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    CanisLucidus

    The Shadow of the Pagoda

    by , 03-12-2014 at 11:50 PM (947 Views)
    Interestingly, this was my second lucid in a row that hit very close to the onset of sleep. I woke up to write this down around 1:15 or so in the morning after being late to bed. I'm not sure what to make of it, but it's definitely encouraging me to continue my pre-bed MILD work!

    Color legend: Non-dream Dream Lucid

    Lucid #192: The Shadow of the Pagoda

    I’m sitting at a table with some random people, working on something with pen and paper. My mind’s wandering and as I recall my intent to have a lucid dream, I almost immediately pass into one.

    From here, I fall quickly into the void. I rub my hands together, expecting a new scene. Before long I emerge into a false awakening in early morning, sort of seated at the edge of my bed. Some kind of suction is drawing me away from the bed and toward our closet. This worries me for some reason and I ask Wife to “Pull me back in…” in this thin, weak voice.

    She kneels on the bed and strains forward to reach for me, whimpering and fretting like she wants to help but doesn’t know how. I recognize that I’m starting to get caught up in this sense of powerlessness, and I let go, falling into the void again.

    I make my way forward and emerge in a fancy-looking house, facing a set of glass doors that open to a veranda. For reasons I can’t recall, I decided to head deeper into the house and wandered through a series of rooms. The house is attractive but large and confusing and I start regretting my decision to stay inside.

    I wind up in a bedroom with a simple but comfortable-looking bed that has a large stuffed teddy bear laying on top of it. Wife is standing off to the side near one corner and I remember to ask her for her middle name (for Task of the Month.)

    When I ask for her middle name, she responds, “Ba ba!”

    “Your middle name is ‘Ba ba’?”

    She laughs. “Oh, sorry! I actually meant ‘Ba ba ba ba’.” I’m amused but I consider asking her a third time. The teddy bear catches my eye for a moment and when I turn back Wife has vanished. I think about asking the teddy bear for its middle name but decide instead that it’s time to move on.

    I leave and walk through a dining hall where my son “E” joins me and starts to follow. I say something to him that I can no longer recall and we walk through more confusing rooms. At one point I’m in a dimly-lit kitchen and notice that my vision has gone blurry. I stare at my hands to draw out the detail and it works pretty well, though not as completely as I might have hoped.

    I walk through another dining hall with E and as we’re exiting, the door shuts automatically behind me, cutting me off from him. I see him through the door as it closes and I feel a moment of concern that I’ve left him behind. No, let it go. I continue to a series of glass-panelled doors at the rear of the room and phase through, with some minor difficulty.

    I emerge from the phase in a shady courtyard. Towering above me is an immense pagoda, stretching far away into the sky. Even in a dream I’m amazed by how tall and broad it is, far out of scale with everything else surrounding it. It’s at least 500 feet tall and dominates the landscape.



    Two women walk by at the other end of the courtyard, casually chatting. They look like they’re from the 1900s, each wearing a large hat and carrying a parasol. I contemplate taking off for some flying and exploration, but
    the dream ends.

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    Comments

    1. Highlander's Avatar
      Congratulations CL on the TOTM.

      Another early one too, plus you did well regarding the void and the FA scenarios to keep the dream going.
      CanisLucidus likes this.
    2. NyxCC's Avatar
      Ahh, I totally love those bed time MILDs, you keep them coming CL!

      Great job, congrats on having the ld and completing a task of the month at such an early hour. I think this really is a great accomplishment! Cool answer - maybe wife was speaking in Chinese - ba 8 is considered a lucky number. The pagoda must have been awesome, I want to see it!

      Cool idea to ask the teddy bear too!
      CanisLucidus and fogelbise like this.
      Updated 03-13-2014 at 02:31 AM by NyxCC
    3. CanisLucidus's Avatar
      @Highlander and Nyx - Thanks! Yeah, the early ones are exciting. This is a whole new experience for me and gives me a lot of hope in the quest for eventually making a greater percentage of dreams lucid, not just the ones after a purposeful WBTB.

      And Nyx, great insight on a connection between "Ba" and the pagoda at the end! The pagoda was definitely cool. After these I'm always left wondering... so I put that there? Really?? Nothing like your mind surprising itself.
      fogelbise, Highlander and NyxCC like this.
    4. fogelbise's Avatar
      This is so cool that you are hitting these early LDs! Congrats!! "Ba ba ba ba" lol! And latching on to what NyxCC said, it think multiple 8's are considered better than one, right?

      What is your process before bed? I have been reviewing dream signs and setting intent to notice them, but your process sounds more direct and to the point.
      CanisLucidus and NyxCC like this.
    5. CanisLucidus's Avatar
      Thanks, fogelbise! Yeah the early LDs have been hugely encouraging. These dreams used to be so rare that I had a very infrequently used "no wbtb" tag, heh heh...

      My process has been to just fall asleep focused on the fact that I will lucid dream like it's the very next thing I'm going to do. I set a really strong intent and use a mantra that "I will lucid dream". I treat it like it's the only thing I need to do and that I'm sure it will happen.

      I can be fairly intense with this because I fall asleep very easily at the start of the night, moreso than at a WBTB, for example.

      All in all, rather brute force, but it's been working fairly well lately! The percentage is nowhere near as high as a WBTB, but it's easy to execute just about every single night. So even with a lower percentage of success it helps!
      fogelbise and NyxCC like this.
    6. fogelbise's Avatar
      I usually fall asleep quickly at the start of the night as well. I will definitely have to try this tweak on my pre-bed mini-session! Thank you for explaining CL!
      CanisLucidus likes this.
    7. Xanous's Avatar
      You're making me want to try early MILDs again. Ive been so overworked and way too sleepy for any WBTB lately!
      CanisLucidus likes this.
    8. CanisLucidus's Avatar
      You definitely should! You've actually done one better and pulled off the elusive WILD at the onset of sleep. I'd definitely say pre-bed work is a good bet for you. Like I was saying earlier to fogelbise, even if it's got a lower percentage than WBTB, it makes for a great supplementary practice I think.

      I'd love to hear how it goes for you if you try it. I think you especially have big potential for success with it.
      Xanous likes this.
    9. Mismagius's Avatar
      Haha, comical DC wife strikes again!

      The closet thing is spooky, if that happened to me I'd be hoping it was just a portal and not some scary nightmare scenario

      The fancy house and pagoda sound beautiful!

      Congratulations on completing the ToTM!
      CanisLucidus likes this.
    10. CanisLucidus's Avatar
      Ha, thanks, Mismagius! I'm sure it won't be her last appearance.

      Yeah, the closet thing was definitely getting spooky and it becomes one of those situations where you know you're starting to get spooked. And then I'm trying to stop worrying, which makes me worry about what I'll imagine, and oh noooo, how scary might it be? Sometimes get caught a little flat-footed when the fear and emotions start rolling. Dropping to the void for a reset was probably just what I needed, really, so that was fortunate.
      Mismagius likes this.