Blue_Opossum

Afternoon of May 4, 2018. Friday.



Writing an entry such as this is very challenging in a world where almost everything believed and propagated about dreams by the public is fallacious (in respect to my own personal experience since earliest memory). This is mainly due to liminal space blindness, which is the inability of someone to understand the meaning of his or her own dream even in what would otherwise be the hypnopompic disclosure stage, especially when threads of the subliminal conscious self are responsible for much of a non-lucid dream’s content (though this excludes prescience and transpersonal mediation). In this entry, I will attempt to address the widespread misinformation about lucid dreaming at a simple enough level for the average person to grasp. Ultimately, I can only write about what I know to be true and of which I have directly experienced continuously for over fifty years. It is not, and never shall be, a target of debate by the unknowing.

An unfortunate term I coined years ago has apparently confused a number of people even though I often describe it as clearly as I can each time. “Subliminal lucidity” is an ambiguous term, problematic for most people (especially those who have not had the experience), and needs rewording as “liminal dream control”. This will be a more consistent and technically correct term within the totality of my lifelong work. Realistically however, it is infeasible to describe the dynamics of a condition that people cannot even perceive foundationally, but it does provide a more logical term for the condition. “Subliminal lucidity” is a misnomer, as it was meant to mean control of the dream state in non-lucidity, where the dream self identity has non-lucid ties to the conscious self identify. Of course, dream control itself is not evidence of viable lucidity either, which requires extant current conscious self identity, not just vividness. Some people confuse “vivid” with “lucid”. “Vivid” means the dream seems very realistic, while in contrast, “lucid” means being concurrently aware that it is a dream.

Ultimately, “subliminal” should not even be used as a descriptive factor of the dream self’s mode, as the subconscious self is already a subliminal persona. A perceived need to use the word to relate the dream self to the dream in contrast to the conscious self identity is probably also a factor of ambiguity that the average person would likely not grasp, as most people seem to misperceive the “I am“ of the dream self as being analogous to the conscious self’s “I am”. I have tried to come up with a better term, but all are taken, for example, supraliminal, as even though it can be used to contrast the conscious self in respect to the dream self, it is only valid while within the dream state, as it otherwise is a reference to being above the threshold of waking life conscious awareness. So far, there does not seem to be a feasible word to describe the synaptic gating of liminal dream control, by which the dream self is non-lucid but the conscious will (not conscious in-dream awareness) is extant.

I will explain here why this change is forthcoming (with all references to “subliminal lucidity” to be removed and tagged with different keywords depending on the dream). Lucid dreaming does not inherently correlate with controlling a dream. Controlling a dream does not inherently correlate with being lucid. Therefore, the term “subliminal lucidity” is of no use to those who do not have a basic grasp of the difference between being lucid and being in control of the dream state. I have had as many dreams of which I have modulated by way of subliminal threads of my conscious self’s will (not necessarily current, for example in fully controlling a dream without even having any viable memory of the last twenty years of my life), by way of my subconscious self, as I have in various states of lucidity. Here I must still clarify the obvious according to current consensus.

Being lucid, in consensus terminology, means that the subconscious self is aware that it is in the dream state to where many more viable threads of the current conscious self’s identity, desire, and will are extant than in non-lucidity, but in stark contrast, controlling a dream means influencing features and content, including by the summoning factor (both subliminally and non-subliminally). One does not depend on the other. I emphasize this because many people propagate the mistaken belief that dream control only occurs with being lucid. In fact, a person’s dream self can be lucid without having any control of the dream state at all (for example, lucid nightmares). A person’s dream self can modulate the dream features and content over that of the preconscious factor or RAS precursors without having any awareness of being in the dream state, and typically for me, without even having any memory of what a dream is. A full understanding of this is required for coherent thinking about dreams in general.

