Table Of ContentFirst published in 2015 by Conari Press, an imprint of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC
With offices at:
665 Third Street, Suite 400
San Francisco, CA 94107
www.redwheelweiser.com
Copyright © 2015 by Robert Waggoner and Caroline McCready All rights
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief
passages.
ISBN: 978-1-57324-641-5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request.
Cover design by Jim Warner Interior by Frame25 Productions Typeset in
Adobe Garamond Pro
Printed in Canada.
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Science and Paradox of Lucid Dreaming
Chapter 2: Preparing to Dream Lucidly
Chapter 3: Basic Induction Techniques
Chapter 4: Stabilizing Your Lucid Dreams
Chapter 5: The Power of Projection
Chapter 6: Dream Objects and Settings
Chapter 7: Interacting with Complex Dream Figures
Chapter 8: Intent and the Power of Surrender
Chapter 9: Responding Effectively in Your Dreams
Chapter 10: Exploring Inner Space
Chapter 11: Emotional Healing in Lucid Dreams
Chapter 12: Intending Physical Health
Chapter 13: Meditating in Lucid Dreams
Chapter 14: Living Lucidly
Endnotes
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We wish to acknowledge and thank the many lucid dreamers, researchers, and
others who provided helpful insights, lucid dreams, and editing for this book.
Their contributions have made this a much richer and deeper exploration of
lucid dreaming.
Although Cicero cautioned that “it is difficult to remember all and
ungracious to omit any,” we want to mention specifically the following lucid
dreamers for their assistance and support: Don Middendorf, Ph.D.; Ed Kellogg,
Ph.D.; Clare Johnson, Ph.D.; Lucy Gillis; Maria Isabel Pita; Beverly D'Urso,
Ph.D.; Charlie Morley; Ian Burke; Caz Coronel; Tereza Griffin; John D.
Cooper; Dr. Rory Mac Sweeney; Olga Richterova; Mary Ziemer; Joy Fatooh;
Kristin E. LaMarca, Ph.D.; Line Salvesen; Robert J. Hoss; Dr. Scott Sparrow;
David L. Kahn; Kelly Frappier; PasQuale Ourtane; Justina Lasley; Nigel
Hamilton, Ph.D.; Linda Mastrangelo; Melanie Schädlich; Jeffrey Peck, Mark
Hettmannczyk; Daniel Love; Jane Ahring; Rebecca Turner; Ryan Hurd; and
various unnamed others.
We also wish to thank the researchers who continue to explore and support
research efforts in lucid dreaming. The extraordinary efforts of pioneers like
Keith Hearne, Ph.D.; Alan Worsley; and Stephen LaBerge, Ph.D., have laid a
strong foundation for current researchers and assisted countless lucid dreamers.
Special thanks to artist and lucid dreamer Dustyn Lucas for allowing us to
include an image of his painting, The Mirage of Duality in the Sands of Time,
which he originally saw in a lucid dream. To see more of his work, visit his
website at www.dustynlucas.com. Also thanks to Justina Lasley for allowing us
to excerpt a dream interpretation technique from her book, Honoring the
Dream. We very much appreciate the use of written excerpts by Ed Kellogg and
author Maria Isabel Pita. The insights of Ed Kellogg on healing in lucid dreams
and the phenomenology of this state have given us a broader and wiser view.
Finally, we send our deep thanks to Don Middendorf and Jeffrey Peck for
reviewing and improving the final manuscript.
Sincere thanks to our many friends and colleagues who supported and
encouraged us in this process. In particular, Robert wishes to thank the
International Association for the Study of Dreams and its members, who
provide a welcoming and thoughtful place to explore the depths of dreaming
and the lucid dream experience. In addition, he thanks his family and his wife,
Wendy, for all of their support and encouragement.
Caroline wishes to thank all the people who come to her lucid dreaming
groups and workshops in London. She also thanks Charlie Morley, whose lucid
dreaming forums have been an ongoing source of encouragement and
inspiration, and Debbie Winterbourne for her insight and help in creating a
community of lucid dreamers in London. Caroline extends a very special thank
you for the endless support from her treasured family and beautiful friends,
especially her parents and brother, and Tereza, Zakia, Emma, Caz, and Hannah.
A portion of the authors' royalties from this book are being donated to
www.replanttrees.org.
PREFACE
In 1975, I taught myself how to lucid dream (or realize I was dreaming while in
the dream state) and have logged more than 1,000 lucid dreams since that time.
Because my first book, Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self, explores
the incredible experience and potential of lucid dreaming, many people have
asked for a simple how-to book on inducing, stabilizing, and working within
lucid dreams.
A few years ago in London, I met a talented artist, speaker, and lucid
dreamer named Caroline McCready, who agreed to join me in creating a
guidebook on lucid dreaming to assist others on this path. Having another set of
experiences and insights, like Caroline's, has done much to enhance the depth
and richness of this guide, particularly in chapters 1, 11, 12, and 13.
In this book, we have sought to provide the necessary tools for you to have
lucid dreams and investigate this extraordinary state firsthand. Here, along with
instructions distilled from many years of personal experience, you will find
valuable insights and techniques from our lucid dreaming colleagues and
friends.
Please focus on this guide carefully and do not rush through it, because,
when you realize you are dreaming and become lucidly aware, you will need to
recall and apply these tips and techniques.
