dream like to you. When you are ready to go to bed pick a topic you wish to present to your dreams. Find objects that are related and spend a monent with each conferming your topic and place them near your bed. This is called dream incubation and is a crittical step towards forming a dream dialogue with your sub-consous. Clear your mind of your topic and allow yourself to go to sleep. Should you become lucid in the dream understand one's own anticipation is their worse enemy. Chances are the first real lucid expereince you have will last only seconds because you probably will get excited and this will jump you awake. Don't fret and don't try to force yourself to have another lucid dream. If you do become lucid and you wake up, nonchelontly record it and allow yourself to go back to sleep. Another part of lucid dreaming is to condition yourself into having the control to maintain a lucid state. You do this by reaming calm and controling your excitment as much as possible. Should you awake in the middle of the night attempt to return into the dream in the same way as the previous night. Always remember to keep your journal and pen near the bed. And I should have mentioned earlier that if through out your day other details about a dream surface it is to your advantage to add them to your dream journal.

Regardless if you become lucid or not when you awake record your dreams and try to apply foot notes where possible to relate the dream to your topic. Understand this alone could take days to become good at but what it amounts to is understanding what your dreams are telling you. See much of what is presented to us in dreams is metaphor. The sub-consous is like a child that never was taught how to speak but wants to communicate. So it attempts to communicate during dreams by presented imagry to us. Some of which is completely outlandish and makes no sense, rarely is it a direct comment to which we can understand. By learning to suggest dream topics to your sub-consous mind you are in affect making a dialogue by which you can understand what your dreams are trying to tell you. Eventually you'll be able to pin point the suggestiveness in your dreams and relate them to day to day life. Again this takes practice and the more gentle you are going about this the easier it will be. This is one of the biggest steps towards becoming aware of dreaming while dreaming.

This day all you will do different is for each reality check tell yourself you are going to have a lucid dream. If you will not have the time for this next step repeat the dream incubation step until a time where you can do this; Find a movie, prefferably somthing at least an hour long, without commericals or interuptions and something you've seen before. The more fantastic it is the better. Cartoons, Sci-fi, historical fiction, a copy of the super bowl whatever floats your boat. My book suggests adventures with gumby. Personally gumby scares me...no seriously. Wierd little green guy and his playdoe horse...anyways I chose star wars because of the significant impact it has on my imagination. Whatever you choose plug it in and relax. Enter a state of meditation and allow your thoughts to play the movie in your mind. Chances are you'll fall alseep and expereince a dream related to the material you are playing. This will most likely be a very vivd dream, on the edge of consousness, but not quite. If you do become lucid same procedure as above. Remain as calm as possible and just let yourself flow with this one. Should you wake in the middle of the movie don't open your eyes. Replay the dream in your mind and if nesseccary re-enter the state of meditation. Try to pick up on the dream where you left off. When you awake recall and record your dream. This is probably best done in the earlier hours of the day. To allow yourself time to process this all before you sleep at night. Again keep your journal and pen near you and clear your mind of lucid dreams and let yourself go to bed. When you wake up for the next day recall and record your dreams.

Now this day is one of reconing. Through out your day as you have reality checks tell yourself you are going to have a lucid dream. Continue on as you do usually. But this day again try to spend time in a dream like place and there, if possible, meditate on having lucid dreams, day dream if you can. Before you go to bed affirm your desire to have a lucid dream. You can, if you like, do what you did the previous night and find objects to suggest a specific topic. Clear your mind of lucid dreams and allow yourself to drift to sleep. Should you find yourself in the midst of a lucid dream again the more calm and relaxed you remain the longer you will maintain this state. Of course don't fret should you lose this focus and either wake up or sink back into normal dreaming. If you do become lucid start very slowly. You're like a baby taking its first steps. So best not to try to run aimlessly or fly into space (thats what I did and I woke up. Then I became lucid a second time and fell into unconsous sleep). While lucid look around you. Where are you? Is anybody with you? Are they talking? What are they trying to say? Take your first steps. Hold onto this state as long as possible. Some tricks I have learned to remain lucid is to rub your hand together. Spin. Count from zero to whatever number, until you're confident in your consouness. Or find a spot in your dreams that you can focus on and walk towards it until you're confident you're consous and will remain awake in your dreams. When you wake up recall and record you're dreams. If you were successful at this point allow yourself to feel proud. Try to not let it spill into arrogance, like let yourself think you can do anyting now. But feel happy that you have taken your first step. This is a conditioning of positive reinforcement for behaviors you wish to repeat.

