DREAM GROUP NOTES
These notes are from Prospero when he was considering his own
dream group and he has offered them to us.
We use them with thanks.
Purpose of the
group 
The group is proposed in order to bring about a general
awareness of, and ability to relate on, the level of reality sometimes known as
the Astral Plane or the Dreamtime.
This level has been explored by many occult groups but such
groups are notoriously subject to internecine strife and personal rivalry. There
is also the problem of belief systems which may be perceived outside such a
group as wrongheaded or immoral.
Scientific exploration of it is limited by the need for
funding and by the risk any scientist takes who is seen to be
"dabbling" with concepts outside the accepted paradigm.
Thus, the group aims to explore the potential for lucid and
mutual dreams in a way which unites rather than divides its membership, and
which is free of the need to present its results to a peer group with a vested
interest in rubbishing them.
Underlying assumptions:
This project is planned on the basis that lucid dreaming is
an innate ability possessed by every conscious being and that what prevents each
of us dreaming lucidly all the time is nothing more than culturally-induced
mental clutter. This seems to be a recognized fact in some supposedly primitive
cultures but has been forgotten by Western man to his detriment. Tibetan monks
seem to have devised their systems of "dream yoga" on this basis, with
apparent success.
It is also assumed that in dreams we are in an
"objective" reality. Perception of this reality maybe somewhat more
malleable and subject to individual symbol systems than waking perception. This
would be particularly true if the underlying reality is unknowable to the
conscious mind. However, differences are known to occur even between the waking
perceptions of trained observers viewing the same event.
If the above is true then it may well also be true that we
wander through each other's dreams all the time. Our lack of awareness of this
could be simply a reflection of our cultural unawareness of dreams in general.
What we find, or fail to find, often reflects what we expect to find.
Method:
STAGE I
Experienced lucid dreamers, working in pairs chosen by
location, arrange to meet in dreams at specific places. They compare notes in
waking life and establish the ability to meet at will with reasonable
reliability.
STAGE II
Each pair then adopts an "apprentice", a person
with little or no previous experience of lucid dreaming. This person makes what
preparation he/she can (keeping a dream journal, self-suggestion, meditation,
etc.) and the pair attempt to contact him/her. The method for doing this may be
chosen or invented as all three see fit; one of the tasks in the early stages
will be to discover methods which work. It may well be that different methods
work best for different personality types.
STAGE III
The apprentice works on his/her ability to dream lucidly,
aided by the adopters, until the ability is well established.
STAGE IV
Once the apprentice reaches a reasonable level of
proficiency, the trio is ready to adopt a new apprentice, with the added benefit
of increased numbers.
STAGE V
There may well be an optimal size for a group of this kind.
If this is the case, the original pair may leave the group to its own devices
once it reaches that size and form the core of a new group.
STAGE VI
(To run concurrently with Stages I to V)
Frequent and good communication must be maintained between
groups at all times. The price of failure in this regard is that a potential
forum for previously unheard-of levels of goodwill and constructive sharing
would instead become yet another arena for conflict. Rotating members between
groups may help to avoid potential problems.
STAGE VII
If Stages I to VI above are successfully completed it seems
likely that a significant shift will already be occurring in the consensus idea
of what is possible. At this stage there may well be no remaining need for a
formal group.
Motivation, cohesion and
resistance
The initial pairs will need to be pretty much
self-motivated. It should be remembered that in parapsychology experiments
boredom has been observed to cause rapid deterioration of results even in the
most promising subjects. As such, pairs should if possible choose each other on
similar criteria to those they would use to choose waking-life social contacts.
The Thoughtstorm process may be helpful in forming greater
cohesion between group members who work together. Such a technology may also be
useful in evaluating methods and results.
Resistance is likely to come from two sources:
1. According to accepted paradigms this sort of thing
"just doesn't happen". A major paradigm-shift will need to take place,
even among many people who readily accept the theoretical possibility of psi and
shared dream experiences. The step from "Maybe it happens for a few special
people" to "It can and does happen for me" is not a small one.
2. There may well be a fear of loss of individuality. People
who join a group of this kind are likely to be individualists. As such, requests
for "privacy breaks", whether for rest or for solitary exploration,
must be respected and fears addressed with whatever personal experience may be
available. An ethic should develop in which deliberate invasion of another's
dream is equivalent to invasion of another's privacy in the waking world.
On the subject of ethics, a formal code seems unlikely to be
necessary in the early stages. As the group expands, however, it may be useful
to draw up guidelines for new members based on the experience accrued. This
should be a matter for the attention of all members and should be dealt with in
a democratic manner.
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