Servitors and dreams; Intent gone slightly awry..

[reptilian]

So, not too long ago, I created a servitor to alert me when I am dreaming so that my dreaming is always lucid.

However, instead of my servitor letting me know I'm dreaming, it seems to be drawing my attention to magic in my dreams. I wake up each morning not having worked my spells because I didn't become lucid BUT I also wake up with "advice" for a spell.
For example, my curiosity about a certain magical practice (actually, two or three) has been stirred and so when I went to bed, as usual, thinking of the magic I was about to work, I had a dream instead that instructed me on how to achieve my results using the magical practice I'd been wondering about.
This has happened with various things every night for about two weeks. o.o

I'm not sure how my intent was skewed in this direction but I'm very interested by the side effects.

Has anyone else ever gained knowledge about practicing magic from dreams?

[Stukov]

My impression is to go with it for the moment. If your intent was there, this is quite probably just a process to get to your end goal.

[reptilian]

I intend to go with it for now, indeed. Especially because earlier today I came across a thread that described almost exactly an event that took place in one of my dreams about.. four nights ago.

It hadn't occurred to me that maybe this is an unexpected manifestation of my intent but that sort of makes sense. We'll see what happens.

[Articulatum]

I have always found dreams to be a reflection of reality, a distorted reflection of course, but intimately connected to them. Sometimes the draming/waking duality is not as solid as it seems to be. While lucid dreaming is a great tool for exploration and divination I have done very little 'work' while in the dream state. I am not familiar enough with dream work to offer you advice on how to regain control of your dreamstate, but I will caution too much lucid dreaming and not enough real dreaming can have ill effects on your health, even in a non-magickal sense. It seems to me you have tapped into a wealth of information and should take advantage of it, perhaps moving your 'work' to a waking state or attempting to lucid dream at times other than your normal sleep cycle. I have always enjoyed non-lucid dreaming's chaotic nature, as it allows you to open up to things you would otherwise miss by trying to control your dream journey. Sometimes, in my belief, you just need to open yourself up to the Other and see what it has to say.
I agree with Stukov, sometimes intent manifests itself in unexpected ways.

[reptilian]

I do practice magic in waking states, but given how much thought I put into a spell before activating it, it's more efficient and effective to do most things when sleeping. That may be why I'm struggling so much with craft, however, so I'll take your suggestion. I must become proficient at hoodoo, among other things, so it makes sense to become more accustomed to magic in general when fully conscious. XD

Also, most of the time when I am lucid dreaming, I am not controlling my dreams. I make a point to spend probably 20 minutes of sleep time every few nights to go to a self-created dream world where I am in control, but even when I am lucid, I make an effort not to control my dreams unless I am in that dream world working a spell.

Still, at the moment, it seems my servitor knows better than I. Had another fantastic dream about a craft practice I've been meaning to try.

[66dragonfly66]

reptile

first reading your remarks i thought maybe you would be the kind of persyn to join the Order of Nine Angles.

And, while the real mark of a magus is their ability to work without tools, I do think that people working with traditions in a traditional way is helpful. It cues our mind to altered states, it helps us tap into energy stored in other peoples' praxises (sp?), and help us make the reality stored in the morphic field more... present. all basically the same thing. of course, various metals may have different effects on our body organs, or correspond to different astrological forces or the archetypes of the collective psyche. among other things (like various elder gods are best called at different times of the year because their energies are closer to ours, like may 1st).

second, hoodoo is a good eclectic tradition, but mastering hoodoo is not something someone can just do. i did some research and before one gets into it, to be effective one needs to already be gifted. its kinda a red thread witchy idea, but in some ways its true. hoodoo is like alot of trad craft, it is free form and eclectic, and alot of it is based around superstitions but its also very simple and direct (which I think you would like). They also use correspondence but i think its more natural, say, animal parts in spells are more about the power in the object than in sympathetic majik. of course, you are not interested in using animal parts. I was a vegan for many years, and well, do not see this worldview to be sustainable because life feeds off of death, and we all die eventually. of course, looking for ways to immortality are good, and ... we can talk about this later.

the other thing about hoodoo is that they use psalms and use performance (or fake it til you make it as peter carroll says) as a means of tapping into authentic energy (use of menorahs and the sixth and seventh book of moses). to remove blockages to make majik work is a difficult thing, and ive been thinking alot about it for the last year. one is to remove doubt and fully trust ourselves. cockiness will make our work better. another is a commitment to a practice. overtime if we do specific tai chi, meditation or yoga techniques our mind, subconscious selves and body (and energy shells) will better be able to work with the forms we give ourselves. our mind can be cued faster as to the ritual format and the outcomes are better. the last one is our logistics i think, planned our rituals are essential. raw passion goes along way, calling energy in intense need fills its own gaps, but knowing how to specifically channel energy is funneling our intentions into.

[Articulatum]

I do not mean to question you perceptions, for you obviously know much more about dream work and servitors than I, but are you sure it is your servitor contacting you? I tend more towards an animist practice, and spirits can be...flighty. I know in my work I have had contact with entities that did not reveal themselves as such at first, but came in the guise of others. Just a late night thought.

[reptilian]

Articulatum, I obviously can't be completely sure if it's my servitor or not, but I can say that I recognize it's energetic signature, as it's creator, and that it's appearance is consistent with the one I gave it.

66dragonfly66, based on my initial search results about the Order of the Nine Angles, that sounds exactly like the kind of organization that I do NOT want to be a part of. Satanism is a vaguely useful, slightly amusing paradigm, but I have no desire to be involved with neo-nazis. Also, human sacrifice? I am definitely not interested in the ONA.

As far as the reasons you site for practicing, I completely agree. And regarding hoodoo specifically, I'm only beginning to actually practice and we'll see what happens.