Rea E. Tarnava, M.A. June 15, 2022
ABSTRACT
We spend nearly one third of our lifetime sleeping. Of that, it has been estimated that we dream for approximately two hours per night. During the dream state, our bodies rest and repair, and our minds are busy actively problem-solving, working through fears, seeking guidance, or receiving information. For those individuals who master control over their thoughts when consciously awake, their dreamlife on the astral plane can provide vivid information, and even lucid interaction.
The astral plane has often been associated with dreams and dreaming, and each night as we sleep, the astral body transcends the physical world, having experiences. Each of us possesses an astral body, that is composed of matter constructed from similar, yet finer matter than the physical (Powell, 1927). The astral is the world of sensations, emotions, and desires, with the astral body as the vehicle through which dreams take place, and are remembered (Powell, 1927).
This paper explores personal dreams that involve dream incubation, past lives, precognition, and information retrieval, as related to the astral plane.
Keywords: Astral, dreams, past lives, precognition, dream interpretation, astral travel.
INTRODUCTION
Dreaming is something every human being has in common. A dream is defined simply as a succession of images, emotions, ideas, and sensations that occur spontaneously in the mind during certain stages of sleep (The American Heritage Dictionary, 2000). We spend nearly one third of our lives sleeping, and approximately two hours each night in dreaming (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 2007).
Dreams have been the fascination of researchers for centuries. Whether mystics, scientists, religious groups, or doctors, people have different beliefs around the meaning found in dreams. A perspective on dreams that attracts further examination, is that of the Theosophists, who believe dreaming is a result of the astral body acting as a conduit between the physical body, and a higher level of consciousness.
Theosophy, an esoteric movement established late in the 19th century in the United States, was founded by notable Russian psychic, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, and others, where the ‘essential truth’ that underlies religion, philosophy and science is embraced (Santucci, 2008). Teachings in Theosophy have come from Blavatsky’s writings, and other authors of mainly esoteric literature including Powell, Crosbie, and Leadbeater, while drawing additionally from Buddhism and Hinduism (Bevir, 1994).
This paper explores dreams that involve dream incubation, past lives, precognition, and information retrieval as related to the astral plane. The phenomenological approach found within this research relies solely on personal experience; thus, several accounted dreams are presented and reviewed.
LITERATURE REVIEW
BACKGROUND
Everyone on Earth, upon going to sleep, has dreams. There is a part of us, “an ego, a thinker, a perceiver, a knower, an experiencer, who enters the dream state, and re-emerges there from, and the Ego, the real man, retains his integrity throughout” (Crosbie, 1920, p. 1). We are the dreamer, and the dream, for the two are inseparable.
The dream state is entered right as our body begins to let go, prior to passing into dreamless sleep, and as we awaken, a transitional state is experienced before returning to the waking state in the body (Crosbie, 1920). For those who remember their dreams, experiences emulate our waking life where we use our senses, feelings, and awareness, but in a heightened state while dreaming. In this non-physical dreamtime, where our physical sense organs are not active, we are still “conscious, alive, and existent, although the body knows nothing” (Crosbie, 1920, p. 1). A further perception experienced is the concept of time, which in the dream state can be experienced as quite long, even though only a few moments may have passed (Crosbie, 1920).
Dreams are well explained from a Theosophical viewpoint. One notable Theosophist, Arthur E. Powell, began publishing books in the early 1900’s. Powell studied the major esoteric works of Helena Blavatsky, Charles Webster Leadbeater, and Annie Besant, among others. In 1927, Powell published The Astral Body and Other Astral Phenomena, which included information from nearly forty Theosophical texts relating to the astral body, the astral plane, and related phenomena, revealing that the non-physical world is indeed more real and vivid than our waking lives.
Theosophists see the physical body as having several subtle bodies, including the etheric double, astral body, mental body, and causal body (Powell, 1927). The astral body of man, which is the focus of this paper, is considered by many philosophers to be composed of a finer, higher subtle material, where “feelings, passions, desires, and emotions are expressed”, and is the intermediary between that of the physical brain and the mind (Powell, 1927, p. 1). Extending out beyond the boundary of the physical body, the astral body creates an aura which clairvoyants see as a cloud of continuously moving colors (Blavatsky, 1945).
As it relates to dreams, it is common for one to be functioning in the astral body while sleeping, and then return to the physical body without any recollection of activity that took place in the astral (Powell, 1927). It is therefore very important for those who want to engage with the astral through dreaming, to develop the etheric bridge between the physical body, and the astral body (Powell, 1927).
“It was said that the day-time of the body is the night-time of the soul, and the night-time of the body is the day-time of the soul. When the body sleeps, the real man is most active, with the greatest degree of intelligence, but thinking and acting on another plane altogether, in a different state altogether, from any known to us in ordinary waking human existence” (Crosbie, 1920).
