Electric Dreams

An Excerpt From The Lucid Dream Exchange
Lucy Gillis, Editor

Lucid Dreaming for Precognitive Information

Robert Waggoner


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Waggoner, Robert (2003 August). Lucid Dreaming for Precognitive Information.
(An Excerpt From The Lucid Dream Exchange, Lucy Gillis, Editor.) Electric Dreams 10(8).






Why do people enjoy lucid dreaming? There are probably as many answers to that question as there are lucid dreamers. In LDE 27 we asked readers what it was about lucid dreaming that held their interest. We received numerous responses ranging from practical uses to spiritual questing.

According to our readers, most lucid dreamers enjoy the sense of freedom being lucid brings, the ability to defy the laws of physics, walk through walls, fly, breathe underwater, etc. Some use lucid dreaming to rehearse for waking life events, like giving a speech or practicing a sport. Others enjoy being able to express themselves freely in the dreamstate, safe from the pressures of society, where they can let off steam or speak their minds to those they feel they can't confront in waking life. Still others of a more metaphysical perspective use lucid dreaming to explore their own psyche, to visit past lives, or induce self-healing.

Some dreamers are passive, allowing the dream to unfold around them, while others engage dream characters and manipulate objects, taking a more active role. Some ask their dream characters to explain to them what they represent, as an aid in dream interpretation.

Taking this a step further, some dreamers ask their lucid dream characters or symbols for clairvoyant or precognitive information. This is one of many aspects of lucid dreaming that keeps Robert Waggoner interested in the lucid dream state. In his article, Lucid Dreaming For Precognitive Information, Robert discusses active and ambient lucid precognitive dreams, detailing some wonderful personal examples.

Regardless of your beliefs about dream reality, employing lucid dreams for precognitive clues can be quite interesting and a lot of fun, as Robert shows below. Give it a try. You may surprise yourself!

Lucid Dreaming for Precognitive Information
(c) 2003 Robert Waggoner

In my experience, there seems to be two types of lucid precognitive dreams: active and ambient. Active lucid precognitive dreams are ones in which the lucid dreamer actively engages the dream objects or characters for a precognitive response. By contrast, ambient lucid precognitive dreams are ones in which the lucid dream report contains a precognitive element that was not actively sought by the dreamer (this being more of a mixture of lucid dreaming and standard precognitive dreaming). An example of ambient lucid precognitive dreaming occurred to me in a dream in which I was being chased by gangsters in a car in my old hometown. When I passed 17th and Plum, I turned behind the Vickers gas station and became lucid when I saw a car wash there! In waking physical reality, there was no car wash there - at least at that time. Probably five years later, a car wash was built in that exact same spot. I hadn't lived in that town for 15 years by the time of the dream.

I remember the first time I tried to have a precognitive lucid dream in response to a challenge by Linda Magallon. In the subsequent lucid dream, I was in "like a big stage area for a band and a dance floor. There are instruments all around, a drummer behind his drums, chairs, etc. I think, "What should I do? Should I send energy to disabled people I know?" No, that doesn't interest me. Then I think, Linda Magallon wants people to precognate in dreams. But as I think about it, I can't think of how to precognate! It seems absurd --- How am I supposed to precognate when I am cognating now (in this dream)?" When I woke, a bit upset at this mini-philosophical crisis, it was quickly evident that I needed to project the precognition outward as if from another source like a character or object in the dream."

As far back as 1986, Ed Kellogg, Ph.D. wrote in the Dream Network Bulletin (vol. 4) about developing a Lucid Dream Incubation Technique (LDIT) to seek answers to questions. In a lucid dream, Ed decided that the answer to his important question would appear on a note when he turned over a silver bowl. The answer on the dream note was later confirmed. Ed writes "The essential principle behind this technique involves first finding a medium for the materialization of the answer (such as a bowl, or closed drawer) asking the question, waiting a few seconds, and then reading the materialized answer (after turning over the bowl, or opening the drawer, etc.) I have found it most important to pick an appropriate medium in each dream for the LDIT (response)...."

