The Alchemy and Archetype of Black Light in Lucid Surrender Mary Ziemer 2012

The Alchemy and Archetype of Black Light in Lucid Surrender

First published in the International Association for the Studies of Dreams, Dream Time Magazine September 2012

First, what is meant by black light? To give you an idea, I invite you to take
part in a thought experiment based on an actual physics experiment. Imagine that you
are holding a closed box full of light. Lift the box to eye-level where you see a small
peephole. Now pull back the cover and peer into the box. What do you see?
According to the actual experiment, entitled Project Eureka, what you
would see is darkness, a seemingly black and empty space, because pure light is
essentially invisible, but, if you were to put a metal wand into one side of the box and
spin it around, you would become aware of the light as flashes of the metal became
visible. The light, however, remains invisible. We dont actually see the light; we
see only the objects light illuminates.1 The Eureka moment reveals that light requires
matter to be seen. Viewed alchemically, this is analogous to the idea the Spirit
requires matter to manifest.
Across wisdom traditions, black is the archetypal colour of ego surrender,
surrender not just to a higher power but also to a higher wisdomwhat Jung called a
Transpersonal awareness. In religious traditions, ego-surrender is very often
associated with sacrifice of the personal to the Divine. In Sufism, for example, black
represents an annihilation of the personal self, a state of consciousness in which,
metaphorically, there is no ego-based matter to reflect light.2 The experience of
annihilation is followed by a re-birth or resurrection into a more cosmic
consciousness. From a psychological perspective, the act of surrender is a
metaphorical ego-sacrifice that opens the personality to a more authentic way of being
and a larger life purpose.
Lucid Dreams and Black Light
How does this relate to lucid dreams? Of visionary lucid dreams, Stephen
LaBerge has observed: To go beyond the egos model of the world, the lucid dreamer
must relinquish control of the dreamsurrenderto something beyond the ego.3 In
my own experience of what I call Lucid Surrender, the door to an encounter with the

1
Zajonc, Arthur. (1993) Catching the Light: The Entwined History of Light and Mind. Oxford University Press: New York and
Oxford. pp. 1-2.
2
Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, H. (1992, 2010) The Secret of Secrets. The Islamic Texts Society: Cambridge, UK. p. 69.
3
LaBerge, Stephen. (2004,2009) Lucid Dreaming: A Concise Guide to Awakening in Your Dreams and in Your Life. P. Sounds
True, Inc.: Boulder, Colorado. p. 65.

The Alchemy and Archetype of Black Light in Lucid Surrender Mary Ziemer 2012

numinous is opened and one can move into a realm of consciousness beyond the
egos model of the world.
Such an experience is heralded by the archetype of black light. This archetype
appears, when, at the moment of lucidity the dreamer consciously and voluntarily
surrenders her ego, either symbolically via a gesture such as bowing her head, falling
to her knees, or prostrating herself, or verbally, by making a petition such as, Here I
am if you want me, Lord. With this, the dreamscape and dreambody fall away,
giving way to a dazzling black light and black winds.
This may all sound very esoteric, but it is important to recall that in describing
lucid dreams of surrender we are looking at ways the mind translates the objective
brain state of lucidity into symbols with both personal and collective resonance.4
Much as Carl Jung looked to alchemical emblems for a symbolic representation of
what he called the Individuation process, so we can look to alchemical imagery for a
map of the lucid surrender experience and the encounter with the black light.
You may associate alchemy with the origins of modern chemistry. The
alchemists searched for the elixir that would turn dross matter into gold, but as Jung
demonstrated, alchemists, across cultures, were actually tracking an inner,
psychological development whereby the dross matter of our lives is turned into the
true gold of a fully realized personality.
The Alchemy of Black Light and Lucid Surrender
The alchemical emblem Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae, The
Amphitheatre of Eternal Wisdom, by H.C. Khunrath (1604), is, in my view, a pictorial
depiction of the inner state required for a lucid surrender dream. Over the arching
doorway to which all perspective lines lead, the injunction Awake in Sleep is
written in Latin. These words can be taken metaphorically as a prompting to wake
up in daily life. Literally, the words are a call to become lucid while dreaming. Both
kinds of wakefulness can open us to new dimensions of consciousness and a deeper
awareness of life as well as our part in it.
The alchemists study is divided into two complimentary halves: on the left is
the curtained oratory, where the Great Alchemist is praised. Here the alchemist is
found on his knees in an attitude of surrender. On the opposite side is the alchemists

