Tag: dreams

How to Make a Good Dream Jar

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Ever have dreams keep waking you up at night? Not just nightmares, but dreams that were stressful or so hectic that you feel exhausted in the morning? Or have you had such poor sleep and you think it might be dreams or nightmares causing it, even if you don’t remember the dreams in your waking hours?

When dreams, especially unwanted dreams, cause problems, it can be a difficult battle. This jar can help mitigate that. It can also be used to bring about good dreams even if you aren’t struggling against bad dreams. It’s an excellent way of just having a peaceful night’s sleep.

What you’ll need:

  • Mugwort
  • Lavender
  • Jasmine
  • Rose
  • Rosemary
  • Glass jar with lid or cork
  • Candle or sealing wax in blue or light purple

Cleanse your glass jar. Begin to heat your candle or sealing wax.

Layer your herbs in the jar in any pattern you find pleasing. As you add each in, think of the good, peaceful dreams you wish to have. You may speak aloud or simply think it.

Put the jar’s lid on top. The candle or sealing wax should be ready now. Pour it over your jar lid and say,

"Good dreams fill this jar 
Nightmares are barred 
I will sleep peacefully all night long."

Let the wax harden. Place the jar beside or under your bed.

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Dream Magic 101

Dream magic is something I did a lot as a teen but less now. However, it can be incredibly useful if you keep in mind that it’s a dream.

Here’s some quick things to keep in mind when dealing with dreams or dream magic.

  • Dreams do not mean reality. Don’t confuse the two.
  • Dreams are an incredibly personal and individual thing. Each person has their own system of personal symbolism derived largely from environment, past experiences, education, and culture. So an encyclopedia isn’t going to help a whole lot beyond giving you a jumping point for your search.
  • Sometimes dreams are just dreams.

Differences between dreams and astral travel

This is one of those fields that gets… murky when we talk about separation. I define it as this: dreaming is internalized and in your own head. Astral projection or Out of Body Experiences (OBE) take place in this realm or plane of existence but happen externally, outside of your body. Astral travel is an astral project or OBE that goes elsewhere, to another realm of plane of existence.

That doesn’t mean the realm of dreams aren’t connected to this realm or the spiritual realms. I think they are connected and you can slid in and out of them fairly easily. So it’s really more of a matter of semantics and fine-point differences that we can’t readily agree on.

I think of things this way: Does the experience matter to you in some way? Even if you only get a laugh out of it, that experienced mattered for that moment. If so, then it doesn’t matter what that experience actually was so long as you derive something from it. So a vision or religious experience could be gained from sickness or drug-induced and it can still offer relevant experience and meaning for you.

Dream Magic

As a whole dream magic can be lots of fun and interesting. Often used for helping out in shadow work or introspection, it can also be a form of divination. However, you can get a lot of inspiration or answers from dreams. Even objects or symbols like sigils can come from dreams.

The most common kind of spell seen here are simple, often using herbs or stones to help encourage dreaming. This typically is followed by statements of intent or keeping the exact purpose behind your dream magic in your mind before you fall asleep.

Some people will even dream of rituals or spells continuing after they’ve gone to bed. It’s like a second part of the spell or ritual. Pretty useful and is a neat way of putting out more energy into the world.

Many people have trouble remembering dreams. Just because you don’t remember a dream doesn’t mean the dream magic didn’t work. It may come back to you or maybe it’s done but you weren’t suppose to remember.

Dreamwalking

Because, as mentioned above, it’s commonly believed that the realm of dreams is a shared space or can be accessed by others, you can actually walk into someone else’s dreams.

You can even alter or implant ideas in someone’s dreams, encouraging them upon waking to do something you want them to do like call you or skip work. They might even look for something for you, even if they wouldn’t have thought of it before. These sorts of things tend to appear as unshakable feelings in the target.

This might cross into moral gray areas so tread carefully.

Examples

For example, I often dream of full, detail-chocked novels with complicated characters and twisting plots. Sometimes they’re nonsensical and other times they are so complete that they simply need to be written down.

My Lavender Dreams flying ointment came to me in a dream. Upon waking I immediately wrote down the ingredients and within an hour created a new flying ointment.

I’m also in the process of writing up my own oracle. Each card comes from a dream or has a dream inspiration.

Originally written over on tumblr.

Anti-Nightmare Workings, Spells, and Cures (repost) (Spell Saturday #3)

Happy Spell Saturday!

Today’s spell is a collection of anti-nightmare fixes reposted from my original tumblr blog. I think nightmares tend to start up more often since we’re moving into the Halloween and horror movie season. Enjoy and sweet dreams!

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Firstly, as much as we’d like to say that dream dictionaries help, they really don’t. I check them occasionally just to see what they say out of curiosity but I don’t hold much stock with them. No one can really tell you what your dreams mean besides you. You know your mind best and you know whether you view a specific symbol as one of warning or joy. You’ll have to figure it out for yourself. But, maybe this will give you something to think about. Check with your symbology, folklore, superstitions, mythology, favorite books, movies, video games, etc. Anything that has meaning to you might give some insight to the dreams.

