Girl, I (25f) feel for you so hard. You sound like you are in quite a similar place to where I was last year. Trying so hard, going through one rejection after the next, exhausted in every sense of the word, with a desperate need for hope but a constantly depleting supply. I cried in bed and in the car most days, if not every day. But I’m not there any more. I have an amazing job I love that loves me back, an amazing boyfriend I love that loves me back, a healthy body, a really nice, finally stable housing situation, and I feel okay, and I’m doing things I love.
Here is what helped me, I hope these ideas might help you:

• I wrote down on paper, basically a congratulatory note to my future self. I described in fine detail every accomplishment I wanted for myself. Really take your time on this one and describe exactly** what you want, all of it. When you make it very clear, and very real, you will have paved a path. I don’t know how this works, but to me it seemed that once I had decided this is what I will have the universe said “okay, sounds good!” and started opening doors. I kept the piece of paper tucked away, and months later was able to find it and read about my current life that was once a dream, that was a beautiful, magical moment. If you’ve decided that you want something, but are in constant worry of rejection, rejection is going to show up for you. Focus on what you will have, the life you will live. Decide it will be yours.
  
• Read Dare to Dream by Debbi Dachinger https://www.amazon.com/DARE-DREAM-Counts-Secret-Reality/dp/1467930814/ref=mp_s_a_1_3_twi_pap_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1550418466&sr=8-3&keywords=debbi+dachinger There might be cheaper copies on eBay as well. The cover is not appealing, I know. When this book found its way into my life I didn’t have room to care, I needed help to make a change and this shit helped big time. This was the launch board that got me the interview that got me the job that got me the apartment that got me the stability that got me the boyfriend, health, peace, and enjoyment of life.
  
• Do your best to be loving and compassionate towards yourself. You are going through a LOT right now.
  
• I am very spiritual, so this may sound kooky, but hopefully it will resonate. When I was in the car I talked to/called out to my angels and the universe- my dead grandpa, my dead great grandparents who I’d never really known, my dead pets, all my angels, the universe, and all spirits who love, support and protect me. I would tell them what I’m going through (great way to vent), ask them for help from their spiritual realm to open doors for me, to point my attention towards good opportunities, to take care of me as I go through all of this, to be by my side to support me and protect me, etc. I still do this, any time I feel overwhelmed and alone. I’m never alone, the universe has got my back. You are not alone, not even close.
  
  I really hope this is helpful. You will do great things, you will be so proud of yourself! <3

All it takes is the first time you can strong connections between a dream and yourself and see how speaks to your challenges and possibilities, and you're off to the races. You will want to remember your dreams and spend time thinking about them. It's a great way to reflect on yourself and plan out what's next in your life.

>when I was younger I always associated being with someone you love in a relationship as representing something very all-inclusive and wonderful about growing up.

Now we have a good idea what Shawn and Ellen represent to you. You are growing up, and more, you see your life shaping up the way you imagined. It might help you to reimagine the scenes in the dreams with Shawn and Ellen and continue the scenes. Get that kiss! Feel that love and connection. Tell them what's in your heart. Dream symbols are loaded with potential energy, and by working with the symbols in story form (in other words, continue the dream as a daydream and steer it the direction you'd most like it to go) you subconsciously set the energy in motion in your psyche. Much of the "heavy lifting" is done behind the scene, in your unconscious mind. It will translate into your waking life as more enthusiasm, energy, and insight. And ultimately, it could help you open the door to the sort of work you will find most fulfilling.

>So I wonder if there is a chance that I revert back to the boy who feels like he has to win and has to perform.

Consider that your mom is always with you in spirit. The love and encouragement and everything she gave to help you become the person you are...that's always with you. Perhaps it would help think of her presence in the dream as encouragement. She's still rooting you on, still in the stands cheering for you. She might get a kick out of knowing she's a positive figure in your dreams. Moms like to know that kind of stuff :)

I get a real boost out of coming here to help with dreams. It's part of my mission in life. I don't ask for anything in return. But if you want to give back, you can:

1. Check out my book about dreams. Amazon recently discounted it.
   
   
2. Sign up for my newsletter. I will use it to announce when my new book about dreams becomes available (estimated to hit bookstores in June).
   
   
3. Check out my FB fan page.
   
   
4. Tell your friends about me.
   
   Most of all, take what I've given you and run with it. You are putting yourself into a position to be an influential person in this world, and perhaps if people see the benefit you get from working with your dreams, it will encourage them to do the same.