The falsehood of lucidity equating control must be dissolved for one to develop a full understanding of the dream state. Dream control in non-lucidity has been continuous for me since early childhood and over time, has developed by way of the virtuous circle effect. Additionally, the conscious self identity’s expectation is a major part of a dream’s autosymbolism, of which I have understood the meanings of for over fifty years. This is important because there are a number of people, including a number of religious zealots, who believe that a dream can never be controlled or influenced at all even in lucidity. What they express provides proof that they have zero understanding of either lucidity, dream control, or even hold a basic understanding of dreams. Neither the truth nor even a thread of truth is even visible to them. All they could do is deny what they could not even comprehend (liminal space blindness).

In part two, I will try to simplify the information in this entry with a more concise approach of certain concepts and a list of possible dream self modes, of which are otherwise inherently transient through the different stages of sleeping and dreaming.

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Afternoon of December 4, 2013. Wednesday.



Although I have already done fairly short summaries regarding some of the dream content found here, I am putting it together under a new concept - “how to be an idiot in lucid dreams”, which seems to fit well with some of the material.

Perhaps the most ridiculous example of sheer futility was when I set up a Casio digital sampling keyboard - with the electrical cord holding the key down (by being pulled under the adjoining keys) and listening through my sleeping period in 1989 to an affirmation regarding “I am aware now, within my dream”. The samples could not be very long, and the same one (sole sample) was assigned across the keyboard of various “artificial pitches” with no formant option (the pitch solely being altered by the length of the sample/sound-wave, a much simpler but entirely useless way to get different pitches - people with authentic perception can easily tell that they are slowed down or sped-up sounds, primarily because the formant is as well - unlike the advanced grain stretching and frequency band with formant manipulation which I find very easy to do these days - I am still agonizing when I hear older recordings that used this older method as well as the ever-irritating and horribly “anyone-can-do-it mentality” stutter and “play any song with any sound” nonsense).

As stated before in an older summary, this did indeed “open” a lucid dream. Throughout my life, it has been a “habit” to have at least one lucid dream every day ever since I can remember (even as a baby) - which is usually the first one upon entering sleep via a hypnagogic portal. However, I have experimented with everything and anything. In this case, I had a dream where…as said before…I spent the entire lucid dream trying to find the source of the sound to stop it! How idiotic is that? Indeed, that is like listening to a hypnotist and then telling him to shut up half-way through because you are trying to be hypnotized.

In this particular dream I was trying to open doors in a long hallway, trying to determine where the sound was coming from, some of the doors being locked. I did not even make the obvious connection that the sound source was outside of my dream environment and in the real world at the time. When I woke, I felt ridiculous in being “tricked” that way.

In the “Knife Nose” dream from early 1970 (which I did not give full references to before, even in title), I was entering my lucid dream awareness. I was in the backyard in Cubitis and it seemed to be late morning. I was facing the south and sitting in an unfinished area of the larger rabbit shed near the concrete block columns. From the carport, a dog was approaching as soon as I started to get an idea on how to dream what I wanted. I got very annoyed, as dogs appearing in my dreams was always bad news in that they would soon attack or try to chase me (which is rather odd, as I do not recall any traumatic events with dogs prior to that stage of my life). I shouted out “You dogs are always ruining my dreams!” From there, the “back spasm” unfolded as the dog immediately growled and ran to me and pressed his nose into the small of my back, causing great pain and an “electrical sensation”. I have had this all my life (actually fairly common now, but not associated with dreaming - it usually occurs before hypnagogic visions kick in more fully). It seems to be some sort of strange threshold between conscious thought and expectation that triggers some sort of muscle spasm in the lower back (but now sometimes also occurs in other areas near the ribs). It is also some sort of strange combination of extreme pleasure and extreme pain. I used to think it was associated with so-called Kundilini energy.

