Written by Every so often bloggers are accused of writing for “attention.” There are many reasons why this is silly, but what drives me to write is because I’m a writer. It’s really that simple. That’s just what I do. I have thoughts and feelings and emotions that I have to get off my chest. They’re inside me and they have to get out. Every time I get a random comment from someone who essentially says, “I thought I was alone out there,” it brings a smile to my face, because one of the primary reasons I write is so that people who have similar experiences do not need to feel as if they are alone. No one should ever have to feel like there isn’t somebody out there who they could talk to or lean on, and bloggers of all kinds help mitigate such situations.
It is for that reason that today I’ll part ways from politics and popular culture to talk about lucid dreaming … and the floating purple orb.
The following is a dream I woke up from at 6:47 a.m. EST.
I’m at an old high school cross-country meet, but I’m on a pair of swings talking to my old friend Larry about the upcoming season and he says he’s in better shape going into senior year than he was in the past. Then I think that I am in really good shape too and I say, “One more year! Gotta make it a good one!”
Then I pause and think: “Didn’t we already graduate? I’m actually not in cross country shape anymore because I’ve been lifting weights and I like where my physique is at. Wait a second … I’m lucid dreaming!” I jump off the swings and start running around in circles like an excited little kid, saying, “I’m lucid dreaming! I can ask anyone anything I want! I can do anything! I need to talk to someone before I wake up.”
I see my old coach, Coach Devine, and he looks confused for a moment and says, “Doug, is it really you?” I say yes and he says: “Do you still think about me? Do you still love me?” (There wasn’t any sexual connotation to it.) I say, “Yes. I do. I really do think of you,” and he smiles and I smile and we both come close to having these tears of joy and then I give him a really big hug.
As I hug him everything begins turning white and then I start flying towards this book that opens with pictures of an older woman hugging a child drawn in purple ink. It’s not my deceased grandmother and me, but it reminds me of the two of us. I try to read the lettering that is on the bottom as I then start to enter the book, but can only make out ‘Ha xx Ho xx Ho xx’.
I then started to really wake up and my whole body was tingling, particularly my arms and hands. As I opened my eyes I saw a purple orb floating directly above my head that scared me, so I closed them again, and then there was a little “whooop” feeling (Perhaps like I was disconnected from my body?) and then I woke up. The purple orb was gone.
Question: Was I lucid dreaming? Was I having an out of body experience? Was the purple orb real or was it just my eyes playing tricks on me? My wife thinks I was dreaming that I was lucid dreaming and she thinks my eyes were just playing tricks on me.
I’m sharing this story, again, because on a long enough time line I figure someone out there will have had a similar experience that they could share, or perhaps they just think it’s all a bunch of “hooey” and they can let that be known as well.
The only thing I will add is that this dream felt real. Very, very real. It was extremely vivid and clear, perhaps an “HD” version of my other dreams.
So there you have it. Thoughts on lucid dreaming and floating orbs? I’d like to hear them.
Related: Lucid dreaming, the meaning of life, and flying through space like a ballistic missile
Related: The effects of meditation: What if you could ask your nightmares why they haunt you?
