I  am on a high hill above a lake,  searching for Indian
artifacts.  It seems that  I  am being told about the culture
which  existed  in  the  area  during  primitive times.  I am
told that the Indians were very advanced in the area of
stone flaking.
      I  go  atop  the  hill  and  find  three beautifully crafted
stone trowels or knives.  I realize that they are too fine to
be real, and I must be dreaming.
     Taking the stone trowels, I sit down to meditate facing
east  and  stick the trowels in the ground, one at a tune.  I
repeat, "The Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost."
      At this point... walks by.  I  ask "Do you know that we
are dreaming?"  She laughs.  So  I  direct her attention to
the  three  stone  objects  on  the  ground.  In  their  midst
items of silverware begin to appear spontaneously— first
a  fork,  then a cup.  I  look  at  her  face.  She  is  puzzled,
seemingly on the verge of "waking up."  I  take the items
away and other objects appear.  We begin  to laugh as the
process   speeds  up.   We   are  inundated  with  beautiful
silver objects. Then I awaken ...

      This  type  of lucid dream resembles the first except
that  the  anomaly  or  inconsistent  event  in  the  dream
lacks  a  threatening quality;  it  is  merely  at variance to
what  the  dreamer knows  to  be true or possible.  In  his
book,  Astral Projection (circa 1938),  Oliver  Fox calls
this distinguishing awareness, which begins to arise with
greater frequency once  it occurs,  the  "critical faculty."
This    awareness   is   essentially   the   recognition   of
inconsistency in the dream.
     The development of such a faculty has had construct-
ive but painful  implications  for  me  during  the waking
state,  as well.  It seems that  as lucidity has developed  I
have also become more aware  of the inconsistencies in
my waking actions and thoughts; however, the awareness
has  hardly been pleasant.  I  have  begun  to  realize  that
lucidity  is  only  the  first step in fully  "waking up,"  and
that  the  more difficult step  is then accepting and living
creatively with my faults and inconsistencies.

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