Lucid Dreaming: The Paradox of Consciousness During Sleep

Lucid dreams are dreams in which a person becomes aware that he or she is dreaming. They are different from ordinary dreams, not just because of the dreamer's awareness, but because lucid dreams are often strikingly realistic and may be emotionally charged to the point of elation. Celia Green and Charles McCreery have written a unique introduction to lucid dreams that will appeal to the specialist and general reader alike. The authors explore the experience of lucid dreaming, relate it to other experiences such as out-of-body experiences (to which they see it as closely related) and apparitions, and look at how lucid dreams can be induced and controlled. They explore their use for therapeutic purposes such as counteracting nightmares. Throughout, there are many case histories to illustrate the text.