DREAM INCUBATION
Through dreams, it is possible to “receive insights, ideas and information, receive prophetic and precognitive information, experience past life events, and receive personal and transpersonal guidance” (Burgess, 2016). We can use our dreams to problem solve, receive clarity, or gain inspiration for example, through a process called ‘dream incubation’; a thought technique that targets a specific dream topic to occur (Burgess, 2016). One would begin dream incubation by formulating a specific question or topic, which would be written down, and then held in the mind while falling asleep (Burgess, 2016).
I frequently use dream incubation for receiving ideas. As an entrepreneur, I have had many businesses throughout my life. Each time I have started a new company, the vision came to me in dreamtime, after I seeded my dream with a request for inspiration, and guidance.
My second business was a Western themed store, which carried apparel, artwork, food items, and jewelry. From a dream, I received the complete design for the store including the fixtures, cash desk design, and décor. Additionally, I could see the logo for the business, the type of clients we would attract, and the location we would ultimately lease.
Dream incubation is a way of connecting directly with the astral body and exploring the levels of the astral plane. As an individual becomes more and more accomplished at dream incubation, they will be able to remember more of their dreams, eventually achieving vivid dream recollection, followed by lucid dreaming.
There are important differences between vivid, and lucid dreaming. Vivid dreams are intense dreams that linger in your mind and feel similar to real-life memories (Walker, 2022a), where lucid dreams occurs when a dreamer is conscious of their current dream state, with some able to control their actions and change the environment (Walker, 2022b).
According to Powell, for those who are highly developed, an etheric bridge is constructed between the astral and physical worlds, with a “continuity of consciousness between the astral and physical lives”, meaning one no longer only remembers their daytime, but achieves an unbroken level of consciousness spanning day and night (Powell, 1927, p. 95).
When I awaken from these vivid incubated dreams, I make detailed notes, including drawings of any images that were seen. Dream incubation provides guidance, wisdom, and direction in my life, and in trusting these dreams, they have always led to successes in the physical world.
PAST LIFE DREAMS
Past life memories can appear in the dreams of both adults and children (Matlock, 2019). Occasionally, past life dreams may communicate enough information for a previous life to be identified (Matlock, 2019). For those individuals who are fairly experienced in the astral plane, the astral body can travel substantial distances from its physical body, retrieving impressions of places visited, people encountered, smells, sounds, and even past or future timelines (Powell, 1927).
Researchers refer to cohesive memories of events in dreams as ‘episodic memories’ (Matlock, 2019). Past life dreams often include autobiographical memories, with one study concluding that dreams frequently contain memories with some level of episodic richness, which suggests memories of personal experiences do appear in dreams (Malinowski & Horton, 2014). Additionally, the occurrence of episodic memories, relating to past life dreams, has been found to be especially high in those with PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder (Matlock, 2019). Knowing that past life experiences can appear in dreams, and at times in great detail, there can be sufficient information for the memories to be verified, and a previous life identified (Matlock, 2019).
I was diagnosed with PTSD twenty-one years ago. Throughout my life, I have experienced vivid dreams of past lives, including a twenty-nine-year reoccurring dream of a traumatic past life death. It appears that PTSD may have been a component in my own development that allowed for the facilitation of vivid, and lucid dreaming.
Recently, I had a vivid dream of a life that had occurred in the mid twentieth century. I was a man of middle age, employed in aircraft design. I worked in an office, where other engineers and designers all had their desks together in one large room. Based on the architecture and fashions in the dream, I estimate the timeline to be mid to late forties, and it intuitively felt like post World War II.
I was working on a project to remedy the issue of static shock via conductive rivets in small fighter planes, which would transfer the electrical charge of static built up on the wings to the pilot, if he were to come in contact with steel in the cockpit, as well as electrical and mechanical failure from lightening strikes. The drawings I was working on could be clearly seen, in great detail. My design included a wicking system that was to be installed on the trailing edge of the wing, in order to dissipate the static built up on the leading edge, and would also expel the charge from a lightning strike. I could feel the busy atmosphere of the other workers in the office, as well as being aware of my own feelings of both pressures to complete the project, as well as excitement in finding the solution. I recall working closely with a woman in the office on this project, who sat at a workstation directly behind me. She had shoulder length brown hair and was a bit younger than me in age.
Upon waking, I spent some time journaling the experience, recounting as many details as I could. There were more than enough specifics to investigate the information from this past life dream on the internet, and the following figures contain the evidence that was retrieved.
Figure 1: US Patent 2631189A. George W. Houk & MR. Sullivan
Figure 2: Sketch done morning after past life dream, showing static discharge wicks on trailing edge of wing.
