Dream incubation rituals have been practiced throughout history by cultures from the ancient Greeks and Egyptians to native peoples of North and South America. The early Greeks, for example, practiced animal sacrifice and purification rituals in their temples in the hope of convincing the gods to bestow especially desirable dreams upon them. Such incubated dreams were believed to be effective not only in providing the dreamer with valuable information, but also for soliciting divine assistance in healing the sick.

Omni's approach is a bit more streamlined --and kinder to animals, too. You should find the following steps, utilized in modern dream research, especially effective in tapping the deeper wisdom of your sleeping unconscious.

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DREAM INCUBATION

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Showing up for work stark naked isn't your usual style, but there is something oddly familiar about finding yourself in that vulnerable predicament. Maybe you're feeling so insecure that literally exposing yourself to your co-workers seems only a more intense manifestation of your ongoing work experience. Or maybe so much has been going wrong at the office you aren't surprised to encounter another awkward situation.

Whatever the reason, you feel relieved to wake up and find the whole episode was just a dream. But that sense of relief quickly fades when you realize your dream was triggered by feelings about your job situation. Looking back, you remember having those very feelings the night before.

Such experiences represent a spontaneous form of dream incubation, in which your dreams are directly influenced by the images and feelings occupying your thoughts in your final waking moments. But dream incubation can become a more conscious and deliberate process, in which you can actively focus on creating a dream that deals with a particular topic or evolves from a particular theme.

"Dream incubation is much easier than lucid dreaming (conscious control of dreams in progress) or learning to interpret your dreams," says psychologist Gayle Delaney, Ph.D, who pioneered the modern techniques of psychological dream incubation in the early 1970s. Her program is summarized below:

1. Choose an issue of immediate concern to you in relationships, work, creative endeavors, self-image, hobbies, or sports.

2. On a piece of paper, to be kept at your bedside, write the date and a few lines about your problem or challenge.

3. Compose a one-line phrase clearly expressing what you want to know, understand, or discover.

4. Turn out the light and silently repeat to yourself your incubation phrase. Every time your mind wanders, bring it back to the phrase as if it were a mantra or a lullaby. This will keep you from worrying about your issue, and will put you to sleep quickly.

5. When you awake, write down whatever is on your mind whether it is a dream or not. Often your response will come in a brief dream tempting to discard as meaningless if you are not yet skilled in reading your dream metaphors.

6. After breakfast, interview yourself about your dream or early morning thoughts and see if they are a literal or metaphorical response to your dream incubation.

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THE CYCLE OF DREAMS

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