The historical practice of alchemy was centered around the act of learning how to raise vibrations. We've all heard tales of experiments that aimed to turn lead into gold, which would have worked if only that one last elusive missing ingredient, the Philosopher's Stone, were known and available. In what is referred to as transcendental alchemy, these premises apply to the quest toward spiritual elevation of the alchemist themselves. In seeking greater enlightenment, this quest must certainly pertain to the exploration of the very nature of consciousness as well as who we are as spiritual beings. It must involve the raising of our own vibrations by experiencing our spirit within the limitless scope of the intelligent All. There is no better place in which to perform these experiments of consciousness than in the thought-responsive classroom of lucid dreaming.

The world of modern media is full of magickal tips for the practicing witch. This can include helpful information regarding how to benefit from remembering your dreams and even using them purposefully as a reliable source of divination. You can find information on lucid dreaming in general, but it is quite rare to find thorough resources describing in-depth lucid dreaming tips and techniques specifically for witches and magicians. We, after all, often have broader beliefs about the nature of dreams, seeing them as transpersonal and transtemporal. It seems such a shame that there is so little focus upon magickal lucidity, especially since magick is, at its heart, the practice of exploring the unexplained aspects of energy and consciousness.

Lucid dreaming is potentially the most magickal way that we have of exploring conscious awareness as it exists outside of the body. To become lucid is to have a sudden "aha!" moment in the midst of dreaming, where you realize fully that you are dreaming and that you are functioning in a dream body. This comes with the knowledge that your physical body is resting elsewhere, and this revelation allows you to function as a spirit. You get to gain firsthand experience in any supernatural endeavor in which you wish to engage. You can fly, move between realities, shapeshift, speak with any spiritual intelligences directly, practice and ingrain sorcery and ceremonial magickal skills, perform the most trustworthy divinations you've ever done, and so much more. For the magician who develops the ability to awaken fully in the dream world frequently in this way, lucidity begins to lie at the heart of spiritual and magickal practice.

The following pointers summarize some of the key things that you should do in order to maximize your ability to perform life-altering, spiritually evolutionary magick within the lucid space. There are, of course, numerous detailed explanations and exercises for all of these concepts and more in my book Dream Sorcery: The Ritual and Magick of Lucid Dreaming, but here is a list of essential must-dos for your consideration:

1. Make sure your dream journal feels like a magickal book and bless it at your altar.
   When the goal is to develop a practice of inspiring lucid dream magick, the journal you document it in can’t be just any old journal. Choose a blank book that you love—leather journals or books that look like grimoires can be amazing choices. Once you have the right book in your possession, take a moment to bless it. You might do this by placing it on your altar or any working surface where you perform your magick. You can light a candle, burn incense, and state words of your choice that attest that you intend this book to serve as a sacred receptable for the safe keeping of your dreams and lucid magick experiments.
   
   
2. Review the basics of lucid dreaming and develop a simple practice.
   Easier said than done, but anything truly worth doing requires a bit of effort. Take time to work on maximizing your basic night dream recall, establishing a simple daily meditation practice, and putting that newly blessed book to work by sticking to the daily journaling of your dreams. Work on trying to eliminate sleep disturbances as much as possible and, if you need an alarm in the morning, finding one that wakes you up gently. The experience of being lurched harshly from sleep to a blaring alarm makes it much more difficult than it needs to be to remember your dreams.
   
   
3. Practice the list of intention statements that you will habitually state upon going to sleep.
   In any magickal act it is extremely important to be mentally clear on your goal. Develop the habit of making sure you state your dream intentions clearly to yourself each night before you slip off into the depths of slumber. A good basic set of nightly statements might be, for example, "I remember my dreams. I recognize when I am dreaming and become lucid." You can add additional statements to this list, such as a statement for a dream divination intention, and your lucid dream plan.
   