Douglas Ernst Blog 
It’s been a long time since I’ve thought of lucid dreaming, basically because from a neurological and a psychological perspective it seems to hold so much promise, but life seldom leaves you time to explore the deeper rungs of your inner self, unless you actively, and systematically make time for them. Now, I am an agnostic about the metaphysical, that is to say, theologico-religious aspects of the pursuit of this phenomenon; but as to its empirical, earthly possibilities, well…Stephen LaBerge wrote a small, famous book that addresses some of the beginning research ongoing in the Western world regarding lucidity in the dream, or the “waking dream”; other, less scientific-minded people, mention the Buddhist practice of lucid dreaming as a beginning discipline in the process of enlightenment. And Jung, well, let’s just say there were certain anecdotes the good doctor liked to tell that make him sound more like the Don Juan from a “Yaqui way of knowledge”, than a graduate from the Freudian world and its archetypal apostate….I have lucid dreamed, and not about the thing that LaBerge mentions almost off-handedly in his small book, that is, the sensual aspects of lucid dreaming. Really, while interesting in a way, to use the “waking dream” like that just seems pedestrian. Nevertheless, the physical possibilities of extending the symmetrical aspects of the dreaming body into the physiognomic functions of the physical body are just exquisitely intriguing. Douglas, I know you didn’t focus on this, and that perhaps, you are more interested in the possibly mystical aspects of your experience. I can’t speak to them, or at least, not without misgivings. Not being a godly man, I seem to have a blind spot to the experience in others. But, your experience does seem to speak to a very particular property of the “waking dream”, the hyper-real “feel” of the it. Yes, HD does seem to encapsulate it. What I’d like to know is, if you lucid-dream, have you tried to control the physical workings of your body, slow down your senses, or sharpen them. Or listen closely to the music of the world around you?…My implication is, that if you learn to do this in “dreamtime”, would that teach the “waking body” to do similarly. The last part of the question, is the one that I find really intriguing, for that might be the way of an ungodly man to gain the god-head,if only the one familiar to the Pantheism of an Emerson or Whitman. If the world is alive with the music of the heavenly orbs, and if the music that sings subtly in the interstices of our being is the harmony handed on down by the celestial memory that is quickened every time that we dream a “waking” dream, and feel the power immanent in the “mere” state of being…Then is this a natural path, a default gate to enlightenment, for those now too dulled by the waking world to seek its potent light?…Thanks for posting this experience. Thanks ever so much.
Gilberto,
Thanks for the feedback! There’s a lot to unpack here.
First off:
This was what I suppose I’ll call my second lucid dream, and I would shudder to think that if it began happening regularly that I’d go that route. I can think of many, many things I’d want to do before that. I think ‘pedestrian’ was definitely the right word.
My first lucid dream happened a week after my grandmother died. This dream was so real that I really could not tell the difference between it and reality. I would even go so far as to say it was more real than reality. I don’t know how to describe it any other way. I was back at home in Chicago by her bed and she was dying, but I knew she was already dead in real life. However, she did not look sick and looked at peace. I tried to apologize for not being there to see her one last time (I had plane tickets purchased, but she passed before my flight), but she stopped me and said not to worry about it and that she would be all right. She said goodbye and I said goodbye and kissed her. I then woke up and my lips were incredibly hot and I was crying … but not so much a sad kind of crying. It was some sort of cathartic cry where I KNEW that was no ordinary dream and I knew that wherever she was, she was going to be okay.
I’ve always found string theory and its implications to be fascinating. Essentially, heaven — or merely other dimensions if you’d rather just stick to the science of it all — could be all around us (and in us), but we don’t realize it because we vibrate at a different frequency. Without getting into too much detail, I have recently taken my general interest of the subject more seriously. This blog has been around for a few years, and over the past few months it still covers politics … but there’s been a shift, I believe, in what I write about and the tone that I use. There’s been a more spiritual aspect to it, and that’s because the political squabbles we have seem petty when I think about what is possible if we move to a higher level of consciousness. I can expand more on that if need be.
I think that for whatever reason, humans have denied their spiritual side for so long that the parts of them that were sensitive to the spiritual world or higher levels of consciousness have been dulled. And, in some sense, I think political leaders want it that way. People who know who they are at the deepest of levels will always refuse to be treated as cattle. They will demand more. They will not be happy as drones who simply buy “stuff” to keep them occupied until they die. They will not be happy simply pitting “Republicans” against “Democrats” or “rich” against “poor” because they will realize that we are not just one human race, but spiritual beings meant for much, much more.
I can go on, but there are many directions I can go in. There are things I’ve wanted to share on my blog, but I’m still working out how I want to go about doing that.
Thanks again for commenting!
One of the most common ways to have a lucid dream is taking an herbal supplement. There are two that are generally recommended. The first is a supplement called Galantamine. The second supplement is called Choline.
Lucid dreaming
That was an interesting lucid dreaming story you shared. Many people disregard lucid dreaming not considering it to be real, but there is plenty of scientific proof that confirms it and i am happy to see people having good experiences with lucid dreaming.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment, Daniel. I appreciate it. I feel badly for people who would discount something like lucid dreaming outright, without ever having looked into it. I think people who are able to experience could use it to gain deeper insights into who they are and why they are here. Should I have future lucid dreams, I plan on using the experience wisely.
