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8 Common Signposts for Identifying Health-Related Dreams
When we think of dreams, we usually expect them to offer insights about our psychological health and well-being. Rarely though do we think that they may offer credible guidance regarding our physical health and well-being. And yet the Body Wisdom often communicates with us via nocturnal … [Read More...] about 8 Common Signposts for Identifying Health-Related Dreams

Lucidity is not the same as Dream Control
By Ryan Hurd
Despite the constant repetition in popular media that lucid dreaming is “controlling your dreams,” these two concepts are not the same. One can be lucid and not “in control” of either the dreambody or the dreaming environment, just as one can regularly shift and direct the dream’s direction without … [Read More...] about Lucidity is not the same as Dream Control

Breaking the Silence about Sleep Paralysis
Since the 1970s autoethnographies have been used by researchers to explore and reflect upon different aspects of a personal experience. As more people are today aware of the sleep paralysis phenomena, I write in autoethnographic style, feeling no judgement or stigma as I share my sleep paralysis … [Read More...] about Breaking the Silence about Sleep Paralysis

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A Beginner's Guide to Dream Studies. If you're new to this site, here is a list of my most popular content and core essays from the last few years.

Sleep Paralysis 2nd Edition now in Print
By Ryan Hurd
It's been ten years since Sleep Paralysis was published. A lot has changed in a decade so I'm happy to announce the Updated and Revised 2nd edition of Sleep Paralysis: A guide to hypnagogic visions … [Read More...] about Sleep Paralysis 2nd Edition now in Print

Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door: The Line Between Realities
By Jason DeBord
The line between the world we experience in dreams and the one we experience while awake seems to be clear. You cross it when you wake up and open your eyes to the real world, and the one you leave, … [Read More...] about Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door: The Line Between Realities

2022 Year in review: Renewal
By Ryan Hurd
2022 has been a year of renewal for myself and the Dream Studies empire. It’s been a long time since I did a year in review… I believe 2018 was the last one. Wow, but not surprising: in the last four years, the dreaming has been very much a side hobby as I focused my […]

Dreams, Liminal Objects and Magical Thinking
By Ryan Hurd
It may reek of new age sentimentality, but the ability of talisman to traverse the worlds is really effective. Using a talisman as a dream tool is an efficient strategy because the dreamworld is precisely where magical thinking works. It’s the dominant logic, creating an increased fusion between subject/object that is rarely seen in the […]

The Spiritual Science of Mirrors in Dreamwork
I invite you to explore with me the properties of light and symmetry in mirrors and how these appear in dreams and dreamwork. Through the ages, spiritual traditions have referred to the enigmatic property of mirrors as a metaphor to convey spiritual truths. As the Taoist philosopher Chuang Tsu observed, ‘The mind of a perfect […]