Is that gravy moving?? Is this a dream? A journal by Wavygravy

[Wavygravy]

OK. I get it. Do a dream journal and I increase the likelihood of having a LD. I used to have frequent LD's as a kid, and after working on RC's and self hypnosis for about a month, I had my first LD in adulthood (that I remember, that is) on Sunday, July 6, 2008. It was wonderful, and I want more. Following is my dream: I remember little or nothing about what was going on before I was having a conversation with a DC, about my tattoos. I showed him the one on my left calf, and to my shock, it was not there! In it's place was a blurry flesh-toned smudge. I remember thinking, HUH? What the f_ck!? So I looked at the tattoo on my right calf, and it too was gone...just a blurry thingie instead. At this point I suddenly became lucid. I did a quick RC by "willing" myself off the ground about a foot, which I accomplished easily. Yes! Somehow I kept calm enough to drop to the ground and examine the floor, which had become soil and grass. This seemed to deepen my lucidity and I was blown away by the utter clarity and vividness of my dream reality. I then said aloud, "OK, let's get to it" and I willed myself to fly, which I did. I was once again inside, so I flew gracefully and easily near the ceiling. No arm flapping, just floating where ever I wished to go. I noticed a small child who was watching me fly who I knew instinctively wanted to fly, so I landed, gave a quick lesson, after which we flew around together for a short time. I then wanted to experience flight outside, so I went out and flew around just above tree top level for some time. It then occurred to me that this was my chance to have a sexual encounter, so I landed near a cafe. I entered the cafe, and was greeted by a red haired woman, who said she would be my waitress. I looked her in the eye and said I was here to have sex with her, and she quickly undressed, laughing, saying what a great idea that was. The encounter was quite vivid and lots of fun. I did not reach orgasm, as I began to loose focus and the lucidity seemed to waiver. I decided to fly again to see if this brought things back to clarity, which it did. I returned to the cafe and again began having sex with my red headed friend. Once again the dream began to fade, and I knew I was going to awaken shortly. I remember thinking, "you've done it once, so you can do it again. Relax and wake up...it's ok." I did, with a wonderful feeling of accomplishment and wonder as to the power of the experience. It is now Wednesday, and that sense of wonder is still with me. I have been unsuccessful in my attempts since then to induce a LD, but am confident that I shall, once again soon, become lucid in my dreams.

[Wavygravy]

Continued to RC's all day, meditation before bed with intention to remember dreams and become lucid. Also set the alarm for 4 AM and tried WBTB. No LD's, although I had a dream which I didn't write down (damn) but have a fragment in which I dialoged with JoAnn N. who was pregnant...

[Wavygravy]

Dream snippit: I'm with Carl H. in Minnesota. We have a dog, which apparently is mine, in the car who Carl playfully wrestles as I get out of the car to go ck out the Palace Theatre. The dog is playing rough with him and Carl sorta gets angry. I pause to look at the two of them wrestling around in the front seat before I head off to the theatre. We had been at Mark's farm, visiting apparently, where the dog joined us. BTW, I had take 250 mg of Vit. B-6 and Valarian 30 minutes before bed in a feeble attempt to increase my chance of lucidity. Nadda.....and that's all I'm going to say about that.

[Chameleon]

Hi Wavy Your first adult LD is brilliant. I’m impressed that you managed to stay in the dreamworld for so long. When I started out, I went through a stage of constantly waking up the moment I realised I was dreaming. Grrrr. Sex in LDs is a mammoth subject and tends to be a favourite pastime, along with flying. I also went through the “bonk everything in sight” stage. Even now, I will give in to temptation occasionally, but I’m slowly learning the joys of other things. I’m quite pleased with my success though – with the heightened excitement of a sexual encounter, I used to lose it early on. Eventually with much practice, I can now manage to go the whole way and still be in the dream afterwards. It took a lot of determination and dedication – but I enjoyed the journey. Cham

[Wavygravy]

