Thread: Horrible Dream, Advice Appreciated

First of all, do not worry about your mental aptitude based on dreams. Perfectly sane and normal people can have dreams which are insane and horrifying, and as long as this does not spill over into waking life and does not make you do insane stuff in real life, and as long as you know the difference between dreams and reality (at least in hindsight, if you are not a lucid dreamer), you are probably sane - or at least such a dream is not any reason to question sanity.

This dream example that you gave is perfectly normal. First of all light switches are notorious for often not working properly in dreams - I don't know why that is, but I have read in lucid dreaming books that if light switches do not work, it is a good idea to do a reality check, to think "Could this be a dream?" Second of all, if you are walking around a dark house, and are unable to turn on the lights, many a sane person would expect to get attacked, so I think your being attacked is normal in such a dream. As to why it was your friend who attacked you, it could be as simple as that your mind needed to supply a face to the attacker, and your friends face just happened to be handy in your memory.

Of course, it is also possible that you have some unresolved issues with this friend, and only you can know whether that is the case, but if you cannot come up with any such unresolved issues when you think about it, then if I were you, I would not read anything into the attacker being this particular friend. Another possibility is that your mind is telling you that a friend is your enemy, or that you do not need to look far for your enemy (for example that signing up for the military may lead you to enemies in a war far away), but that your enemy is right here - and the enemy does not have to be a person, it could be another issue, even one that you do not yet consciously recognize as an issue (hence your mind telling you that your friend is your enemy).

I do not know which of these ideas will sound right to you if any. It could be something simple and nothing to worry about, or it could be a profound message from your subconscious that may be worth investigating further. And the explanation may of course be completely different from any that I suggested.

EDIT: By the way, feeling drunk in a dream is also perfectly normal. Some people compare dream awareness in regular dreams to being drunk. So again this could mean absolutely nothing. Although of course it could also mean something, for example you might be worried that your judgement is impaired in some way.

EDIT2: I just thought of another cool explanation: your mind may have been trying to tell you "this is a dream", trying to get you to switch to a lucid dream. All those dream signs in there: light switches not working, feeling drunk, being in a house alone where you are not usually alone, being attacked by a friend. Your mind may have been telling you "What do I have to throw your way in order for you to realize that this is just a dream?"

Thank you very much for your interpretation.

I do believe if my mind needed someone handy the first person would be this person being my most valued friend and being stored for easy access in my subconscious.

I believe i have a clear understanding the meaning of this dream now.

Regards
Ambrose

Ambrose, I just read something that seemed pertinent to your dream that I had not addresses before: indigestion is a common cause of nightmares. You described that you had very bad heartburn, so I think that is probably related to your having a nightmare.

Originally Posted by JoannaB

Ambrose, I just read something that seemed pertinent to your dream that I had not addresses before: indigestion is a common cause of nightmares. You described that you had very bad heartburn, so I think that is probably related to your having a nightmare.

Well as wierd as it may sound i do enjoy nightmares, i read somewhere that icecream induces nightmare so i commonly find myself eating a bowl of icecream before bed

Sure nightmares can be interesting. Plus they are a perfect trigger for lucid dreaming, being so different from regular waking life. I remember when I became proficient at LD years ago (only getting back to it now after years), I remember I learned to enjoy nightmare because I knew They couldn't hurt me, and I could often transform them into something empowering or entertaining.

Originally Posted by JoannaB

Sure nightmares can be interesting. Plus they are a perfect trigger for lucid dreaming, being so different from regular waking life. I remember when I became proficient at LD years ago (only getting back to it now after years), I remember I learned to enjoy nightmare because I knew They couldn't hurt me, and I could often transform them into something empowering or entertaining.