Hello Douglas.
I am one to tell you that I hardly ever even remember a dream. I do actually sleep like a log. Head on the pillow and….lights out! However, and this will sound kind of strange but believe me true, in the past year, one that was really emotionally draining, I have had all kinds of experiences which I attribute to my looking “up” for comfort, that is, realizing that the way to get through it all was getting close to God….and that includes finally getting to know Him.
So, to get to the point, I had never had a lucid dream or a vivid one. In this time, I have had 2 vivid ones; one to this day has actually been prophetic in the most precise, perfect and complete way imaginable; another just like it I also believe will turn out to be the same.
Absolutely HD, more real than real, and very strange in that I had one one day and the very following day I had another and in it I was telling someone about the one I had had the day before because in both dreams, in different settings and different contexts, the same thing was said but as a “complement” in a sentence, a completely different sentence. I was conscious I was dreaming, the colors were spectacular, and it was at the same time like a stage where I was asleep and conscious of it, and I was looking at myself interacting with the other actors in my dreams, yet me and “my other me” (the one in the dream) had the same thoughts and reactions, yet maybe a fraction of a second apart, me first and then the other me. Very strange. Very interesting….mind blowing to be exact!!!
The third dream, lucid, I had about 2 weeks ago. And boy, it was real!! But I was sort of flying/floating in space, dumbfounded by the intensity of the midnight blue celestial sky, full of stars, very, very shiny stars. I had a chord of some sort, like an umbilical chord coming out of me, but I don´t know what held it below me. All of a sudden, I saw the most colorful, beautifully carved, exquisite-looking, carrousel, going round and round. And all of a sudden, I saw many, many, orbs….big and beautiful…..orange, purple, yellow, blue, green…..they were just dancing around, coming towards me, or me towards them……me and my other me felt peace, awe, it was so real…….no movie could have those visual effects……
I actually believe all these dreams are a connection to higher consciousness….God.
About your purple orb….believe it!! You saw it, it is real, and it is a gift from Above, call it what you may; it is a spirit. I have two friends….one is clairaudient the other one is a renowned numerologist here in Mexico City (where I live). They have both shared with me their experiences of seeing purple orbs at night, right before they go to bed, or as they wake up suddenly from a dream….they have seen them several times, in different sizes. Both have said they experience peace and serenity and both know for a fact (long story….longer, anyway!!) that they represent angelic beings (spiritual guides) that visit to let them know they are guided. So there you have it!!!!! You have to remember, ours is a Universe of the visible and the invisible….and the invisible will make itself present whenever it wants to, however it wants to…..you don’t even have to meditate…..or do drugs, jajajaja!!!
I hope this helps you understand a bit of what you´ve seen….and felt!!!!
Rebeca
Hi Rebeca,
First, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to read and write out such a well thought-out response. After my experience I was looking for information online about these orbs and there wasn’t as much readily available material as I would have hoped, so your input is greatly appreciated.
These are interesting subjects because while I consider myself a devout Catholic, I do know that I’ve experienced things that don’t quite jive with the Church. I have a hard time believing my local priest would give much credence to purple orbs, but I know what I saw and I know that I’m not crazy… Like you said, there is much more going on out there than our fives senses can comprehend. There truly is the visible and the invisible world and I think when people outright reject lucid dreams or orbs (or take your pick), they’re making a big mistake.
Again, I really do appreciate that you took the time to comment. Thank you and God bless.
I had a dream about a purple orb. It was about the size of a bowling ball. It was in a living room hovering about two small boys. I greeted it since I believed it to be the spirit of the deceased father of the boys. The next thing I know, the orb came at me with great speed and landed on top of my head and spun around so fast that it burned the hair off the top of my head.