The following are some of my other attempts at precognition in lucid dreams. As you may notice in these accounts, the precognitive tasks vary in a qualitative sense. Some of the tasks came to me spontaneously in the lucid dream - and in that state, the task seemed a reasonable test. But upon waking, it is easy to see that the tasks could have been much more stringent and meaningful. For lucid dreamers who are interested in testing precognition in lucid dreams, I strongly advise you to compose the precognitive test in the waking state, so that you will have a solid test available to you when you become lucid.

April 20-21 1999 "Talking To My Dead Father" --- Lucid Dream.

"The dream scene is basically like a dark stage. Suddenly I see a golden wood ladder right in front of me, hanging in the air. I can see the polished wood gleaming and the thin lines on the wood. Suddenly I see a foot and then another and look up -- I recognize my dad is coming down the gold ladder. I realize, "Hey, Dad is dead," and think, "Well, then this is a dream." I am a bit surprised by his bad haircut, and grin at the absurdity of not getting a good haircut in the afterdeath state! He looks about 60 years old and very healthy, even though he passed on at 82.

I think that since he's dead, I'll ask him some questions. Then, I can determine if the information is valid. He tells me that he is doing fine. Then, reasoning that the deceased should know about issues around death, I say, "Dad, tell me, when do you think M will die?" He looks at me and says, "Oh, she will probably die in 2 to 6 years." (In my notes, I have written 'heart' but I can't recall if he said she'd have heart problems. To the best of my knowledge, she has never been bothered by heart problems.) I ask him some other questions. He says something like the coming months may be challenging, but that the family can make it. I get the feeling that August will be the most difficult. He also tells me that I need to be more compassionate and understanding of one family member. He has some other advice (but upon awakening, this is all I recall.) I felt very pleased to see him."

As a postscript, I think that about a month later my sister's place in Kansas was hit by a tornado, and sustained about $30,000 in damages, - no one was home at the time.

Almost two years later, M went to the hospital in March 2001, complaining of shortness of breath. It took the doctors a few weeks to diagnose the problem, and they told her she had a heart problem, in which the muscles of the heart begin to thicken and can't keep up with the supply of blood, so the blood backs up into the lungs and creates a shortness of breath. They said her veins and arteries were very healthy, and prescribed medication to help her heart. As of today, she is still alive, and her heart problem is her only serious medical issue (she is 78 years old).

In a lucid dream of Jan. 3-4,00, I had a spontaneous desire to experiment with precognitive lucid dreaming. I wrote: "After a while, I see D, and wonder what should I do in this lucid dream. Recalling some precognitive lucid dreams of D, I step up and ask him, "When I hear from you next, what will be the first words out of your mouth to me?" He looks me square in the face and replies, "Robert, you." I make a note to remember that. Then once again, I have this incredible surge of sound energy within me - like an inner explosion that realigns my cells." (I wake up tingling and a bit shocked.)

Almost five weeks later, the phone rings and my wife answers. She calls out, "Robert, it's D." I recalled the lucid dream and took the phone and said "Hello" while I waited for his response. D replied, "Robert, you are finally there!" - confirming my earlier lucid dream which predicted the first two words "Robert, you".

In a lucid dream a few years ago, I asked two questions of the same person; the questions were, "A year from now, will you be married?" - he responded, "No." Then I asked, "A year from now, where will you be living?" - he responded, "In London." The responses given to both lucid dream questions were correct one year later. At the time of the lucid dream, he had been making plans to move away from London, and had a serious relationship that could have led to marriage, but did not.

While traveling on business, I had another lucid dream in which I again spontaneously made a precognitive dream task. In the lucid dream, I announced that when I picked up the telephone in the dream, I would hear from the most important person to talk to me on the next day. So, lucid, I picked up the phone, and I heard my wife talking to me very happily. I woke up and wrote the dream down (a bit disappointed that I had not thought of a more convincing precognitive task). The next day, as I went to my meetings and traveled, I had basically forgotten about the lucid dream, until that evening, when I called my wife and she announced that she had great news! As I recall, she was being offered some exciting task in her job as a university administrator.

In this next case, I made a waking decision to become lucid and attempt to discover precognitively the numbers of the Pick Three lottery game. This is not a lottery game that I play, and my attempts to find the exact rules of the game (before the dream) failed -- so I basically knew that the game was a selection of three numbers.