4
Hobson, Allan J. (2009) The Neurobiology of Consciousness: Lucid Dreaming Wakes up. The International Journal of Dream
Research. Volume 2, No. 2. Pp. 41-43.

The Alchemy and Archetype of Black Light in Lucid Surrender Mary Ziemer 2012

laboratory, where the alchemist devotes himself to the Great Alchemists work. The
work is founded on the principles of Reason and Experience, words that are carved on
two pillars.
A table in the middle of the room serves as the symmetry axis. Musical
instruments and sheets of music on the table indicate that the principles of
symmetrical proportion and harmony are present. Literally, the musical instruments
suggest the importance of music, particularly sacred songs, in the lucid experience.
When the dual aspects of laboratory and oratory are harmonized and in balance within
the dreamers psyche, this leads to lucid surrender.
The position of lucid surrender is both receptive and active in that one must
enact the paradox of actively surrendering the will and quieting the mindin yielding
one is made strong. The new state of consciousness that such an experience unveils is
symbolised by a door opening to a new dimensionthe lucid surrender dream state, a
potentially healing and transformative state of consciousness. A quote from Ibn Arabi,
a 12th century Persian philosopher and mystic summarizes this moment: My heart
stands at the door of the Divine Presence waiting for what comes next when the door
is opened.
The emblem teaches that certain qualities are required for lucid surrender:
reason, experience, inner balance, and a devotion to the Great Alchemist shown
through praise, supplication, thanksgiving, sacred music and daily work. The
alchemical process is considered a great and sacred art. By extension, so are lucid
dreams of surrender.
To illustrate the concept of lucid surrender, here is an example from my own
series of lucid surrender dreams:
In waking life, I have been ill over the Christmas holidays. In a dream, I am
surprised to find myself at the counselling centre I direct. Am very tired, but
realise that I am still on holiday and, as I dont have to start work yet, this
must be a dream. Say to the Lord, Here I am if you want to take me. The
dreamscape falls away and opens to the black lights and winds. It is hard to
keep my focus on a sacred song. Then it seems I am in a large structure with a
triangular roof. My mind gets caught up in trying to figure out what this
strange, pyramidal structure is and why it has appeared in my lucid
experience. My struggle to know causes me to miss the power of the pyramid

The Alchemy and Archetype of Black Light in Lucid Surrender Mary Ziemer 2012

archetype. I wonder if I oughtnt try to change the dream, but then think that
whatever the dream has in mind will be far more imaginative, so I wait.
Then all falls away to black again. After some time, my being is taken
into an immense lavender misty cloud of light. The cloud has a full gentle
quality. The intense beauty has a reality that feels impossible to describe
very fine, delicate, subtle yet strong. There is a long descent through this
lavender cloud. Finally the downward movement ceases and I see below me
white panels with beautiful patterns carved into them. They are exquisite and I
am aware that its best not to try too hard to see what they are but to use
the inner eye to intuit their meaning.
It feels as if my being is swimming like a fish suspended in a stream of
lavender, violet light reading the white squares. The experience is very
healing and cleansing. I wish my mind werent so active, so I could just take in
the violet mist as I know how much it is needed. Then my mind comes in
wondering how to sustain the lucid experience and with that I begin to awake
feeling that my being goes up, up, up into waking life.
As the art of alchemy suggests, such dreams shape the dreamers personality as well
as the art of life.
The Black Suns Inner Light
Alchemical emblems also lead us back to the significance of black light in
lucid surrender. A key alchemical teaching is As above so below. So, if there is
black light in the outer world, then there is black light in the inner. And, just as there
is an outer sun, so there is an inner sun, illuminating our understanding. In alchemy
this inner sun is depicted as the black sun or sol negro.5
The origins of the black sun go back to ancient Egypt, where alchemy arose as
a way to describe the inner mysteries and as a way to preserve life beyond the grave.
Here we find the image of the Eye of Horus, the eye of the Egyptian sun god that was
believed to be the eye by which God sees. Given that light is essential to life and to
sight, this statement rings true. From the dark pupil found in the center of the Eye of
Horus, the black sun re-appears in medieval European alchemy depicted as a black
sun.