   
4. Make sure your reality check game is on-point.
   In order to have a decent chance of fully awakening within the dream, you need to make a solid habit of checking the nature of your reality all throughout your day. There are many possible ways to do this, and it is important to find one or two that suit you. You might choose to examine your hands frequently for abnormalities, attempt to hover (this obviously won't work unless you are dreaming!), pinch yourself gently to see if the sensation works properly, or try to breathe in through your nose while pinching your nostrils shut. The goal is to create a habit that is so commonplace for you that you will naturally start doing the same checks in your dream life.
   
   
5. Have your top priority lucid dream plan in your mind and ready to go at all times.
   There are way too many stories of people having the exciting revelation of finding themselves lucid only to find that the experience is quickly over, and they are awake again before having gotten to do anything cool with that time. To avoid this, choose something right now that would be the first thing you would love to accomplish within a magickal lucid dream. Do you want to speak to the spirit of a deceased loved one? Would you like to know what it's like to shapeshift into the form of a favorite spirit animal? Do you want to see what your energy is really doing when you cast a circle? Choose your top priority task, and word it concisely as a command. Memorize your statement and then when you find yourself lucid, call it right out to the dream space without delay. Then look around and wait to see what happens. You won't be disappointed!
   
   
6. Make use of the lucid dream setting to interact directly with your spiritual guides.
   It is rare to encounter a magickal practitioner that does not take inspiration from some form of magickal or spiritual guidance. Think about who your most important guiding forces are—these could be deities, angels, beloved dead, animal spirits, or other avatars—and consider utilizing one of your lucid dreams to attempt summoning one of them. There is nothing like having the opportunity to interact with a spiritual being directly, face to face. In addition to planning to do this, you can work the other side of the coin by also petitioning them in your waking magickal life to help you to become lucid! A lucid magickal practice is an incredibly virtuous cycle that continues to fuel itself.
   
   
7. Practice first in waking the magick that you would like to experience more deeply in a lucid dream.
   If you would like to use your next lucid dream to see how you really project energy, understand how to sign a rune better, increase your skill at creating banishing pentagrams or other such sorcery, practice that act routinely in waking. Ideally, if you walked through the magickal action physically before getting into bed and stating your dream intentions, this could have the most oomph. We tend to have a greater chance of finding ourselves in dream scenarios related to things we were thinking about most recently before falling asleep.
   
   
8. Practice divination with both lucid and spontaneous night dreams.
   While I highly suggest that you use one of your upcoming lucid dreams to ask a divination question, you don't have to wait until that happens to start engaging dream divination magick. Upon going to bed, try stating, "My intention is to have a dream that shows me ________," and fill in the blank with a question you’d like advice on. When you awaken, journal anything you remember, even if it's only a dream snippet. Accept the dream as the answer, or at least a clue to the answer of your question, even if it seems unrelated initially. Pretend that the dream is like an oracle card you've drawn. You will be very surprised at how quickly you will develop the ability to understand the language of your dreams in response to your questions. Doing this also reinforces the value you place on dreaming as a source of divination in general, helping to increase your chances of becoming lucid.
    
9. Perform waking magick where the spell's goal is to cultivate a lucid dream.
   Just as you can perform magick within your lucid dreams, you can perform spells while waking that help increase your chances of becoming lucid in the first place. Brush up on the lunar herbal and magickal correspondences of dreams and consider crafting a bit of candle magick, a special incantation, or creating a charm with the goal of helping you to have a lucid dream. This bit of waking magick will be worth it when you get to execute a special lucid magickal plan within the incredibly unlimited space of lucid dreaming.

There is so much to consider and so much rich magick that is possible when a magickal practitioner also becomes an adept lucid dreamer. Your magickal practice can be used to help induce lucid dreams, and your lucid dreams can be used to help springboard your magickal skills. It is my hope that you feel inspired to begin piecing together a lucid magickal practice of your own. In this way you will gain access to a sacred alchemy lab unlike anything you could have imagined, making the most of your dream time. Join me in the uncovering of the Philosopher's Stone—the magickal act of waking up in all realities and awakening to the greater nature of your own spirit.