Sweet Dreams
The Twilight World of
Crystals After Hours
Most people need at least seven hours of sleep every night. That means that someone who lives to be seventy-seven—the average life span in the United States—will have spent more than twenty-two years asleep.
That time isn’t wasted—much of it is spent in dreams, where we can live parallel lives and experience wonders we could never imagine during our waking hours.
Psychologists are often fascinated by dreams. Sigmund Freud once theorized that dreams were the royal road to the unconscious mind, where each of us could excavate the unresolved conflicts of our lives. Carl Jung believed that dreams allow us to tap into the collective unconscious, a psychic reservoir of shared experiences and archetypal imagery. Fritz Perls, the father of Gestalt therapy, theorized that everything in a dream is actually a reflection of the dreamer, and that understanding dream symbols could lead to a healthier, more integrated life.
Dreams can also be a wellspring of inspiration, ideas, messages, and signs—and you can use crystals to pave the royal road to your unconscious mind.
Sweet dreams. If you simply want to generate good dreams for yourself or a loved one, put a small blue stone under your pillow or a larger blue crystal under your bed. Use crystals that reflect the colors of night and the midnight sky. Try sodalite, for the look of clean white clouds under a full moon; lapis lazuli, which looks like fireworks in an evening sky; or black onyx, for the midnight depths of another world.
Lucid dreams. For lucid dreams, in which you are aware of the fact that you’re dreaming and you control the course
of events in your dreams, tape a crystal to your third-eye chakra in the middle of your forehead. Try, if you can, to be aware of that crystal even as you sleep, to remind you to take control and make decisions in your dreams.
Dream recall. If you want to remember your dreams, program a crystal to record your impressions and experiences, and keep it on your nightstand. You will have even better luck remembering your dreams if you use that crystal in conjunction with a written record of your dreams.
Before you go to bed, open your crystals journal and write, “Tonight, I will dream, and I will remember my dreams.” Leave the pen handy, so you can write down your recollections as soon as you wake up from a dream, before you come to complete consciousness.
Also, make sure there is a low-watt bulb in your bedside lamp, so that you won’t have to get out of bed to turn on a light, and so that the light won’t be so bright that it shocks you into full alertness.
Bad dreams. If you are troubled by bad dreams or nightmares, create a grid of crystals around your bed to catch and entrap any negative images. Stones with naturally occurring holes are also said to help prevent nightmares.
Crystal dream pillows. Years ago, women created scented dream pillows for every member of the family, designed to lull them to sleep with the sweet scent of flower petals and essential oils. Add a few tiny crystals to your handcrafted dream pillows, and you are practically guaranteed a pleasant journey into the land of Nod.
Dream pillows are easy enough for children to make. The seams don’t need to be perfectly straight—dream pillows are designed to be charming, after all, in the truest sense of the word. You also don’t have to worry about making them perfectly smooth or perfectly plump; they are intended to supplement your regular pillow, not to replace it.
To make a dream pillow, find two pieces of soft fabric, six to twelve inches square. Pin the two pieces together, inside out. Sew the fabric together on three sides, but leave one side open so you can add stuffing. Remove the pins and turn the pillow right side out, so the seams are on the inside. Fill it with stuffing, but leave a little nest in the center for your herb and crystal insert. (If you are really pressed for time, you can also use a ready-made pillow from a store, and simply open the seam enough to insert your herbs and crystals.)
For the insert, use a piece of mesh or muslin fabric. Lay the mesh or muslin flat, and create a little mound of rose petals, lavender buds, calendula, or chamomile. You can also add mugwort, cinnamon, or marjoram spices, if you like. Activate the dried herbs with a few drops of soothing essential oil—lavender, peppermint, rose, or eucalyptus oil are all good choices. Then add one, two, or three very small, very smooth tumbled stones or crystals of your choice. Tie the insert closed with a piece of ribbon, and tuck it into the nest in the center of the pillow. Add a little more stuffing—but don’t pack it too tightly, because air needs to circulate through the pillow in order for scent to be released.
Periodically, you can open your pillow and add a few more drops of essential oil to reinvigorate the scent.
Sweet dreams!