Figure 3: George Houk, Census Record from Ancestry.com
In examining figures 1 and 2, there is clearly a resemblance between the recalled image, and that of the patent which was received in 1950 for the static discharge wick.
Figure 3 is a census record for George Hauk from 1940, showing his age to be 40 years at the time of the census, which would be consistent with the dream account of ‘middle age’.
Figure 4 – Grave location of Mary A. Sullivan, co-inventor of the static discharge wick.
Figure 4 is an image of a grave record for Mary A. Sullivan, co-inventor of the static discharge wick, and office workmate of George Houk employed at Dayton Aircraft. This confirms the accounted recall of having a female colleague working on the same project.
Due to being highly impressionable by events involving emotion or desire, the astral body can convey impressions of places, people, or times visited (Powell, 1927). Past life dreams of adults less often involve nightmares, like those of children, and frequently are about a specific life (Matlock, 2019). In a review of 19 dream accounts, Frederic Lenz noted that past life dreams were often accompanied by sensations, such as smells or distinct feelings, which did not appear in regular dreams, and that after waking from the dream, the experiencer felt forever changed (Lenz, 1979).
I concur with Lenz, as I too feel that the experience of being a post war aircraft designer, has forever changed me, through the intense connection I experienced in the dream state to my work, my co-worker, and the office environment. Additionally, I have been an architect and inventor in this lifetime, holding two patents, which suggests that skills may transfer from lifetime to lifetime.
Based on the corroborating evidence which verifies information received in the dream, it is difficult to refute that connecting to a past life memory can occur through non-physical travel of the astral body, while the physical body sleeps.
PRECOGNITIVE DREAMS
Dreams that appear to include knowledge of future events, which cannot be derived from available information are known as precognitive dreams (Schredl, 2009). Findings of a study of precognition in 2009 concluded that 60% of participants experienced precognitive dreams, where personality variables such as creativity, dream recall, attitude towards dreaming, and psychopathology were directly related to the frequency (Schredl, 2009).
Examining the role of time and space, is another way that we may gain an understanding of precognition. In 1908, Hermann Minkowski presented a paper consolidating the role of time as the fourth dimension of spacetime (Minkowski, 1909). In considering the concept of four dimensions, through examining related geometry and mathematics, one discovers that many characteristics of the astral plane are in alignment (Powell, 1927). C. W. Leadbeater, stated “that the study of the fourth dimension is the best method he knew to obtain a conception of the conditions which prevail on the astral plane” (Powell, 1927, p. 163). While time is not in reality the fourth dimension, considering the relationship of time in the astral along with an understanding of the fourth dimension related to how one perceives time while in the astral, may offer a better explanation for the ability to experience precognitive dreams.
Throughout my life, I have had precognitive dreams about death. My experiences are not isolated only to people I know, but also extend to others that I do not know personally, yet have felt a connection to. For example, I dreamed that the actor/comedian, John Candy, was going to die, and within one week, he passed from a heart attack. He was my favorite funny guy, and thus I had an energetic connection to him.
Whenever I have precognitive dreams about death, the individual who is about to pass, appears dressed in fresh pressed pajamas, and they show me details of their illness. Often words are not spoken, but rather the information comes telepathically, and through motioning.
One such dream I can vividly recall, is a friend’s mother, Dianne. I had not spoken to Dianne’s daughter, my childhood friend, in several years. One night, Dianne came to me in a dream, and she was dressed in white pajamas with little blue flowers, sitting in a wheelchair, with her head hung forward, and shoulders rolled inwards. As I approached her, she lifted her head slightly to look at me, and motioned with her right hand indicating where the cancer had spread into the bones of her back. Ten days later, she passed. My mother attended the same church as Dianne and her husband, and the funeral announcement was made during Sunday Mass. I decided to attend the funeral, and reconnected with her daughter, who provided details of her cancer, and it was exactly as Dianne had shown me in my dream.
Precognitive dreams may well exist outside of our regular understanding of space and time, giving us a glimpse of what is to come, and form part of our intuitive senses that are experienced in the astral plane.
INFORMATION RETRIEVAL
Mental development directly affects the quality of our dreams (Powell, 1927).
“Every impulse sent by the mind to the physical brain has to pass through the astral body, and as astral matter is far more responsive to thought-vibrations than is physical matter, it follows that the effects produced on the astral body are correspondingly greater” (Powell, 1927, p. 95).
In learning to control one’s thoughts, through development of concentration or meditation for example, life on the astral plane may be brought into the physical brain, causing dreams to become “vivid, well-sustained, rational, and even instructive” (Powell, 1927, p. 95).
The organization of information received from the sense organs is one of the most automatic, and continual operations of the brain (Robinson, 1893). When the process of synthesizing this information in the waking life is advanced, and the mind and brain have been taught to focus, the information received in dreams also becomes advanced (Robinson, 1893).
