Dream work has always been a part of my spiritual practice and life long before I had an established practice. I have experienced a wide variety of dream places, spaces, and phenomena from sleep paralysis to astral travel and even lucid dreaming. However, there remains one dream practice that seems to fascinate people over all the others: dream walking. In this article, I answer the question, “what is a dreamwalker” in detail. I also provide guidelines for the practice, and a ritual to get you in the proper space to perform this work.
First, What is a Dreamwalker?
Dream walking occurs when one person enters the dream space (the consciousness) of another individual. When this is done subconsciously and without control, it’s called shared dreaming. However, when it’s done consciously with control, it is known as dream walking. I’ve experienced shared dreaming for many years. It started when I was around 16. I knew that I was shared dreaming when people told me they’d dreamt of me the night before. And described to me the exact same dream I had while asleep.
When I was in my mid 20’s I was introduced to dream walking. The practice of purposefully leaving my dream space and visiting the dream space of someone else’s consciousness. This is still a kind of shared dream, but it has some distinct differences than the experience of a shared dream.
Shared Dreaming vs. Dream Walking
The first and most distinguishable difference is that to dream walk, before sleep you set a conscious intention to walk into a particular person’s consciousness while they are asleep. The second is – while in the other person’s consciousness, you gain control over the space. You can change the scenery and control your actions and responses, as well as visit the otherworld. To be a dreamwalker is like astral traveling into a specific person’s mind and performing lucid dreaming functions. For more information what lucid dreaming is, check out this article.
Guidelines for Dreamwalkers
I began dream walking through the use of spell work and ritual, which I will give instructions for a little later in this article. But first, we need to talk about the ethics and precautions of being a dreamwalker. Remember these are my personal guidelines. If you have different ethics, remember you have to live with the consequences, positive or negative.
Guideline #1:
You should NEVER dream walk into someone else’s dreams unless you have their expressed permission. You are literally walking into someone’s head. To do this without permission is the ultimate invasion of privacy. This is not a shared dream, and it doesn’t happen by accident. Dream walking is a conscious decision that should never be made without prior consent. It is also a deeply personal and intimate experience (you’re letting someone into your most vulnerable space). That being said, I recommend doing this with those you are close to in your waking life. Especially if you are the kind of person that doesn’t easily let people in.
Guideline #2:
Check your motives. Why do you want to dream walk with this person? If you follow guideline 1, this shouldn’t give you too much pause. But if you didn’t gain expressed permission and are entering into someone’s mind for the ill intent like causing confusion, mind control, or causing nightmares, stop and think about the consequences. Weigh the risk vs. reward. Remember, you will be in the dream space too and you won’t be the only one that can control the dream.
Guideline #3:
Mental health is of the utmost importance. Dream walking is the work of the mind. If you or the person you wish to dream walk with suffers from mental health issues, keep this guideline in the forefront of your mind. In my experience, walking into the dreams of others who are suffering from depression, grief, trauma, or other mental illnesses is generally not a good idea. The mind is already dealing with an imbalance it’s trying to correct. You, or the other person, may travel to the otherworld and wish to stay (I’ve actually had this happen, it caused sleep paralysis, took a whole lot of energy, and it was NOT fun).
If you’ve assessed the risks and still wish to continue, you both should have an idea of what the dream scape will look and feel like prior to entry. This way the experience is less jarring to the mind.
Guideline #4:
One person should take the roll of the dream anchor. A dream anchor in dream walking is the person who initiates the end of the session. This person is the anchor between the dream space and reality. You should know which of you will be the anchor before dream walking and, if it’s you, you should know how to end the dream walk. Anchors typically find using a specific hand gesture or phrase to bring them out of the dream works great.
Ok, you’ve listened to the guidelines and are eager to try out dream walking. Great! The ritual below is the one that started me on the dreamwalker’s journey. It’s really spectacular and it always works for me. When you first start, you both may only remember bits and pieces. However, the more you do it, the more practice you get and the more clearly your dream recall will become.
