• Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views




    Dream Signs


    Dream signs are common elements that show up often in dreams, and that indicate you are dreaming. They can be used as a reality check to help you become lucid. For example, if you often dream of dogs, then in waking life, reality check whenever dogs are present. Hopefully you train yourself to question your surroundings when you see a dream sign that one day when dogs are present, you reality check and you realize you are actually dreaming.

    The best way to keep track of dream signs is to log them in your dream journal. It is a good idea to keep your list of dream signs separate from your dreams, perhaps in its own page or on the back portion of your journal. This way, you won't have trouble finding it for reference amidst your DJ entries. You may also keep a tally of how often they show up so you know which dream signs are more prominent among the others.



    Can't Find Your Dream Sign?


    Almost everyone has some sort of dream sign. Some people's signs are obvious, while others not so much. It can be something very obvious such as the ocean, or something very minor such as a piece of string—pay attention to details. If you can't find something in common with your dreams, have someone else take a look at your journal, as they can provide a different perspective. If you have a journal here on the site, message one of the Dream Guides and they will help you find it.

    First of all, if you want to identify your dream signs, it would only make sense to write down every little detail of any dreams you can recall. This is crucial because dream signs come in many shapes and forms, and if you don't write down even the slightest details, you can overlook a possible dream sign.

    Here are some types of dream signs:

    1. Places - Where do your dreams usually occur? It can be in your old school, your house, the beach, or even somewhere you don't recognize**, such as alien planets.

    2. Objects - What things usually pop up in your dreams? It can be a broom, slipper, computer, or even a weird object you don't recognize.**

    3. People - Who are your usual dream characters? It can be your friend, your neighbor, a celebrity, or even your awful chem teacher who spits a lot in class.**

    4. Creatures - Do critters show up in your dreams? It can be a dog, snake, ants, or flies, etc. It can also be otherworldly creatures such as monsters, spirits, entities, etc.

    5. Events/Actions - Do you run a lot in dreams? Fall from high places, do sports, do homework, type on a computer? Do weddings happen a lot in your dreams? Or gore and death scenes? Does your TV suddenly turn off, or the lights always flicker or do appliances refuse to work properly?

    6. Time - Do your dreams often happen during daytime, night time, twilight, or at a certain time? Does it alway seem like you're in your childhood, or in a certain era?

    7. Emotions - Is there a certain emotion that prevails when you dream? It can be unexplained rage, passion, depression, fear, etc.

    8. Bodily Sensations - Do you often feel your dream body warming up? Or getting goosebumps, shivers, pain, or as if something is weighing you down, etc.?

    9. Sounds - What do you usually hear in dreams? Do you notice background music, nature sounds, static noise, people murmuring, etc.?

    10. Thoughts - Sometimes certain thoughts repeatedly pop up in our heads while dreaming. They can be totally random such as "the toaster is nice", or something like "I need more milk", etc.

    11. Odors - Do you detect any consistent odors in you dreams? They can be pungent, flowery, fruity, pleasant or unpleasant, even body odors (eeek!).

    12. Colors and Visual Quality- Do you notice any dominant colors in your dreams? Some may mostly see hues of red, or blue, as if the color settings of the dream have been adjusted. Haziness and blurriness may also count. (Some people even report having dreams that seem to be vibrating all throughout.) Physical alterations count too, such as always having an extra finger, or diffent color eyes than normal. Another one is text and numbers. Do you seem to be dyslexic in dreams or can you read well?


    **When recalling dreams with places/things/people you don't recognize, it is helpful to include drawings or sketches of what they look like, for future comparisons (or for simple unleashing of artistic skills haha)



    I found a dream sign, now what?


    So you found a dream sign...congratulations! Now it's time to use that sign to your advantage.

    If your dream sign is something that you can see in real life, simply do a reality check whenever you come across it. The idea is that you establish a habit of thinking it might be a dream when you are seeing that dream sign, since it also appears often in your dreams, and this very moment might just be one of them.

    But what if it's not something you see in real life? For example, a flying purple pig. There are three ways to go about this.

    -First way is mantras. Tell yourself repeatedly "If I see a flying purple pig, I am dreaming." Do this over and over before bed, or also throughout the day so that the same thought will carry over into your dreams and when you do see it, you'll realize you are dreaming.

    -The second way is to
    either google the picture, print it out, or draw it. It also helps if you say it out loud when you spot it, or acknowledge it. This way, you can still have them around with you.

    -The third way is to incubate your dream signs, or make them appear by yourself by visualizing them. How?

    1. Go through your DJ and pick a dream sign you want to incubate, preferably a prominent dream sign. For this example, let's use snakes.

    2. Throughout the day, when you remember to do it, pause for a bit and imagine seeing the dream sign (snakes) pop up at random places. This part is good, since in dreams, objects often appear out of nowhere, and we don't really think about it. Training yourself to react to random appearing things would be good, and it would help build up awareness as well.

    3. Once you have imagined your dream sign popping up, do a reality check -- not just a mindless RC but an RC with conviction, so to speak -- as if it were really a dream and snakes really did pop up.

    So that's basically it. Do it several times a day. The best thing about this is that if they don't appear randomly in your dream, you yourself can make them appear (even when non-lucid), since you are used to imagining them pop up on your own -- kind of like manifesting/summoning and using dream control. You can also do this with large-scale dream signs such as a beach, where you can imagine hearing/seeing ocean waves in the distance. You may also incubate emotions, or events as well, such as recounting the feeling of being chased, etc. then doing a reality check after. This may require a bit more effort than doing mantras before bed, but its effects are longer lasting and better (since visual perception is better retained), and it has other benefits too, such as enhancement of your visualization skills and your dream control.



    Other Notes


    Dream signs can change. You may be dreaming about flying purple pigs right now, but in a month or so, it could be different! You always have to keep your eye open and scan your dream journal for dream signs. You may even have a list of dream signs written up at the beginning of every month to keep track. You can also have more than one dream sign at once. Furthermore, dream signs are not completely necessary for attaining lucidity. There are many ways to achieve lucidity, and dream signs are merely one of them.


    Dreamviews also has a separate section of the forum where you can discuss dream signs. Talk about your dream signs or ask for help involving dream signs
    here.


    What are you waiting for? Open that dream journal and start looking!



    Other Links


    Dream Signs
    Dream Signs and Recall Forum[COLOR=#000000]


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