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Similar to some experiences I Had in the past. I rarely ludi dream anymore. One a month or less. I entered in this forum when I was 58 and now I am more than 70.
I think it's a good thing that you've already reflected on a lot of points regarding how you feel you're handling things. I don't have much to contribute in the way of stabilisation or grounding in the dream because I don't have enough experience to speak of, but I always liked rubbing my hands together whenever I could recall to do so. With regards to summons, some people suggest trying to think or visualise it for a couple of seconds before actually attempting it, or doing it in such a way that it becomes revealed to you, such as by turning around or opening something where the summoned thing could be inside. Basically something that lets the thing sort of sink in, in a sense. As for talking to a dream character about finding a subconscious reason/mental block, in principle there's nothing wrong with this idea, only, bear in mind that sometimes dream characters do say very odd or nonsensical things; that's not to say it would be irrelevant, just that at minimum it might not make the most sense in the way a waking (lucid) mind might think. Personally I think dream characters are a bit like any other internalised content; they are like thoughts to a degree, and just as we get passing thoughts, unrelated dream characters may be "passing" in that sense too. So if you did decide to ask a character about something like this, be sure to actually try to ask more than just one character if possible. It's also worth considering here that anything that can pass a message or communicate in some sense, such as a street sign, a billboard, a TV or a computer screen, can effectively be regarded as a dream character for the purpose of communication.
This is very similar to a lot of my lucid experiences. I agree that a lot of what you're describing is more advanced stuff that takes time to get down with any success. I've found that grabbing onto something nearby is a good way to ground myself and stabilize the dream. Every time I do a reality check and get lucid, I experience an intense rushing sensation all over, like I'm being pulled out of my dream. Every time. But grabbing onto any object has helped a lot with that for me. Spinning, I've found, has not worked for me, but I have read several times that it works for people. There is a fine balance between getting lucid and maintaining lucidity. It takes a lot of practice to stay lucid for longer lengths of time. Rubbing my hands and repeatedly reminding myself that I'm dreaming have been helpful to me. I would try scaling back what you want to accomplish in an LD first. Becoming aware of and maintaining a solid lucid state builds a good foundation on which to work up to doing more advanced stuff. For me, that would include flying, summoning, asking the dream to do things, etc. I know a lot of experienced LDers would put that in the basic category, but it really does take time and practice to get good at those. Developing confidence and unyielding will-power go a long way with accomplishing goals. Good luck!
I see. I can usually read just fine, but words will be mostly nonsensical. My hands always look normal, which is why my reality check of choice is the nose pinch. I hate having pretty good sense in a dream but still not quite being lucid. I've been trying all day awareness, but it's hard.
I see. I can usually read just fine, but words will be mostly nonsensical. My hands always look normal, which is why my reality check of choice is the nose pinch.
Which rules did it break? Sorry for the late reply. For one, I can't normally read in a dream and I know most people can't. But I was able to read the sticker enough to know roughly what the tower's name was and know that it contained mercury. The second thing is that looking at your hands is a reality check, since they'll usually look weird in a dream. But mine just had staining on my fingertips, they were normal. Kinda sucked that I was aware enough to know that touching mercury was bad and that I should wash off residue, but I wasn't lucid.
Originally Posted by RelicWraith So, there's quite a lot to say about dreaming experiences, intent, expectations, and the suggestibility of the unconscious mind. You see, there's a lot of myths floating around about how dreams work as a generality. In particular, how words, and reading materials, switches, and electronic displays and such behave erratically (if they work at all). Thing is, they're just exactly that: myths. By anecdote, and from that of others, I can say that's not true at all. Off the top of my head, I recall reading plenty other dreams where electronics didn't behave differently than would be expected in real life, while I myself remember LD experiences where I could read things word-for-word with perfect clarity. If there's a takeaway here, be careful not to let some random myth you read on the internet shape your expectations. Explore and enjoy your dreaming mind on your own terms. This exactly. I just responded to another post on the forum a few minutes ago exactly on this line of thought. It's like when LaBerge was testing out what others had been assuming, that one couldn't say their name out loud in a dream or it would collapse, and of course having no such expectations himself, no such thing happened to him, and then people were able to realise and understand just how powerful expectations can be whilst dreaming. I've also read text just fine several times in dreams. Sometimes the text changes, but that's like literally any other dream detail, be it a hand or a landscape.