I love it. I can't help you, but I love it.

I used to work on lucid dreaming intensively, about 6 months in after all my techniques & known lucid dream producing practices I was able to achieve a state of lucidity while asleep each night. I believe in you friend!

Do you have a dream journal? They can help you begin recognizing your dream patterns.

Other than that I also highly recommend using the hand/face method. In dreams you have more or less than 5 fingers. While in a dream if you look at your hand and notice you have more/less than 5 fingers you can sometimes bring yourself lucid but it takes practice to not wake up immediately from noticing/excitement. Another thing is we don't dream faces, our subconscious fills them from the personalities our brains are thinking of, try and look at the faces (or lack-thereof) of the people in your dreams to remind yourself you're dreaming.

I'm working I tried to make the tips coherent as possible, sorry for any errors there may be.

There are a few books on lucid dreaming I highly recommend, I'll get you the names once I'm home.

It's something you have to keep at every night, but it's so worth the time it takes to achieve. Thanks for this post, I'm going to start getting back into it. Once you can reach lucidity while dreaming you get to live two lives and it's so rewardingly beautiful & fun. If you have any questions feel free to ask :)

Edit: Book #1 & Book #2 / Book #3

Those three books are all great ones for lucid dreaming, I only used the first two (Stephen LaBerge, very smart guy) initially but I added the third book to my repertoire later on and I highly recommend it as well. They're all pretty cheap on Amazon!

My first rule when considering if I should take someone's lucid dreaming advice seriously, I take into account their approach to teaching. I've been following how to lucid for a while. His channel was bigger than mine, but still pretty modest when I found him. His channel exploded because he got lucky enough to have a front page reddit post, in which he called himself an expert. That's strike one. There are no lucid dreaming experts and, even if there are, they certainly know enough not to call themselves experts. The most knowledgeable people I know on this topic are Daniel Love and Geo from lucidsource.net. Their vast knowledge is far greater than how to lucid's and they'll be the first to tell you that there are no experts.

On his approach, you'll notice that he has a lot of videos aimed at how to lucid dream "fast/easy/tonight". This is a clear sign that he's doing his best to reach a specific audience. That audience doesn't really want to learn how to lucid dream, or rather they don't want to put in any effort. Plenty of people are interested in it, but since so many people search for the easy way, they get directed to people like this who want to cash in on people's desire to lucid dream while not providing them with anything worthwhile to that pursuit. It's about views and quick sells of useless information, rather than actually building people's knowledge about the topic. Strike two.

This is highly evidenced in strike three, if you look at his books on amazon, you'll find "100 things to do in lucid dreams". What does this really add to the community? Literally anyone who wanted to make a book like that could do so without any lucid dreaming know how. Any one of us could think of 100 things to do in lucid dreams every day and no one would be more skilled for it. My favorite is to scroll down to the reviews of that book and look at the very first review. Submitted by the very personal "Amazon Customer" (ah, yes, I know him well, great guy). Where they write:

"The author is an expert in the field of lucid dreaming and this book is full of interesting things to do! Once you can lucid dream, you don't want to waste time not knowing what to do, do you? This book solves that problem"

I'm pretty sure he submitted this review himself. Again, because the only person calling how to lucid an expert is how to lucid.

I don't know him personally and have no animosity toward him. I simply find his approach to be more out of a business perspective than for actually giving a damn about what you're filling people's heads with on this topic. There are far worse people talking about it, but he certainly isn't helping. My advice is to look for other people who don't just spew fourth quick fixes that really don't do anything.

I appreciate and share your enthusiasm for outreach and awareness! PM me if you want to talk more about this, I too have been trying to do more outreach with the community offline.

There are a few organizations for Narcolepsy awareness that I'm sure would appreciate the volunteers. A lot of organizations are funded by pharmaceutical companies though, if that turns you off, I really suggest doing some digging on these orgs. For example, the MoreThanTired campaign recently caught my eye, and then I realized it was funded by Jazz Pharma lol. Next!

Project Sleep is run by a Type 1 Narcoleptic who has done a lot out outreach. I suggest you look into what they have available.

Other than that, try looking on Meetup.com for a narcolepsy support group in your area. There is usually at least one in every major city, maybe you can attend and organize some sort of local outreach with the help of fellow narcoleptics in your area!

