Melinda Powell

Track: Mystical Spirituality as a Link between World Religions

Lucid Surrender & the Alchemical Coniunctio

This presentation is intended for those who are interested in the phenomena of lucid dreaming from the spiritual perspective. What happens when the lucid dreamer surrenders to the Transpersonal in a dream and relinquishes control over the dreaming process? ‘Surrender’ as used in this context refers to the alignment, within the dream, of personal will with the Transpersonal – the practice of ‘Lucid Surrender’™. It is entered into voluntarily – with a degree of conscious awareness – and may lead to the full lucid state.

The development of reflective awareness in dreams has a long history within Wisdom Traditions. For example, Tibetan Buddhism, with its highly developed practice of Dream Yoga, has been foregrounded in popular conceptualisations of lucid dreaming. Yet it is notable that the Abrahamic traditions, including esoteric Judaism, Christianity and Islam have also explored the revelatory aspects of reflective dreaming for spiritual purposes. Across these traditions and within Transpersonal psychology, the aim of surrender to the Transpersonal Will – or the Divine – is of profound significance.

To explore psycho-spiritual transformation in lucidity, this presentation draws on the four-stage process of the alchemical coniunctio – separate, dissolve, re-combine, and fix – as a model for understanding and contextualizing the experience of Lucid Surrender. The lucid dreamer’s psyche becomes the alchemical flask in which the coniunctio takes place. Each stage reflects a psychotherapeutic process that culminates in a deep experience of psycho-spiritual transformation. In Lucid Surrender, the dreamer may directly apprehend the numinous, spiritual qualities of the Transpersonal sphere. The process finds therapeutic completion when the dreamer integrates these qualities into their waking life.

Melinda Powell, née Ziemer, M.A. (Psych and Religion), Dipls. Psych., Spvn. & Adv. Psych., Cert. Transpersonal Dreamwork  
Melinda, a UKCP registered psychotherapist, is Director and Co-founder of the Dream Research Institute, London, at the Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education. She has served as past Vice President of the International Association for the Study of Dreams. Melinda’s personal exploration of lucidity has led her to develop and teach the practice of ‘Lucid Surrender’.™ She gives workshops and presentations in the UK and abroad and her writing on lucid dreaming has appeared in a variety of publications.