Opening Prayer
First: please tell the children the story Dreams.
Second: please talk to the children about the following:
Is it important for us to get ready to go to bed? Yes, it is. How? It is important to have light meals before going to bed, slow down our activity level, read a pleasant story and pray before falling asleep. Please mention that it is important not to watch violent movies since it doesn’t let you have a good night sleep. It would also be good to hear a pleasant music.
What happens with our physical body when we fall asleep? What happens to our spirit? Our physical body rests, but our spirit will still be awake. The spirit is always active. The bonds which unite him to the body are relaxed during sleep; and as the body does not then need his presence, he travels through space, and enters into more direct relation with other spirits. The perispirit is of a semi-material nature belonging to the realm of matter, although of a very subtle kind. In fact, the perispirit can be understood as the Spirit’s fluidic body. It unites the body and the spirit; is a sort of semi-material envelope. Please mention to the children the perispirit is linked to the physical body by an energetic thread known as the silver cord.
When his body is asleep, a spirit enjoys the use of faculties of which he is unconscious while his body is awake. He remembers the past, and sometimes foresees the future: he acquires more power, and is able to enter into communication with other spirits, either in this world or in some other. We will connect with the ones we are linked with; the ones we have affinity with. The inferior ones most likely will stay connected to physical body and its sensations; usually due to their ignorance. The more evolved spirits, when they sleep, regain the society of other spirits superior to themselves. They go about with them, conversing with them, and gaining instruction from them; they even work, in the spirit-world, at undertakings which, on dying, they find already begun or completed. They could even meet their protector spirit, friends, relatives and/or people they know that had just disincarnated, if they are in conditions and deserve this treasure. They could also meet other incarnated beings whose physical body is also sleeping. Through the effects of sleep, incarnated spirits are always in connection with the spirit world.
Dreams can be:
Physiological: these dreams reflect what we felt within our physical body. If we feel cold, we will dream we could be in the middle of snow, for example.
Psychological: these dreams are a result of our thoughts, interests and worries. If we had a problem which we need to get sorted during the day, it is quite common to dream of this situation.
Spiritual: these dreams are the remembrance of what your spirit has seen, felt or done during sleep. These dreams can be sometimes very clear and colourful.
Repetitive: these dreams are, most of the time, a reflexion of a challenge we faced in this or in previous reincarnations. This does not mean this challenge will happen again, but that it was a very hard and important experience.
Premonitory: Dreams may also be sometimes a presentiment of the future, if permitted by God, or the sight of something which is taking place at the time in some other place to which the soul has transported itself. It is quite common to dream with something we are concerned, such as a relative who will be traveling soon and we worry; hence, we dream with an accident. It could be a warning from the spiritual benefactors saying that the person needs to be careful when he/she drives, for example, since the roads are dangerous.
We can pray for us to meet our protector spirit during our sleep. Two persons, who are acquainted with each other, could then visit one another in sleep. He could then give us advice, strength and the courage to face the challenges we have in life. He could also help us to find out what is the best way to behave in certain situations.
As time goes buy, we can receive the answers through intuition during the day if we practice it and deserve it. The ties of friendship, old or new, often bring together spirits who are happy to be in each other's company in the spiritual world. We could also meet during our sleep people we don’t like in order to become friend with, asking their forgiveness and dissolving any resentment and hate that might be between us.
Third: activity: draw or describe a dream you had or wished you had. Please ask the children to classify their dream as physiological, psychological, spiritual, repetitive or premonitory.
Obs.: we suggest to the Spiritist Teacher the reading of the book “Espiritismo, tudo o que você precisa saber”, from Richard Simonetti. There is also a good explanation about Sleep and Dreams in The Spirits' Book CHAPTER VIII - EMANCIPATION OF THE SOUL - 1. SLEEP AND DREAMS.
Closing Prayer
Class suggested being suitable for:3rd cycle (11 to 12 years old), but it could be adapted for 2nd cycle (9 to 10 years old).
Translation: Carolina von Scharten, London, Sir William Crookes Spiritist Society linked to BUSS - The British Union of Spiritist Societies.
