Jewish Magic in the Hellenistic Period

The Hecholot texts seem to have involved ritual practices aimed precisely at obtaining visions of God's heavenly palaces and as the final goal, his celestial throne room. The late Platonist philosopher Yomlokos makes specific reference to what is known as the hypnagogic state when dreamlike visions often make their presence felt even though you're not fully asleep yet. So we see that the model of dreaming as a kind of possession by outside forces certainly survived into late antiquity in the work of Yom lokos.