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Sleep Paralysis and the Weird side of Spiritual Experience

By Ryan Hurd

Astral projection and lucid dreaming are having a moment!  Thanks to cult classic films like Inception and Waking Life, and to popular educators such as Jade Shaw (check out her documentary Insight Out if you haven’t yet), we have entered into the … [Read more...] about Sleep Paralysis and the Weird side of Spiritual Experience

Filed Under: sleep paralysis Tagged With: cocreative dream theory, David Hufford, Lucid Dreaming, mysterious tremendum, old hag, out of body experience, sleep paralysis, spiritual experience, succubus effect, visionary, wyrd

What makes a big dream BIG?

By Ryan Hurd

All cultures that pay attention to dreams make a cut between what's a Big dream and what's an ordinary dream. The cut is not always the same. Different cultures play with different ideas and elevate them or stomp them out, depending on the culture … [Read more...] about What makes a big dream BIG?

Filed Under: Visionary Dreams Tagged With: apex dreaming, archetypal dreams, big dreams, Carl Jung, dreams that change our lives, extraordinary dreams

Tucker Carlson says he was attacked by a demon—and as a dream researcher I believe him

By Ryan Hurd

Journalist and TV personality Tucker Carlson recently shared that he was attacked by an unseen force while sleeping in his bed. I encourage you watch the video clip, because I think it convincingly shows that Carlson truly believes he had this … [Read more...] about Tucker Carlson says he was attacked by a demon—and as a dream researcher I believe him

Filed Under: Dreams & Media, Nightmares & Dream Terrors Tagged With: apocalypse dreams, demon dreams, doom dreaming, Nightmares & Dream Terrors, sleep paralysis, sleep scratching, supernatural assault, Tucker Carlson

Doom dreaming: Dreams in the Age of Apocalypse

By Ryan Hurd

  It’s been a week now since the waters have mostly receded from the twin hurricanes of Helene and Milton. A lot of my family live in Florida: they escaped with some water damage and a few hours of power outage. My peoples in the … [Read more...] about Doom dreaming: Dreams in the Age of Apocalypse

Filed Under: Eco-Dreaming Tagged With: Anthropocene, apocalyptic dreams, climate change, climate emergency, covid dreams, doom dreaming, neurodivergence, pandemic dreams, sentinel intelligence

Tombstones beyond time: A precognitive encounter in the pines

By Ryan Hurd

One winter morning in rural Alabama, our crew was surveying a pinewoods for a proposed highway. The weather was frosty and I was wearing my usual archaeologist's uniform of several clashing flannel shirts layered with camouflage pants. We walked in … [Read more...] about Tombstones beyond time: A precognitive encounter in the pines

Filed Under: Consciousness & Health, Eco-Dreaming Tagged With: communication beyond the grave, Cultural resource management, David Abram, earth dreaming, eco dreaming, Eric Wargo, hypnagogia, paranormal, paranormal phenomena, precognitive, psychic vision, real archaeology

Healing our Cognitive Domestication with Lucid Living

By Ryan Hurd

Are you interested in lucid dreaming but frustrated about not having them often, or at all?  I've got good news and bad news. Let's start with the bad news: as the continuity hypothesis of dreaming predicts, our nighttime dreaming mirrors our daily … [Read more...] about Healing our Cognitive Domestication with Lucid Living

Filed Under: Lucid Dreaming Tagged With: beverly d'urso, cognitive domestication, Daniel Quinn, Lucid Dreaming, lucid living, Noam Chomsky

Abduction encounters, sleep paralysis and the extraordinary

By Ryan Hurd

As I was recently cited in D.W. Pasulka's book Encounters: Experiences with nonhuman intelligences for my work with sleep paralysis, it's time for me to clarify my current position on the overlap between altered states of consciousness and … [Read more...] about Abduction encounters, sleep paralysis and the extraordinary

Filed Under: Hearsay Tagged With: abduction, alien abduction, aliens, encounters, Lucid Dreaming, out of body experience, Pasulka, sleep paralysis, UAP, UFO, Vallee, visionary experience

The Blessing of the Groundhog

By Ryan Hurd

This is a story about a magical, shapeshifting Goddess currently embodying an overgrown squirrel, and how you can harness her celestial powers for your dreamlife. Today, February 2, is Groundhog Day. I live in Pennsylvania, and Groundhog Day is … [Read more...] about The Blessing of the Groundhog

Filed Under: Consciousness & Health Tagged With: Cailleach, Cailleach dreams, Celtic goddess, dream incubation, Groundhog Day, Imbolc, midwinter, shapeshifting

Dickens’ Christmas Ghosts and Lucid Encounters

By Ryan Hurd

This morning, Christmas Eve day, I noticed a holiday card on the coffee table. It was slightly crumpled and curled around the bottom as if it has been discarded for a while. I opened the card and gasped – it was signed by my grandmother, who died … [Read more...] about Dickens’ Christmas Ghosts and Lucid Encounters

Filed Under: Dreamy Book Reviews, sleep paralysis Tagged With: Brugada syndrome, Charles Dickens, Christmas Carol, Christmas ghost, ghosts, hauntings, Lucid Dreaming, night-mares, Nightmares & Dream Terrors, sleep paralysis, supernatural assault

From the Journals: Thoughts about Dream Interpretation

By Ryan Hurd

Recently I have been inspired by the work of writer Matt Cardin—who you should be reading if you're interested in creativity, horror and the divine. Matt also has lifted up the importance of personal journals in tracking the evolution of a writer's … [Read more...] about From the Journals: Thoughts about Dream Interpretation

Filed Under: Dream Interpretation Tagged With: backpacking, Dream Interpretation, journaling, Kurt Vonnegut, Matt Cardin, Sterling Watson, Unitarian, wilderness dreams, writing

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