a member of the 9~JY~Pfi~ ONENESS OF ALL FORCE: THE BEYOND DREAMING PSYCHIC ELEMENT OF DREAMING Jean Campbell Mark Thurston, Ph.D. Poseidia Institute was incorporated in 1973 as a The psychic eletent of drea1ing is one of the 1ost Virginia nonprofit organization designed to research and intriguing features present in the (Edgar> Cayce dreat disseainate inforaation on the subject of readings. Decades before the sophisticated research parapsychology. of parapsychologists had been reported, Cayce was Why would the director of a parapsychology research pointing out the ways in which ESP often influences our organization be interested in studying dreats? This dreats. In fact his readings sotetites identified the question takes sense to the person who thinks of drea1 state as an especially good one to explore one's parapsychology research· as an effort to prove the own psychic potential. The developtent of ESP through existence of ESP or extra-sensory phenotena; and, dreaaing is tentioned in passages like this: •Dreaas to admittedly, aost of the respected parapsychology this body are ••• towards that developaent of psychic research in Aterica has been conducted along these forces within self ••• •tt36-77} Recent parapsychological lines. research has been supportive, not only of the dreat as However, fro1 its inception, Poseidia Institute an avenue for ESP, but of altered states of began with a different pretise--that is we believed that consciousness as well. However, a1ong all the varieties enough research had been conducted to prove to our of expanded awareness available to us, it seets clear satisfaction the existence of so-called psychic · that none is 1ore natural and readily accessible than phenomena, and that the direction of research should be the drea1 state. into the possible applications of these phenotena. In Before exatining approaches for identifying our own aany branches of science •applied• study has resulted in psychic dreaas, soae prelitinary concepts are valuable. considerable growth in understanding. First Me should consider the aeaning of psychic ability So we began with a few psychics (or people with itself. Is this a rare capability, possessed by only a deaonstrated ESP ability> to detertine what seeted to be few such as Edgar Cayce? And how does ESP work--through possible and what aethods seeted to achieve the best an undiscovered particle transtission, an unknown wave results. Before long however, by 1976 at the latest, we fora, or soae other channel? realized that psychics at Poseidia Institute in The answers to these questions are found in the particular (as well as psychics in general) were Cayce readings, and they have been su11arized in a presenting us with a unique theory of how the universe general theory of psychic ability, Understand and is constructed, and that in order to carry on further Develop Your ESP, by the present writer. In brief, this meaningful research it would be necessary to accept this aaterial suggests that ESP is a quality of the soul theory at least as a working hypothesis. What was the itself and therefore is at least a latent ability in theory? It was this: everyone. Since we often draw nearer in attune1ent to That consciousness, as distinct fro• the physical the soul forces in dreaas, for tost people it is aore body (brain, 1ind, etc.), creates what is perceived as 1i kel y that ESP wi 11 occur in the night than during reality; that all things have. consciousness; and that working hours. However, we probably all use our psychic •reality• might be seen as one vast creative effort ability 1uch tore frequently than we realize. A hunch, uccurring in the present aotent rather than (as is intuition or feeling that influences a decision is generally perceived) in linear tite/space. likely to be ESP. Dr, as recent laboratory research One of the itplications of this theory was that, suggests, we tay be using our psychic ability in waking rather than viewing •physical reality• or •waking periods in a rather unconscious way. It aay be consciousness• as •real• or •valid• and other, altered influencing our choices in daily life without o,ur states of consciousness as 'less real' or 'less valid,• realizing it. '> it tight be possible to view states of 'consciousness The theory in the readings is that we can attune (with the discrete cotponents we sotetites label as ourselves to the superconscious aind and thereby obtain (Continued Page 2) .. (Continued Page 3) 2· Beyond Dreaming <Cont.