A Long Strange Trip... into Ashraen's Twisted Psyche

non-lucid
lucid
notes

I hadn't had a LD in almost a week, which is a bit of a slump for me. This one was a bit lacking in lucidity (not great awareness or control), but it'll do for a slumpbuster!

I was in my old bedroom at my parent's house when I heard moaning sex sounds coming from outside. I look out and see a lady I know unloading her car with computer stuff. I look around for the origin of the moaning, but I never find it. I hear the lady enter the living room and discussion with my dad about fixing her computer. My grandfather comes into my room and starts moving things around to clear space for the "software" that she had brought. I go into the living room and see computers set up by the door, my dad stocking the refrigerator, and a couple of people milling about the living room.

I notice that the house doesn't look right, and in my dream I seem to realize that this is a new house that my parents are thinking of buying. I think "why am I here now though?" Suddenly, I realize it must be a dream. I make a chair levitate with my mind (my usual RC) and loudly proclaim "This is a dream!"

I start talking to one of the DC's - a family friend - telling him that it's a dream and asking him what he is up to. This is one of my current dream goals- to interact more thoroughly with my DCs. He is inspecting some things on a desk but he says "Just hanging out, what are you up to?" I feel like I am not going to get much out of him, so I go outside and fly around a bit, talking to some random DCs, getting pretty much nonsense replies.

Sadly, I do not remember to go to the Dream World Academy, but I DO remember that I wanted to work on fighting in LDs, so I start with some punches and kicks to DCs near me. The punches actually hurt my hand, and I am lucid enough to find this odd, but not quite lucid enough to make the pain completely disappear. My contact also makes funny sounds- like badly done special effects, overly loud and crunchy, like I am breaking bones with each hit.

I decide to try some matrix-style fighting, and do some spinning kicks, propelling myself with each spin to the next DC. I get bored with this, so I decide to try running really fast. I am having a little trouble flying in this LD, which is unusual for me, as I am normally very adept. I think this explains my trouble with running fast- I wasn't really very lucid. My first attempt at running fast causes me to run out of my shoes and trip and almost fall. My dog Kobe, however, is running around superfast in front of me, as if to show me how to do it.

I try a few more times, but my legs seem heavy and unworkable, much like a non-lucid dream when I am trying to flee and can't run. I go over to my pool and try to walk on the water, but can't seem to do it. Each time I fall, I am able lift myself up out of the water and on top, but then my next step plunges me back down into the water.

I give up on this, and walk over to where my Mom and Dad are talking about being out of "Trailmix," even though the "Trailmix" was clearly dog food in dog food bags. My sister's basset hound runs up to me. Mom yells at him, calling him a "drunk" (which I thought was very odd), and I decide to have some fun with him. I toss him across the yard (with super-strength, which was another dream goal I wanted to achieve) with his ears straight out like wings and he goes flying, but before I see him smash into the house, I wake up.

Pretty weak lucid dream overall, but I did get in some fighting practice, was able to do some matrix-style stuff. Also made first attempts at running fast and walking on water, but clearly failed at them. I feel like most of this was due to my weak lucidity to begin with (like I said, flying took some real effort in this LD, and normally I'm a pro at it). Plus, I didn't do enough periodic RCs and didn't remind myself enough that I was in a dream world. Hopefully next time will be better

non-lucid
lucid
notes

This dream constitutes my first in the quest for the Dream World Academy. The end of this dream tied directly into a continuing dream experience, but here I have logged only the portion pertinent to the quest.

I was in a bar, drinking with some old friends, when I had a realization. The forums on this website had me thinking about dream signs, and I remembered that MANY of the posts on the Dream Signs thread mentioned old friends that the dreamer hadn't been around in a long time. As I scanned the group assembled at the bar in my dream, I decided that this must be one of my dream signs too. I did my old trusty 'make someone levitate' Reality Check, and it worked. Bingo- time for fun.

I started telling all my friends how this was a dream- levitating them, making things change shape with my mind, and generally just sinking into the lucidity, allowing myself to delight in the sheer fun of it all. After a few dream minutes of this, I remembered the quest I had been assigned- to find and explore the Dream World Academy. I knew the scrubs I was drinking with didn't know anything about this , so I headed out the door and into the fresh country air.