We are told by Theosophists Leadbeater, and Powell, that senses are experienced non-physically by the astral body when dreaming, and that for the individual that has achieved a higher mental clarity, the senses are heightened in dreams (Leadbeater, 1903; Powell, 1927). Advanced information received in dreams may be attributed to an understanding of the astral as a higher plane than the physical, and thus produces higher orders of information.
“We must consider the dream as an intangible phenomenon occurring in a tangible body” and in observing these connections, the role played by the body in information retrieval is found (Mancini, 2004, p. 3). The physical body is the bridge between the material and intangible, which is the astral world, providing insight into the mind of both the individual, and the collective (Mancini, 2004).
I have had countless vivid dreams, where I received information on topics that I have little, or no knowledge of. When my mother was very ill near the end of her life, doctors in hospital were perplexed as to the cause of her rapid decline. I was so desperate to save her, that each night when I came home from the hospital, and would finally be able to fall asleep, the heightened emotions of my fear of losing her would drive me into lucid dreams, where I would receive specific information on her medical condition.
There was one doctor at the hospital that I trusted enough to talk to about the downloads of information I was receiving, and it was so accurate, that she began to call me each morning to see what I had gotten from my dreams.
I could discuss my mother’s case with specialists at a high level, where many of them had asked me what my medical degree was in. At that time, I had a general level of understanding in medicine, having done an undergraduate degree in natural health sciences, but the detailed information I was obtaining would only have come from decades of direct experience as a doctor.
I recall my mother being completely amazed, and frequently asking how I could know so much about medicine. I believe it was my deep desire for her to get well again, that heightened my senses during the dream state, allowing the information to be accessed and received.
In the end, it was my mother’s chosen time to go, which taught me that there are moments when all the information in the world cannot change the Divine plan.
One of the most profound dreams I have had, where detailed knowledge was received in a dream, was when I received blueprints for anti-gravity air travel vehicle. It was a topic I again knew very little about, and when I awoke from that dream, I sat down in the middle of the night and sketched out the images I saw. After researching the topic for many weeks afterwards, watching videos and looking at drawings online, I found electrogravitics which uses magnets and electrification to achieve anti-gravity.
The design from my dream had large electrified magnetic bars, placed around the perimeter of the craft in all three planes, that were activated in a specific order, producing an anti-gravity field effect. It was self-propelled utilizing an electron collection system that was installed into the leading edge of the circular shaped craft, around the perimeter. Every celestial body in the universe is a giant magnet, all connected via magnetic quasars, and this craft was able to intelligently utilize these interconnected fields for space travel.
I have received countless pieces of information, from the past, present, and future in these information retrieval dreams. I believe, from my countless experiences, there exists a field of collective information, referred to as the Akashic records, the morphogenic field (Sheldrake, 1981) or simply ‘the field’ (McTaggart, 2002), where all knowledge exists, and may be accessed in various ways, such as through dreams.
CONCLUSION
Phenomenological review of dream phenomena provides insight into the various ways in which we can learn from our dreams. Whether it is directing our dreams using dream incubation, remembering a past life, accessing precognitive visions, or retrieving information that is unknown to the individual, the connection to the astral plane appears to be the key.
Where the ego is undeveloped, individuals have little or no memory of dreams, with many others only able to recall “a confused memory of nocturnal adventure” (Leadbeater, 1903). In order to acquire the information that the ego learns in the dream state, it is imperative to gain control over one’s thoughts, attuning the mind to higher things (Leadbeater, 1903). It is only then that the adventures experienced in the astral, can be remembered to the benefit of the individual.
When we expand our awareness of the subtle world, we begin to understand that only part of what we know is acquired in the physical realm. Our physical senses are designed to connect with information in the physical world, thus it is reasonable to believe that higher senses retrieve information in higher realms.
“Different realms of nature are not separated in space, but rather exist about us here and now” and we perceive them with our inner senses (Powell, 1927, p. 6). The concept of time is limited by our physical senses that operate in three dimensions. The accepted understanding is that time has a beginning, a middle, and an end, but through experiencing the astral world while we sleep, a new paradigm is revealed, where information comes to us in various new ways.
There are convincing similarities between present and past life memories when awake, therefore it is reasonable to believe that just as current life experiences make their way into our dreams, it is equally as probable that past life memories will surface as well (Matlock, 2019).
I will conclude with a quote from a reformed Catholic priest, which well sums up the connection between the dreamer, and the dream:
“Life is a dream that the Ego is having; and the Ego is a dream the Soul is having; and the Soul is a dream that the Spirit is having; and the Spirit is a dream that Source is having. So, we live within nested dreams, and it is God dreaming this.”
Father Sean OLaoire, 2022
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