Marlan, Stanton (2005) The Black Sun: The Alchemy and Art of Darkness. Texas A & M University Press: Texas

The Alchemy and Archetype of Black Light in Lucid Surrender Mary Ziemer 2012

An engraving from J.D. Myliuss Philosophia Reformata, Frankfurt, 1622,

shows a skeleton that stands on a black sun. This skeletal figure is flanked by two
angels as well as images of the sun and moon. From a psychological perspective, Jung
associated this emblem with the first stage of the alchemical process, nigredo, the
blackening, wherein the individual works through their mental conditioning and
complexes, a process of ego-death that leads to a deeper, more expansive
understanding of ones inner nature.
However, from a lucid surrender perspective, this emblem depicts what
happens at the moment of surrendera voluntary ego-deathas the dreamscape falls
away. This is experienced as a death for the ego and the five senses, represented by
the skeleton. This ego-death sets the stage for the subsequent emergence of black
light, or inner light, illustrated by the black sun on which the skeleton stands.
When the dreamscape and dreambody disappear, very often the sensation is
one of flying or rather of being carried or guided on the black winds, experiences
translated into the image of the angelic beings. The sun and moon are indications of
the experience of unity that is central to encounter with the archetype of black light.
Lucid Surrender and the Tao of Inner Wholeness
A central aim in the alchemical process is the inner, transformative experience
of wholeness and unity. This essential unity is suggested in the spherical shape that
encompasses the emblem of the alchemists studya sphere being indicative of
oneness and divinity. In Chinese alchemy, the spherical symbol of the Tao, the
Undivided One, is illustrative of this alchemical goal.
How does the Tao relate to lucid dreaming? Interestingly, Lao-Tzu, the 6th
century mystic who codified Taoism into teachings called The Tao Te Ching or The
Way, describes the Tao thusly:
The Way is like something seen in a dream, elusive, evading one;
In it are images, elusive, evading one;
In it are things like shadows in twilight;
In it are essences, subtle but real, embedded in truth.
We are familiar with the Tao as representing the unity of opposites: sun and moon,
masculine, and feminine, logos and eros etc. Referring to neurological studies of the
brain, we may also think of the white portion of the Tao as left brain functioning,
which is linear, literal, and analytic, in contrast to the dark portion that we can link to
right brain processing, which is more liminal, metaphorical and associative. But think
5

The Alchemy and Archetype of Black Light in Lucid Surrender Mary Ziemer 2012

of the Tao as also representing the lucid state: waking and dream consciousness
unified, the conscious and the unconscious psyche bridged.
In his book Dreaming While Awake, Arnold Mindell writes that in the western
world the white portion of the Tao, associated with waking consciousness, is
privileged, whereas in the lucid state, a right relationship between waking and dream
consciousness is reinforced. For Mindell, lucidity is awareness of the Tao that cannot
be spoken.6 Allan Hobsons neurological studies provide empirical evidence for this
metaphorical claim, demonstrating that the lucid dream brain state is a balance of
waking and sleeping consciousness.7
Linking this idea to Jungian psychology, the image of the Tao depicts a bridge
between the conscious and the unconsciousJung noted that symbols such as the Tao
have what he called a Transcendent Function in that they connect these two realms of
consciousness and create a more fully integrated ego in which the authentic self is
more fully realized.
In fact, Anthony Stevens, a Jungian analyst and scholar, relates that in Jungs
later life, he espoused ideas originally put forward by the 16th century alchemist
Gerard Dorn: That the completion of the alchemical work was a symbolic union of
the whole man with the unus mundusthe unitary world.... Stevens cites Jungs
recognition that Dorn was describing the relation of the individual Tao with the
universal Tao. 8
Alchemy suggests that we can take such thoughts one step further and put
forward the idea that the lucid dream state, particularly that of lucid surrender, can
potentially open the dreamer to a profound experience of wholenesssymbolized in
the circle that contains both yin and yang: both sleeping and waking consciousness.
Numinous symbols that appear in lucid dreams of surrender are similar to the Tao in
its form and transcendent function.
The Lucid Surrender Dreamer as the Alchemical Hermaphrodite
In European alchemy the experience of inner unity in which the opposites are
reconciled is known as the coniunctio oppositorum, a stage symbolized by the figure
of the hermaphrodite: a being that is drawn as equally half male and female, but
actually transcends gender. The hermaphrodite may be naked to show its innocence
6