A very similar dream resulted from yelling at a buzzard being in my lucid dream (and being tired of non-lucid dreams where buzzards sometimes posed a threat). A similar response resulted, the buzzard flew down into the carport (as I ran into it) and just as I was sitting down (as in, not making it to the front door of the actual house in time I decided to try to sit down to protect my back), it landed on my back and stabbed me with its beak, causing the exact same “back spasm” event. This seems to be some sort of both causal and premonition-like event in medical science related to “seizure premonitions” related to epilepsy, although I do not have any diagnosed medical condition of this nature. It is very perplexing, though. Which comes first? If I had not responded that way to the “characters” in my dream, would the “back spasm” still have occurred? Again, I am left with a bit of doubt over the threshold or line between premonition and manifestation. What instigates what?

A fairly common event throughout my life (perhaps because I do a lot more walking than many people) regarding the entering of hypnagogic portals each night is that, regarding certain environments that form, I am sometimes rudely kicked out of it. A fairly common event is entering the portal and walking along the streets of a city and developing full lucidity. Sometimes I have a companion, sometimes I am on my own. As I walk I become more and more integrated into my dream. However, there is sometimes the sudden tripping and falling into “nothing” and waking suddenly. There seem to be variations on this. I am already fully in the lucid dream, yet this happens. (Supposedly it only happens to some people AS they are falling asleep, not after - some say the cause is exhaustion, but this is not the case with my experiences, one name for it seems to be “hypnic jerk” although there is something called myoclonus in more extreme cases(?) - it is hard to say with all the weirdness in completely different beliefs about such things, even medically - public credibility failure as usual.)

Finally, getting to the real idiocy. What could be more idiotic and futile (and yes, this has happened to me a few times) then manifesting a lucid dream, and then trying to shut it down over concern of what various characters might think? In a few cases, I have gone around the dream environment, deliberately, yes…deliberately - trying to remove portals and “seeds” (including tulpa templates at the lucid dream level). I mean really, does a movie producer experiencing his greatest potential then decide to say - whoops, I had better change it to conform to what other characters would expect…idiocy at its finest, I would say. I am still not sure why this happens - perhaps some sort of transient state or “phasing” with the minds of other people. I have had a few dreams like this over the years. Sometimes, in my dream, I try to find any book with a reference or particular phrasing to open a portal (sometimes even a supposed talisman) and deliberately destroy it or put it somewhere else (as it is often located with someone else’s belongings somehow). In a recent example, I went through the dream environment to make sure that there were no portals or potential for such, or any evidence on dream manipulation or tulpa manifestation…I did it a few times in the same environment. This is utter idiocy at its most ridiculous extreme. It is like building a great house and then closing off half the rooms because you do not want people to know your house is bigger. Whatever. I am sure will find a “cure” one day. It is like when I “pulsed” the word “girls” many years back - and other phrases for nearly an entire day, and what did I get in-dream? A night-long adventure featuring…squirrels.

Although it certainly is not always the case, I have also held that “I had better be wary of what my real (sleeping) body is doing in real life right now”. Where is the logic of this? I am fully aware I am dreaming and the dream is as vivid as real life - and by all logic, my real physical body would be motionless in bed. Yet I have this concern in the back of my mind that my real physical body could be wandering around in the middle of the street in reality (undressed, yet), perhaps being endangered or some such or perhaps the pillow covering my mouth or perhaps there are visitors in real life and they will see me undressed or whatever. It almost seems logical in a way. There are technically “two different mes” and it seems to be by instinct that concern should be sharply focused for “both”. I have also already stated how “the shadow” seems to be the conscious self in a lucid dream (and perhaps many other types of dreams). I have tested this, and it seems to be true. I have actually caused my physical body to move by getting my shadow to do something while I - as the dreamer - remained still (a different sort of “shadow play”). This is not the rule for lucid dreams in general; in lucid dreams that otherwise had a lot of physical activity AS the dreamer, I was told that I did not move at all during my sleep - during the time period involved (which was sometimes in the daytime or during naps).

The “great adventure” continues…