Listen to Allorah Talk More About Dreamwalking In Our Podcast Below:
Simply Sandman: A Dreamwalker’s Ritual
You will need:
- 2 red chime candles
- White string
- An album of music
- Something to carve your candles with
- Dreaming Tea
Instructions:
- Brew your dreaming tea an hour to an hour and a half before you enter dream space. There are heaps of dreaming teas out there. But a simple recipe I love is valerian root, chamomile, mugwort, and honey.
- Carve your name and any other information you want into your candle. This signifies your identity within the ethers and allows the other person’s consciousness to more easily access your dreaming stream once asleep.
- Take your white string/thread and tie it to the wick of each candle. This ties your consciousness together in the dream space. This binding only lasts while in dream space. However, it does bind you to the person for a period of time (this is why express permission and knowing the person is super important).
- Set up your soundtrack. Get your Spotify ready or whatever audio device you choose to use. This music should be played on both sides of the dream walking. This allows your sleeping brain to remain on the frequency of the music together. I have dream walked to Evanescence, Enya, and Fleetwood Mac. The music is up to you but it should be something melodic and meditative to the both of you.
- Bring your tea into your bedroom, pour a cup and start sipping. Light the center of the string between the two candles in the center.
- Meditate on the candle flames while sipping your tea. You may need only one cup, but I require 2 (if they’re small) or one large cup.
- Once the tea is finished, the candles should be half to three-quarters finished (chime candles have a 30-minute burn time which is why they’re recommended for this dream walking ritual). Start your music. This should be synchronized between you and your dreamwalker-partner so the music is exactly the same in both places. Also, set your music on repeat.
- Continue meditating on the candle flames until the candles burn out. Once the flames are out, your tea will have kicked in and you’re ready for bed.
- Once you wake from your dream walk, record everything you saw, felt, and experienced so you can compare notes with your dreamwalking partner.
In Conclusion
As you gain experience dream walking you will find that the need to initiate the experience through ritual lessens. Nowadays when I want to dream walk, I usually just use a dream tea to help me get there if anything at all, provided my dream partner is also adept. Dream walking is like any other spiritual discipline; it takes time and practice. Believe it or not there is another level to dream walking that I’ll have to cover in another article – dream rescue – where adept dream walkers can rescue others from nightmares, insomnia, sleep paralysis and other parasomnia disturbances.
Thank you so much for joining me in this article on dreamwalkers. I hope you’ve learned a little something and maybe even give it a go.
More on Dreams:
- Dreams of Witches: What do they mean?
- Barefoot in a Dream: What does it mean?
- Astral Projection Signs and Symptoms: Shaking Bed, Vibrations, Etc.
Allorah Rayne is a practitioner of amnestic and wayfaring witchcraft and has been part of the online spiritual community since 2012. Her introduction to tarot was the age of nine and she pursued more intensive learning at fifteen. Allorah is the founder of The Wayfaring Witch © where she offers soul origin profiles, tarot and oracle card readings, digital downloads, workshops, and mentorships in the ways of the witch. She is also the co-founder of The Otherworldly Oracle Official Podcast, Spread This, Witches! and Witches in the Woods. You can contact Allorah at the following social media sites Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, on The Wayfaring Witch © website via live chat, or by e-mail at allorahrayne@gmail.com
Omg! I love this article. People keep calling me a dream walker or a dream Weaver (I need to know more about dream weaving too now I guess) but after reading this I definitely know I haven’t dream walked although I now realize that is what my husband and I tried to do which he succeeded on doing as he saw me but I didn’t didn’t see him I had a different dream about someone else lol
Great information. Thank you for letting us know about inviting people into our dreams good info.
I may be a natural dream walker but really not sure if what i am experiencing is or part of dream walking after sharing with someone what i experience that made me aware of abilities that i cant explain how they happen except they happen and been seeking answers to figure this out and i can see why he thought i possibly am a dreamwalker at a high level according to him and would love to learn more about this world and if im on the right path to will to figure out what is going on with me.
