Did you know that in ancient times, people would ask Spirit for dreams for clarity to help them heal or solve problems?

In ancient Egypt and Greece, they had special places called Sleep Temples (also known as Dream Temples). These temples played an important role in the healing and spiritual well-being of people who visited them. When a person had an ailment or life problem, they would go on a retreat at one of these temples to receive healing therapies. Dream Therapy was one of the main tools used for their healing. Seekers and patients at the Sleep Temples spent time meditating on their predicament and then incubating a dream to find answers.

Dreams have always fascinated me. With the help of a weekly Astrology & Metaphysics magazine series that I used to collect, I developed a knack for interpreting them in my early teens. It’s little wonder that the first metaphysical course I ever did was one on Dream Interpretation.

‘Dreams are the mysterious language of the night. Each evening after the setting sun has beckoned the moon, a golden harvest is woven into our slumbering consciousness.’ ~ Denise Linn

Over a year ago, I had a dream that I was standing on the grass amongst building ruins. In front of me was a table with one of those old fashion scales that they used to weigh goods at markets in the old days. I placed two stones on the scale, one on either side. The scale tipped over to the right hand side. Then I heard a disembodied voice that sounded very much like my guide say: “There is an imbalance on your mother side.”

Upon waking, I recorded the dream and took it as a reflection of my living in an unbalanced state, since my masculine energies were dominating my feminine side. A few days later I started sessions with a healer, who reinforced this message. She helped me to work on healing my sacral chakra and to integrate my feminine energies more. If that was not enough, a few weeks later I discovered that I had PCOS, with abnormally high testosterone levels. It felt as though this condition was the physical manifestation of a prolonged metaphysical imbalance (I wrote about healing this imbalance in the Feb issue of Wild Sister Magazine).

Needless to say, last year was all about coming home to my Spirit and reconnecting with the Divine feminine within and around me. Mother Nature and the Goddess came to be the constant healing and guiding allies in my life. It was and still is a period of undoing the effects of years of masculine dominated living and stress, learning to find a new form of balance and different ways of living. My lessons in the last year have been about connecting more deeply with the wild, instinctual, sensual, intuitive creative flow of energy within me.

It still amazes me that this journey began with an insight that I received during a dream. It reminds me of just how significant a role dreams can play in our lives when we pay attention to them.

Tips to Help You Incubate Dreams

1. Bedtime Routine: Create a bedtime routine that fosters dream incubation. Wind down or meditate for a few minutes before going the bed. One awesome technique that really works for me is as follows: Close your eyes. Place your hands over your eyes and then send Reiki (or healing white light) into your eyes. Visualise the light flowing from your hands through your eyes all the way to the back of your head. Then focus on the third eye (the space between your eyes) and notice if see any images or colours. Practising this as you fall asleep has a powerful effect on your ability to navigate the dream world and recall dreams.
2. Set Your Intentions: Our thoughts and intentions attract our reality. When you get into bed, set the intention to receive messages and guidance through your dreams. Focus on the issue that you would like clarity on before sleeping. Doing so allows it to float to the surface of your consciousness.
3. Ask Your Angels and Spirit Guides for Help: Ask the Angels or your Spirit Guide to send your messages or soul lessons while you sleep. You can also call on a specific guide Dream Spirit Guide to assist you in working with dreams. Always pay attention to and follow through with the guidance that you receive.
4. Work with Crystals: Either meditate with crystals before going to be or place crystals at your bedside or under your pillow at night. Programming your crystals is a good way to enhance their effect. If you like, you could also try making a medicine back to keep on you during the day and then place under your pillow. Lapis lazuli, sugilite, moonstone and jade are great crystals to work with for dream therapy.
5. Keep a dream journal: Note down the guidance and directions that your guides give you. This way you can refer back to their directions when you need to. It is very important to record your dreams as soon as you wake up with as much detail as possible while it’s still fresh in your mind. Write down the images, symbols, colours and emotions that your recall. Pay attention to your intuitive feelings around the meanings of your dreams, as your Spirit is often spot on about what they mean. Do this as often as possible.
6. Do an Oracle Card Reading: When you wake up in the morning, draw a few oracle cards for clarity. This is a great way to invite guidance from your guides, angels and Divine Spirit in order to help you to better understand the messages in your dreams. Doreen and Melissa Virtue’s Angel Dreams oracle cards is a wonderful deck to work with for this purpose.