That’s an intersting dream, Michele! Thanks for sharing. Maybe some purple orbs have been spinning around my head while I sleep since I’m starting to lose my hair! 🙂
Purple orbs are for wisdom,Guidance or stored information. Supposedly. I think you were allowing your mind to do its own thing and let your self conscious loose for a little bit. So yeah (out of body experience in a sense) my theory is when we are actually sound a sleep my minds are free anyways. But as you were lucid dreaming you were asleep but also awake enough to remember this experience. And it seems as tho knowing what the orbs mean the rest kind of explains itself lol
I must say I stumbled upon this sight because I was googling purple orbs in detail. And as you said there is not much information on them. But I really like the way you think. And out of curiosity what do you think about palm reading? I’m a dedicated Christian, but I must say I have found it interesting if not somewhat scientific how your hands reflect your development. After learning about this I showed some girls at work. One girl said her mother (before passing) had even a wicken and read palms. After reading probably 6 girls hands I got to her. I couldn’t. Something about her hand scared me. Her lines were so different. Dark. And deep. I told her I couldn’t. Her lines were deep is all I said and gave her hand back. After everyone else besides her and an older lady left, she told me she saw a purple orb around me when I was reading palms. I asked what it meant and she said it was one of the good colors but that’s about it. Anyways I would love to learn your thoughts on palm reading. Seeing an orb around me makes me feel like I need to stop! I’m not trying to play with darkness, although
I still find developmental changes in your hands as part of how you grow I’m not sure how that’s “magic” or “sorcery”.
Thanks for reading
Micayla, thanks for taking the time to read and comment.
I think like anything else, it really depends on what your motivations are. Are you using palm reading to bring yourself and others closer to God, or are you using it for selfish reasons? If what you’re doing is rooted in trying to walk closer to Christ, then my guess is that your conscious will fill you in on the rest. You’d have to be really honest with yourself. An example might be someone who uses hard-core drugs and then tries to convince themselves that the altered state brings them closer to God. Well, no, I highly doubt that … given what we know about drugs.
Is it the orb that scares you or the unknown? When I saw my purple orb it was after waking up from a beautiful dream, so I’m inclined to think that it meant me no harm. In your situation, something told you not to read the palm of a specific girl, and you didn’t. Perhaps that was the right move. I tend to always listen to my gut — my real gut. Sometimes your body will want you to do ‘x’ … but if you really dig down deep and try and focus on what you really feel, it’s something totally different. I believe that’s because humans are simultaneously existing on two planes of existence. We’re flesh, but we’re also spiritual. So sometimes the flesh fights for prominence when the real you, the spiritual you, knows the body can be, perhaps a little “dishonest” at times.
I think that if you have a gift, it was obviously given to you from God. The question you must then ask yourself is, “How do I use this gift to honor God at all times?”
I hope that helped.
Side note: Here is a blog you might like: Believe, Witness Miracles.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment, Micayla. I really appreciate it. We can all use more wisdom, so if that’s the case then I’ll accept it. 🙂
I just saw a purple orb – googling for it led me to this post. I googled because it was strangely specific and the orb literally woke me up. It was at night and initially I mistook it for the moon. I pointed it out to other people, and as they looked it started moving. It wasn’t so much purple as it was dark, with purple purple patches (clouds?) on it, hence why I thought it was the moon. It was pretty big. It started spinning, in a non uniform way and began moving across the sky towards everyone. As it moved it flashed, and let out a translucent shockwave. I moved towards cover, and I remember thinking to myself that this is it, it’s the end of the world or its enlightenment, or I’m not even sure what, but it was some sort of globally changing event. When the shockwave hit us, I was suddenly on the floor and physically paralysed. My eyes were open and I felt at peace. It’s then that I realised that I had been dreaming and that I was now awake. My eyes had been open in the dream but physically closed in waking life. I won’t go into the specifics of what happened earlier in the dream but I’ll say that I was running some sort of cross city race, and I saw a handful of people from my school days.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment, Kenechi. I appreciate it.
One of the things that I find fascinating is that on the back end of WordPress I can see what people are searching to get to my blog. People are definitely seeing floating orbs like this in real life and in their dreams, and yet … it’s not something you really see depicted on television. I admittedly don’t watch too much television, but it’s not a subject I’ve seen frequently discussed. Perhaps I’m wrong.