Eventually through probably days of repeating these steps you will earn a certain level of confidence in your ability to have lucid dreams. Now it is time to move into higher lucidity. I could write you a book about this please understand that through all of this I am trying to put pages of material down into one thread. The main difference between lucidity and high lucidity is in a lucid dream you are aware that you are alseep and dreaming. But any attempt to really control or alter your surroundings either makes you fall uncounsous or wake up. In a high lucid state one is not only aware they are dreaming but confident they can stay lucid and know they can alter their dream scape.

The first step towards higher lucidity is maintaining the lucid state. If you have difficulty with this re-read the steps and figure out where you think you need more practice. You may have to repeat several steps. This is not unusual don't fret. My book is titled "lucid dreams in 30 days" it took me more like 90 to get good at it and even then unforeseen variables sometimes interfear with my dreams. Once you can truely remain lucid for prolonged periods of time then it will be time to confront the dark imagery. For the most part up to this point any confrontation with negative imagery probably resulted in either a nightmare that woke you up or it re-mained unnoticed in the shadows. In order to really become good at lucid dreaming you will need to search these shadows and fush out the negative forces in them. Remember you are in control. The worse that can happen is you'll wake up. What you see most likely won't be pleasant. But as you get better at confronting these things and remaining lucid and understanding the meaning of the imagery through forming a dream dialogue you'll realize that they are repressed thoughts, desires, feelings and urges. Old memories in the past. Harsh times where you didn't allow yourself to process what was going on around you. For people who are victims or abuse, emotional, physical, sexual, believe me this won't be easy. Yet if done completely you'll realize things about yourself that you never considered, or allowed yourself to consider. This is part of the healing process to reclaim your own mind. And as any practioner of the occult will tell you, control over your thoughts and emotions is a must for real magick as well as knowing who you really are and what you are made of. Do this and with lucid dreaming the sky will become the limmit. Once you can not only control, but understand and let go of the negative imagery you'll be able to explore your inner dream scape and mold it as you see fit unhindered. I chose to ignore this. I descided that dealing with troubles of my past, some worse than other, was something I could do at a later time. I soon found out that where I went in my lucid dreams the shadows, the negative images that seemed to follow me in my dreams would hold me back. And if their meager pressance wouldn't hold me back they would full out confront me in the form of nightmares. Very vivid uncontrolable nightmares. In a lucid dreams these can become very real. For a while I thought I must have demons in my house. And I did. They were my demons that were never put in check. Only when I finally faced them did they go away, and even now they still come back, but by learning to confront, understand, control and let go I am better able to deal with these nightmares.

Once the negative stuff is delt with the next step is baby steps. Try to levitate, but don't fly away. Try to run, but don't let your view become blured. Try to read but don't go page by page. Talk but don't become wrapped up in conversation. Create doors and portals but make sure can make them and hold them in your mind before you enter. The more practice you get the better you'll become and the more you'll be able to do and maintain a lucid state. Eventually you'll come to a point where all you must do is meditate and let your mind flow into lucidity. From here you'll even be able to meditate and perform spells, rites, evocations, invocations, astral projection and what ever else your imagination can concieve of.

But a certain degree of maintaince is required. Remember to keep your journal near you if possible. Remember to recall and record your dreams. Don't force anything, let it happen. Don't dwell on intentions or desires. Remember what you take with you is usually what you'll see. The reason why you must learn to let go of negativity. And with that also understand that negativity is not to be feared. That one can learn from and utilze these forces to their advantage. Also things in life will always stir negative thoughts and emotions. Remember to confront, understand, control and let go of these things and you should never have a problem with them.