Mindell, Arnold (2000) Dreaming While Awake: Techniques for 24-Hour Lucid Dreaming. pp. 30-44.
Hobson, Allan J. (2009) The Neurobiology of Consciousness: Lucid Dreaming Wakes up. The International Journal of Dream
Research. Volume 2, No. 2. pp. 41-43.
8
Stevens, Anthony (1995) Private Myths: Dreams and Dreaming. The Penguin Group: New York. p. 329.
7

The Alchemy and Archetype of Black Light in Lucid Surrender Mary Ziemer 2012

and purity of heart, but in a beautiful image of the hermaphrodite from the 16th
century Splendor Solis, the hermaphrodite is shown wearing black embroidered with
goldthe black light reappears in the garb of the surrendered ego and the inner gold
that emerges from such an attitude. Literally, in a lucid surrender experience, the
dreambody may appear as a luminous black. To my mind, the hermaphrodite images
the inner state of the lucid surrender dreamer.
In the Splendor Solis emblem, the hermaphrodite is shown as having wings,
one that is red, for matter, and the other white, for spirit. The male half of the
hermaphrodite holds a mirror in his right hand, an image of a reflective, aware
consciousness as well as the mirror in which manifestation appears.9 The female holds
an egg in her left hand, an image of the unified self as well as the alchemical soul in
the midpoint of the heart.
The hermaphrodite stands on a cliff overlooking an otherworldly landscapea
pictorial representation of the new realms of consciousness experienced in lucid
surrender. Again, think of this illustration as depicting the dreamers inner state, one
that can be realized the deeper one enters lucid surrender.
The Archetype of Black Light in Wisdom Traditions
In addition to alchemy, Wisdom traditions across cultures have much to say
about the archetype of black light. In brief, Buddhism describes the blackness of the
void as the unmanifest. In Tibetan Buddhism, black is the color of the intermediate
realms of the bardos that demarcate the realms of consciousness unveiled as one falls
asleep and in death. In this tradition, black also appears in the ultimate 7th stage in
which clear light appears. The Tao de Ching of Zen Buddhism contains a passage
suggestive of the black light and its relationship to surrender and the experience of
wholeness:
Seeing into darkness is clarity.
Knowing how to yield is strength.
Use your inner light to return to the source of light.
This is called practicing eternity.

9
Henderson, J.L. & Sherwood, D. N. (2003). Transformation of the Psyche: The Symbolic Symbolism of the Splendor Solis.
Routledge: East Sussex. pp. 90-92.

