"The laboratory of parallel universe experimentation may not lie in a mechanical time machine, a la Jules Verne, but could exist between our ears. ". . . the possibility exists that parallel universes may be extremely close to us, perhaps only atomic dimensions away but perhaps in a higher dimension of space - an extension into what physicists call superspace. Modern neuroscience, through the study of altered states of awareness, schizophrenia, and lucid dreaming, could be indicating the closeness of parallel worlds to our own."
  -- Fred Alan Wolf, Ph. D., Parallel Universes

Physics

No longer the realm of metaphysics and science fiction, today parallel universes are a serious consideration in quantum theory.

Quantum physics is the physics of the very small - the subatomic level of reality. It is believed by many physicists that consciousness plays a vital role in quantum reality, where it seems the observer cannot be separated from the observed; in effect the observer creates the observed.

Newtonian physics applies to the very large, like galaxies, planets, and people. Both kinds of physics work very well in their own domains. But at the quantum level of reality, Newtonian physics (the everyday laws of physics that we all know and experience) breaks down.

So, where does consciousness operate where the laws of physics break down? In the lucid dream state. As all dreamers are aware, physical laws like gravity, and linear time do not rule the dreamworld. The discovery of parallel universes (and perhaps parallel selves) may be as close as your dreams.

Granted, dreams (both lucid and non-lucid) are populated with symbols - personal and archetypal - that relate solely to the dreamer. Beliefs, fears, emotions, and moods, can colour and distort dream experience.

But what about the instances of dream psi (psychic phenomena), like telepathy, clairvoyance, and mutual dreaming? Somehow, information is getting through to the individual via the dream state, albeit in a usually "coded" (symbolic) fashion.

Not because the information is "coded" to begin with, but because, we usually tend to distort information and filter dream experience through our beliefs and expectations. We layer meaning over information Unless we are very clear about what is personal dream symbolism, and what is "outside" information, the data (dream) will need to be interpreted; the personal symbolic associations peeled away to reveal the information beneath.

For instance, in the dreamstate you begin to access information on a future event. However, perhaps you have very strong beliefs and opinions concerning such an event, so your dreaming mind begins to "free associate" with the information, conjuring up symbols and meaning that are pertinent to you, personally, but cloud the original "message".

I believe that psi dreams are far more common than most people think for this very reason. I believe we are in touch with "outside" information quite often, but colour what we "tune into" with our own symbolism.

Seasoned lucid dreamers are not surprised when they instantly create symbols in their dream by simply thinking of them, they are not surprised when they want to manifest something and it easily works. There is a very thin line between creation and perception in the dreamstate (as there appears to be in the quantum level of reality) - even if that creation/perception manifests in distorted form.

If telepathy, clairvoyance, and mutual dreaming exist, it stands to reason that other information - like communication with other selves in other universes - may be accessible too. Perhaps all we need to do is to be open to the idea, and be able to keep our personal symbolism from clouding over the experience.

Metaphysics

The Seth material, information delivered by Jane Roberts while in an altered state of awareness, is abundant with information regarding parallel universes and parallel selves. Seth refers to these as probable universes or probable realities, and probable selves. He maintains that for every choice we make, the choice we didn't make was actualized by a probable (parallel) self in a probable (parallel) world. Our probable selves walk those roads not taken.

Also according to Seth, we frequently interact with our probable selves in the dreamstate, usually unaware that we do so: "The dreamstate, however, does operate as a rich web of communication between probable selves and probable existences."

The "Unknown" Reality

Volume One, Session 687

Having been interested in quantum theory, consciousness studies, and lucid dreaming for many years, it was no surprise to (forgive the pun:) "find myself" spontaneously interacting with other selves in the dreamstate:

Hindu-Me

(May 19 1991) I'm in a cluttered bedroom. I realize it's a dream so I get up and go out the bedroom door, to find something to do. I see another bedroom door and decide to go through. In that room I see a young woman sitting at a vanity in front of a mirror. She is doing her hair and make-up, moving with quick and confident strokes. I sit on her bed and watch her with wonder. I am very surprised to see that she is me. I can hear the surprise in my own voice as I say to her "Lucy?" She, on the other hand, is not too surprised to see me. I notice that she has a red dot on her forehead like some East Indian women wear. I watch her gestures so that I'll know what I look like; how I look to others as opposed to how I see myself in a mirror. She gets up and then lays down on her stomach beside me on the bed. We then have a long conversation (unfortunately, I could recall none of it when I woke). Toward the end of our discussion I say to her, "I thought you were (the one who went through that ordeal)." She looks a little surprised and says, "I thought you were." We then realize that neither of us experienced that particular reality, it was another "probable Lucy". We stand up and embrace each other; I'm a little emotional over the whole event.Then lucidity is lost and I am soon awake, with a sense of relief, like a burden has been lifted from my shoulders.

