CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

NATURAL REMEDIES FOR DREAMING

In chapter 3, we explored natural remedies that could support relaxation and engender slumber. Let’s now review those — including flower essences and crystals — that may help us further connect to our dreams. In this chapter, you’ll also learn all about herbal dream pillows, including how to make your own.

Flower Essences

There are numerous ways in which flower essences can help to inspire our dreamwork. (For more on how to use flower essences, see here.)

Angelica

Angelica helps us to feel wrapped in protection in the liminal space of our dreams, more open to the spiritual guidance that can come forth. And with that, it may inspire a deeper experience of connection, attunement, and remembrance within our oneiric visions.

Cosmos

There are times when we can “see” our dreams upon waking, but it’s hard to access them in a way that allows us to communicate them in words. Cosmos flower essence helps to bridge the third-eye and throat chakras, which may assist us in giving voice to our dreams and documenting them more readily.

Iris

If your dreams feel lifeless and less than animated, consider Iris flower essence. It is thought to add color, both literally and figuratively, to our visions, helping us to rekindle the creative inspiration that dreams can offer us.

Morning Glory

If you wake up with a dulled and drowsy feeling, as if part of you hasn’t returned from your dreamscape, Morning Glory may be a great flower essence to use. It can help us ground back in our bodies and be more in sync with rhythms of light and dark, awake and sleep.

Mugwort

Mugwort is a plant traditionally associated with dreaming. In its flower essence form, it’s said to stimulate the psyche’s receptive capacity for awareness during our oneiric journeys. Additionally, it may help us to be better able to bridge awareness between dreams and waking life, enhancing the integrated weaving of insights experienced in each into the other.

Shasta Daisy

Sometimes we can understand parts of our dream, but we’re unclear as to how they all weave together. To help forge a clearer vision as to the broader meaning of a dream and how all the pieces may thread together as a whole, try Shasta Daisy flower essence.

St. John’s Wort

St. John’s Wort was traditionally heralded as the flower of protection. In its essence form, it’s thought to offer protection to those who are psychically sensitive and feel undefended in their dreams. Therefore, it may be a helpful remedy for people who experience nightmares.

Star Tulip

Star Tulip is a wonderful essence to help augment inner listening and receptivity. That makes it great for use in activities, such as dreaming, in which we want assistance tuning in to the awareness that’s streaming forth from the depths of our minds.

Crystals

Many people like to incorporate crystals and gemstones into their self-care regimens, including using them for enhancing sleep and dreams. They are so beautiful that even those who don’t accord them with wisdom significance find that there’s something so alluring about them: the way they capture and reflect light, the dance of colors in which they are imbued, and the energy — sometimes subtle and sometimes powerful — that they emit. And that’s not even considering the awe that arises when you stop to think how they are the result of thousands and thousands of years of geological transformation, fostering a feeling of connection to the Earth and a sense of timelessness.

And while some think of them as a new-age fad, the power accorded to them cuts across time and culture. It’s been noted that the ancient Egyptians buried their dead with crystals, as they were thought to protect them in their journey to the afterlife. It’s said that the first-century CE Roman general Plautius instructed his soldiers to cover themselves with hematite, found in the soil upon which they were fighting; it was thought that doing so would bestow upon them protection from Mars, the god of war, during the battles in which they were engaged. And let’s not forget that in the Vedas, the classic Indian texts, there includes numerous mentions of the remedial effects of gemstones. Additionally, modern-day discoveries have found that some gemstones carry important properties. For example, certain quartz crystals have piezoelectricity, generating electrical potential when mechanical stress is applied to them.

CHOOSING DREAMWORK CRYSTALS

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of different types of crystals and gemstones; how do you choose which ones to weave into your dreamwork? Here are three different approaches that you can use.