The Alchemy and Archetype of Black Light in Lucid Surrender Mary Ziemer 2012

The Hindu Mandukpa Upanishad contains a passage that also resonates with echoes
of the intuitive and unitive knowing experienced in the black light that is beyond the
five senses or the logical mind known as the 4thpure unitary consciousness.
Moving to the Kabbalistic tradition, we learn of Ein-Sof, the concealed light.
The Kabbalah teaches that God withdrew the absolute to allow the void to appear so
that the mirror of existence could be manifested. In Sufism we enter the Land of the
Midnight Sun, where black light, the uncreated light, the color of the transcendent,
and the unmanifest, shines. And, in the Christian tradition, St. John of the Cross
writes in his poem Dark Night:
Oh Night Thou was my guide,
Oh night more loving than the morning sun,
Oh night that joined
The Lover to the Beloved One,
Transforming each of them into the other.
All of these traditions point towards a deeper Knowledge that can be
experienced on the black light and windsnot just knowledge of phenomena but
knowledge in the ancient Greek sense of nouema, an intuitive and unitive knowledge
of reality: Knowledge of the pneuma, the breath or Spirit that is the Ground of
manifest reality. In this kind of knowing, the facts of phenomena are symbols that
point towards a fuller understanding of the essence behind existence.10 Although I
would say that all dreams work in this wayas they move us towards Individuation
and into a more conscious relationship with the unconsciousthe awareness of this
knowledge is heightened exponentially in lucid surrender.
The Archetype of Black Light: A Personal View
To the eons of soulful, human experience of the black light, I would like to
humbly add some of my own. Keep in mind that the archetype of the black light, as
all fundamental archetypes, is not a hypothetical concept in the dream world, but a
supra-personal reality with qualities and attributes. As Jung was fond of saying, I do
not dream, I am dreamt and I do not live, I am lived.11 These statements become a
reality in lucid surrender.

10
Nasr, Seyyed Hossein (2007) The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islams Mystical Tradition.
HarperCollins Books: New York. pp. 41-47.
11

Stevens, Anthony (1995) Private Myths: Dreams and Dreaming. The Penguin Group: New York. p. 172.

The Alchemy and Archetype of Black Light in Lucid Surrender Mary Ziemer 2012

One dominant experience on the black light is, as Patricia Garfield describes
in her book Pathways to Ecstasy, one of ecstasy, blissful, orgasmic desirean
ecstatic death. Perhaps this ecstatic experience on the black light is the source of the
Orphic belief that Eros was born out of an egg produced by the union of night and the
void.
My own lucid surrender experiences have caused me to revision the myth of
Psyche and Eros. You may recall that Psyche was married to Eros but only on the
condition that she never see him. Every night, they made love in darkness, and she
longed to see the being that gave her so much joy.
In the classic embrace of Psyche and Eros immortalized in the famous
sculpture by Antonio Canova (1787),12 we see a symbol of unity on many levels: the
union of masculine and feminine; the shape of Tao in their encircling arms; the union
of body and soul or body and spirit, or psychologically, the union of the individual
ego with a greater life purposea union of opposites that is a part of the fabric of the
black light.
But Psyche is not able to simply surrender to the experience. Her sisters
convince her that Eros must be a monster to hide his form in darkness and so persuade
her to light a candle at their next rendezvous. When Psyche lights the candle, Eros
flees. So often in a lucid dream, when one attempts to see or to understand with the
light of the logical mind, then, just as in the myth, the experience ends, only to be
revived when one is kissed again by lucidity. However, if you can maintain an
attitude of surrender and move through the ecstasy as well as the desire to see and
to know, the black light opens up to an encounter with numinous symbols.
At the other end of the spectrum from this ecstatic death, the black light
experience of ego death can be much more violent and annihilative. To my mind, the
Hindu goddess Kali symbolically represents this quality and its function. Kali is the
black goddess known as the Destroyer. Yet, she is also the Transformer because she
liberates her followers from limited ego positions. She returns all to its primordial
unity. In the Mahanirvana Tantra it is written of her:
Just as all colors disappear in black,
So all names and forms disappear in her

12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psyche_Revived_by_Cupid%27s_Kiss

