Hypnagogic And Hypnopompic States

With practice, the states between waking and sleeping (or indeed sleeping and waking) can also be a time when wishes and desires can be given substance and brought into reality in a particularly magical way. Briefly, the hypnagogic state is one which occurs between waking and sleeping, whilst the hypnopompic occurs between sleeping and waking. The best explanation of these two states comes from the realms of Spiritualism. The Astral Planes are those levels of awareness where the various thought-forms which have occurred are stored, and in the hypnagogic and hypnopompic states the mind has some access to those realms, without actually seeing spirit form. Herbert Silberer sought to fuse contemporary ideas with mystical thought processes using the 'in-between states'. This is part of the process of the spiritual 'transmutation of the soul'found in most of the mystical traditions of the world. His book, Problems OfMysticism And Its Symbolism, becomes a work of mysticism in its own right and is no longer a purely scientific work or psychological study. While dream interpretation itself does not necessarily require an understanding of the 'hypno'states or vice versa, we can often use dream images and the hypno states to enhance our spiritual workings. The half-and-half awareness of consciousness and the semi-dream state that we have within the hypnagogic state gives us an opportunity to follow a line of thought which can clear away problems in an almost magical way. Learning to use incantations, blessings or prayers as well as colour and symbolism in this state can be highly productive. One such mantra might be:"May the good I have done remain, May the wrongs I have done be washed away."During the hypnogogic state, the mind is in idling mode when a review of the day can lead to insights about our behaviour or beliefs in surprising ways. By using this pre-sleep state to 'download'each day's material, the mind can then bring forward deeper and more meaningful images in dreams, the understanding of which eventually allow us to take more control of our lives. We learn to dream spiritually and creatively rather than simply using dreaming as a dumping ground. We then start the next day with a clean slate and can use the hypnopompic state to bring order to the coming day. This can be an exciting time, and can open up all sorts of possibilities, such as the exploration of telepathy, ESP (Extra Sensory Perception), healing and so on. It is our choice which route of exploration we wish to undertake. By their very nature, flashes of ESP are symbolic and indistinct and take on a hallucinatory quality. When they occur spontaneously in the 'hypno' states, they are more readily accepted as valid and open to interpretation in the same way as dream images. By becoming more practised at working in that state, we become more able to use the magically spiritual and psychic senses if we so wish. We are able to make use of a far more creative input than our 'normal'awareness.

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