From time to time, virtually everyone has a dream that seems especially "real." In such dreams, one feels that he or she has really traveled somewhere, seen and touched things, and/or actually talked with people that have appeared in the dream. While the "reality" of these dreams is sometimes a little disconcerting, they always make me wonder if "reality" is like a cosmic, multi-layered cake, from which we usually just sample the frosting....

I didn't stumble upon Coleridge's "What If" poem until years after I was essentially waking up some mornings with "flowers." These few simple lines by Coleridge just seemed to validate my experiences, and it's been one of my favorite "poems" since I first discovered it.

I've always been very curious about just what it is that we do at night when our busy, conscious mind is "asleep," and so I've also been fascinated by dreams which seem to be rich in symbolism. As someone has said, a dream is often a message to yourself, about yourself, from yourself. On and off over the years I've kept "dream journals," and when I was in high school I wrote a poem that sort of summed up my thoughts about reality and the dream world. You can read it, if you like, by clicking here.

I grew up with the reluctant acceptance of alternate forms of communication: my mom has always had the ability to know what I've been up to, and this has been both a blessing and a curse!   It would seem that love tunes us to the same "frequency," and just as she could call me up from 700 miles away one night when I was really scared about something because she was "feeling my fear," I've also, at times, been able to "pick up" on my children and others whom I've loved.

At one point when I was very close to someone, I found that I was most definitely "tuned" to his "frequency." I could "find" him anywhere and I was usually alerted to his impending "presence" by an adrenaline rush. For example, I'd often answer the phone just a second before it rang, simply because I could "feel" him calling me, and one afternoon I "knew" he was in a very dangerous situation--which he confirmed (by phone) later that evening.

I also discovered that I could sometimes "see" (better put, "perceive") him and his surroundings while I was awake. I could accurately describe what I'd "seen," and I seemed to do this just by generating a strong thought to "be with," while focusing on his energy.

I then started having unusual dreams--dreams in which we were together. The first time this happened, it was especially vivid: we were on a cliff near an ocean (somewhere I'd never actually been), and we were standing near some sort of trellis in a formal garden that was on the top of the cliff. It was a very beautiful place.

I was stunned the next day when this man started relating a very real "dream" he'd had the previous night in which we had been together--at the same location! We'd seen the same things and remembered the same details. While we couldn't explain it, we knew we'd somehow been able to meet in our dreams, and when I use the term "dream-sharing," it refers to this apparent meeting while in the dream state.

I've read a lot about out of body experiences (formally known as "astral projection"), and while "dream-sharing" is sort of related, I see it as a significantly different phenomenon. Unlike OOBEs in which people leave their bodies and are aware of doing so, there was no sensation of leaving anything, because it seemed to be a normal (if vividly "real") dream.

There seem to be parallels between these alternate forms of communication and the transmission/reception of regular radio and television frequencies. Like many other things that are in the "psychic" realm, I feel there are probably scientific explanations that could give these experiences credibility. Just recently I had confirmation about our ability to sometimes receive "real" radio transmissions--which I've documented in "Morse Code and Radio Transmissions"--so I'm not sure it's that much of a stretch to believe that we're sometimes capable of picking up on other, more subtle frequencies, too.

To use an analogy, if I were singing in a large auditorium, odds are that only the people in the first few rows could hear me. However, if I used some sort of amplification system (i.e. an amp and a microphone), I could potentially blast out the back row. Taking this a step further, if a radio station had set up equipment to transmit my voice, I'd have the potential to be heard by people who were far, far removed from my actual location on the stage.

I concluded that this "distant projection" was somehow made possible by thought frequencies, thought frequency amplification, and then thought frequency transmission. From what I'd dealt with all along with my mom--and then with the man I had the close bond with--I knew that it started with an emotional attachment of some sort. An intensity of emotion seems to amplify and boost the "signal," and then, at times, this thought-energy is capable of being transmitted and received. Obviously I don't doubt that this happens--I've experienced it!--but without a background in physics, I've never been able to take this theory much further than an intuitive knowledge that I am, at least, on the right track.

One day in the early 1990s, the unlikely topic of dream-sharing, "being with," and telepathy came up with a friend and co-worker who, "coincidentally," had also experienced these things. Now you might wonder how this conversation originated, and all I can say is probably the same way that similar conversations have started over the years. Every now and then, things just oddly "click" with someone--perhaps we somehow "recognize" each other--and conversations lead us to the discovery of common spiritual/metaphysical ground.