The Alchemy and Archetype of Black Light in Lucid Surrender Mary Ziemer 2012

But again, if you can move through the fear such an encounter can bring up, what
emerges is a deeper dimension of wholeness.
Both forms of death, whether ecstatic or annihilative, break down or thin out
the ego, breaking open the heart to love. Psychotherapeutically, false, inauthentic ego
positions are broken down so that a truer, more authentic self can emerge. A lucid
surrender experience facilitates such a process, opening the personal consciousness to
a more cosmic consciousness of peace, serenity, and sacredness. The voluntary egodeath of surrender lays the groundwork for symbolic bridging between the ego and
larger Self. The challenge is to avoid becoming caught up in the desire of the ecstatic
death or the fear of annihilation.
In my own experience, as suggested by the sacred music present in the
alchemists study, repeating a holy name or singing a sacred song helps to focus my
mind and sustain the lucid surrender until the black light opens to a still place where
numinous forms emerge. The archetypal experience of ego-death on the black light
prepares the dreamer to enter the realm of numinous archetypes. A stanza from a
poem by Rumi encapsulates the experience:
Go die, O man of honor, before you die,/..../
Die in such a way as to enter the abode of light.
Lucid Surrender and the Realms of Light
In my own dreams of lucid surrender, the light forms that appear emerge out
of the black light. There are a number of esoteric teachings on the realms of light, but
I will refer to Sufi teachings that have helped me to frame this experience. Sufis view
black light as the uncreated light of the unmanifest from which manifestation or
colors and life appear. Light is essentially viewed as an expression of consciousness.
The attitude of surrender generates an act of grace that metaphorically polishes
the surface of the dream-as-mirror so that it can better reflect the light of mind, soul,
and spirit. As our minds and hearts become clearer, so do the dreams as they better recollect and reflect the Light of Knowledge. Some light forms are more mental or
archetypalthey are present in many of the lucid surrender dreams and express the
light of Mind: qualities and concepts such as those of Platonic forms and
mathematics. These seem to exist independently.
Beyond these forms of light, are others that have more intimate associations to
the dreamer as an individual and reflect what I would call the light of Soul, in my own
case, a large purple sphere outlined in red, a living, pulsating white rose of light, a
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The Alchemy and Archetype of Black Light in Lucid Surrender Mary Ziemer 2012

massive 12-sided emerald etc. Other forms are more impersonal, more cosmic in
nature, and reflect the light of Spirit, these latter tend to be on a vast, even infinite
scale, for example, a DNA pattern formed of cubes, a star-cluster sea of light with the
texture of love, a flaming spiral of red and white light, a black whirlwind cloud or
vortex of black-lace light.
All the forms possess qualities unique unto themselves. But, whether of the
mind, soul, or spirit each form is, fundamentally, a beautiful expression of love. As
Jung noted, an encounter with such numinous forms is what heals the self-image and
enables each of us to be channels for the qualities experienced in the light forms. The
Prophet Mohammed taught: Know yourself, know your Lord. This echoes the
Delphic injunction to Know Thyself. The forms help us to know that, as bearers of
consciousness, we are, in essence, beings of light.
In line with the attitude of surrender, I generally convey my willingness to be
taken into the form by containing my fear and quieting my mind. A few times, when I
have hesitated out of fear, a voice has encouraged me to allow my being to enter an
image. Occasionally, in response to a deep desire, I have reached out with my hand
to touch a form, and, with that, have been pulled into the image. Other times, a light
form has taken me into its center. Sometimes, after spending time within a form, I
find it opens to another dimension. Or, it may simply be about imbuing me with the
forms qualities and the knowledge it holds.
Alchemically, the image from Splendor of Solis of the peacock in the
alchemical flask is viewed as demarking the end of nigredo and the movement into
stages wherein the personality is more fully realized, a phase known as the peacocks
tail. The peacocks tail, full of symmetrical patterns and vibrant colors, is not only
suggestive of the dreamers encounter with light forms but also symbolic of the
resulting expansion of consciousness. Notably, the peacocks tail is shown against the
backdrop of a shining blackan outward presentation of the inner lucid surrender
encounter with the archetype of the black light and the light forms it engenders.
The following lucid surrender dream, again from my own series of dreams,
contains many of the elements Ive described:
In a dream, I find myself in a garden talking to a man sitting opposite
me. There arent enough flowers around, so I think: Let there be flowers.
When flowers dont appear, I am surprised because, after all, this is a dream.
With this, full lucidity comes as all falls away and my being is carried very
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The Alchemy and Archetype of Black Light in Lucid Surrender Mary Ziemer 2012

