Blue_Opossum

Afternoon of May 4, 2018. Friday.



This entry is for presenting a more concise understanding of some of the material of part one.

Lucid dreaming does not equate to having control of the dream state or of a dream. In fact, some dream journalists express terror in dreams when they become lucid, with far less conscious self identity control than in their non-lucid dreams.

Having control of dreams and even of certain processes of the dream state does not require lucidity. It seems to be a result of understanding RAS mediation from early childhood on, to where the virtuous circle effect becomes inherent in REM sleep.

Most people have the inability (liminal space blindness) to understand that non-lucid dreams are autosymbolic, not symbolic in the conventional sense, which means that a dream’s autosymbolism, especially the induction and waking process, represents the dream state and waking process itself, concurrently. RAS mediation and RAS modulation sometimes utilize waking life experiences, but they do not “represent” them. If there is no waking life conflict, RAS personification will still have the potential to be rendered as a waking alert persona, even in lucid dreams, especially when environmental noise is present, or when biological factors need to be addressed, such as hunger or the need to use the toilet. There are also literal threads (and of course prescience and other transpersonal factors) that integrate into the dreaming experience.

I have experienced viable lucidity in dreams continuously since earliest memory with no attempt to bring it about. This means that terms such as “practice” and “skills” have zero meaning for me. Additionally, the concept of “reality checks” or “reality testing” I cannot even comprehend anymore, though I have played around with various ideas I have read since childhood. (Some people actually do this, that is, actually ask themselves if they are dreaming at various points during the day. I am not making that up.) If I know I am awake, why question it? Presumably, this is an attempt to utilize the virtuous circle effect, but all that is required by way of the virtuous circle effect is to viably understand the dream state in the first place and to study what one is dreaming and have a feasible approach to working with dreams. “Reality checks” imply not even understanding that the subconscious self is not the conscious self, or that the preconscious, RAS personification, and transpersonal interconsciousness are not, either.

The Wake Back to Bed Method of lucid dreaming may work for some people due to the change in ultradian rhythm. In fact, any change will cause changes in dream content, including sleeping in a different orientation and especially sleeping in a different house. Facing toward an open window or open door while sleeping is inherently more likely to augment preconscious mediation (and modulation) as a throwback to the survival factor of RAS modulation. A more vivid dream will likely result, not necessarily lucid, but possibly. (Sleeping in a different location may also trigger nightmares.)

Now I will look into some dream self modes based on these two entries. The more lucid, the more accurate the subconscious self mirrors and models the conscious self identity to where consciousness is perceived as existing in the dream state (though this is somewhat of a misnomer, as otherwise lucid dreaming does not imply being conscious; only holding the awareness of the conscious self).

The dream self can be non-lucid and control the dream (by way of subliminal conscious self modulation and the virtuous circle effect of dream study with the understanding of key autosymbolism). The dream self can be non-lucid and have minimal or no control of the dream due to preconscious modulation. The dream self can be lucid yet not only not have control of the dream but be in a conscious self state of terror. (I have personally never experienced this other than when my dream’s modulation was biologically premonitory, but many people have written of it as an apparently automatic process for them.) The dream self can be lucid and have partial control of the dream state. The dream self can be lucid and have full control of the dream state by way of the summoning factor (apex lucidity). The dream self can be in a state of lucid omnipresence or being the dream state itself. This is utilized by manipulating waking process autosymbolism such as doors, staircases, or deliberately jumping from a high point as well as “freezing” the perception of vestibular system autosymbolism (for example, willing the manifestation of bird silhouettes hovering in midair - the “frozen bird shadow” effect I have utilized since early childhood, as well as the obsidian owl statue or the “cobra in the hayloft” events of very early childhood).

Thank you for reading. This concludes the two-part set “Redefining Dream Control as Unrelated to Lucidity”.

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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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Morning of May 2, 2018. Wednesday.



My dream self is sustained in liminal space in a setting that is implied to be outside at nighttime, rendered mostly as a featureless field with short grass. I am sitting in a lawn chair. My orientation is subliminally perceived as facing north. Several unfamiliar people in the area are also lounging on lawn chairs.

On my right, I see a cane toad on the ground about four feet away. It hops up in slow motion and lands softly on the right arm of my lawn chair but does not touch me. I consider if people are wondering if it is my pet, but I know it is not. I am not contemplating any venomous nature of the creature and do not see it as a threat. Still, I do not want it near me.

It somehow ends up on my left side, on the ground and about three feet away. Its body begins to make unusual movements. Its back is featured somewhat like a beetle’s elytra, though unusual irregular butterfly wings partially emerge from its sides. Its back flexes upward but the wings do not spread and it does not fly. It reminds me very vaguely of the two large fly ashtrays my father bought in the 1970s. (My parents never smoked; the fly ashtrays were kept as a bizarre novelty and decoration.) It almost seems to have the essence of a kitten regarding its interest in me as perhaps seeing me as its master.

A subliminal focus is preventing the completion of the RAS modulation. Something very similar happened in a dream of February 10 of this year, also with a cane toad, but that one was carried about in slow motion by the wind. It is subliminal dream control; an otherwise lucid mechanism that I am utilizing in non-lucidity. In addition to the subtle vestibular system correlation (though the cane toad’s wings are never fully spread out for flight), it seems likely to be based on the typical softening of the core RAS factor otherwise rendered as a snake. Otherwise, cane toads and toads in general are not very common in my dreams, despite being associated more with vestibular system correlation than a snake would be (though as a snake is the core RAS modulation factor, it does not require the additional vestibular association). For cane toads, my online journal at this time only features them in four entries inclusive of this one, two from 2018, the other two from 2014 and 2013. The subliminal RAS softening is additionally evidenced by the cane toad being oriented on my right (as waking orientation within a dream is most often to my right when I sleep on my left side, since my right side is then more exposed to my real environment) - then inexplicably to my left.

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