I’ve been dream walking since my first dream at 4y old. I only walk in present or past, once in a blue moon I get premonitions for the future. I don’t have control over it though, I walk in real life while dreaming as well, I’ve heard conversations and seen things that is impossible for me to have seen otherwise. I didn’t know it had a name and have just been calling it dream walking without anyone telling me. I had to learn/teach myself how to control my lucid dreams, because what I call dreaming others would definitely call nightmares and sometimes they would get so bad I couldn’t wake myself or when I tried the dream just shifted a bit over and over (8 times is the worst I had once). Trying to just control that takes so much energy and I have no idea how to even start controlling my dream walking… I’ve astral travelled without intent too, I would love to know how to do that on purpose instead of randomly. I have what doctors would call dream insomnia, I dream every second I sleep, fortunately I have someone protecting me, if I wake up and feel like I have had the worst nightmare but no memories of it, I can tell someone has blocked me from remembering it. Wish there where more easily information to be found on how to manage it, especially since I sometimes dream walk in strangers dreams, I can tell I’m dreaming and they can’t, fortunately I’m usually invisible to them so they don’t feel violated by my visit, the times I’ve been spotted I have felt there’s are reason I’m there. I get a feeling I’m supposed to help or heal them in some way… thank you for your tips, I will take them with me while I continue searching for more answers!
Hi Allorah, I need your help. An ex-friend of mine is a dream-walker and does not respect boundaries. I found out a few years ago he was a s-xual predator. I know he has been targeting me for years, and occasionally still walks into my dreams. I even try to avoid sleeping during his time zone’s sleep. Each time he walks in, my dream turns into a nightmare of me evading him – one time I set a boundary with him in a dream where I drew a literal line in the sand between us. I’ve even screamed at him in the dream. He persists. I know this is not my subconscious alone, it has a different quality to it, and he will never respect my boundaries. He desires closeness to me no matter how much I don’t want it. There’s so much research aimed at people desiring to dreamwalk, and not enough about magick rituals of protecting a witch against their unwanted dreamwalkers. Is there a ritual for blocking a dreamwalker? I need his unwanted visitations to stop. He is extremely practiced in this and unnervingly willful.
I’ve also have a stalker and have had experiences involving unwanted dreamwalkers and dream invaders. I’ve also been looking for more information about how to protect oneself from dream invaders. So far, I’ve found out that Blue Tigers Eye (also known Hawk’s Eye is a good stone to use for protection against dream invaders. I have one sitting by my bed and I also have a bracelet that I wear sometimes. Labradorite is also a good stone to help with this too. I’m thinking about making a crystal grid using these stones and putting it under my bed or near my bed too. I hope this helps you.
Is it possible to have a stranger dream walk into your dream? Years ago I had a dream of these two brothers walking by like they were in a mission . The eldest and I paid no mind to each other but the younger brother and I instantly had a reaction to each other and it was of almost distain but the dream turned into an enemy’s into lovers type of story. This could pass for a standard dream but that same night I drifted into another dream and he appeared telling me I was dreaming and “they” (whoever they would be)were trying to make me forget the dream. He tried to get me to stay with him in that dream but I swept away in the new dream. But he was able to make me lucid long enough to remember the dream. Are there people who can transport through strangers dreams and if so what would cause the reaction we had?
I watched dr strange 2 and thru added in this concept for Wanda maximof but gave it a more horror twist. I knew this practice existed though however they did get it fairly accurate with the ritual and meditation etc
It’s really not really hard to do this.I guess cuz it’s a gift I was born with.Get stronger over the years.Scare Myself when I get mad at someone.my eye s turn black… enough said lol
I’ve been doing this recently but it’s involuntary for me, but these dreams turn into nightmares. when I wake up I see the same creature standing over me .
do you want it to stop its really cool it might come in useful one day i dont know how to stop it though sorry i wish you luck
-the 13 year old on the internet 😉
I offer you much gratitude and respect for the information that you so freely dispense.
I truly believe you have allowed me to see clearly I have a very blessed life in the mystic universe with a little more inherited knowledge than I have a grasp of. Mote it be my gracious interpreter. May the gleaming lLght of Love, Knowledge and Wisdom for always be delivered to you and by you
very good
Hi, So think I’m a natrual Dreamwalker. I don’t know how exactly to control it. I’ll share dreams and I don’t mean to. How can I make it stop?