Instagram is a great way to spread awareness. There are a few Narcoleptic Instagrammers I follow and I myself try to post semi-frequently about my N in order to raise what awareness I can. Consider using social media to post memes, awareness, etc.

You can also channel your personal passions into advocacy. Like exercising? Run a 5k for Narcolepsy research and ask your loved ones to sponsor you! Tech/graphic design? Make cool gifs and graphs about Narcolepsy, post them everywhere! Art? Draw your experiences with N, get creative and submit to competitions and galleries. Writer? Write a book! There aren't enough books about Narcolepsy. We need way more things like this.

​

Use this amazon smile link to donate to Narcolepsy Network with every purchase!

https://project-sleep.com/

https://narcolepsynetwork.org/narcolepsy-awareness-day/

Starting backwards from #5 -
Kemetic Orthodoxy is probably the largest group out there today. There are others, but I’m unsure of how active they are.


Kemetic reconstructionism isn’t a group, so much as a method or a type of approach. Its aim is to draw on historical sources and rebuild them into a working religion. If a historical source for a ritual exists, a reconstructionist will likely choose that over something more modern. Reconstructionism is on one end of a continuum. On the other end is eclectic kemeticism. It allows freedom to choose to adopt rituals, art, practices, and so on from other sources, worship Egyptian gods using other frameworks (such as Wicca), or even create practices from scratch.

4 –

Gods who were tied to geographical features were also tied strongly to more abstract religious concepts. The Nile god Hapi, for example, regulated the annual flood. Today, there is no flood because of the dam, but that doesn’t mean Hapi became irrelevant. He also represents maintenance of cosmic order, balance of the land’s fertility, and he ensures the flow of offerings to all the other gods’ shrines.

3 –

Nepthys is historically associated to the kite and the falcon. Her association to crows, as far as I know, is not attested from ancient times. My guess is that this is a more modern UPG that many are finding meaning in.

2 –

I’ve long had a suspicion that heka is not practiced much in the community…but then again, it may be, just not be talked about much. With your background you should know that the fundamentals of getting heka to work are the same as in any other Western practice. The framework is in some ways looser than Western magic.


Since you’ve read Te Velde, this book should be fairly digestible.
The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice

Also see Symbols and Magic in Egyptian Art

This book is a decent overview of Egyptian divination practices:
Through a Glass Darkly: Magic, Dreams and Prophecy in Ancient Egypt

This one by Szpakowska has been on my wish list for the topic of dreams (if you can get your hands on it, I suspect it’s pretty good):
Behind Closed Eyes: Dreams and Nightmares in Ancient Egypt

Amulets can be a huge part of it as well:
Amulets of Ancient Egypt

The underworld texts are in my opinion indispensable, such as Amduat, Pyramid Texts, Coffin texts, Book of Gates. These, IMO, is where the real heka work is at.

1 –

I’ve generated a long list of historically-attested offerings from sources such as temple offering lists, but the gist is that most meats, breads and grains, vegetables, beer and wine, water, honey, milk, spices, aromatic woods, gums and resins – basically most any consumables that the Egyptians had access to over time - appear on that list during some period or another. Even some things that often are cited as unclean occasionally appear on offering lists, as such I’ve pretty much discounted later sources (like Herodotus) entirely when it comes to determining what taboos to be concerned with.


No one really knows what animal is portrayed for Set, though consider it may not be a creature found in physical nature, or it may represent an amalgamation similar to portrayals of Ammit.

I've been reading "Touched by the Light" by Yvonne Kason, MD. It isn't a Baha'i book. It is a very interesting and enlightening read, however. This book is written by a medical doctor that has had five Near Death Experiences herself (NDE). She uses her background as a doctor (among many other accomplishments) to bridge the gap between the material world and the spiritual.

Dr. Kason coined the term "Spiritually Transformative Experience". I've been trying to find out more information about Kundalini for a while now, so I attended the IANDS conference this past month in PA. I had a NDE when I was 3 and I think that this is what has led me to the Baha'i faith. Since then I've been able to activate Kundalini at will but could never find out much about it.

I attended her lecture and had lunch with her. She told me that it was good that I found the Baha'i faith, that I found such a grounding religion. I told probably 40 people at the conference about the Bahai faith. haha Most had heard of it, some had not.

Anyway, I encourage all of you to read it! it is a fascinating read, and surprisingly (perhaps not? haha) much of the book actually seems to have Baha'i or Baha'i-like teachings and guidance. A member of my community recently purchased it as well. If you read it, I'd like to hear your thoughts!

