The Luminous Night of the Soul: The Relationship between Lucid Dreaming and Spirituality

People who have lucid dreams—dreams in which they know they are dreaming—may experience spiritual growth, especially when those dreams include mystical qualities. In an online survey of 471 respondents, 95% of whom had experienced lucid dreams and 65% were frequent lucid dreamers, spiritual transcendence was positively linked to both how often people had lucid dreams and how mystical those dreams felt. The findings suggest that recurrent lucid dreams and mystical experiences within them could foster spiritual development, possibly making lucid dreaming a viable spiritual practice, particularly in secular contexts. Because the research is correlational, causality cannot be inferred, and further longitudinal studies are needed.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Lucid dreams, in which the dreamers are aware that they are dreaming, can be a source of spiritual and mystical experiences. This empirical study aimed to explore the relationship between lucid dreaming and spirituality, taking into account the role of mystical lucid dream experience, in an online sample of 471 respondents, 95% of whom had lucid dream experience and 65% were frequent lucid dreamers. The findings support the relationship between lucid dreaming and spirituality: spiritual transcendence was positively associated with both lucid dream frequency and mystical lucid dream experiences. Thus having recurrent lucid dreams and mystical experiences in them may foster spiritual growth, rendering lucid dreaming possibly a viable spiritual practice, especially within the secular context. However, the correlative nature of the present research does not imply causality and further longitudinal research confirming this is needed.