Soul Flights, Dreams and the Kabbalah....
Okay, this is going to sound like a totally whacky post to some of you but I'm going to write it anyway. I was thinking about those rare dreams in which I can fly. They are the most beautiful dreams to have, always lucid, that is to say I am conscious and aware in the dream of being able to control what is going on and how the dream will play out. When I find myself in such a dream, I can just take off at will, and then use a kind of propelling motion to travel above the trees and look down at the ground. Often I am flying over streets full of people who don't seem to be able to fly. It is a wonderful feeling of freedom. I can remember having the flying dreams since childhood when I think I had many more of them. These days I have few but when they happen it is very enjoyable. So I was wondering what they meant, what they are. Whether they have a deep psychological meaning, (perhaps, as the dream dictionaries will tell you, they speak of my need to take more chances in my waking life), or whether they allude to something else. And my instinct tells me that they are a kind of a memory, or more probably an 'echo' of somewhere else I have been, or will go. When I am flying in a dream, it seems that I can go anywhere at all, given time, but time itself is the problem.....I always wake up before I have travelled very far. They don't feel like dreams, they don't compare to the other dreams I have which are a much less tangible and sensory experience. So I've come to the possible and controversial conclusion that when I have one of these 'dreams', my soul is actually leaving my physical body. It's a well known theory often referred to as 'astral travel' or 'astral projection' which sounds like something from a science fiction comic strip but which is actually a phenomenon documented in cultures as widely separated as the ancient Egyptians and the Inuit. And many in between. So it isn't just a 'new age' notion or a fashionable invention, it's a known 'thing'. And if the tag 'astral projection' smacks of something a little 'out there' (which of course it literally could be in fact) then I prefer to use the term that some use for this journeying outside the body, 'soul travel'. I was keen, being Jewish, to know whether this soul travel is recognised in Judaism. I was pleased to find that it is, but it's a confusing picture. To actively pursue the pratcise is forbidden it seems, but the idea of the soul existing separately from the body (referred to as Neshama) is acknowledged. So I would say that a lucid 'dream', one that occurs without the conscious intention of the dreamer and ends up in soul travel, must be some kind of natural state surely? And if it is natural and involuntary then how can it be forbidden? Some Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) scholars warn that astral projection (as they refer to it) is 'irrelevant or a trap' and yet it doesn't seem to conflict with the idea of a soul apart from the body. I suppose the difference might be in actually consciously setting out to experience the separation. And I've also heard to the contrary, that soul flight is a reward reserved only for those who have studied Kabbalah and reached a higher spiritual awareness, only then can they can engage in flights of the soul. But still there is confusion because I am also told that in the Zohar (the major work of Jewish mysticism) it says that fifty nine of the sixty parts of our soul leave the body during sleep, so that only one part remains to sustain us physically. It doesn't say that these statistics are exclusive to those who have studied but suggests that it applies to us all. That's quite an exciting - and scary - thought especially when there are some who maintain that while the soul is outside the body, demons can enter.... But that's folklore, isn't it? If one accepts that soul travel is a real state of being then it raises many more questions than answers. But regardless, I find the concept quite comforting. The very thought of being able to take off and go anywhere without the limitations of the physical body is incredibly liberating – and opens the mind to the idea that anything is possible and that the possibilities are endless. That's why I love having flying dreams. Not only do they feel amazing and freeing, they also open me up to fresh ideas, experiences and thoughts. And that might be because during the dream I have been somewhere else, a place where time doesn't exist and where freedom is the natural state of being. Maybe one day I'll find myself there and decide to stay....
13 Comments
Marie Rumi
24/9/2017 11:32:35 pm
Hi
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25/9/2017 05:53:43 pm
Hi Marie,
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Marie Rumi
25/9/2017 06:07:44 pm
Hello 26/4/2020 10:37:26 am
This what I see I have dreaming of flying without wings even when people don't do, it feels so amazing and some times I wake up with little pain on my arm due to the night flight how can I project this for my positive use? Please I need help [email protected] tell me what you can
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Brian
26/11/2020 04:00:25 am
I dreamt of flying in front of all my friends who doubted me. And I also jumped up being able to travel underwater for extended periods of time.
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Aurelian B.
13/11/2019 10:38:53 am
שלום ג'ייסון
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Jerry
9/4/2020 11:25:55 am
Just had same dream as you a moment ago. It's not the first time,I had more of it as a child, though as a child it was a bit more complex like it was a war zone. I have more control over taking off and landing compared to before. I got a bit worried about it and that's how I got here.
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Adrian Faramarzpour
13/4/2020 02:52:13 am
hi my. Name is adriana oh my God mr.jason excuse my English I'm crying my eyes out ur story is exactly like mine I beeb to tjpusend
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13/4/2020 02:57:26 am
check this out I thought it would.bd interesting
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Den
9/8/2020 04:40:14 am
Hi i have several dreams over the years where i fly in my dreams, the setting is night time above my city, i inhale air to rise higher, i exhale to go lower, to go faster i focus my eyes, i have gotten really greedy in the past and have risen to abov atmosphere see the planet, the planet looks like a machine, i went higher and higher and ive ended up in a place above everything ive ever, it was pitch black, not a sound, absolute silence, you dont feel anyone around, it felt like a place where consciousness is completely pitch black and no longer seems like the physical dimension but a complete quiet silent and calming peaceful place where nothing happens
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Prince
31/10/2020 06:51:50 am
Please sir, ma i fly something in my dreams i want to know the significance and how i can use it for my advantage
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Feraya Ullathorne
5/12/2020 12:16:59 pm
Thank you, Jason, your article is very interesting. I have also had similar experiences. I've also travelled to different dimensions, to somewhere with beautiful tall white temples with fountains where I saw angelic beings in white enjoying themselves in a sparkling pool. Also to the Himalayan mountains, and to an ancient temple where I met my ancestors who had passed on. I've felt spiritually nourished after my travels.
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wayne
18/9/2021 01:47:36 am
Hi there im a christian i had flying dreams as a child i would run hold my arms out and take off , 50 years later the dreams are back im over the ocean im flying over seeing people below me i wake up in the morning feeling amazing and want to go back to dreaming again , i believe its spiritual its my connection to GOD
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