The following is a chapter excerpt from my new book, Spiritual Metaphysics, one which bears studying and reflecting upon time and again.

The Real Power of Imagination

In the dream state, you create any reality that you desire. In a dream, you can be with anyone you imagine and in any surroundings that you choose. In a dream, you might be walking through the local scenery, then suddenly switch to driving in a car and, finally, be flying through the air to get somewhere more quickly. The background scenery can change from one scene to another in a split-second.

When you awake, you may dismiss the dream as an imaginary, fast-changing jumble of pure fantasy. After all, when you come back into the cold, solid light of the physical world, the dream world seems so unreal. But is it? Are all dreams just your imagination running wild, or are those scenic backdrops really created around you within the very fabric of the dream world?

What about those times when you awake from a dream that seemed so real, you find it hard to believe that it wasn't real. And yet, you've been taught to believe that dreams are never real, so then you struggle between that in-built belief and the fact that you've just had a very real dream experience.

For example, in a dream, was that really your favorite granddad visiting you, or did you just make it all up? And, why did he look so much younger than when he was alive?

Now, here is the surprising secret. Dreams are real. Very real.

When you are in a deep dreaming state, you are out of your physical body and functioning in your spirit body in the spirit world.

The fabric of the dream world, or spirit world, is called etheric energy. Mystics call it the 'astral light' but, technically speaking, its correct name is ethero-magnetic energy. The substances of the physical world, on the other hand, are composed of electro-magnetic energy. Your spirit body is composed of etheric energy and so is the world that surrounds you when you are in the spirit or astral world.

Etheric energy is subtle enough to respond instantly to mental energies directed from your mind. If you want to change your appearance - shape shift - then just think it, and it will be so. If you want to change your surroundings, just imagine a new set of surroundings and they will appear. At least, to your perception, they will, and to anyone else in your close proximity.

Those surroundings are created for you temporarily, as a backdrop, by the power of your imagination. The real surroundings of that location are independent of your imaginative creations, which survive only for as long as you pay attention to them. In the spirit world, these mental creations are called thought forms. The more powerful your ability to mentally focus, the larger and more vivid you can make your thought forms. Within the spirit world, they are solid to the touch, as are the bodies of other spirits.

This demonstrates that, in the spirit world, your imagination is very real as it creates new realities instantly. In the physical world, your imagination creates realities over time. In fact, new realities physically manifest only after you have applied the necessary action in order to organize them in the physical world.

Physical realities don't just manifest out of thin air like they do in the spirit world. You have to intend them, energize them with your feelings, and then walk them through the steps that will enable them to become physically manifest using existing materials.

The common key between the dream world and the physical world is that imagination creates realities.

In the spirit world, they manifest instantly and in accordance with the degree of your mental focus. In the physical world they manifest slowly, also in proportion to the effort that you invest in making them happen.

Never let it be said that, "It's only your imagination." In the saga of life, your imagination is everything.

Imagination is your divine creative faculty.

With it, you have, quite simply, the power to change the world.

Like most of the chapters in my new book, Spiritual Metaphysics, this one bears studying and reflecting upon time and again. If you have yet to benefit from the deep insights in the rest of the book, discover more about it here.

Owen Waters is a spiritual researcher and author.  For articles and books by Owen Waters, visit InfiniteBeing.com.