So as we discussed this phenomenon--sharing our different, but similar experiences and theories--my co-worker suggested that we try to link up in our dreams. I wasn't sure if it would work, simply because there was no emotional intensity between us. We were friends, and we shared similar interests and philosophies, but there was no real bond, and there was nothing between us that would serve to "boost the signal," other than mutual curiosity.

For a period of about a week, our dreams were either forgotten or unmatching. Then I had one that seemed to indicate a past life connection between us, and another one in which I "saw" him in a tavern, back in possibly the 1700s. The most significant thing in that dream--for whatever the reason--was noticing the pewter plates on a hutch or sideboard in the tavern. That seemed more important than seeing him in that setting, and I have no idea why that image caught my attention.

On the one occasion that I tried the "be with" approach, I seemed to be in his house--in an upstair bathroom!--but I was reluctant to proceed any further because it just seemed "intrusive," even though I had his permission and encouragement to make such a "visit." While we continued to talk occasionally about various spiritual experiences, we didn't attempt further experiments.

In the last several years I haven't had any other incidents of "dream-sharing," but from what I can tell, it seems to involve two people who are on the same "wavelength" with a high degree of emotional trust between them, and who have a mutual desire to be together. Geographical distance doesn't seem to be a factor, and when I most frequently experienced this, my dream partner was anywhere from 300 to 800 miles away.

As I think back on these experiences, rather than being an obstacle, perhaps it was the distance that generated enough "thought energy" to allow this to happen. In other words, I'm not sure if it would be "necessary" for two people to meet in the dream state if they were able to frequently be together, in person.

Feeling another's emotions doesn't seem to rely on physical proximity, either. As I mentioned earlier, my mom called me one night when we were 700 miles apart, simply because she could "feel" that I was upset and scared. The best analogy I can think of to illustrate this phenomenon is to think of a "scanner"--the type of radio receiver that picks up police, rescue and other broadcasts. When you're in a "receptive" frame of mind and you have channels "open" towards the person or people you care about, a strong signal occasionally gets through.

I think there's a whole range of "picking up on" behavior, ranging from a vague discomfort or mild anxiety (which often isn't associated with anyone in particular, due to a weak or garbled "signal") to full-blown episodes of awareness and vision. Twins seem to be particularly adept at this sort of communication, and in doing a search on the internet using the terms "twins" and "telepathy," I found numerous web articles on this subject, as well as a host of articles on other types of "psychic" communication. I won't list sources, but they're easily found on most search engines. I don't think that many people doubt that this happens, but as of yet (to my knowledge), no one has been able to consistently measure or control this type of energized, transmittable thought energy.

As to the "being with" phenomenon--feeling that one is seeing/perceiving another person while awake, or having the ability to "read" their thoughts--focused emotion again seems to be what "boosts the signal." While I've usually experienced this when the strong emotion has been love, in the last year or so I've discovered that other emotions can sometimes provide the necessary intensity for this to happen, too.

While I'm not often furiously angry at people (good thing...), it appears that telepathic insights can sometimes be gained through anger, especially if one is attuned to or familiar with another's "frequency." Now obviously, this is a very invasive, unethical and manipulative use of thought energy, but the concept of being able to telepathically gain knowledge has long been of interest to the world's militaries. While it sounds like something out of a sci-fi/espionage thriller, the study and development of "psychotronic weaponry" is a reality--and a frightening one, at that.

Try using key words "telepathy" + "military" in a search engine, and you will find dozens of articles regarding research into this field. While some reports seem unduely paranoid, "hyped," or downright silly, there are some that seem to be pretty credible.

Consider, for a moment, the power of the atom. Depending upon its use, nuclear energy can provide power for cities, or it can cause horrific mass destruction. Similarly, a more ancient and elemental form of energy--fire--can provide warmth, or it, too, can be used to destroy.

The power of thought--and of thought energy--is no more inherently "good" or "evil" than these other forms of energy. However, just as the world was changed when man first discovered how to use and control the power of fire, we can only speculate as to how the world will change, again, once man has learned to consistently use and control--for good or for evil--the power of focused, energized thought.