This was a fairly straight forward dream indicating communication between parallel selves. The red mark on "parallel Lucy's" forehead may not necessarily have an East Indian connection at all, but may have been my dreaming minds translation (in symbolic clothing) of "third eye" or psi communication. In other words, communication at a level of consciousness other than my "ordinary" dreaming consciousness. Regardless, some issue was resolved by this communication, evidenced by the feelings of relief felt upon waking.

Seth also maintains that probable selves often "lend each other a helping hand", stating that you can "avail yourself to some extent of abilities and knowledge possessed by these other probable portions of your personality" (1). You can draw on the psychological strengths and abilities of our probable selves when necessary. (And of course they can draw upon our skills as well.)

Circles of Selves

December 6 1995 - I go upstairs to my bedroom, but I see that my door is different, made of very old wood. I try to open it, suspecting that I'm dreaming, when it opens to another, and another, and another door. I know I'm dreaming. I leave the multiple doors and fly down the hall to a huge room, full of mirrors on the walls. I see my reflections and I note the symbolism of multiple me's, parallel me's, probable me's. Excited, I shout out "Probable Me's! Probable Me's!" in the hope that the reflected images will "come alive" and step out of the mirrors. Almost immediately there is a lot of movement as "the me's" step out of the mirrors and soon the room is full of moving people, but they don't all look identical to me anymore. I try to spy a "pregnant me" (something that I refuse to be in this life). I see a pregnant woman with dark black curly ringlets. Then I see some me's together in a circle and I get a sense of groups of me's coming together to give each other healing, strength, to share abilities and skills, etc. I want other groups to form too, and soon see more me's gathered in circles. I then see one group coming toward me; other me's with their arms around each other. I don't immediately get "absorbed" into their circle, but I feel I can join anyway, they'll make room. Just as this is about to happen though, I wake.

In this example my dreaming mind appears to have used symbols of multiple doors, mirrors, and reflections to alert me that I was in contact with many parallel selves where we could all (on some level) benefit from each other's knowledge, strengths, abilities, and experiences. The symbol of "going upstairs" may well have represented going up to "another level" of consciousness.

The following lucid dream, my favourite to date, seems to indicates that my familiarity with parallel selves, and parallel realities, is growing; even to the point where I hold a meeting on the subject within the dreamstate!

Probability Meeting

May 15 1998 - (I am staying over at a friend's place.) I am in M's living room. I realize that I'm dreaming. I go out into the small hallway by the kitchen. I float, and fly up and down the small hallway, wondering what I should do next. At some point I find a small round mirror and, looking at my image and the room reflected in it, I try to get inside the mirror to see what I'll find there. After a few attempts I give up. I then look back into M's living room. I am not surprised to see two K's, a few other me's, and one or two other people. I know that I'm dreaming and am seeing probable versions of people, myself included [from probable realities]. I am not perturbed when some of them pop in and out of existence. I don't let the "non-linearity" or "non consistency" bother me. I know that that is just an aspect of the state (reality) we are in. Then I am standing on or above a large round table. There are at least two me's, and two or more K's and multiple other people as well as a couple, a man and a woman. I am at a meeting, a "probabilities meeting." Expertly I quote (from memory) from a Seth book, about learning to operate in the probability system. In my mind I "see" the title of the book as "The Search for Seth," but smiling, I remind myself that in "my" reality those quotes come from a book titled "Seth Speaks." Some of the other people here would have "The Search for Seth" in their realities. I notice that the couple are not paying attention to me. They seem unaware that I'm here, or perhaps more accurately, unaware that they are here. Glancing around the table I become curious as to how many people here are aware that they are dreaming. I ask those who are listening how many of them realize that they are dreaming right now. I'm pleased to see a few hands go up, pleased also to see a me with her hand up. The couple continue to talk between themselves, oblivious to their surroundings. I am satisfied that at least some of us are consciously present, and know that those who are not, are still learning and participating here on at least some level of their psyche. At the end of the meeting, we seem to be in a conga line, dancing and having fun, the line moving like a wave. Someone falls and we all laugh good-naturedly as the line collapses. Then it seems I am waking. I have many false awakenings, but always catch myself - even cheerfully saying at one point that it is like a game to detect these false awakenings - and continue to dream fully lucidly until I wake "for real."

