In a lucid dream, you're aware that you're dreaming...so you can transform your dreams into fabulous adventures. From flying to traveling through time to visiting loved ones in spirit form, this book makes it easy for you to experience anything you wish. Popular author Mark McElroy presents a simple and effective 90-day plan for achieving lucid dreams. Along with step-by-step instructions and practical tips, Mark shares entertaining and enlightening stories from other lucid dreamers. Once you've mastered self-awareness while sleeping, you can use lucid dreaming to: Live your fantasies - Improve health and wellness - Discover past lives - Consult dream guides - Enhance your spirituality - Solve real-life problems - Explore alternate realities After purchasing his first Tarot deck in 1973, Mark McElroy began terrorizing other neighborhood nine-year-olds with dire and dramatic predictions.Today, he calls Tarot "the ultimate visual brainstorming tool," and shares techniques designed to help others ask better questions, see more options, and achieve their goals. He is the author of Putting the Tarot to Work, Taking the Tarot to Heart, What's in the Cards for You?, and the new I Ching for Beginners (all Llewellyn). He is also the author of The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Tarot (Que). Mark holds a B.A. and M.A. in creative writing and composition from the Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has more than two decades of experience as a public speaker and corporate trainer. He has written, produced, and hosted classroom, video, and online training for some of America's biggest companies, including SkyTel, MCI, Office Depot, Staples, and many others. Today, he works as a writer, voice actor, and creativity consultant; samples of his work are available at www.hiremark.com and www.tarottools.com. Mark lives and writes in Mississippi, where he shares a home with his partner, Clyde, and two cats, Tiger and Lilly. one Introducing the Lucid Dream In this chapter, you'll discover: What lucid dreams are, and what having a lucid dream is like How dream cues can help you recognize that you're dreaming How you may already have more control over dreams than you realize The real-world benefits of lucid dreaming Are You Asleep? Right now, at this very moment, are you awake . . . or dreaming? "What a silly question," you say. "I'm reading this book! Of course I'm awake!" Okay, you're awake. For a moment, though, let's pretend you're asleep. Do whatever you have to do to embrace this idea. Tell yourself firmly: "I'm asleep. This is a dream. I am not reading Lucid Dreaming for Beginners. I am dreaming of reading Lucid Dreaming for Beginners." Testing Your Reality Now that we've established that you're dreaming, take a good look around. If you're at home, look at the furniture, the knickknacks, the books, the clock on the wall. Is everything where you left it? Do any items seem out of place? Is there a long-lost toy from your childhood in the corner? Has the room changed color, size, or shape? As you strive to see this familiar place with new eyes, pretend you're being tested. One item in your room is wrong: out of context, out of time, out of place. Can you spot it? If you're away from home, explore the setting you find yourself in. What sounds do you hear? Are all of them appropriate? Look at the people around you. Are they all strangers? Do any of them seem oddly familiar? Are they dressed as you would expect? And what about the world around you? Do any features strike you as unusual? Do clocks and watches possess the faces, hands, or numerals you would expect? Check lettered signs: on restroom doors, above restaurants, at street corners. Read them twice. Do they say the same thing both times? And what about the text of this book? Does the paragraph above say what it said a second ago? Look and see, just to make sure. For that matter, does the text of this paragraph make sense, saying what you expect it to say, or does it garrulous concept ratchet clone, a meal in gusset hammer? Grading Your Dream Test Think fast: when you came across the nonsense words in that last sentence-how did you feel? Was there a split second of confusion? Did you do a double take? Did you reread the nonsense, trying to make sense of it? Did you wonder, even for a moment, whether or not you might, indeed, be dreaming? If so, congratulations: you've just taken your first step toward having your own lucid dreams. What Is a Lucid Dream? Lucidity: A Simple Definition Put simply, lucid dreams are dreams in which the dreamer becomes aware that he or she is dreaming, and achieves a degree of control over the content and direction of the dream. Once an experienced lucid dreamer recognizes that she's experiencing a dream, she is able to tailor the setting, the characters, and the action to suit her personal tastes. Lucid Dream Cues In a typical lucid dream, a dreamer notices some small detail- generally refe