By calling it instinct, they leave themselves room to have
a certain belief that undermines the envy. The duration of an Etheric Projection may also be shorter
as it is said to depend on the amount of etheric matter channelled to the Astral Body by
the chakras. it just takes some practice; before long, you’ll be
able to use this ability at will.
The purple orb is always with you. Even right now. Just close your eyes and cover them with your palms, then just observe what’s out there for a while. You might be surprised!
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment, Greg. I really appreciate it. Now that I’ve had time to reflect on the experience, it’s quite comforting to think that the purple orb is still there…
Wow,
I had a dream that I was back in highschool last night, and I saw purple orbs later on in the dream and also blue cylinder orbs in the sky as well. the dream was probably the craziest dream I have ever remembered. I was at a highschool dance, and my mom and grandmother were there too and I was of course, annoyed that they came with me to the dance ! And I had asked some guy to be my date. So when I met him there, he had morphed into some other guy that I didn’t really know, but was attracted to him. And he brought a girl with him, of which I was also pretty pissed about lol. Then me and the girl were at the guys parents house and I was climbing in his window and knocked over a fish tank and was afraid to tell him that I accidently killed his fish. Then him and the girl drugged me. But it turned out that he drugged her too and decieved her. She didn’t know she had been drugged. But I did and I didn’t say anything I just played along to save myself. Then we were being chased by people with guns and I couldn’t tell if the prom date guy who drugged me was good or bad…then i had inception because I brought myself out of the drugged state, sort of like going into a different state of the dream. Then some government guy was coming after me and then I was outside in my home town and it was the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen in my life and that’s when the blue cylinders and purple orbs in the sky appeared and the girl who had been drugged was telling me that the orbs wanted to be noticed. totally bizarre. I’ve never seen or dreamt about orbs before or blue cylinders
Thanks for sharing your dream, Tammy. Since I began lucid dreaming I am constantly surprised by the way the subconscious mind can introduce concepts the conscious mind would never naturally contemplate.
To me the dream also has a message along the lines of: There are two paths — the one that is filled with death, fear, jealousy, paranoia and darkness — and one with beautiful sunsets and angelic orbs that call for your attention.
A lot of times we walk the path we’re on without really ever asking where it leads. Your dream, to me, seems to be saying, “You have a choice, Tammy. Make it a good one.”
I use to have a dream that repeated over and over for little less than a year. I had to be the age of 4 or 5. Well this dream I had would start soon as I fell asleep after me and my family said our prayers.
Soon as I fell to sleep on my back. There would be four orbs, i can only best describe them as little sun’s. They would come too me. They each would float right next to each one of my limbs. Both arms and both legs. They had such a heavily, warm, most loving feeling I could ever describe. This may sound really crazy to allot of people, but this is real as i am sitting here writing this. They taught me how to concentrate and build up this energy inside me and to release it. I have found out that this energy is the same energy that gives you goosebumps. I have control of this now. I can now build this energy up and release it on command anywhere throughout my body. Anyhow, the orbs on each one of my limbs would pick me up and flip me around, so now I’m up in the air facing stomach down overlooking my mom brother and sister, and definitely don’t see me sleeping with them. So now they take me out of the room through the hallway, and down the stairs. And stop in the living room facing our kitchen. And there was all type’s of other orbs. I have always just call them the bad ones.
The only way I can best describe them. They where colors of pitch black, dark reds, and purples, and swirling around like crazy. The feeling i had felt from them was the most terrifying and most evil feeling and so much pain. It was horrible at first. But the orbs that’s by my side kept me safe from harm. They would move me around and make sure the bad orbs could not touch me. So I could concentrate on building this energy inside of me in mass amounts and release it into the army of bad orbs. The energy I sent there way was a huge orb bigger than any orb I’ve ever seen. It also looked like a mini sun. When my orb I created would touch the bad orbs they would disappear. And we would continue this battle until they retreated every night. Every time they retreated the orbs by my side would take me back upstairs and back to the bedroom where my family was still sleeping and turn me on my back and lay me back down on the bed. And I would wake up soon as they laid me down.