Do you have any ideas, advice or ever tips as to induce more lucid dreaming or even frequent dreaming.
Also do you know if smoking ciggarettes impairs ability to dream, i seem not to dream if i smoke before bed. Perhaps from dehydration

I had a dream last night my mobile phone had a number in it which gave me the ability to fly. I was overwhelmed with how powerful my flight was as i very quickly ascended into outer space where i usually would have trouble flying, i got so high so fast i remember worrying in my dream not to smash into any planets because i was watching the earth as i was ascending, however i didnt need my phone anymore so i threw it away and then i developed lasers shooting out of my hands(seemed like wicked fun). however once i landed i needed my phone to fly again(for some unknown reason) but i threw it away in outer space so i guess i shouldnt have done that lol. an interpretation would be great if you have the time.

That sounds like a cool dream! You ask whether I have any ideas on how to induce lucid dreams, sure, that's one of the things this sight is about. I would suggest you read the tutorials and such. I could tell you what has worked for me, but what works for you may be very different, and thus it's better if you read more options. Yes, I think I read somewhere that dehydration can interfere with dreams. I am not sure about cigarettes, but I am sure there are many smokers on this forum, so I suggest you start a separate thread asking about that. My dream recall has made remarkable leaps and bounds since I have started putting an efford into it again, and so putting in an effort really makes a difference. I had my first lucid dream in years yesterday, and by lucid I do not mean vivid (a lot of people confuse those at first), so my effort to get back into the hobby is paying off. I hope you try it as well - trust me, it's worth it.

Originally Posted by JoannaB

That sounds like a cool dream! You ask whether I have any ideas on how to induce lucid dreams, sure, that's one of the things this sight is about. I would suggest you read the tutorials and such. I could tell you what has worked for me, but what works for you may be very different, and thus it's better if you read more options. Yes, I think I read somewhere that dehydration can interfere with dreams. I am not sure about cigarettes, but I am sure there are many smokers on this forum, so I suggest you start a separate thread asking about that. My dream recall has made remarkable leaps and bounds since I have started putting an efford into it again, and so putting in an effort really makes a difference. I had my first lucid dream in years yesterday, and by lucid I do not mean vivid (a lot of people confuse those at first), so my effort to get back into the hobby is paying off. I hope you try it as well - trust me, it's worth it.

This is the single most awesome piece of advice i've ever recieve, kudos to you JoannaB.

I never understood what lucid dreaming meant, or techniques used to induce them.
I must say im very exited to begin attemting to gain lucidity. I suppose its the same concept of astral travelling

You are most welcome! And while I don't "have the time" to try to interpret your flying and laser shooting dream, but I will take a bit of time anyway, since I can't concentrate on what I am supposed to be doing today anyway.

I think flying dreams must be as old as the human race itself. I bet we have always wished we could fly, soar up into the sky and maybe even into outer space. Flying dreams are common, and they are also a common motivation for trying to learn how to lucid dream. I actually first learned as a young adult about lucid dreaming about twenty years ago, and my primary motivation for trying to learn it back then was to have more flying dreams because they are so cool. Now I am coming back to this hobby after many years of not practicing, and flying is not my primary motivation any more, but I still bet I shall have fun doing it. It's part of what makes us human: we wish we could fly.

In a slightly more conceptual less literal interpretation, you could say for example that you wish to fly is a wish to be free to do whatever you want, or an ambition to achieve things which others might think are impossible.

The phone allowed you to fly because I think part of your mind knew that you cannot really fly and thus you would need a gadget to do it.

Since you were flying, might as well shoot lasers. Another cool thing we can't do.

I can't help but think that it fits in with your desire to join an elite military unit: you want to achieve some feats that some would consider impossible to achieve and you will likely use cool gadgets to achieve them given how techie the military is nowadays. Flying while shooting lasers could be like a plane or helicopter pilot shooting at the enemy?

