Thought for a second before you dive fully into this article.. Just imagine waking from a dream that felt more real than the room you slept in. You remember every face, every voice and warnings. You know where you went, yet you cannot explain how you got there. When you tell someone about it, they smile politely and say, "It was just a dream."
But what if people across different continents have been saying the same thing? It is not because they copied one another, nor they belonged to the same religion. But because they believed there was another world—one that exists beyond ordinary human sight.
Following this idea that has fascinated both kings, prophets, scientists, traditional healers, philosophers, and ordinary people throughout history. Only few believed individuals are born with an unusual gift, like the ability to stand between the physical world and the spiritual. And one question I asked myself then was "if such people truly exist," or "is the human mind capable of creating experiences so convincing that they feel more real than reality itself?" My investigate..
A Belief Older Than History
For years, stories has been passed from one generation to another—long before book were written. Across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, many communities believed that certain people possessed an extraordinary connection to the unseen world. They were known by different names:
- Shamans
- Seers
- Prophets
- Spirit healers
- Medicine men and women
- Mystics
Although their cultures differed, their descriptions often sounded remarkably similar as many claimed they could receive knowledge through dreams, visions, or deep states of meditation. Others believed they could communicate with ancestors, encounter spiritual beings, or return with guidance that helped their communities.
One of history's most unusual figures was Emanuel Swedenborg. Unlike many mystics, Swedenborg began life as a respected scientist and engineer.
Then, in his fifties, everything changed. He claimed that God had opened his spiritual sight, allowing him to visit Heaven and Hell while fully awake.
According to Swedenborg, the spiritual world was not an empty place floating somewhere in the sky. "It was organized, had communities, it has conversations," he added. He also wrote that after death, human beings continued living as conscious spiritual individuals.
To believers, his writings offered a rare glimpse into life beyond death. To skeptics, they reflected powerful personal visions rather than objective reality. Even today, historians continue debating his remarkable experiences.
In the United States, another mysterious figure captured public attention. His name was Edgar Cayce, but people called him The Sleeping Prophet because he entered deep trance-like sleep before answering questions.
During these sessions, Cayce spoke about health, dreams, spirituality, and human consciousness. He believed every human being was fundamentally spiritual and that dreams could sometimes carry messages from levels of consciousness we rarely access during ordinary life.
I understood that followers regarded his readings as extraordinary, while scientists remain unconvinced, pointing out that such claims have never been reliably verified under controlled conditions.
Among the Lakota people of North America, Black Elk experienced something extraordinary as a child.
After becoming seriously ill, he reported a powerful vision, which he described as meeting spiritual beings who entrusted him with wisdom and responsibility.
For the rest of his life, Black Elk believed that humans, animals, nature, and the spirit world were deeply connected.
So according to his people, visions were not simply strange dreams, but could shape a person's purpose and guide an entire community.
Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung approached these mysteries differently. Not claims that spirits had spoken to him. Instead, he asked why people from completely different cultures often dreamed similar dreams and described similar symbols.
Jung's answer became one of psychology's most influential ideas. He proposed that humanity shares what he called the collective unconscious—a deep psychological layer containing universal patterns inherited across generations.
According to him, dreams may reveal truths about ourselves, even if they are not literal journeys into another world. His work continues to influence psychology today.
Africa Has Always Had Its Own Stories
Long before modern psychology, African societies preserved rich traditions about spiritual experiences. Traditional healers in many communities spoke of dreams that revealed illnesses before symptoms appeared as some claimed ancestors offered guidance during sleep, and some described receiving songs, medicines, or warnings through visions.
These traditions differ widely from one ethnic group to another. Some are still practiced today, while others may have faded with time. What they share is the belief that dreams can carry meaning beyond ordinary imagination.
These traditions deserve careful respect as part of humanity's cultural heritage, whether or not one accepts their spiritual interpretations.
But, for science.. Always approaches experiences from another direction as researchers studying the brain have identified several natural explanations for extraordinary experiences, including..
- Lucid dreaming
- REM sleep
- Sleep paralysis
- Hypnagogic hallucinations
- Out-of-body experiences
- Near-death experiences
These states can produce vivid sensations, realistic conversations, powerful emotions, and convincing visions. To neuroscience, such experiences arise from complex brain activity.
However, science has not fully answered why some people report experiences that permanently transform their lives—or why certain themes appear across cultures, as many questions remain open.
Perhaps the most fascinating part of this investigation is not whether one particular story is true. It is the pattern.
ATKAU
Some people are literally "part spirit, mostly human. Though, there is no scientific proof that humans are biologically part spirit or that anyone can objectively travel to a spirit world. But, many cultures and religions sincerely believe that certain individuals experience profound spiritual encounters through dreams, visions, or altered states of consciousness.
The belief is ancient, widespread, and culturally significant, but it remains a matter of faith, personal experience, and ongoing philosophical debate rather than established scientific fact.
Every civilization leaves behind its greatest mysteries—some are solved, others continue to challenge everything we think we know.
Maybe the real mystery is not whether another world exists, maybe the greater mystery is why humanity, from the earliest storytellers to modern researchers, keeps asking the same question.
ATKAU ASK: When we close our eyes at night, do we simply dream... or do we sometimes step somewhere we do not yet understand?