> experiaent work and achieve soae of the expected waking state, hypnogogic state, daydreaa, dreaa state, results; but, taybe tore iaportantly--it was fun. Nhat trance, etc.) as a spectrua of creative effort, all we discovered was that other staff aeabers began to(- being equally valid, real and useful. Obviously, there dreaa along, or show up in the project participants' are ayriad other iaplications which cannot be discussed dreaas and vice versa. Dreaaing together becaae the in an article of this length, but you'll recall that the subject of tore than just the experiaent as people·began original question was why would a parapsychologist be to use their dreaas as a way of working together or interested in dreaas. exploring their feelings toward one another. Eleaents The answer is that if all states of consciousness of this dreaa rese~rch were incorporated in the dreaa are equally real or valid, then dreaas (since the classes regularly taught at the Institute, in part as a aajority of people adtit to having thea) tight becoae means of exploring how easy or how difficult it was for the aeeting ground for the huaan race between the people to achieve this particular •altered, but equally possible and the iapossible. That is, aost people seea valid and real, state of consciousness, 8 to feel it iapossible (at least for themselves on any Finally in 1982 we decided to take the ultimate 'regular basis) to •be psychic,• achieve a trance state, step with Dreams to and select Hro1 over 200 applicants or produce ESP; yet these sate people will adait to from all over the country) two teats of ten people who dreaaing and reaeabering their dreaas on a regular were coaplete strangers to one another, and who had no basis. particular education in either dreaaing or My first serious consideration of this idea caae in parapsychology. The task was sitply to see if they Virginia Beach after I had been experiaenting personally could "dream together• over a three-tonth period. The with lucid dreaming for over a year. In a conversation results of this experi1ent, which are still being with drea1 researcher Ann Faraday, she said that she analyzed, were surprising even to us. There>s no doubt f~lt it was difficult to achieve the lucid state these people were able to drea1 on request some fair (although she was really talking about lucidity with a part of the time, and while they were at it, perforM one-to-one correlation with physical reality--ie., not some interesting 8 psychic• feats. For exaaple, the only being aware of dreaaing while the dream is in night Tea1 II "went to Cindy 1 s wedding,R while Cindy, progress, but being at a specifically prearranged who thought she hadn 7 t met the goil because she was •physical location• at a specific •tite'} and that tost tired and already knew about her wedding, dreaaed she people could not do it. I started wondering. "went to the beach with a group of people.• Cindy During the course of a 1976 'Dream Helper Project," didn't know the beach was the goal for Teal I that saae a research project sponsored jointly by Poseidia and the night. Association for Research and Enlightenaent (A.R.E.) Certainly there are research iaplications of this (described in ty book Dreats Beyond Dreating, Donning 1aterial which is why, as a parapsychologist, I aa Co., 1980), it occurred tote that if one were to take a interested in studying dreams along with other states of group of people, say at various skill levels in consciousness. But to 1e the aore iaportant thing, and dreating, and ask thea to perform certain tasks in the the reason that I enjoy the approach taken by the Dreaa dream state over a period of six tonths, it tight be Network Bulletin, is the application of the research, or possible to learn a great deal about the state of the iatediate usefulness of the research for myself and consciousness called dreaaing as well as •psychic other people. Wouldn't you like to try dreaaing phenotena.• This was the beginning of Poseidia's together with a group of friends? I personally a1 DreatsiO (or Dreats to the Tenth Power} research interested in the potential counseling applications of project, which has been going on interaittently over the group dreaaing where, for exaaple, a therapist tight past three years. work with a fa1ily by asking thea to dreaa together The goal of the project was to detertine whether between counseling sessions. people could dreat on coaaand (which aany seeaed able to In 1y opinion we have barely begun to explore the do}, to investigate the ratio of lucid to non-lucid possibilities of consciousness, either in drea1ing or dreams in this process, and to explore the syabolic •beyond drea1ing.• Perhaps if we were willing to content of the reality creation. Obviously there were accept, even as a working hypothesis, the theory soae other factors involved here which are generally presented by psychics that one state of consciousness is considered to be psychic, like telepathy and as real or as valid as another, it would help us all to precognition; that is, in order to dreaa together, a alleviate the proble1s caused by drawing rigid lines group is eaploying eleaents of what is generally between possible and iapossible, real and •just my considered tel-epathy, and frequently eleaents of iaagination.• precognition showed up in the dreats as well.