I figured the best way to start was to take an aerial approach. I decided to fly high over the countryside, searching for anything out-of-the-ordinary, or just anything of interest at all. I read one of the logs of another Dream Views Academy member in his search where he used a television to take him to the Dream World Academy Portal. For some reason, however, that method just didn't seem right for me. As an avid fantasy reader, my subconscious is well-versed in the type of questing one finds in those books, so it just felt right to approach it the fantasy way. As I began to lift into the air, my friends came pouring out of the tavern we had been carousing in. They called to me and told me they wanted to help me on my quest- my very own posse!

My good friend Andy remarked 'Well how nice for you that you can fly, I guess we'll just follow along on foot!' He said this with no small measure of sarcasm, so I got the hint and put them all into the air with me. We rose high into the air, and like a flock of birds, we began to move as a group, scouring the world below with eagle eyes.

We headed north, and the country was beautiful. Streams, meadows, forests, all these things passed beneath us as we lazily made our way to wherever fate was leading us. Soon, we came upon a massive canyon, rimmed with giant white rock, and criss-crossed with rivers and streams. It was hard to really get a sense of the scale of the canyon from the great height at which we flew, but it seemed a continent of its own! Sensing that this was worth exploring, we glided over to a rocky outcropping on the canyon rim where a sprawling oak tree had somehow sprung out of the stony ground. My posse and I took shelter in its shade, and surveyed the canyon floor with wonder.

I noticed a large sturdy limb, low to the ground, that reached out over the rim, and I decided to climb out onto it and settle in for some reconnaissance. As I lay flat on my stomach, I noticed that the limb split into two small branches out over the canyon - making a perfect crosshairs. This intrigued me, so I focused my vision through the crosshairs and found that I was looking at a particularly green section of the canyon floor, noticeably more lush and wooded than the surrounding area. Many of the streams (or rivers, hard to tell from this distance) seemed to converge in this area as well.

As I studied the wooded area more intently, I detected movement- a great sweeping motion, agile, smooth, and certain. After some time, I could tell that the movement was getting closer. In fact, something was flying directly at my crosshairs! I began to feel a little anxious. I knew I was in a dream, but I was very much into the quest, so it didn't seem to calm my nervousness that this large flying object was headed straight for me. In a gigantic canyon with myriad formations, something was headed directly my way.

As it came closer, I saw that it was a gryphon- a rather large one it seemed- and it was still coming right at me. I can't say exactly why, but I got the sense that it was a sentry that was coming to check on us intruders. I could see that it was mostly black, with deep purple wing feathers, a dark grey chest, a dark silver beak and talons (almost like gleaming iron). As it continued to approach, I decided that I was not quite ready to meet this flying creature. I can't say why, exactly, as I was still quite lucid and aware that it was only a dream, but I made the decision to shroud my posse and I in a bubble that would prevent the gryphon from seeing us. It's an old trick that I use mainly in non-lucid or partially lucid dreams when I am being chased and cannot outrun my attackers.

I created the shroud around the oak tree and closed my eyes to concentrate as the gryphon neared. I felt it pass overhead- it must have been truly massive- bank to my left, and move off in the direction from which it had come. When I opened my eyes, I could see the creature flying back down into the canyon, but I could also feel the world becoming hazy and my lucidity fading. I quickly hopped to the ground (the limb was rather low-lying) and did the 'spin' technique I read about on this site. It helped, and I was able to watch the gryphon as it disappeared back into the wooded area on the canyon floor.

Suddenly, though, my posse was gone and I felt an uncomfortable tingling in my left arm. I awoke to find my left arm above me with my head pressing into my biceps. As anyone knows who ever sleeps in this position occasionally, the blood drains after awhile and the arm begins to throb. This turned out to be a false awakening- something I would discover later- but that is for another dream journal entry.

