Asking for the Dreams

• Use as a memory jogger the word CARDS, which stands for the following points: Clarify the issue Ask the question
• Repeat it
• Dream and document it
• Study the dream C means that you spend some time in clarifying exactly what the issue really is. When you identify the basic aspects of what seems to be blocking your progress or where you are stuck, you can gain some insight into your own mental processes. You have thus prepared the groundwork.
• Try to state the issue as positively as you can; for example Promotion passes me by rather than I am not getting promoted. The subconscious tends to latch on to negative statements rather than positive, so if you state the problem negatively you are allowing negative energy to gain a foothold. Dont try to resolve the situation at that point.
• A suggests that you ask the appropriate question using an old journalistic technique: Who? What? Where? When? Why? Then sort out in your own mind exactly what the relevant question is. For instance, in our example, you might ask: Who can best help in my search for promotion?

What must I do to be in line for promotion? Where do the best opportunities lie for me? When will I be able to use my greater experience? Why is my expertise not being recognized?
You can see that all these questions are open questions, and are not necessarily tied to any time frame. They do allow you to decide where your knowledge of magical influence or spell making is best applied. If you ask a confused question you may well get a confusing answer, so try to get as close to the heart of the matter as you can. Conversely, by asking inappropriate questions you may notch up answers you do not wish to have. Repeat the question. Just as restating an incantation builds up power, by repeating the question over and over you are fixing it in the subconscious. Blocks of three repetitions oftenwork very well, so repeating three sets of three (nine times in all) means that it should have reached deep into your unconscious.
As you compose yourself for sleep and use your relaxation techniques, tell yourself that you will have a dream that will give you an answer to your question or problem. Dream command means informing your inner self that you will have a dream that will help. If you wish, as you repeat the question tap lightly on your third eye in the centre of your forehead. One word of warning. The dreaming self is quite wayward, so to begin with you may not receive an answer on the night you request it.
You may only receive part of an answer, or nothing for several nights, and then a series of dreams that tell you what you need to know. It is a highly individual process, and no one can tell you how it should be. With time you will recognize your own pattern, but be prepared to be patient with yourself. Dream it. When you do dream, document it briefly as soon as you can, noting down the main theme, and anything else you consider might help you in your magical practice. Study the dream in more detail when you have time enough to do so.
Look carefully at the imagery within the dream, which will probably be fairly clear-cut and straightforward. Look for details, clues and hidden meanings, see whether you can apply any of them to situations in your normal everyday life, and use your knowledge of symbolism to help you decide whether developing a spell or ritual will make your life more fulfilling or easier to handle.
Sometimes the suggestion for a new way of acting or the answer to a question can come from applying the information to a different part of your life, before you even get down to tackling the question you have asked. As you become more proficient at dealing with the information that becomes available to you, you may find the nature of your questions changes and becomes much more pro-active. For instance, you may find yourself asking, How can I make so and so happen? or What if I did . . ? This is true creativity and gives you the opportunity to practise your spell making and your magic in a number of different waysIt is the exciting process of the appearance of the magical you appearing in your external life.