As for anti-nightmares… I usually find throwing together a quick sachet and hiding it in my pillow works great. I’ve also hung it nearby or put it on a table. Works great. I’ve also heard under the bed works well too.

For anti-nightmares or nightmare cures…

From Scott Cunningham’s Magical Herbalism

NOTE: Scott Cunningham sometimes is on the ball with his shit and sometimes he is absolutely horribly fucking WRONG or doesn’t explain why the fuck he does what he does (And it’s hard to ask now, since he’s dead). Example: He considers comfrey a protective herb only which is really fucking weird since comfrey is known by herbalists as a healing herb. It’s even used in medications. Consider this with the information I now give you.

Anise (Cunningham, Magical Herbalism, pg 138) – “A good, general cleansing bath is made with a handful of anise seed and a few bay leaves. This is especially effective if you have (accidentally or intentionally) killed something. A pillow of anise keeps away all nightmares”

Betony (Cunningham, Magical Herbalism, pg 143-144) – “… Stuff a pillow with the herb and sleep on it to prevent nightmares.”

Hyacinth (Cunningham, Magical Herbalism, pg 169) – “Sachets to ease childbirth, protection and a guard against nightmares.”

Thyme (Cunningham, Magical Herbalism, pg 202) – “A pillow stuffed with thyme cures nightmares.” [Crown’s note: he claims thyme is used for clairvoyance but doesn’t list any uses for it as such.]

Vervain (Cunningham, Magical Herbalism, pg 205) – “Hang up o the bed to keep you free of nightmares.”

From Judika Illes’ Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells

NOTE: Illes collected her stuff from all over the place and doesn’t source it (bibliography but each speck of information isn’t directly sourced) so it’s hard to trace. And her history is shoddy beside the culturally based spells and workings taken out of context…. Anyway, she’s got a whole section (pg 380-388) but I’ve selected a few of them for various reasons.

“Nightmare Spell (2) Anti-Nightmare Garden” (pg 382)

… The Primary botanical nightmare-repellant is rosemary. Given the opportunity it flourishes and grows wildly. Other suggestions include:
Mimosa
Mint
Mugwort
Poppies
Roses
Rowan
Saint John’s Wort
Snake Plant
Wormwood

[Crown’s Note: I think this is a lesson is what not to use? Most of these plants are used in clairvoyance and divination. If you’re hoping to prevent nightmares or dreaming in general, I’d say avoid these. YMMV though.]

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“Nightmare Spell (6) Betony” (pg 382)

“Gather betony in August without the use of iron. Dry the plants and then grind the leaves and roots. Cast a circle around your bed with this powder to protect against nightmares.” [Crown’s note: Or make a sachet or pillow, hang the plant, grow it next to you….]

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“Nightmare Spell (9) Crystals” (pg 383)

Certain crystal gemstones repel and relieve nightmares:
– Blue crystals in general, especially angelite, lapis lazuli, and turquoise
– Black crystals, with the possible exception of onyx
– Chysolite
– Citrine
– Topaz”

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“Nightmare Spell (11) Silver Bell Dispersal” (pg 383)

Keep a bell made from real silver on the nightstand, and ring as needed to dispel a nightmare and cleanse the atmosphere.

[Crown’s note: I love bells. I don’t see why a silver one’s necessary. Any bell with a clear sound should suffice. I like using brass bells because of the sound they make.]

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“Nightmare Spell (32) Water Absorption” (pg 388)

1. Leave a glass of water by your bedside.
2. For extra strength, add camphor, but be sure not to drink the water!
3. In the morning, flush the water down the toilet.
4. Reserve the glass for this use only and repeat as needed.“

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Illes also lists the following herbs on pages 386-388 in separate spells. Since I’m not going to type out the whole section of the book, I’ve listed them with their page numbers and spell titles so you can look them up yourself.

– Amaranthus (“Nightmare Spell (18) Flower of Essence Relief” pg 386)
– Gray Spider Flower (“Nightmare Spell (18) Flower of Essence Relief” pg 386)
– Saint John’s Wort (“Nightmare Spell (18) Flower of Essence Relief” pg 386)
– Juniper Berries on yucca thread (“Nightmare Spell (19) Ghost Beads” pg 386 *watch for cultural appropriation!)
– Peony Roots (“Nightmare Spell (24) Peony Roots” pg 387 and “Nighmare Spell 25 Peony Root Beads” pg 387)
– Agrimony (“Nightmare Spell (26) Protection (1)” pg 387)
– Betony (“Nightmare Spell (27) Protection (2)” pg 387)
– Purslane (“Nightmare Spell (28) Purslane Protection” pg 387)
– Vervain (“Nightmare Spell (31) Vervain” pg 388)

Crown’s Additions:
– Iron. Iron anything under the bed, pillow, between the mattresses, next to you, whatever.
– I love the idea of the bell as written above.
– Betony is a good keep-away for spirits, dreams, and generally everything as far as I’ve seen. YYMV.
– I personally use rosemary and thyme or rosemary and chamomile when I want to be left dreamless.

Original post from my tumblr blog here.