Astral Travel vs Dream Work
Your conscious mind is the part that’s aware of what’s happening around you in the present time in the mundane world. The subconscious and unconscious mind, however, can only be accessed through alternative mind states. That is, astral travel and dreams. They’re both realms of archetypes and symbols rather than the life we experience with our conscious mind. So the conscious mind then has to decipher these archetypes and symbols. We all know that falling off a cliff or having teeth fall out in a dream is not what’s exactly going to happen in our waking life, it is merely a symbol of something more mundane that the conscious mind needs to figure out. So astral travel and dreams both work in very similar ways and we have to decode the messages offered to us in the same way, which is why they are often confused for each other.
And often, the astral scape and the dream scape are the same, look the same, feel the same - it’s a place to exist in the same realm as deities, familiars, spirits, etc. The main difference then is the level of control that we have within that realm.
Astral Projection
The act of separating the consciousness from the physical body and moving it about at will. – Scott Cunningham
That ‘at will’ part is really important. Traveling to the astral plane starts from a place of consciousness. It involves creating conditions around you to make you receptive to the mindset that’s necessary to travel the astral, things like music, lighting candles, creating a circle. Most witches travel the astral with a specific goal in mind, like asking a deity a specific question. There is more control because the witch consciously controls where they arrive in the astral scape, and often have a vision in their mind’s eye of where to begin. As the travel progresses, then you come across those archetypes and symbols created by your subconscious and unconscious mind that allow you to receive messages your conscious mind could not. Because of the input that your conscious mind has at the beginning of the trip, you can remember what you just did so you can write it down. Which means things seen and heard hold more significance.
Dream Work
The dream scape is similar in that it still gives you that mind’s eye view of subconscious and unconscious thought, but the way it’s accessed is different. When you fall asleep and dream, you’re not consciously creating that space in which you arrive to the dream scape, or the conditions of the trip. You’re not consciously setting a goal or arriving with the intention of asking questions to a spirit guide, your subconscious and unconscious are just manifesting worlds without your conscious input. This means that dreams can actually be more powerful in terms of what they reveal to you because it’s about what’s most important in that time (rather than what you asked about), but dreams are much much harder to remember. We only remember a tiny percentage of all the dreams we have, particularly if we don’t have a dedicated dream work practice. We also only remember small fragments of each dream, so even when we can write it down immediately upon waking, it’s still a long process to be able to fill in the gaps and really decipher the dream meaning. For this reason, emotional responses hold heavy significance in dream work as opposed to just what was seen and heard.
Why Use Them?
But why? Because consciousness is just the tip of the iceberg. Which means that there is just so much information that your mind is trying to communicate that can only be done through these means. And accessing this information can help you grow and evolve as a person, and give you insight on what to work on and where you’re struggling. Dreams in particular are often a reflection of that day’s events and alert us to things we’ve been ignoring or something we missed about what’s been happening lately.
Our conscious mind only has space for a limited amount and it’s pretty much all related to survival and immediate needs. By accessing the rest of the mind, you create space for the things that are necessary for your development as a spiritual being and not just the ‘keep the physical body alive’ part that concerns the consciousness. By paying attention to and deciphering the symbols you run across, you create a sort of road map of what’s going on in your psyche, what’s actually the most important, and where you need to go from here to transform.
How Do I Do It?
Let’s start with astral travel, because the actual definition of this is debated. Is it just your mind in a vivid liminal space? Can you actually project yourself and leave your body and location completely? No one can be sure. So decide what it means for you.
- Guided meditation
- Start small, create a 360 view of a landing space
How to practice dream work is a little more intuitive. You instinctively know you need to track your dreams using a dream journal. Eventually you can work up to lucid dreaming.
- MILD technique
Astral Travel Herbs
Benzoin
Cinnamon
Mugwort
Poplar
Sandalwood
Astral Travel Gemstones
Angelite
Fluorite
Garnet
Iolite
Lepidolite
Opal
Dream Work Herbs
Mugwort
Blue Lotus
Chamomile
Yarrow
Clary Sage
Lavender
Dream Work Gemstones
Rainbow Moonstone
Amethyst
Lapis Lazuli
Epidote
Sapphire
Books
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