OUR DREAM STATE is affected by everything around us whether we know it or not. What our day has been about, what the planets transiting our birth chart are about, the mass consciousness and their energy, all of it. Because of this, it is important to clear our energies before we fall asleep by anchoring light, doing mantras and prayers and also setting intent for the sleep and rest we want to achieve.

Since we are the creators of our own life, we have the ability to set ourselves up to have dreams that are teaching and sharing information with us. Because dreams come from the subconscious mind we are also able to tap information from the unconscious and conscious mind as well.

I believe nighttime and morning prayers were invented to help people have a centered space within themselves all day and night long. How and who we pray to are as important as what we are praying for. Praying in a sense is setting intent or a desire for a particular outcome.

When we do Aum's before going to sleep we are in fact chanting a harmonic chord and creating sacred space. This helps us align to spirit and create the protection we need from the minds and the emotions of others surrounding us. I call this clearing my energy.

By using prayer and invocations we can also clear our space and align ourselves to the spirit essence that we are.

I call forth the power of light that I am. I call forth the Angels Lord Michael, Lord Raphael, Lord Gabriel and Lord Uriel. I call forth my teachers and Guides, all those that assist guide guard and protect and ask that they align their energies within me and assist me in my dream state tonight.

Perhaps you do not believe in the angels or spirit guides, perhaps you would rather call forth the Light of the Divine Mother, Jesus, or Father God: what matters is not who you believe in but that you believe. The ever present energy of light and love is what you want to surround yourself with inside and out.

Just visualizing you in an area of colors and extending yourself as a beam of light can help.

Dreams are a reflection of so many things about yourself that you want them to keep you informed and enlightened.

We often go through fazes of dreaming. Sometimes our dreams will be a jumbled and confused, while other times they will be pristine and clear delivering a beautiful message to us. Since our dream state is the one area of our life that we cannot order, we must use it to learn about life and self instead. When we are asleep we have finally surrendered to a state that we do not need to be in charge of. People can become insomniacs simply due to the stressful thinking they cannot seem to relax from come bedtime.

Dreaming and sleeping should be a respite from our daily life. We can finally relax our bodies and our minds and just allow this restful state to recharge us. Sometimes we feel just as tired when we awake as we did when we went to sleep. This means that we are not getting enough rest.

Going to sleep with too many thoughts, problems and stress causes us to act out in our sleep rather than rest. These are our fears about the future, and though they may be valid, without the proper sleep and dream time we simply exacerbate such fears.

When we sleep deeply and relaxed we awaken to find we have a new energy and perspective with which to tackle the day.

We can, before falling asleep, ask our unconscious mind to help us in our dream state. We can ask it to reveal its name and purpose to us, as well as show us what we need to learn about consciousness. We can learn to help ourselves reach a trance state or the "in between" state right before falling asleep and awakening. This is a place where we are at peace and can allow ourselves to see into different dimensional frequencies.

In meditation this is the state we want to achieve. It is sometimes likened to day dreaming. When in this "in between" place we experience a loss of time and space that can produce a feeling of being weightless. Here we are at peace and have moved beyond the conscious mind. This presents feelings and knowingness that all just "Is", and there are really no concerns.

Dreams are a fantastic tool to stay apprised of yourself and the Earth. So much symbology will come in earthly things. For instance tress and flowers surrounding you in a dream can make you feel like you are connected to your surroundings in a pleasant way. You tending to these things in your dream may show you that you have planted beautiful things in your life that you love tending to.

People almost always want to know about their premonitory dreams. Often they say they dream of a family member getting ill or dying and a short time later it occurs. This is definitely astral dreaming. Here they are experiencing the past, present and future all at the same time. Premonitory dreams do not always have to bring bad news, they call also herald the new, like the birth of a new baby or someone moving forward in life. We all have premonitory dreams from time to time and they are simply part of what we more easily remember.

I often have dreams that are just filled with many, many people I do not know. Sometimes it feels as if others and I are traveling together while visiting a place. The places are usually unfamiliar to me in the physical yet known about by me from reading about them. I often find myself in France.

I also have flying dreams. I love it when I can fly in a dream and I feel so free, other times I am in the dream just staying ahead of others that I do not wish to encounter. All of these things can be interpreted in different ways depending on what is going on in my everyday life.

Mystical dreams are always vibrant in color and you always feel like you are there for a very sacred purpose. Mystical dreams allow us to advance consciously and as well as unconsciously. Usually if other beings are in these dreams they are archetypes or angels and spirit teachers there assisting us. Luminescent colors are not unusual in such dreams.

If your dreams are dark and reoccurring you need to address your inner fears and confront them to heal. Our dreams are there to help us work though many levels of ourselves. Fears must be removed to reach brighter more poignant states of dreaming.

Just as we have dreams in our life we want to manifest, we also should work to manifest brighter more healing dreams while asleep. Dreaming is an awesome gift that we can each make use of in daily life and also use to advance us spiritually.

Like all things attained in life we must focus our attention on them and work with them continuously if we want results. Dreaming is free and it is yours. May you be open to experiencing all they have to share with you.

© Athene Raefiel, 2008

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Athene Raefiel is a teacher of Mysticism and Enlightenment. She has been helping people find direction on their spiritual path since 1985. She is the Author of a book called, Getting to the Heart, A Journey of Soul Transformation and Spiritual Enlightenment. She is a channel for the Hierarchy of Light and is attended by Archangels Raphael, Michael, Gabriel and Uriel, and has taught many people to connect and work with their Spirit Guides and Angels. She also does one-on-one spiritual readings and channelings. Visit her web site at http://www.AtheneRaefiel.com.