So this dream happened so much I was wondering if this was real or just a dream. I never told a soul when I was having them, I have talked about this dream later in years. But as I was questioning this dream to myself I had a idea. I would use this energy that I can use to wake myself up. So the next night I had a plan to wake myself up when they where laying me back down. So as they where turning me in the air and started to lay me back down. I use that energy to wake up. And I fell out the air onto the bed. As of that moment I knew I was not crazy. And that this dream has to be real. That was the last night I ever had that dream again. But was was left with the ability to still build the energy inside of me. The same energy that causes goosebumps.
If anyone has any insight. I would highly appreciate it. Thank you for listening. Every word I have said is true.
“If anyone has any insight. I would highly appreciate it. Thank you for listening. Every word I have said is true.”
I think what is interesting is that you had these extremely intricate dreams at such a young age, which most people would never expect a young child to experience. And you had the dream so often that even you were forced — again, at a very young age — to ponder the meaning in ways more fitting for an adult.
Since we know that lucid dream is real, perhaps you can practice and then ask the orbs to return. That may sound “crazy” to people who a.) do not know how to lucid dream, or b.) believe in angels, but I think it may be worth your while. I regularly pray or ask God for assistance during lucid dreams, and the effect on my “waking life” has been profound.
Thanks for sharing your story, Richard. Feel free to ask questions at any time.
Hi Douglas,
I believe I had an experience that was very similar to yours especially in comparison to the others that have posted on this blog. I came here looking for answers. I wasn’t dreaming… at least it certainly didn’t feel like a dream. I had just woken up, I was in my room in my bed, underneath the covers, usual normal wake up in the middle of the night. Except there was a purple Orb (Aura) just a bit bigger than a baseball floating above my head. The rush of emotion was paralysed fear of a foreign unidentifiable object being in my room, so instinctively, I screamed. The strange thing about this dream was that I “woke up” mid-scream, the scream was what woke me up. The room was the exact same as the moment before it when I had seen the purple orb. It was still dark out, I was still in the same bed, underneath the covers, in my bed… I couldn’t fall back asleep and stayed awake pondering what had just happened… checked the time my phone etc and just got out of bed….
“I believe I had an experience that was very similar to yours especially in comparison to the others that have posted on this blog. I came here looking for answers. I wasn’t dreaming … at least it certainly didn’t feel like a dream.”
Hola, Sara! Thanks for taking the time to stop in. I really appreciate it. And yes, if you experienced a dream that felt nothing like a dream, then I’m glad you’re asking. 🙂
“I had just woken up, I was in my room in my bed, underneath the covers, usual normal wake up in the middle of the night. Except there was a purple Orb (Aura) just a bit bigger than a baseball floating above my head. The rush of emotion was paralysed fear of a foreign unidentifiable object being in my room, so instinctively, I screamed.”
The more that I learn/experience over the years, the more I’m inclined to believe someone who says that their reaction to seeing an angel was one of fear. It’s not fear of an angel per se (because we know that they are good), but a very rational reaction to something in this reality that our brain knows is not of this reality. It’s a humbling experience to come face-to-face with something that is in many ways beyond your comprehension. The logical human response would be one of a frightened animal who needs to be coaxed to come come out, assured that it’s okay, etc. Pride makes us think that we would not be scared upon our first encounter, but I think the vast majority of people would be.
“The strange thing about this dream was that I ‘woke up’ mid-scream, the scream was what woke me up. The room was the exact same as the moment before it when I had seen the purple orb. It was still dark out, I was still in the same bed, underneath the covers, in my bed… I couldn’t fall back asleep and stayed awake pondering what had just happened… checked the time my phone etc and just got out of bed…”
Now we start getting into false awakenings, which are also a bit strange (and frightening at times). I haven’t had one of those for awhile, but those too can feel very real. I empathize with your experience, since we’ve both had that moment where you sit in bed and think, “What the heck just happened here? What just happened was out of the ordinary and not something the vast majority of my friend and family will understand…but I know in my heart that it was significant to my life, spiritual growth, etc.”
I think, at a minimum, these are very special graces given to you by God to encourage you keep pushing forward with your spiritual faith. He’s letting you know that there is much, much more than this reality.
Again thanks for taking the time to comment. Feel free to stop in any time with additional stories or questions.