Here is the book if you're interested: https://www.amazon.com/Touched-Light-Spiritually-Transformative-Experiences/dp/1459745515/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=touched+by+the+light&qid=1568692260&sr=8-2

I love what notacop said but to answer your question, this book is a great resource:


https://www.amazon.com/1000-Dreams-Discover-Meanings-Symbols/dp/1780280408


After the brunt of the book I stopped reading because I'm not a fan of universal symbolism, like "a frog means that prosperity is in your future". When maybe a frog FOR ME symbolizes my childhood, because there was one time when I was 7 and me and my best friend bonded over playing with a frog. Totally made that up but hopefully you got the picture. Most of the book listed above will help you get more in tune with what kind of dreamer you are, the eb and flow of your dreams, and how it could possibly pertain to your waking life. The rest I think is added because they felt they needed to include it.

I do. There are some techniques for making it easier. One is to frequently check whether you are awake or asleep during the day. This habit carries over into dreams because it is a habit. You then have a chance to notice you're not in normal reality.... cause, you know, the giant caterpillar or whatever.

Another one is to resolve to look at your hands in a dream and take control of them. Usually we sort of flow along with dreams and don't have conscious control. Having a resolution of sorts that you make while awake can trigger your consciousness in a dream. I think it might also help to get in the habit of checking your hands every so often while awake, and consciously doing some kind of exercise with them. Then when you've resolved to do the same in a dream, you have two things reinforcing the likelihood of realizing you are dreaming.

Mugwort might also be somewhat helpful. You can put the essential oil in a warmer for a while before sleeping. A lot of people use it to make more memorable, vivid dreams, and it can help you wake up in a dream, so to speak, if that's your goal. Not entirely necessary though.

Here is a probably-useful book about people using lucid dreaming without even necessarily being interested in psychic or occult things: https://smile.amazon.com/Committee-Sleep-Scientists-Athletes-Solving/dp/0982869509?smdm-noredirect=true

My next best advice: start keeping a dream journal. And you may be able to learn lucid dreaming, too!

I would think that keeping a dream journal would be what you are looking for. Dreams are surreal, of course. And they often tie into what's going on in your waking life. A good dream is like having a good surrealist story framework. Maybe make tables based on reoccurring motifs and stuff that appear in your dreams.

Maybe a dream interpretation guide could help? Like this: https://www.amazon.com/Dreamers-Dictionary-Stearn-Robinson/dp/0446342963/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1NGSTXJKLM6EV&keywords=dream+interpretation+books&qid=1570603491&sprefix=dream+interpretation%2Caps%2C213&sr=8-4

I think surrealism depends on allusion and metaphor. Probably more towards allusion. And always trying to be bizarre.

Bonus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJKNp7v5FOg

Sleep: A Very Short Introduction is a fun little book that covers a lot of ground.

Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction is a fascinating perspective on dreaming from Hobson, one of the pioneers of that field. It's a little dated now (you should read some newer perspectives, like this article), but still super interesting.

The Sleepwatchers is unique in that it's a combination of facts and autobiographical anecdotes written by one of the early pioneers of sleep research.

If you want to get into the academic side of sleep, then Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine is the book. It's pretty much a comprehensive guide to the history and subfields of sleep medicine and research, from the disorders to the physiology to the psychology. Note that you'll save a bundle of cash and not lose too much by going for an edition that's a few years old, such as this one.

1. This hard copy book because I love this woman's memoirs. I don't know if I've read this one yet, but regardless I want to own it. They're all hilarious. Used is totally fine by the way.
   
   
2. This Kindle book appears to be a memoir by the character Ron Burgundy, and that sounds freaking hilarious to me. I think that's about all I can say about it :)
   
   
3. If I were a book, I hope that I'd be a great one.

This is a good book about developing lucid dreaming as a technique to enhance meditation practice:

https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Yoga-Illuminating-Through-Dreaming-ebook/dp/B01B6ES474/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501347188&sr=8-1&keywords=Dream+Yoga

The author is a long term meditator and lucid dreamer who has collaborated with Stephen La Berge:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_LaBerge

In that particular book he discusses both modern and ancient techniques that are used to develop lucid dreaming. La Berge would be the modern guru so to speak, his books and talks would be a great place to start for general info on lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming has been used as a meditation technique for centuries. In Tibet they call it 'Dream Yoga.' It's a side line interest of mine but fascinating to experiment with. It seems based on the occasional post here and discussions that meditation does increase people's capacity to have lucid dreams anyway.