Congratulations on your first LD! I must say, I'm quite impressed. You kept your composure, and made good use of what you had. One thing I'd like to respond to: I walk outside using the front door, and come around to the garage. It was closed, so I flipped open the garage door keypad. This part worried me, because the keycode has always been the same in both houses, but I've heard light switches are weird, and reading doesn't work due to that part of your brain being off. I decided to look away and just try doing it from muscle memory. Surprisingly, the garage door opened. I looked at the keypad and the buttons from the lock pattern were lit up in green, obviously not what I pressed, nor the real code. I was just glad it worked. So, there's quite a lot to say about dreaming experiences, intent, expectations, and the suggestibility of the unconscious mind. You see, there's a lot of myths floating around about how dreams work as a generality. In particular, how words, and reading materials, switches, and electronic displays and such behave erratically (if they work at all). Thing is, they're just exactly that: myths. By anecdote, and from that of others, I can say that's not true at all. Off the top of my head, I recall reading plenty other dreams where electronics didn't behave differently than would be expected in real life, while I myself remember LD experiences where I could read things word-for-word with perfect clarity. If there's a takeaway here, be careful not to let some random myth you read on the internet shape your expectations. Explore and enjoy your dreaming mind on your own terms.
Congrats on your first lucid! It's cool that you were in a mix of your old and new houses! I hope you have many lucids there!
Yeah I reckon I could have. I've attempted to incubate something similar to this again but I'm usually rubbish when it comes to remembering exactly intentions once lucid. Was really surprised this worked before but like I said it hasn't been a regular thing.
Perhaps they could ask them just for the next night to see if it works, and then move up to once a week or once a day after it's a proven strategy.
Reflection: This was my 1st dream so I didn't really have any tactics in mind. In fact, it happened completely random, no WBTB! So I just kinda wandered around a bit untill I got the idea to leave, but it seems like my mind didn't exactly want me to. Maybe I should have thought to myself "my bike will be in the garage" instead of just hoping - dreams operate differently than real life after all, so my bike probably would have appeared there if I did so. At least I got that magnifying glass to appear. Fake it till you make it I suppose. The continuity between past and future dreams are interesting. I wonder if this will be a recurring location, which makes sense. A mix between my old town and new town, both of which have shaped and are shaping my subconscious. I can't wait to explore it in the future!
You said they'd do it on the next dream. How come you didn't ask them to do it on a regular basis, say once a week or once a night?
Very nice! The use of Dream Characters as an almost "lucid accountability partner" is a severely underutilized technique. I have had success with this in lucid chains in the past where upon becoming lucid I just turn to the closest character to me and say "hey! This is totally a dream! Do me a favor? The next time I'm dreaming tell me this is a dream!" And they usually agree and continue with the dream plot. The next dream I would be consumed by the dream plot non-lucidly and that very character burst into the room shouting my name and excitedly exclaiming that this was a dream! There is a sort of prevailing theory that the subconscious or the dreaming mind doesn't "want" the conscious mind to be lucid in dreams. I have experienced dream characters actively trying to distract me from lucidity or make efforts to get me to succumb to the dream plot again. I personally believe the dream plot to be an intricate message from the silent mind to consciousness, but that's my schema. It sounds like you may be dabbling with some tulpamancy here, which is not a bad technique for for lucid accountability to be honest. But don't be surprised if your guide chooses to represent themselves in other ways than you have primed or decided upon. Cheers
"Did the shark share the story?" Yes. Don't ask me how it managed it, though.
"Dream logic certainly has some funny ways of working. " It certainly does. : )
