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Guides and Guardians of the Dream

ream characters can be as dynamic as the dreams themselves. Often, these dream characters can be broken into a few groups.

MINDLESS

This type of dream character seems to be preprogrammed to do particular tasks but when asked questions often has nothing to contribute to the dreamer. These characters are easily tricked and typically have little insight into the dream world, often having the sense that they believe they are not a product of a dream but are living and awake. Here are two examples of mindless dream characters from my own dreams:

Dream 1: I am at a college in Boise and notice that I am dreaming. Knowing I am lucid, I decide to go find people and ask them questions. I find a large church and go inside. Inside are a number of people all doing homework. I ask them what they are doing, and they reply, “Doing homework.” They have no other answer and no description of the homework they are doing.

Dream 2: I become lucid in a building. I see several people around me and ask them if they want to see a magic trick. They say, “Sure.” I say I could make a million dollars appear with the word abracadabra. I say, “Abracadabra!” and then nothing happens. The dream characters express how lame the trick was, but I ask them to wait a moment. Soon enough a woman walks down the stairs with a suitcase, opens it, and inside is a million dollars. The dream characters ask how I did it, and I reply, “It’s magic.”

INTELLIGENT

These insightful dream characters can answer complex questions that the dreamer may not know the answer to. They also know things that the dreamer may not know about the dream world or reality. For example:

I become fully lucid in a dream state. I go to my front door and walk through it. I meet an older woman who tells me her name is Jabooty (whom I later identify as a feminine aspect of my psyche). I ask her if I have known her before, and she says yes. I ask her what I should do with my life, and she says that what we should all do with our lives is quite simple: we should enjoy it and take care of it. She says she has to go because she is playing games with some kids.

Another dream of mine features a different manifestation of this kind of dream character:

I am at work and notice that my hair is standing on end as though I am under water, and then become aware that I am dreaming. I look around the building for a panda because I had intended to find a panda before I fell asleep. I find the panda, but it is a person with dark eyes and dark ears. I laugh at the idea, and he laughs, too. I ask him about the reality of dreams, and he tells me that dreams are real and not real at the same time. He says that dreams are a way for our subconscious mind to communicate with other people’s subconscious and dreams are a visual representation of that. I find it interesting and continue on my dream.

GUARDIANS

The last type of lucid dream characters we’ll discuss here are what I call guardians. Carl Jung would call these unconscious complexes—or archetypes, depending on the imagery experienced. Other dream experts, such as Ryan Hurd, call them visitors. These dream characters often offer strong emotional lessons to the dreamer and appear as monsters or as intense feelings—from dread to elation. They often present as independent dream characters during sleep paralysis, during a lucid dream that the dreamer is actively trying to control, or during out-of-body experiences. It is theorized that guardians can be generated by the individual psyche or by the universal collective consciousness, known as the objective psyche.

Interestingly, dreamers across cultures and identities report similar sensory experiences that signal a guardian. There does seem to be a universal quality to this type of dream character and the way the brain and psyche process it. Dreamers typically hear the sound of bells, screeching metal, or the shuffling of feet across the floor just before a guardian is seen.

Many common monsters appear in guardian encounters as well. Succubi, vampires, crones, witches, and warlocks all show up in our nightmares (a term, by the way, derived from the word mære, which means incubus, evil spirits believed to harm sleepers).

We have to ask: If these characters are often so scary, why call them guardians? As possible manifestations or projections of emotions we perceive as negative (and likely suppress), guardians show us a part of ourselves that we need to see. They are like reflections in a mirror trying to guide us in directions that will ultimately help us in our waking life. Often, when lucid dreamers accept these characters and their messages, they feel better about themselves and rarely have the same guardian encounter again.

What to Do If a Guardian Appears in a Dream

Keep in mind that the kind of healing and growth that can be accessed through guardians depends on a strong and prepared ego. If the ego of the lucid dreamer is not ready to consciously encounter archetypal imagery, it can do more harm than good. That is why it is important to practice lucid dreaming as part of a holistic approach that keeps us grounded and aware in waking life. Having a strong relationship with self-development also helps to process emotionally troubling dreams before continuing with further lucid dreaming.

I notice a shadowlike figure in my room. I run at the figure to try to scare it or destroy it. After several attempts, the figure dissolves. I walk down the hall. I become aware that I want to face my fears and accept the shadowy figure. I think about seeing that guardian, and it appears. I am afraid, but I walk up to the character and ask what it wants. “I’m unsatisfied,” it says. “Why? About what?” I ask. It says it doesn’t know. I then see another guardian character walking toward us. We all sit down; I mold them into each other like clay, and they disappear.

Guardians appear in innumerable forms—they may be scary or aggressive—and what they do and ask of us in dreams is just as diverse; some guardians can present complex strategies or puzzles. However they behave and whatever they offer, the dreamer’s role is to listen with an open heart. Try to identify the guardian’s message, respond to the guardian in the dream, understand the consequences of acting on the guardian’s message, and integrate that message into your life. Talking with a counselor or depth psychologist about guardian encounters can help in processing the complex messages that guardians sometimes bring.