1. Crystal Nature

The first approach is to explore crystals that have been noted to have properties that benefit different aspects of dreamwork. These include:

▪ Enhance Dream Recall: Celestite, Kyanite

▪ Encourage Lucid Dreaming: Danburite, Pink Moonstone

▪ Foster Understanding of a Dream’s Meaning: Amethyst, Selenite

▪ Promote Dreams of Insight: Jade, Moonstone

▪ Help Protect Against Nightmares: Pink Calcite, Smoky Quartz

Working with Crystals

There are numerous ways that you can work with crystals to inspire your dreams. Some ideas include:

▪ Use them as a talisman, placing them under your pillow, on your nightstand, or on your dream altar. Just knowing that your intentionally chosen gemstones are within view may help amplify your dream connection.

▪ Lay out gemstones in a crystal grid to give more power to your dream intentions. You can find details on how to do this in books and online.

▪ Crystal-grid your bedroom. For example, you could place a special crystal in each corner of the room. After doing so, use a wand-shaped crystal to connect the energetic matrix. Doing this could both amplify the energy of your bedroom sanctuary and make it feel more like a protected space.

▪ As you incorporate crystals into your dreamwork practice, tune in to see what, if any, shifts emerge over the coming week or so. Do certain colors appear in your dreams? Specific themes? Particular feeling tones? Note this in your dream journal so that you can assess the effects of this practice.

2. Crystal Themes

In the second method, you choose crystals that are focused upon the themes that you’re finding yourself to be working through in your dreams. While a crystal dictionary can help you find those supportive of an array of aims, here are a few examples to consider.

▪ Bolstered Self-Esteem: Citrine, Chrysoberyl

▪ Enhanced Creativity: Carnelian, Turquoise

▪ Greater Self-Love and Compassion: Rose Quartz, Rhodochrosite

▪ Healing from Addictions: Amethyst, Iolite

▪ Working Through Relationship Challenges: Dioptase, Lapis Lazuli

Crystals and Dream Incubation

Here are two ways to work with crystals and the dream-incubation practice that we explored in chapter 11. One simple way is to just hold your gemstone in your hand as you focus in on your incubation intention. Before you drift off to sleep, place it under your pillow, or on your nightstand. As you wake up, once again hold your crystal in your hand and see if it helps you further remember what came forth in your dream. Another technique is to have your crystal grid be focused upon your dream-incubation intention. Write down your intention on a piece of paper, fold it, and place that in the center of your crystal mandala. Design your grid around your intention, choosing a layout shape (i.e., spiral, infinity loop, etc.) that resonates with you, placing crystals in the various spots. Finally, place a center crystal on top of your written intention. Using a crystal wand, trace all of the crystals to unite them vibrationally. As you go to sleep, focus upon what insights you want your dream to reveal, holding the image of your crystal grid in your mind’s eye.

3. Crystal Curiosity

The third way to decide upon crystals to use in dreamwork is to be led by your intentional curiosity. Visit a gemstone store and see which ones call to you. Focus upon the benefit that you’d like the crystal to provide, whether that’s helping you better remember your dreams, access more lucidity, feel more protected should you have a nightmare, or any of your other oneiric aims. Based upon this, see which ones you are magnetized toward.

Herbal Dream Pillows

As we saw in chapter 3, teas made from herbs have slumber-inspiring properties. Another way that you can use herbs and botanicals to support your sleep and dreams is by making a dream pillow. Also referred to as comfort pillows or dreamtime pillows, they have been used for centuries as part of nighttime rituals. One of the first recipes for dream pillows was included in the 1606 book Ram’s Little Dodeon: A Brief Epitome of the New Herbal, or History of Plants by William Ram. It featured rose petals combined with mint powder and clove powder. Both King George III and Abraham Lincoln are said to be among those who used a pillow filled with hops to help them sleep.

How may they work? Fragrances connect to the brain’s limbic system and help encourage different feeling states, including pacificity and relaxation. As such, the subtle scents emitted from a dream sachet tucked underneath your pillow, or placed on your nightstand, can help lull you to sleep and to dream. Their effects, though, may not cease once slumber falls upon you. After all, our brains are thought to process smells when we sleep, with researchers suggesting that fragrance experienced while dozing may impact the emotional currents of our dreams.

