The Dream Stones

“Dream queries”, שאלות חלום  in which some adjuration or ritual is performed to induce a heavenly answer in one’s dreams (or even written out on paper) is very commonly found in manuscripts of practical Kabbalah. In fact, an entire book entitled שאלות ותשובות מן השמים  Responsum from Heaven was authored by a medieval rabbi (Rabbi Jacob of Marseille , 12th cent.France) in which the author records his questions and answers produced through such means. Although the concept of a dream query is well attested in the Kabbalah, in this article we will focus on a very unique method to induce such dreams.

This method requires the use of three stones procured from a flowing brook in the name of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Next, certain sigils are to be written on the stones. The stones are then placed under the head at bedtime and one will have a dream containing the answer.  I have found this in two separate manuscripts. The seals are drawn very similar with just minor variations. Nevertheless, I faithfully recorded both versions down in my collection of sigils, Magnus Liber Sigillorum as #310 and #317. 

The first manuscript, is Gross #282 fol. 22b

The second manuscript, is Moussaieff #1053 fol. 51 (and also mentions this is בדוק, meaning this was been tested)

I myself tried using the stones and will share my experience.

 There is a large park just a five minute walk from my house that actually has a natural, flowing brook in it. Thus, getting the stones was easy. Many of the stones were not the right size (too small or too big) or just oddly shaped which wouldn’t be conducive to writing on, so I took my time to select stones till I found some that “felt right”. Since the manuscripts didn’t mention if I need to verbalize that these stones are for the sake of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob or just have in mind, I decided to play it safe and say this was my intention out loud. Next, after bringing the stones home I left them to dry well before writing the sigils. I used a medium tip black permanent marker for this. Although I was hoping to able to draw all the seals on one side, I needed to have the seals “wrap around” the stones a little. Although the majority of amulets make no mention, sometimes, amulet instructions require the sigils to be written all on one line. Since there was no mention of writing all on one side of the side of the stones, I see no reason the sigils can’t be written around the stones the way I did. I tried to take pictures from a few different angles/sides  so you can see how I drew them. 

My results: Every night that I tried using the stones under my pillow I did dream. I had thought I would hear or see something which would be a definitive “yes” or “no” to my questions or some direct guidance. Perhaps I was so busy looking for a simple yes or no that I missed the answer! It is also possible that I the other version of the sigils is the correct one and maybe nothing happened at all, or I messed it up some other way by mistake. Although I won’t discount those possibilities, I feel that the truth is something was going on in those dreams –it is I who didn’t understand them. 

If you do decide to try out the Dream Stones for yourself, take heed to keep your intentions pure and holy, this is not some “cool” parlor trick to try for fun. If you have any experience with the stones you’d like to share, please leave a comment!