This marks the end of the beginning of my quest. I didn't see the Academy. I didn't speak to anyone about the Academy. But I know- somehow I am 100% certain- that the way to the Academy lies in the wooded area on that canyon floor. Maybe the Academy itself is there, or maybe the journey to it only begins there, but I have no doubt that that it is The Way. Next time, I will know to head north to the canyon. I will find the stony outcropping with the sprawling oak tree. From there I need only follow the crosshairs made by the low-lying limb. Next time, I will be prepared to face the gryphon- should it come- be it friend, foe, or otherwise.

dream
lucid

I am in a classroom with a few people and the instructor, who looks like the 'Horn-rimmed Glasses' character in the TV show Heroes. I have a strong impression of memory, as if I have been in this dream for along time, perhaps many times before, although I can't say for sure now if it is a recurring dream, or if I simply had that impression at the time. I seem to have many memories of this place in the dream. I also have a slight sense of panic that I am enrolled in other classes than this, but have not attended them all semester (this is a recurring theme in my dreams because I have had a similar problem in real life). Additionally, I have a strong feeling that I am in this place as a part of a secret mission, and that I had been secreted away from my home to this exotic location, far away from my family.

Suddenly, I am teaching the class. I am speaking about responsibility, lecturing the students that as the teacher, I am responsible for what happens even when I am not there. If I go to the bathroom and leave a student in charge, I say, and something happens, who is to blame? The students answer that it is the student in charge who is at fault, but I respond- "No, it is still my fault. I am responsible, and putting someone else in a position of temporary authority does not absolve me from blame."

As a lady enters (an obvious authority figure) and begins speaking quietly with HRG (horn-rimmed glasses), I realize that I have been chatting with friends and family on the internet for much of my stay at this place, and they always seemed to be on the same time zone as me, which didn't make sense considering I was supposed to be far away. I take HRG and the lady aside into a hallway and come up with a quick plan. I ask the lady "where are we?" with some gravity, making sure she knew that I was serious about getting the truth. She responds with the name of the location. I can't remember it, and I didn't really pay attention at the time, I was simply making sure we were indeed NOT in America.

I immediately followed with the question "when I have spoken with people online, there seemed to be no time difference. why?" She looks stricken and turns to HRG and says "except the time zone!" The sense I got was that they had realized a mistake- they hadn't completed the illusion fully. She turns to me and says, with similar gravity to my first question- "All I can tell you is, be patient."

Even in the dream, this response gave me chills. I felt like I was under some illusion, perhaps being hidden somewhere while tests were done, or while I was being used for some devious purpose. Regardless, I didn't immediately realize it was a dream, but felt more like I must be in a "dream-like" world.

At this time I stepped outside and marveled at the vividness of the world. I could see people moving about, and an old friend came gliding by- through the air- telling me this was not completely real. I become partially lucid. I still don't realize it is a dream, but I recognize it is NOT the real world, and test this with my usual lucid-test.. I attempt to levitate. I am able to do so, but in fits and starts, as if I am simply not fully lucid.

As I have trouble "flying" around, my friend tells me "but you can RUN anywhere." This prompts me to pump my legs furiously in a running motion through the air, and I do start to "fly" around, but only while pretending to run. Further realizing that this is not real, I kickbox a few people that come near me, but I still apologize profusely to them, afraid that this might be real and not wanting to hurt anyone. This is common for me in lucid dreams. I tend to doubt my lucidity and constantly do things to prove to myself that this is a dream and not real, because of the extreme vividness.

But every apology is met with the response that "that is ok, you can do whatever you want here."

I fly around a courtyard area (same area I entered after speaking with HRG and the lady) and lose lucidity after a short time. I don't remember the rest of the dream. I may have awakened from sleep at this time. Even after waking up, I have a strong sense that what I experienced was REAL and not a dream. I am almost convinced something happened to me, and feel like the tv show LOST, where it is suggested that the island was a place the characters created with their own minds for each other- as a meeting place. It still seems VERY real to me.

It takes me about 20 minutes in the waking world to get over the sensation and realize that it was all- in fact- just a dream, albeit a particularly impactful one. I will pay close attention to my dream log in the future for recurrences, because as I mentioned, I seemed to have deep memories of being in this place. I felt like i had been there for months before I realized I was not in a different time zone from family as I should have been. I continue to get chills when I remember the lady saying to me "All I can tell you is, be patient."

I have had many lucid dreams over the last 10-15 years, but this one was so jarring that it prompted me to seek out a lucid dreaming forum, which led me to this website.