Hi, I'd recommend reading the book, Liminal Dreaming: Exploring Consciousness at the Edges of Sleep by Jennifer Dumpert. It's a thorough examination of the various stages of sleep with an emphasis on hypnagogia and hypnopompia, which occur before and after deep sleep, where one can dream/ envision quickly. I've always been able to limina…
Hi, I'd recommend reading the book, Liminal Dreaming: Exploring Consciousness at the Edges of Sleep by Jennifer Dumpert. It's a thorough examination of the various stages of sleep with an emphasis on hypnagogia and hypnopompia, which occur before and after deep sleep, where one can dream/ envision quickly. I've always been able to liminal dream but it's hard to remember... like snowflakes melting on contact. It becomes easier with practice. Her website is here: https://www.liminaldreaming.com/
Hi Maura, thank you for this recommendation. I'd never heard of the term liminal dreaming, it's nice to have a word for it. I will look more into this!
Thanks for this rec Maura. I’m 100 going to read this. I’m already kinda fascinated with this state of dreaming, in the way it oozes into the subconscious but also the way time gets scrambled in it. Excited.
I have begun to focus on dream work in the last two years or so. I've found that I can sometimes experience a kind of agency, not really lucid, but as if I'm more fully integrated into the dream's narrative. I call it "integrated dreaming" for that reason. I'm feeling it more, so to speak. Is this what is meant by liminal dreaming or is it just defined that way because it takes place while dozing off and waking up? Thanks in advance.
I haven't read the book yet, but based on the author's website, she specifically refers to liminal dreaming as the states between falling asleep and waking up.
"At the edges of consciousness, between waking and sleeping, there’s a swirling, free associative state of mind that is the domain of liminal dreams. As we sink into slumber, we pass through hypnagogia, the first of the two liminal dream states. In this transitional zone, memories, perceptions, and imaginings arise in a fast moving, hallucinatory, semi-conscious remix. On the other end of the night, as we wake, we experience hypnopompia, the hazy, pleasant, drift that is the other liminal dream state."
Thank you for pointing this out. I am experiencing liminal dreaming, I believe, but there is another element there. This strange kind of non-lucid lucidity. My journey continues! ;)
I think I've experienced something similar to what you mention. I've never become fully lucid in a dream, I imagine when that happens, you have more ability to shift and control the entire dreamscape?
Anyways, I've had moments of lucidity, a sense of agency. It's happened before and I've turned back time in a dream. Another time, I confronted a figure (explored in this post: https://alyssapolizzi.substack.com/p/pursuit-and-chase-dreams). It's always just been moments though, a certain action, etc.
I once was able to "materialize" (really stretching that word in this context!) a getaway car in a dream by chanting a spell I had written for specifically creating dream objects. I've banished a deity with a prayer I had written and done battle with some horrible ghosts. The ghosts were less impressed with my efforts, in one instance laughing at me, poking me, and licking my face to let me know I was wasting my time.
An oneiromancer I met on Reddit explained to me that "integrated" dreaming is where it's at. Lucidity breaks the narrative of the dream whereas integration allows you to more fully experience that narrative. This is something I have only been able to do a few times, to be clear.
Such a strange experience to have dream figures mess with you, it really does affirm to me that their are powerful, autonomous forces within the psyche.
Great point on lucid dreaming. Having a high degree of conscious awareness means we fall into the typical traps of how we think things should be, rather than being curious and open to what the psyche wants to show us, we attempt to bend it to our will.
Hi, I'd recommend reading the book, Liminal Dreaming: Exploring Consciousness at the Edges of Sleep by Jennifer Dumpert. It's a thorough examination of the various stages of sleep with an emphasis on hypnagogia and hypnopompia, which occur before and after deep sleep, where one can dream/ envision quickly. I've always been able to liminal dream but it's hard to remember... like snowflakes melting on contact. It becomes easier with practice. Her website is here: https://www.liminaldreaming.com/
Hi Maura, thank you for this recommendation. I'd never heard of the term liminal dreaming, it's nice to have a word for it. I will look more into this!
You're very welcome!
Thanks for the reference, that's a book I'd like to read.
Thanks for this rec Maura. I’m 100 going to read this. I’m already kinda fascinated with this state of dreaming, in the way it oozes into the subconscious but also the way time gets scrambled in it. Excited.
I have begun to focus on dream work in the last two years or so. I've found that I can sometimes experience a kind of agency, not really lucid, but as if I'm more fully integrated into the dream's narrative. I call it "integrated dreaming" for that reason. I'm feeling it more, so to speak. Is this what is meant by liminal dreaming or is it just defined that way because it takes place while dozing off and waking up? Thanks in advance.
I haven't read the book yet, but based on the author's website, she specifically refers to liminal dreaming as the states between falling asleep and waking up.
"At the edges of consciousness, between waking and sleeping, there’s a swirling, free associative state of mind that is the domain of liminal dreams. As we sink into slumber, we pass through hypnagogia, the first of the two liminal dream states. In this transitional zone, memories, perceptions, and imaginings arise in a fast moving, hallucinatory, semi-conscious remix. On the other end of the night, as we wake, we experience hypnopompia, the hazy, pleasant, drift that is the other liminal dream state."
Thank you for pointing this out. I am experiencing liminal dreaming, I believe, but there is another element there. This strange kind of non-lucid lucidity. My journey continues! ;)
I think I've experienced something similar to what you mention. I've never become fully lucid in a dream, I imagine when that happens, you have more ability to shift and control the entire dreamscape?
Anyways, I've had moments of lucidity, a sense of agency. It's happened before and I've turned back time in a dream. Another time, I confronted a figure (explored in this post: https://alyssapolizzi.substack.com/p/pursuit-and-chase-dreams). It's always just been moments though, a certain action, etc.
I once was able to "materialize" (really stretching that word in this context!) a getaway car in a dream by chanting a spell I had written for specifically creating dream objects. I've banished a deity with a prayer I had written and done battle with some horrible ghosts. The ghosts were less impressed with my efforts, in one instance laughing at me, poking me, and licking my face to let me know I was wasting my time.
An oneiromancer I met on Reddit explained to me that "integrated" dreaming is where it's at. Lucidity breaks the narrative of the dream whereas integration allows you to more fully experience that narrative. This is something I have only been able to do a few times, to be clear.
Such a strange experience to have dream figures mess with you, it really does affirm to me that their are powerful, autonomous forces within the psyche.
Great point on lucid dreaming. Having a high degree of conscious awareness means we fall into the typical traps of how we think things should be, rather than being curious and open to what the psyche wants to show us, we attempt to bend it to our will.