Saturday July 12 Per the suggestions of my new mentor Chameleon, I have put a note pad next to my bed. Her thinking was that it may work better with recall than going directly to my journal here and inputting the dream. It seemed to help a great deal. I was able to get more detail and have greater recall with two dreams. The dreams occured about two hours apart. The first being recorded at 1:50 AM. Neither dream is a LD. Back in North Dakota I am in my old house in Jamestown, in the library specifically, with Kevin and Alison. We decide that a pizza would really hit the spot so we call in an order to a new pizza place. Kevin goes on and on about how good the place is and that it's "really really worth the wait." We seem to wait quite sometime and I'm getting close to the point of calling the place and ask about our order when there is a knock at the door. It's the pizza guy(s) with our order. There are 2 guys bringing the order, but I can only recall the first guy who is quite tall, and somewhat overweight. He hands me the pizza which is this tiny teeny thing. Its not hot, and appears to be about one bite per person. I look at the delivery guy and say, WTF?? Kevin has already paid for it, shelling out $ 9 (plus a tip). As they are getting ready to leave the second delivery guy says, "we have another pizza here. I guess you can have it as well." He places another incredibly small pizza directly on top of the one I'm holding easily in the palm of my hand. Happily and with a certain smugness I say to him, "Now, that's better...so much better. Now that's worth the $9, dude." I then think to myself, "Shit! No it isn't. Alison is gonna be so pissed off" 3:55 AM (recorded 5 minutes before my 4 AM WBTB alarm goes off) Trying to reconstruct a near death experience I'm at an air museum, where there are lots of aircraft on display...large ones, small jets etc. I think to myself, "I always wanted to go to Dayton to the museum" when suddenly the HUGE airplane I'm standing under rises into the air, as if from an explosion, parts flying off in every direction. I think, "shit, somethings going to land on me and hit something vital". A large piece falls, crushing my shoulder, and then another piece lands on my chest. Then, unusually, the scene repeats itself, as if I'm "in a loop" and then occurs a third time. I feel the sensation of being crushed, but without any pain. I vividly sense I'm suposed to be learning something here and I wake up thinking, "damn, that was almost a LD." Now here's something interesting/strange about this dream that I'd love to hear feedback on: As I'm scribbling the dream down on my note pad, my three year old Ocicat, Dugan, who is curled up next to me (as is his habit at night) has a Grand Mal seizure. It lasts about a minute. It's extremely violent, and he ends up ripping out two of his claws on his right rear foot. I rushed him off to the emergency vet where he had bloodwork done and got his foot bandaged. Got home about 8 AM exhausted and wondering, are Dugan and I connected so deeply that my dream fortold his seizure or did my dream somehow unwittingly trigger his seizure? I'm open to things that I can't really understand, and part of me thinks, "how silly...get a life" yet this event happening so close to my waking from this pretty scary dream has been nagging me since I got home and recorded the dream here.

[Chameleon]

Hi Wavy Hee hee, you are getting dream triggers already – tiny pizzas!! The second dream seems rather more serious, at least that’s the way I see it. Take note of your emotions with dreams such as this one and jot them down too. It may be that you will have precognitive dreams, in which case it is worth noting anything and everything down – even silly little things that you deem not worthy for your notebook. It could be connected with Dugan’s seizure, but it is hard to know for sure. Over time, as you get to know your dreams, if you get precognitive ones, you will be better equipped to tell them apart from the others. I do believe that there can be a very strong bond with pets – and they are far more intelligent that we give them credit. How is Dugan now? I hope he is much better. I’ve never heard of an Ocicat before and after a google image search can see they are rather a delightful being! Your reaction of learning something suggests you were on your way to becoming lucid. It certainly seems that way to me too – especially as it repeated over and over. This could be one of those dreams that if not precognitive, then certainly with a message. However, it might be a while before it becomes clear. Just keep it in the back of your mind. A thought I’ve just had. Second thoughts, I will PM you on it. Cham

[Wavygravy]

Sunday, July 13 Got to bed earlier than usual, set out journal, set alarm for 4 AM for WBTB. Slept super soundly until alarm went off. Was up for maybe 10 min's and got back to bed and had a hard time with focus and eventually fell asleep without awareness. Sometime in early AM woke to record a dream and learned this lesson: just write whatever is in your head at the moment...get it on paper....the details will occur as you write...etc (all things I've read about before here in these forums and learned from Chameleon). So what happened? Well, I wrote down the obvious title of my dream, and laid down "just for a minute" to clarify the dream a bit. (Wait for it.......)zzzzzzzzzzz...fast asleep. So here's the total of my dream journaling from last night: 6:30 AM My checkered shirt: a new musical instrument Damn! Just the title gets me excited! I can almost taste the memory of it...but not quite. sigh Live and learn A postscript later that morning: During breakfast a smattering of recall of the dream came back to me...the checkered shirt image comes back to me quite clearly--earth tones, rough cut silk. The checkered parts "work" by touching them. By touching different squares, the shirt produces different notes. I touch the different shirt parts and begin to experiment, trying to reproduce a song (can't remember the tune just yet). I try a number of times, touching different squares but can't seem to get the pattern, as if touching the same spot produces a different note each time. I'm facinated, yet frustrated that I can't "play" the shirt the way I want. I can "hear" the song in my head that I want to play, but somehow can't translate the tune in my head to the instrument. I notice that my girlfriend MJ is watching me, and I expain what I'm trying to do. She says, "well, keep it up...you know that 'practice makes perfect'." I awaken. This feels similar to my previous night's dream, where I think that I'm suposed to be learning something. I think this is about my desire to learn LD'ing, and that my unconsicious is "cheering me on" and not to give up. It's as if I'm ever so close to lucidity, and I know it. This is where I believe my journaling, and support from my mentor will pay off. So I'm wondering, is this another dream trigger? My musical shirt? I can hear Chameleon now, laughing: "patience, Grasshopper!"

