As I continue to host the BK Walker Books Authors Promoting Authors virtual blog tour, today I welcome author Alysa Braceau, Dreamshield.
Bio: Alysa Braceau, Dreamshield
I live in the Netherlands (Europe) and I’m a mother of a 6-year old daughter. I've studied social work and the last ten years I have worked as a (freelance) journalist and publisher. Besides that I have a healing practice and I give workshops about the Art of Dreaming.
The Sorcerer’s Dream is my first book. The theme of the passed years have been the sorcerers tradition and mastering conscious dreaming. I have carefully recorded my personal experiences which has finally led to this first book.
Welcome, Alysa!
Please tell us about The Sorcerer's Dream.
The Sorcerer’s Dream is about my initiation into the sorcerer’s world and mastering conscious dreaming. It is a spiritual adventure in the tradition of Carlos Castaneda which takes the reader into the magic realms of the unknown and one can learn and practice the Art of Dreaming (the skill of conscious dreaming or lucid dreaming) him/herself.
What inspired you to write this book?
Meeting a "man of knowledge" who taught me the art of mastering conscious dreaming and he suggested me to share this knowledge.
What exciting story are you working on next?
The art of dreaming is one of the teachings of Totality I write about in this book. My dreaming teacher, Vidar, explained there are four practices that guide the apprentice into the totality: the art of dreaming, stalking, hunting, and the art of the warrior. He said: “Gradually you will learn to master all of them, but because you are a dreamer the art of dreaming is the most important one for you. On the way to the totality you will learn to master your dreaming, which means that ordinary dreams will come to a halt and will be replaced by the dreaming of the spirit. Ordinary dreams come to a stop, disappear because they are primitive, and take up too much energy. As you master your dreaming, you will have medicine dreams and visions that guide you into the totality.” More about that you will read in my first book.
My second book will be about the art of stalking, as I explained one of the next teachings of Totality.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I don’t know if I am a real writer, maybe I feel myself a real writer after writing another book (and another one and another one). But the feeling of being a real writer came more close when I discovered I loved to write this book and also that I want to continue it day and night (impossible of course) and that it gave me so much energy.
Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I’m doing different things at the moment: I am a (freelance) journalist and publisher and besides that I have a healing practice and I give workshops about the Art of Dreaming. And of course I write, but not full time, so you can call that variety. :)
I write throughout the week because I love it and make time for it in the evenings and also a few hours in the weekends.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Well, that a good question: once I start writing, I can’t stop. But I think every writer has that!
Don't they?
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Like many kids, I changed my idea about that every week or every second :) because many things seemed nice and for many different reasons. But to mention a few that regularly came to my mind: painter, writer, healer, actress, singer, nurse, teacher, and then writer, artist, painter, healer and writer again. And I also wanted to be a cashier when I was 8 years old because I knew one girl from the supermarket who had such a nice red nails (and my mom didn’t allow me to polish my nails).
But the thought or wish to write a book about spirituality came back to my mind in a very natural - dreaming - way. I always had the feeling I was going to write about something like dreaming, healing and spiritual growth. Ever since my childhood, I had many dreams or visions telling me about my capacities about healing and dreaming, about myself, my future and about people around me. I felt a strong connection with my spiritual ancestors. For me, it was impossible to deny there is so much more beyond this life we are leading.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I have been asked before what is the difference between conscious dreaming and astral traveling so I thought it would be nice to share my thoughts about that with the readers of this beautiful blog:
Astral travelers can have the sensation of having an existence separate from one's physical body, and being able to stand outside of oneself, looking at the reality from another point. Astral Travel, so it seems, and Out of body experiences (OOBEs) has similarities with Conscious dreaming. But it is not the same because conscious dreaming is the art of controlled dreaming. I understand from what I have been reading about Astral traveling that it happens spontaneously. But that doesn’t mean that a conscious dreamer can’t have the same sensations and experiences as an astral traveler and vice versa.
And please remember that conscious dreaming gives you a great feeling. If you dream consciously, you have control over events. Or at least the realization that you can control the situation. There will be a day that you can instruct yourself to dream about something; to fly like a bird or to meet a deceased loved one. Try it. It’s fun!
And here’s a short pitch on where to buy my book, my web site, blog, etc.
The Sorcerer’s Dream, an initiation into the sorcerer’s world and mastering conscious dreaming. Buy it at:
http://www.booklocker.com/books/4654.html
The book can be ordered on Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Sorcerers-Dream-Dreamshield-Alysa-Braceau/dp/1609101561 and everywhere they sell books
Please visit my website: http://www.dreamshield.nl
Blog: http://dreamshield.wordpress.com
Thank you, Alysa! Best of luck with the book and your future writing.
1 comment:
Great Interview! Can't wait to read your book :).
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