In my study of Kabbalah, consciousness, and dreams over the last many years, I’ve discovered that there is a concept that is a feature of all three: a hidden reality we are unaware of with ordinary perception.
Accompanying this concept is the suggestion that we humans are capable of perceiving “the hidden” in both waking life and in dreams if only we learn how to interrupt our habitual way of interacting with our environment. If we can hack our nervous systems, so to speak.
In a recent audio chat on Patreon, I share a practice I stumbled upon that helps me remember to periodically interrupt my auto-pilot brain during my everyday activities, and invite myself to become more mindfully aware of that which is around me, to seek novelty in familiar settings, to become more sensitive and attentive to the people I am in conversation with, or to tune into a subtle awareness in me I typically ignore when I’m stuck in thinking mode or simply reacting to others around me. You can listen to that episode here. The practice has to do with noticing number synchronicities (special numbers that keep reappearing for you) and reminds me that there is always the possibility of newness and hidden depths in every seemingly mundane, shallow moment.
In the episode, I talk about the gematria (mystical numerical value and significance) of 2026 and I also reflect on how this practice — pausing to notice the new or the subtle in my environment — can be honed and then practiced inside dreams as well, to surprising results. In fact, I have found that stopping to notice that which is subtle in waking life has been training me for noticing the subtle in dreams. As I often write and speak about, dreamwork is a feedback loop in which our dreams offer us insights about our behavior and patterns we may not be aware of. We then can choose to change those patterns in waking life, which then lead to changes in our dreams. And the loop keeps looping, until we see significant transformation that becomes integrated into both our waking life and dreams.
This practice of perceiving that which is hidden is not as mysterious or as mystical as it seems (though it can be!) All the time, every day, we are missing connections: connections with others, with nature, with beauty, and with ourselves. We miss things all the time because we are in a hurry, or because we think we know, or because we are tired, or because we are stuck in some story in our head about ourselves, others, or the world. It is more common and pervasive in your life than you realize: You might miss noticing that your child needs a hug. You might miss your employee’s quiet quitting. You might miss the obvious clues that your partner is checking out of your marriage.
Those of us who are interested in perceiving the magical and the mystical in waking life and in dreams first need to start at the ground level: here on Earth, where we must learn how to be more awake and aware. We can practice this alone, in our physical spaces, by actively seeking out something “new” or beautiful or peculiar in the familiar. We can practice this with others, in our interactions, by taking in more deeply our perceptions of the people across from us: listening to them more attentively, looking at their features with more curiosity, or quieting our judgment and labeling of them.
Our dreams show us how quickly we seek to make sense of our environment and encounters, and how easily we can be confused when our environment does not fall into line with our sense-making. This is one reason why people choose to not remember their dreams at all. And it’s also why those of us who do often report confusion in dreams.
Confusion is actually not such a bad thing in dreams. In fact, it can be a sign that you’re willing to take in what is new or odd in your dream environment and be with it, rather than quickly leave, react, assume, label, make sense of, name, or try to fit the new or odd into some acceptable category of familiar to you.
In order to perceive that which is hidden in our lives, we need to learn how to become more comfortable being with that which is unfamiliar. We need to be able to stick around and take in with our senses more deeply the stimuli we are actually perceiving, as opposed to quickly believing what the brain immediately interprets the data is.
As an example: have you ever looked at an optical illusion? Recently, I visited the Museum of Illusions in Philadelphia and got to play with a bunch of different optical illusions.
What you notice with optical illusions is that staying longer with an image produces an unusual effect. The image may shapeshift or become seemingly three-dimensional. That’s because the analytical, interpretive brain is confused by what it is seeing. In fact, it doesn’t know exactly what it is seeing and therefore, you get to see more than just one definitive image. You can even sometimes choose what you see based on where you stand or where you look.
At home, you can practice “messing with your brain” by drawing or tracing what’s known as Metatron’s Cube. I’ve been drawing and contemplating this sacred geometry shape for quite some time and it’s still entertaining and illuminating to do so. 
What you realize when you contemplate this shape is that there are different ways of engaging with it: you can see it as a 2-dimensional drawing, or relax your gaze and suddenly you might see various 3D shapes emerge. Perhaps, at first you notice a cube. Then, later you notice a tetrahedron. Depending on how you color or shade your own Metatron’s Cube, your brain might notice multiple shapes at once or, as with the optical illusions, struggle to land on just one certain definitive shape.
What’s great about optical illusions is they alert us to how much our interpretive brain drives our experience of reality, but also that we are able to override it. It’s not impossible. It’s very possible. And even more possible the more we practice.
Dreamwork, making art, and various contemplative practices such as meditative walks in nature or gazing at sacred letters and shapes have all supported my efforts toward perceiving more of the hidden in my waking life and dreams. I hope to share more of what I’ve learned with you in the year ahead here on this web site, on Patreon, and in classes. Subscribe on the menu bar if you want to receive a few mailings a year with notifications about new content or classes.