I remember the lasers a bit different, i actually developed them. im not sure if you seen smallville when clark develops his laser eyes it felt like that

Thanks for everything JoannaB

Smoking is destructive to dreaming - it messes up something called the nicotinic receptors in your brain, and that's bad news. I don't remember if it makes it harder to remember your dreams or what it does exactly, but it's not good if you want to remember your dreams and dream lucidly. If you quit it would probably help a lot - but it would take some time for those nicotinic recptors to get back to normal.

Here, I found a little more information:

"Nicotine can have a profound effect on lucid dreaming when used (1) rare occasions (2) small doses (3) and counteract desensitization is applied (taking piracetam right after a trigger. Nicotone works well with Galantamine (4-8mg). Apply a patch or smoke a cig around 4 AM after about 5 hours of good sleep. If you use a patch remove after about 3 hours. Of course be aware of Nicotine side effects."

paraphrased "Thomas Yuschak"
The Power of Supplements

-- That's using a little bit of nicotine now and then - if you use it regularly/habitually then it has a negative effect.

Ambrose's FLYING DREAM:

I wonder if when you became mobile, it was a short step to 'dial in' flying or the next step of going farther and higher, or really free. You were overwhelmed with this power, as you went quickly beyond where you normally go.

Maybe you didn't need to connect with the part of yourself that enabled take off, and reach the distance, so you threw it away. Maybe the lasers mean you developing your focus of precise and powerful handling, from your inner light.

Of course, once you landed, you need to start at the beginning again, to get mobile and warm up to take off, like with everything. So, maybe in a way it was appropriate to throw that away, if you'd have to restart that part of you anyway.

I don't know about this or how to interpret it, I am just posting to say I found this very interesting and remember having a very similar dream a while back.

Originally Posted by Superman1

Ambrose's FLYING DREAM:

I wonder if when you became mobile, it was a short step to 'dial in' flying or the next step of going farther and higher, or really free. You were overwhelmed with this power, as you went quickly beyond where you normally go.

Maybe you didn't need to connect with the part of yourself that enabled take off, and reach the distance, so you threw it away. Maybe the lasers mean you developing your focus of precise and powerful handling, from your inner light.

Of course, once you landed, you need to start at the beginning again, to get mobile and warm up to take off, like with everything. So, maybe in a way it was appropriate to throw that away, if you'd have to restart that part of you anyway.

It was quite like a cheat from a playstation(or gaming console) game. i just dialled the number and i had the ability to take off

Originally Posted by Ambrose

It was quite like a cheat from a playstation(or gaming console) game. i just dialled the number and i had the ability to take off

Maybe it simply was a crazy and cool dream? With no real meaning but to expand your imagination?

Originally Posted by Phased

Maybe it simply was a crazy and cool dream? With no real meaning but to expand your imagination?

Im confident it had minimal meaning to it, it was simply a reflection of my feelings before i went to sleep

Ahh, so it was just that higher connection that was instant. Which you could not regain later eaily.

And I suspect JoannaB is right about:

I can't help but think that it fits in with your desire to join an elite military unit.

It's almost the opposte of your first dream. From almost disability to superability.
And the lasers kind of connect to warfare but I think they mean more like I said before, in connection to your goal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ambrose's FIRST DREAM.
I think your first dream was you felt alone and really out of control, which reflects you not being sure if you have the mental ability to pass the army test.
Unless you will not be able to see your friend either because you are going away with the army, or fear this new path will take you away from him.

Your friend's house can mean him, or what is most familiar and friendly and known in you.
You had trouble moving in there.
Not being able to switch a light on is not being able to see. You could not see your way, and felt out of control.

This was like an attack to you - in the heart.
Hence the heartburn the next day.
But your friend attacked you in the heart sounds more like the real friend, more than a career.

Well the second dream i actually had sleeping at that particular friends place
I think not being able to get back my ability in my dream reflects what ive lost physically and mentally due to continuing drug use throughout my teenage years(as its been a topic of my thoughts quite regularly). Perhaps i could stop now and tweak the dream for next time that way i know ive kept the phone if u get what i mean