Edit: corrected link

I would like to learn to interpret dream meanings. I think it would be fascinating. Link I'm good with used. Thanks for the contest :)

> Do we know what causes it? Is it associated with childhood trauma, etc.?

We don't know what exactly causes the condition. This article cites that Dr. Somer (whom I'll mention more about down below) drew a connection with trauma (in a paper he published on MD), since his six-subject cohort had all been sexually abused as children.

> Is any treatment in particular considered optimal?

Therapy. This can help identify the triggers and underlying causes of maladaptive daydreaming. Therapeutic techniques such as cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) may help expose underlying issues. A therapist might also suggest useful coping techniques.

A case study of one individual with maladaptive daydreaming showed that fluvoxamine (commonly used to help treat OCD) was helpful in managing daydreaming. However, there is currently little research to support the use of drug treatments.

> Is there any especially popular book/website/video(s) about it?

This buzzfeed article is centred around the recount of a woman with MD (published October 2017)

While I haven't read it, this book seems to have been received fairly well by those who have

This video by a clinically licensed therapist talks about MD in comparison to Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

> Is there anyone who is generally considered the lead expert in regards to this phenomenon?

Dr. Eli Somer, a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Haifa in Israel, first identified the condition in 2002. He described it as "a disorder where people spend about 60 percent of their waking life in a self-designed imaginary world".

He did an AMA on this subreddit last October

Hope this helped!

I love this woman and need all of her books. Ever.

I'm totally fine with used. This is an awesome contest! If I don't work, I'm spending my labor day reading Stephen King :)

I'll probably come back with a quote, I can't pick one right now.

Try doing "out of body experiences". The trip is way more intense than drugs and perfectly legal. Best part is that you actually remember it. I read this book in a day and was traveling to other galaxies, through time and other dimensions by the next week.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

You may enjoy these books The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, and Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural
Light by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu.

Dream Yoga is a practice that originated in India and has been an integral aspect of Vajrayāna for centuries.

I don't know why you think I would get any money for this. I'm giving money to the project, yes. But the payoff for this is not money in return. Also the book isn't 200 €. If it was, it would be right up there with other good books on the topic. This one for example is maybe a similar collection.

There’s a great book that discusses this topic. https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Traveler-Out-Body-Experiences/dp/0451197607

This is called "Rubber Band Technique", as given in one of these books

Freedom from Maladaptive Daydreaming: Self-Help Strategies for Excessive and Compulsive Fantasizing

Returning to Reality: How to Stop Maladaptive Daydreaming

I hope this method works for you :)

It might not be what you meant, but this is expanded upon a bit in the Very Short Introduction to Dreaming which I can only recommend!

The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche

I would read Waggoner for practical advice and techniques for becoming lucid, what you can do, and how to increase your desired effects. The "Gateway..." book is better, but spends more time on history, research, philosophies, cultural aspects, etc...

I highly recommend this book https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Yoga-Illuminating-Through-Dreaming-ebook/dp/B01B6ES474/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Dream+Yoga&qid=1566065861&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

It's a daily practice, don't give up. Make it your only focus and you will eventually get it right.

Hardcore. Proven. Repeatable. Science.

No, I really don’t know. I think most people who take it seriously likely base it on Freud’s thinking, though that’s just an educated guess.

When I was a kid I was given a book on dreams by Tony Crisp. It’s a fun one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0440237076/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_0440237076

Has it been published in a peer reviewed journal, though? It just sounds like it is going into an edited volume (this one? http://www.amazon.com/Lucid-Dreaming-volumes-Perspectives-Consciousness/dp/1440829470) Edited volumes typically aren't peer reviewed.

When I add a image to the sidebar. The link name

> A book about dreams by a Redditor, for Redditors.

appears above the image. How do I remove the link name without removing the image?

Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche also published a book on dream yoga. Both he and Tenzin Wangyal are of the Dzogchen tradition.

Actually this is a pretty common idea. I haven't quite mastered my dreams enough to try, but I don't see why this couldn't be the case, particularly for artists. Check out The Committee of Sleep. It addresses what you're talking about through case study.

https://www.amazon.com/Dreams-1-2-3-Remember-Interpret-Live/dp/1571747028/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505764546&sr=8-1&keywords=1+2+3+dreams+interpretation

Dream Yoga :)