Wilmington psychic offers advice on navigating dreams in new book

No wonder so many of us feel tired in the morning. According to author Samantha Fey, your dreams are a very busy place, and a lot more may be going on than you think.

Fey, a Reiki master, podcaster and former StarNews contributor, argues in "The Awake Dreamer: A Guide to Lucid Dreaming, Astral Travel and Mastering the Dreamscape" that our souls can travel the universe and venture into other dimensions, even Heaven, in a dream state.

Not everyone agrees. Most psychologists and medical researchers now think dreaming has more to do with what's called "memory consolidation" and the regulation of moods.

Fey agrees that a lot of dreams are like this, but she thinks others are more complicated. Spirits can send us messages or premonitions. Dead loved ones and friends, and even deceased pets, can visit us from the other side.

The process is easier for those who are naturally "intuitive," which according to Fey seems to be like a talent for music. Some of us have it, some of us don't, and some are more talented than others.

Moreover, these talents for navigating the world of dreams can be developed, she says.

Beliefs about dreams as messages go far back. In the Bible, Joseph and Daniel interpreted dreams for their bosses; in the New Testament, the Three Wise Men were warned not to go back to King Herod after visiting the Babe in Bethlehem. (Fey misspells his name as "Harrod.")

In the 1700s, the Swedish scientist-mystic Emmanuel Swedenborg described dream-visits to Heaven and Hell, bringing back messages from the other side. (Swedenborg had many followers in early America, including John Chapman, better known to history and folklore as "Johnny Appleseed.")

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In the 20th century, Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung described a "collective unconscious" of humanity, which is sort of like The Cloud without an Internet. Individuals can plug into it, Jung said, through dreams and other means.

Through dozens of stories, Fey recounts individuals' encounters in dreams that had an impact on the waking world. (She retells the tale of Samuel Jocelyn of Wilmington, who haunted a friend's dreams to say he'd been buried alive behind St. James Church. Sure enough ...)

Eventually, Fey claims, intuitives can − through guided meditation and exercise − enter states of "lucid dreaming" when they are aware of their dreams, can interact with them and even enter a dream state while awake.

In one sense, "The Awake Dreamer" will bring many readers together. Evangelical Christians and agnostic rationalists will agree that it's a lot of bull.

Raised Catholic, Fey thinks her beliefs are not inconsistent with faith in Jesus and traditional Christian views of the Next Life. She does not, however, believe in eternal damnation. Fey believes in a hell, but holds that souls go there only when warped by hate or anger, and that they might be released. (Her images of Heaven are rather unique. Souls can go to college and have jobs if they like, and marriages need not be eternal.)

As for ghosts, Fey reveals that it's rather like a certain Patrick Swayze movie: Souls do not move on if they have unfinished business or if they're afraid, for some reason, of moving toward The Light.

If readers think there's something to Ouija boards, astrology and crystals, "The Awake Dreamer" may chart a path. (Fey recommends such steps as keeping a dream journal and guided meditation exercises.) For others, her case histories will add up to an occasionally entertaining ghost story.

BOOK REVIEW

'THE AWAKE DREAMER: A Guide to Lucid Dreaming, Astral Travel and Mastering the Dreamscape'

By Samantha Fey

Hampton Roads Publishing, $18.95 paperback

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wilmington psychic offers advice on navigating dream world in book