May 30-31 5:45 am, "Lucid Lottery" - Lucid Dream

"I am walking along with a radio listening to something. I seem to be on the 17th street sidewalk near my old elementary school. As I go along at night, something seems odd - I realize that this is a dream. I put my hands out in front of me and run down the sidewalk yelling, "This is a dream, this is a dream!" I can see my hands go out of focus after about 5 seconds - and I think that I need to be careful not to lose my visuals.

The stars are very bright and seem to be more numerous than in waking reality. I think about flying up to the stars, but don't think it would amount to anything. I put my hands up again and repeat that this is a dream. I turn right towards my childhood home, when I see a car with headlights on, turning into Mr. Metcalf's garage (different than waking reality). I run over there. The car turns off its headlights.

It occurs to me that I could ask Mr. Metcalf what are the (Pick 3) numbers for the next Iowa lottery, as another lucid dreamer had mentioned as a precognitive test. I couldn't quite recall the name of the lottery game and also the date. As I prepared to ask him the question, I saw a circular thing in my hand - like a watch face only with numbers (actually it was like the Wheel of Fortune on the tv show, in color). I thought, "Is this the answer?" Then my vision seemed to fall on '8'. I looked again feeling uncertain but this time saw no numbers, just the wheel. I looked again and saw an '8'. Then finally I saw a '1'. I thought, "Is it 8-3-1?" I looked again - but the wheel of numbers would change. For some reason, '831' seemed like the number of something familiar (which reminded me of an old lock number on a post office box in college that was circular shaped like this dream wheel of fortune). Mr. Metcalf is now out of his car - but he is about 40 years old (instead of 70 or 80) and so is his wife. I can't get greater lucidity, feel a bit frustrated and decide to wake up."

Comments: When I woke up, I strongly felt that '8' was one of the numbers. I wasn't pleased with how the numbers showed up, one at a time and before I even asked the question formally!! Then I realized that in the dream when I thought the "next lottery", I was also thinking that it would be the weekend lottery (though there is a Weds. drawing and the morning was actually Weds.). So I felt like it was a bit of a busted play, and my lucidity wasn't sufficient. I did enjoy the dream's insertion of Mr. Metcalf, who was an old codger in the neighborhood whose lawn I mowed -- he had the fortune of having found oil on his land, so was quite wealthy even though he lived very modestly, except for his car.

In any case, the weekend numbers were 8-0-8! I didn't even realize that 0 was a choice, having never played the pick three game - but you can see from the dream report that I recall looking at the wheel in the dream and seeing no numbers, which could possibly be considered 0. A liberal interpretation might say that I saw on my first look, '8', on my second look "nothing, but the circular wheel"-which is shaped like a '0',- and on my third look, another '8'. Also, it didn't occur to me prior to the dream and during the dream that the same number could show up twice, 8-0-8, which is why I felt '3' seemed more appropriate. I have to say that I was a bit upset that the numbers showed up before I formally asked the question.

Finally, I have another lucid dream which is a bit more clairvoyant or telepathic, than precognitive. In it, I become lucid, and see a member of a friend's family. I know this person has a rare physical condition, so lucid, I go up and ask, "Why do you have this condition?" He responds, "I have it for (this reason)." This completely shocks me and I wake up to write it down. To make a long story short, I happened to mention this dream to my friend. My friend is very surprised by this lucid dream and tells me that I have uncovered a family secret, and the information provided in the lucid dream is correct.

While I do not intend to presume the validity of lucid dream precognition from these small samples, it is certainly suggestive of the possibility of lucid dream precognition. Other lucid dreamers have reported instances of lucid dream precognition which were later confirmed, according to their self reports. In normal dreaming, there are thousands of reported instances of precognitive dreaming (while in our private dream journals alone, many of us could show hundreds of examples).

The value of lucidity however is that the lucid dreamer can direct the content of the dream towards some specific goal or task, such as a pre-determined precognitive task, under accepted scientific protocol. In standard dreams, however, precognition happens randomly and could not be subject to testing as easily or with high degrees of certainty. Also, standard precognitive dreams often are not evident until after the event takes place or they have symbolic content that is open to interpretation. In the book Dreamtime and Dreamwork edited by Stanley Krippner, Jon Tolaas has an excellent chapter on the common pitfalls of many reported psychic dreams from a scientific standpoint. Nonetheless, I am certain that an experiment could be structured and conducted to determine the validity of lucid precognitive dreaming.

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