Obviously, seeing multiple me's and multiple Ks was a good indication that there were probabilities involved in this dream. The "meeting" can be seen as a noun - a meeting, to a "place" where we have all come together as a group, or as a verb - the meeting of various probabilities, the coming together of probable selves. I assume the meeting was successful since at the end of it we were happy and dancing in a conga line. This "line" I believe represents linear reality, and our each returning to our own individual "time lines". The wavy motion of the line and the "fall" near the end of the dream represents to me the "collapsing of the wave function", a phrase from quantum theory that means when an event is actualized from a field of probable events. The multiple false awakenings experienced at the end of the dream may indicate waking up in a series of probable realities before eventually getting "home."

Why Explore Parallel Realities?

On a personal level, by exploring your parallel existences you can indirectly experience those roads not taken, and look at the outcomes of some of the "what if's" in your life. What if you had moved to Paris when you had the chance, instead of going to college? How might your life have turned out? You can gain insights from the knowledge and experiences of your other probable selves; tap into their strengths, skills, and abilities. You can experiment with alternate behaviours, and different ways to solve problems. With the added ability of lucid dreaming, you can learn to participate more consciously in the act of choosing from probable events and situations.

However, you don't have to be an accomplished lucid dreamer in order to get a glimpse into your own personal probabilities. Non-lucid dreams can offer valuable hints and clues that your dreaming self is working with probabilities. Obvious symbols like mirrors, reflections, twins, younger, older, or other selves, multiple objects like doors or windows may indicate probable realities. Or, you may have some other object that represents probabilities to you that shows up in your dreams. Remember, they are your dreams, so you will need to be familiar with your own dream symbols. As many dream enthusiasts are aware, there are numerous inventions and discoveries attributed to inspiration and solutions found in dreams.

On a global level, what if the scientific researchers of the world - the physicists, biologists, medical doctors, etc. turned their vision away from their instruments and computers once in a while and looked to their own dreams? With lucidity and determination what marvels could they discover in the laboratories of their minds?

What knowledge from parallel universes could be shared? Could other selves hold the key to mysteries in our universe? Maybe what is a mystery to us is old hat to them. Like a cure for cancer? What if they could transmit to us via the dreamstate, or another altered state of consciousness, help for some of our most pressing problems like disease, war, hunger, the depletion of our natural resources...?

Could we learn to minimize the "white noise" of our personal dream symbols enough to pull relevant information into our awareness? Could we discover a way to effectively and clearly communicate and work with parallel selves on an ongoing, consistent basis? Could we discover the new "laboratory of parallel universe experimentation" where we study and learn about the nature of reality and existence alongside our own parallel selves? Perhaps there are some parallel universes where this possibility is already a reality. If we could access such a universe, would we then be able to comprehend the physics behind parallel universes?

I wonder just how many physicists are lucid dreamers, and if any have ever tried to use their talents to unravel the marvelous mysteries of parallel universes. Maybe you will discover something new and wonderful as you explore and experiment in your own lucid laboratory.

"As fantastic as it may sound, the "new physics" called quantum mechanics posits that there exists, side by side with this world, another world, a parallel universe, a duplicate copy that is somehow slightly different and yet the same. And not just two parallel worlds, but three, four, and even more. No less than an infinite number of them. In each of these universes, you, I, and all the others who live, have lived, will live, will have ever lived, are alive."

Fred Alan Wolf, Starwave: Mind, Consciousness, and Quantum Physics,

(1) Roberts, Jane. Seth Speaks, Session 566

Roberts, Jane. Seth Speaks. Bantam Books, 1984

Roberts, Jane. The "Unknown" Reality, Volume One. Bantam Books, 1989

Wolf, Fred Alan. Parallel Universes. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990

Wolf, Fred Alan. Starwave: Mind, Consciousness, and Quantum Physics. New York: MacMillin Publishing Company, 1986