When we are awake we are "conscious".
When we are asleep we are "unconsciouus".
There is a third state which is "super-conscious".

Here's how it works...

When asleep, usually dreaming, we suddenly are aware of that fact. We know that we are asleep and that our dream has stopped. The feeling is like we are awake but we know we're not. Our consciousness is now in the first person so to speak. This is what lucid "dreaming" is like. The "character" of the dream has changed dramatically. We are now experiencing consciousness similar to that which we will have after death when there is no body or brain to interfere. What we call lucid "dreaming" is the normal state of awareness back in our permanent home, the spirit world. As souls in our spiritual homes we are "super-conscious".

Why does it happen? Most often it is the result of someone we know, a friend or our guide, who wants to communicate with us for one reason or another.

History is filled with those who claim to have been told or shown things in dreams. The religious minded among us will often claim that "God came to them" or "they dreamed of an angel" or some other thing. The superficials are unimportant. What is of interest is the fact that a message or vision, sometimes both at once, are given us.

Is all this a product of our brain? No.' Don't try to provoke a lucid dream. You'll have no luck. We cannot initiate one from our side of life.