Lucid dreaming exists as a mentally dynamic state and often reflects back to
us our beliefs, assumptions, feelings, and expectations. As you venture into
lucid dreaming more deeply, you will realize that the exploration encourages
you to examine certain beliefs and assumptions more critically. In fact, you may
come to experience another type of education through lucid dreaming—an
education in the nature of the mind and perceived experience that calls forth
insights capable of transforming yourself and your waking life.
As an introduction to lucid dreaming, this book does not address many
advanced topics, including cultural assumptions about the nature and meaning
of dreaming and lucid dreaming. In future books by us and others, we hope
these areas and assumptions will receive more attention and investigation.
Best wishes on your journey of awareness,
Robert Waggoner and Caroline McCready
Robert Waggoner and Caroline McCready
January 2014
INTRODUCTION
To understand lucid dreaming more clearly, it often helps to have others tell
their stories of how they were introduced to the idea of becoming consciously
aware of dreaming while in the dream state. Here in the Introduction, coauthor
Caroline McCready and I recount our own discovery of lucid dreaming's depth
and a bit about the lessons we learned.
Caroline's Experience
I can still remember my first lucid dream vividly. As the dream begins, I am in
a small room playing a game of pool with my cousin when I suddenly realized
that I was dreaming. As soon as I realized it was a dream, I felt astounded.
Knowing that I was actually inside a dream was mind-blowing. Everything felt
so real. When I ran my fingertips over the green felt on the table, it felt
realistically soft and fibrous. The pool balls felt so convincingly solid and
smooth. They made very real clinking sounds as they hit one another. I
remember stopping and becoming very still, just wanting to take it all in, in
complete wonder. Then I woke up.
I started to glimpse the potential of lucid dreaming when I became lucid for a
second time. In this next dream, I found myself playing by a swing in a very
accurate replica of my real garden. Something triggered my lucidity and led me
to an exciting lucid dream. In waking life, I had recently watched the first
Superman film with Christopher Reeve. In my dream, I suddenly recalled the
scene in which he takes Lois Lane flying. Lucidly aware, I thought to myself
that that would be amazing! No sooner had I thought this than a dream version
of Superman, in his blue-and-red caped suit, came swooping in and flew me up
above my garden. I remember looking down as my swing became smaller and
smaller and my garden became increasingly distant. It felt so exhilarating!
In the many lucid flying dreams to follow, I subsequently discovered I didn't
need Superman to fly me around at all, since I could soar like a bird solo. I
regularly flew over valleys, rivers, and mountains. My favorite place to fly
became Lake Louise in Canada, where my family used to visit whenever we
went to see my Canadian father's family in Alberta. I loved Canada, and it felt
amazing to be able to visit realistic dream replicas of places there, let alone fly
over these magnificent landscapes. I always woke up feeling exhilarated, almost
able to feel where the wind had brushed my cheeks.
As I grew into a teenager, these experiences became less and less frequent;
and, as an adult, my lucid dreams became completely sporadic. I so desperately
wanted to fly again that, on the rare occasions when lucidity sparked within a
dream, I hurriedly and excitedly started to fly, but I almost always drifted out of
lucidity into a normal dream within mere moments. It was frustrating and,
eventually, my lucid adventures became fond, but distant, memories.
Many years later, I started having intensely vivid dreams. They were so vivid
that it was as if they were popping out of my head every morning, begging to be
written down. So I revisited my childhood practice of keeping a daily dream
journal and became interested in dream interpretation. Lucid dreaming re-
entered my awareness and I purchased two books about it—Robert's first book
and Stephen LaBerge's introduction to lucid dreaming. When younger, I had
completely spontaneous lucid dreams and had no idea that you could actually
prompt lucidity. Reading that I could purposefully induce lucid dreams thrilled
me. More important, I felt astonished by the scope and breadth of lucid dream
experiences. You can question dream characters, uncover hidden subconscious
limitations, fulfill all kinds of desires, and—most curious to me—explore the
nature of consciousness itself.
Returning to lucid dreaming was like rediscovering a lost love for me. But
now I could explore it in ways I had never imagined possible. I excitedly
devoured the books and started practicing all the techniques. I drew little
prompts on my hands to help me question my reality (a lucid dreaming
technique), repetitively performed reality checks, and thought about lucid
dreaming constantly. I absolutely immersed myself in it.
My first induced lucid dream came two weeks after I started practicing the
techniques. On this particular night, I slept restlessly. About four o'clock in the
morning, I felt unable to get back to sleep. I decided to get up and meditate,
hoping this would remedy my insomnia. It did help enormously, and I soon
drifted soundly back to sleep. I then found myself looking after two children in
a strange room. The interior of the room looked like the outside of a viewing
enclosure in a zoo. Rather than standing outside looking in, however, I saw that
we were the ones enclosed. When I tried to open the windows, I noticed there
was just a solid brick wall and no apparent means for escape. Being in a room
without doors or windows had been a common lucidity trigger for me when
younger, and again I realized that this was a dream. I told the kids to follow me
and I created an imaginary door in the brick that opened to bright sunshine. We
found ourselves in a beautiful country-side. I met a lovely, responsible-looking
dream character to look after the kids so that I could go and explore the dream.