hard and fast on the black winds, leaving me breathless. The movement is so
powerful, it is hard to locate a sense of the sacred. Instead my mind simply
tracks the experience: Heres the black light, here are the geometric forms of
light, here is a sea of crystal light formations, here is the black again.
Then there is a stunning downward movement through the black that
slows as the soles of my feet touch the ground. The sensation is
indescribably lovely as if Ive been gently set on soft forest duff that
communicates with my soul. On the black expanse, there is a large deep blue
circle of light. The circle reminds me of a fountains base but there is no
central form in the middle. As I wait, cylindrical shafts of deep blue shoot up
from the circles centre. These turn to green as they break into a million
shining drops of light. The green drops wash through my being like a blessing.
The desire is to weep tears for the beauty, for the unarticulated knowing
communicated in the green. It seems a shame that I am alone in this
experience. If only others could share in it! There is a deep longing to share
the green.
Then on my right a white panel of light opens up in the black and I
enter into what appears to be a vast central city square but unlike any earthly
one Ive seen. It is made of white concentric squares, the edges of which are
made into long benches on either side with a central planter between. The
white contrasts in a brilliant way with the deep greenery or rather, green
light, lining the spaces between the benches. It reminds me of an immense
playful maze, but all made of light. Larger than life beings rest and converse
silently in the seemingly endless square. They emote intelligence and beauty.
They gather round me and, as in another lucid dream, want to touch me and
communicate.
My mind is terribly busy taking it all in and I begin to lose the curious
mixture of objective subjectivity that enables me to stay in the lucid
experience. It is hard for my mind to surrender to this part of the experience
and I begin to wonder, Why have I been brought here? Who are these
beings? How can this be real? and then, of course, I lose the lucidity. I
sense the shift into semi-lucidity as I find myself in a more confused earthly
cityscape, feeling sad that I was not able to remain fully lucid and to simply
be, yet aware that it is all part of the learning.
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The Alchemy and Archetype of Black Light in Lucid Surrender Mary Ziemer 2012

Why Lucid Surrender?

Lucid surrender can potentially give us an experience of wholeness that
changes our view of reality, expands our consciousness and, opens our hearts,
dramatically changing our inner and outer worlds. It doesnt mean that our lives will
be easier but perhaps we will have an enlarged capacity to hold difficult experiences
with grace.
Lucid surrender is a capacity we all have. But, having said this, the
characteristics of the alchemists study remind us that certain qualities are requisite
for such an experienceor at least for our ability to be consciously present to it. My
own feeling is that every night we have such soul-sustaining experiences but most of
the time, as the Gnostics would say, we dont recall them. Sometimes the soulful
quality of the encounter lingers in a dream image or the feeling residue of a dream.
If we return to the Zen circle that symbolizes enlightenmentviewing
enlightenment as a profound experience of wholenesswe can think of the seemingly
empty circle as containing what Barbara Somers has described as no-thing-ness
rather than nothingness.13 In the Zen tradition, the ox-herder who has experienced
enlightenment, or wholeness, returns to the city with bliss bestowing hands. This is
echoed in the Christian tradition of hands that move at the impulse of Gods love, and
in the Sufi idea that the hands are the expression of the heart.
Alchemically, the return to the waking world of manifestation is called the
Reddening or Rubedo. This final stage of the alchemical process is characterized by a
more lucid and loving re-engagement in life. The new, deeper understanding of
ourselves and the world gained in a lucid surrender experience must be made manifest
in waking reality. Such dreams are only complete when we bring the dream
experience of inner wholeness back into life in an attitude of service to a larger life
purpose. The purpose of lucid surrender is to enable the archetype of the black,
invisible, light to reveal its colors in the world through the prism of our life.

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Somers, Barbara (2004) The Fires of Alchemy: A Transpersonal Perspective. Marshall, H. (Ed.) Archive Publishing. p 223.

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