While premade dream pillows are available, it’s also easy to make your own. It could be a fun and creative project to do solo or with friends or family. Also consider it as another DIY activity that you could do with your children or grandchildren if you’re looking for an additional way to help them forge a connection with their dreams. (See the next page for tips on making your own herbal dream pillow.)

How to Make a Dream Pillow

A dream pillow consists of two parts: the covering, and the herbs that will fill it.

The Covering

You could go a very simple route and choose to use premade small cotton muslin bags with drawstrings. The advantage to this approach is that it cuts down on preparation time. The drawback is that it may not be as pretty and personalized. Or you could make your own pillow covering. To do so:

1 Buy natural fiber fabric such as cotton, linen, or silk. Wash it before creating your pillow covering so that any dyes or odors can be released.

2 Determine the size you want your finished pillow to be and cut it about ¾ to 1 inch (2 to 2.5 cm) bigger on all sides to allow for sewn seams. Some people prefer square ones while others like them rectangular. The only real confine you have is that it fits neatly under your pillow. If you like more fragrance, then use a larger size; if you’d rather it be subtler, opt for a smaller one.

3 Fold your fabric with the right sides facing each other. Sew it on the two sides perpendicular to the fold, as well as one-quarter of the way in on either side on the part that opposes the fold. Just make sure you leave enough room to put the herbs and flowers in.

4 Turn the pillowcase through the opening so that it is right side out.

5 Fill it with the herbs and flowers of your choice; you can either put them in loose or place them in a smaller muslin bag, and then fill the rest of the pillow with stuffing material.

6 Stitch up the opening. You can either do the whole project with a sewing machine or sew it by hand. If you’d rather not sew, you can always use seam tape, which just needs to be ironed to create closure.

The Herbs

There are numerous dried herbs and flowers you can use to fill your dream pillow. While the following are some of those traditionally used, if you have a favorite whose scent brings you joy, don’t hesitate to include it. Just remember to briefly rub the dream pillow when you get into bed, as this will help to release its natural fragrances.

Lavender| With its sweetly floral scent, lavender is one of the premier flowers associated with calm and relaxation. Research has found that it helps increase levels of melatonin, the hormone necessary for good sleep. It also seems to have memory-boosting qualities, with one study suggesting that one of its chief constituents (linalool) could reduce the cognitive impairment that occurs with REM deprivation.

Mugwort| The Greek goddess Artemis, from which mugwort gets its botanical name (Artemisia douglasiana), was a Moon deity. When we remember that the Moon, archetypally, is associated with sleep and dreams, it’s no coincidence that this is one of the herbs prized by a multitude of societies for its ability to herald vivid and prophetic dreams. Many native tribes, including the Paiute and Chumash (the latter who refer to mugwort as “dream sage”), use it to promote sacred dreaming.

Rose Petals| Take inspiration from Ram’s Little Dodeon and include rose petals in your dream sachet (see here). The fragrance of rose is thought to be calming and reduce anxiety. Plus, it infuses one with a sense of romanticism and love, thoughts of which are lovely to fall asleep to, and which may inspire heart-opening dreamscapes.

Rosemary| Greek scholars wore wreathes of rosemary to abet their studying, as it was prized for aiding concentration and fortifying memory, qualities supported by many research studies. And while it brightens the mind, it does so while promoting relaxation. This makes it a great fragrance for not only galvanizing dreams, but also helping you remember them in the morning.

Yarrow| Yarrow flowers, with their fresh and herbaceous scent, can make a beautiful addition to a dream sachet. One of yarrow’s reputed properties — its ability to energetically create a sheath of protection — is a plus for those who want to feel shielded during sleep. Plus, yarrow may also bring visions of love; in times past, young women would place yarrow beneath their pillow and say a little prayer in hopes of meeting their future husband in their dream.

Others| Hops are among the most traditionally used herbs for promoting sleep. Roman chamomile is relaxing and thought to protect against nightmares in folk medicine. Lemon balm is known for its calming properties. Orris root is added to dream pillows to extend the fragrance of the other flowers and herbs.