Class VI: Perchance to Dream
Sleep is actually a Ceremony, a remarkable essential Ceremony in which we participate over and
over again, for our entire lives, along with all other sentient beings. As a matter of fact, the Universe
itself participates in this Ceremony of restful ‘letting go,’ gently creating the appropriate backdrop
for our Sleep by turning down the earth’s lights and turning on the Heaven’s Nightlights, quieting
the daily noises and most of the Earth’s creatures, and often seeming to still even the very air and
waters around us. Many native peoples still believe that the Dream World to which we travel when
we sleep and regenerate ourselves, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, may well be a truer
‘reality’ than the everyday world in which we generally function. —Hel- Introduction: Dreaming
RE DREAMS REALLY IMPORTANT, TELL-
ing you things that could be to
your advantage, or are they sim-
ply “late-night movies” to enter-
tain your unconscious mind while
your conscious rests? You aver-
age seven dream periods each of
up to 45 minutes duration—every
night of your life. Dreaming is vital to the state of your
well being. People who have their dream periods inter-
rupted over extended periods develop emotional
stress. Dreams are complex, well-orchestrated and
imaginative productions arising from our unconscious,
or “super-conscious” mind. When you consider this
source, the importance of dreams becomes clear. For
many people, the dream state is the only medium avail-
able for the higher (or deeper) mind to communicate
with the conscious mind. The least you can do is try
and understand with the message is!All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream
by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake
in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dream-
ers of the day are dangerous men, for they may
act their dream with open eyes, to make it pos-
sible. —T. E. LawrenceThose who dream by day are cognizant of many
things which escape those who dream only by
night. —Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)Lesson 2. The Gates of Horn
and IvoryIt is said that dreams may come in through either of
two gates—the Gate of Horn or the Gate of Ivory.
Dreams that come through the Gate of Ivory—which
is most dreams—are about your own internal matters.
Mostly, these are the ways your mind sorts out, pro-
cesses, and files the ongoing events, experiences, and
thoughts of your life. There are numerous fascinatinglittle “dream dictionaries” available that list various
symbols encountered in dreams—along with interpre-
tations of their meanings. I will give you a few ex-
amples below, but interpretations of dream imagery
and symbolism will vary from person to person, and
are not always universal. And while the images and
occurrences in such dreams may be of deep personal
significance to you, it is important to understand that
they are about you, and not about others.
Dreams that come through the Gate of Horn, on
the other hand, are “True Dreaming.” These tend to
fall into two categories: Dreams that are remembrances
of past things forgotten, and dreams that are
foretellings of things to come. Things forgotten that
may be remembered in dreams include events and ex-
periences from your past lives, your infancy, and your
childhood—all that happened to you before you ac-
quired speech in your current incarnation. Or if you
have been unconscious—as in an accident, surgery,
or UFO abduction—memories of what happened dur-
ing that period may come through in dreams.
Dreams of things to come can be important vi-
sions that foretell positive things in your life—such
as meeting your True Love, or achieving some great
accomplishment. Or they can be warnings of some
terrible disaster to be avoided. Many people have can-
celled their travel reservations on the basis of such
dreams of dire foreboding, and have thus avoided the
crashing of trains, planes, and automobiles, or the sink-
ing of ships. Such catastrophes where many people
die tend to create such a “disturbance in the Force”
that the ripples, like those of a stone tossed into a
pool, flow backwards in time as well as forwards, and
perturb the Dreaming Itself.
Keep a special dream diary beside your bed, and
first thing upon awakening write down as much as
you can remember of your dreams—especially the
vivid ones. Note also the date and any special emo-
tional “impressions” you may feel. Over time, as you
re-read these entries, and note which dreams may have
come true, you will learn to recognize and distinguish
between the Gates of Horn and Ivory.
If you have difficulty remembering your dreams,
try this simple exercise: Take a piece of sticky-back
blank label paper, and write on it in bold permanentCorrected pages 3rd printing.1.p65 18 6/10/2004, 2:59 PM