Hi, Everyone.

My name is Raven Knight, and along with WakingNomad, I will be presenting a shared dreaming class thanks to the DVA, Dream Views Academy, for giving us a forum to present this class on. As I said, this is a class on sharing dreams, this class will go over the various theories of shared dreaming along with methods to achieve, and recall, a confirmed shared dream with another dreamer. By a 'confirmed' shared dream, I mean a dream where both dreamers report their version of the dream independently of each other and there are significant similarities in those two versions when they are put next to each other and compared.

I would also like to add that this class is not to be used as a debate forum as to whether or not shared dreaming is possible, so we are assuming that everyone signing up for this class is at least open to the idea of shared dreaming and that everyone will be courteous and respectful in our own individual search for answers. The best way to find proof that shared dreaming is possible is to experience it, which is the goal of this class, to allow everyone interested to experience at least one shared dream. Although that is not a guarantee, since each individual dreamer will have different techniques prove effective for them, these are the successful techniques Nomad and I have come across.

Theories of Shared Dreaming
There are two main theories of how shared dreaming is possible. The first one is the telepathic theory, which states that two or more dreamers have a psychic connection between their minds, allowing for all of them to share their thoughts, and thus their dreams. The second theory, being the one I, myself, believe, is the dream plane theory. This theory states that all dreams take place on a separate plane of existence, the dream plane. The dream plane is reached in much the same manner, through dreaming, as the astral plane is reached through astral projection. Once the dreamer's mind / soul / spirit / consciousness / anything else you feel like calling the core of your consciousness, reaches the dream plane, it is simply a matter of finding the other person on the dream plane… and there is a shared dream. This sounds a lot easier than it really is, since the dream plane is an entire plane of existence, spanning through space and time, with an unknown number of dreamers, extra-dimensional entities, spirits, and DC's (mindless characters dreamers create to populate their dream worlds) to sort through in order to find the person you are looking for. We will get more into methods of meeting other dreamers and sharing dreams in a later class, but for those of you who aren't quite that far along yet, I have gotten several PM's from people wanting to share dreams when they are not yet having consistent recall and lucidity, we are starting at the beginning.

Dream Recall
So to start with the most basic part of this would be to start with dream recall. I know that many of you might already have excellent recall, so for you this can simply be used as a chance for others in the class to get a feel for your style of dreaming and thus they will find it easier to identify you in a shared dream. I understand that some of you are wanting to get straight into the shared dreaming itself, but the fact of the matter is, you could have a shared dream every night and not remember it. It's the same in any beginning lucidity class… it doesn't matter how many lucid dreams you are able to have if you don't remember any of them. Some people are convinced they never dream at all because they have zero recall, so this is an important step to make sure everyone here is at the same place in their dreaming skills.

Recall Methods
There are the usual recall methods I'm sure everyone here has heard before… Set your intent to remember your dreams, tell yourself you will recall what you dream about and your mind will respond. Some people benefit from writing or saying mantras such as, "I will remember my dreams," or "My dreams are vivid and memorable." Keep a notepad, journal, or digital recorder, or some method of quickly recording notes from a dream right beside your bed, then record any small memory as soon as you remember. That trains your mind to remember, and with me, recalling a small part of a dream often brings back larger pieces of the dream later in the day when I go to journal the entire dream. Waking up a bit early in the morning to allow for a bit of time to remain still and focus on recalling some dreams or even dream fragments is quite effective for me, I forget a lot more if I have to jump out of bed right as my alarm goes off.

Recall / Lucidity Aid Devices
There are several electronic gizmos available that will assist in recall your dreams and in becoming quickly lucid in a dream, which will lead to having more of a chance to locate another dreamer for a shared dream. When I first started out lucid dreaming I used a device called the Nova Dreamer, which was released by the Lucidity Institute, or the REM Dreamer. As of now, the Lucidity Institute is not selling the Nova Dreamer, but Google these two items and they are both available at various places on the internet, both new and used. The purpose of the mask is a pair of sensors that sit over the eyes and sense when the dreamer goes into REM sleep, then it gives off a cue, either audio, visual, or both. The intensity of the cues can be set at a low intensity where the cue will hopefully work its way into a dream. This is how I had my first lucid, I was dreaming and I saw unexplainable red flashing lights, that was the cue of my Nova Dreamer, and it made me lucid. It can be set at a higher intensity so that the cue will awaken the user directly from the dream allowing a much higher recall.

I also use a light / sound machine to help me induce a WILD pretty much whenever I want one. There are also several different types of light / sound machine on the market. The specific one I use is called the Zen Master CD player, it is a normal CD player with a light / sound device built into it. Just choose any CD you want to use, select the program, put on the glasses and ear phones, and that's it. The point of these devices is to put your brainwave frequencies into a specific target zone, for lucid dreaming this is generally the theta range, it uses patterns of flashing lights and pulses of sound to accomplish this. There is a wide range of devices on the market for a wide range of prices, the quickest way to find them would be to Google "Light and Sound Machine" for a selection or "Zen Master CD" for the one I use. Please note that use of these includes exposure to rapidly flashing lights, so it is not to be used by people with epilepsy, sensitivity to light, or if bright or flashing lights tend to trigger migraines.

Recall / Lucidity Aids on the Cheap
The main problem with the devices I mentioned above is the cost, but there are other methods that are either cheap or free. Isochronic sounds and binaural sounds are made to have much the same effect as the light / sound devices, that is they are meant to put your brainwave frequency into a specific target range. Free MP3 downloads are available on sites such as Iso-tones.com - Isochronic Tones, or Google the key words "binaural beats" or "isochronic sounds" to find a variety of sites where these can be either streamed or downloaded directly. If you can download the MP3's you can assemble your favorite collection and burn it to a CD or make a playlist on your iPod / MP3 player, or if you've taken the Zen Master route, use the CD with the Zen Master and combine a couple of different techniques. I've tried that, and it works quite well for me.

One more thing, is that if you are electronically inclined, there are videos and web sites that give detailed instructions on how to construct your own Nova Dreamer style sleep mask for a mere fraction of the cost. This is not my area of expertise, so I have not actually tested any of the do-it-yourself dream masks. There may also be do-it-yourself light / sound machines, though I haven't had a chance to search for those. Just Google for the instructions or search for them on YouTube, they have tutorials and instructions for everything somewhere on the internet…

So that is it for now. The goal for now is to focus on recalling as many dreams as you can, and recording them in a dream journal so other students can become acquainted with your dream style. Feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions or comments, I will answer as quickly as I can, but please understand that I am also quite busy with school and work. Thanks for reading this.