[Chameleon]

So I'm wondering, is this another dream trigger? My musical shirt? lol How many musical shirts have you come across in waking life? Cham

[Wavygravy]

Oh, let's see...ahhh....hmmmmmm....errrrrrrr......????????.. .....well, one actually....but not in my waking life!

[Wavygravy]

July 14 12:05 AM Non lucid dream I am showing MJ where I'm living in Fargo ND. It is 1010 8th Ave S, and I indeed lived there with 6 others in the late 70's. We are in the "long hallway" and back bedroom on the second floor. The bed and everything else has been removed. There is nothing in the room at all. This room suddenly morphs back into the house in Jamestown ND and somehow the elements of each house are combined. We are in Bed with my cat Dugan and falling asleep when Dugan seems to get agitated by something he hears outside. He jumps down from the bed. As he does so, I pick up a newspaer which has suddenly appeared in the bed, and I notice that it is animated. Running accross the top of the paper is a banner, the letters being red, and somewhat transparent. The banner is moving right to left, and repeating the message: "Someone is trying to break into your house". I read the message, and think nothing of it, until I suddenly understand that the message is intended for me. I finally understand that something is wrong. I go downstairs and find that someone is standing outside of a window in the living room. It is dark in the room and outside, so I sense only a vague outline of a form, but can clearly hear the sound of his/her cutting the screen on the window, obviously trying to break into the house in the dead of night. I am very frightened by this and yell HEY YOU!! I think to myself, "they'll run away if they know the police are on their way", so I turn toward the stairs, and yell upstairs to MJ "CALL THE COPS!!!" I suddenly find myself awake sitting up in the bed, having screamed out, "call the cops!". MJ has also awakened as has Dugan who is still in bed. They are both looking at me like, WTF??...you OK? I'm wondering why all the North Dakota settings recently in my dreams? Have not been back there, or consciously thought about ND for years. Hmmmmmmm. Just before fully waking at 7 AM, I have the vague pieces of the last dream which I scribble on my pad: Not much to go on: Dugan--breeding Basement strange "Mad Scientist" DC with a little girl on a leash. Ohhhhhh Kayyyyyyyyy?!?!

[Wavygravy]

July 15 2:18 AM It was a good night for dreaming I guess. I brought a hand held digital tape recorder home from work to see if that helped with dream recall, and it surely did...and yes, the second to the last dream, although very brief was Lucid! I love Lucy? Non Lucid I'm in a small south eastern Ohio town with Brad from the Buckeye Ranch. We are needing to get out of town quickly for some reason. There is some issue with Brad's bowling ball, which is really not a ball at all, but is more like a very smooth black cube shaped thingie with holes for the fingers, like a bowling ball. I volunteer to carry this "ball" and while doing this I turn back while we're walking up a steep hill. I think it would be fun for some reason to pretend to be bowling so I throw it, and it only travels about a foot or so. The ground is super smooth, and because we're on a hill, the "ball" travels very fast and quickly, hits a ramp and is launched through the window of a rather posh hotel/restaurant. Brad and the others laugh at me and say "OK, YOU threw it, you have to retrieve it, and deal with the broken window." I enter the place and much to my surprise, folks there are acting as if nothing really is wrong, although I sense that they all know I'm the one that's responsible for this strange object crashing through the window. I decide it would be a good idea to sit down and eat. After I finish eating and it's time to go, I pay the bill, but there is still no word about the bowling cube thingie and I know everyone in the restaurant knows I am responsible for the broken window. Everyone is pretending to be nice, but I know they are all pissed off and planning to play some sick joke on me as revenge. I get up to leave, and no one is giving me the bowling cube, which I know they have. I think, "hell, I'm gonna leave the damn cube here, and get out before something else happens." As I prepare to leave I get out my car keys and am told that my car has been in an accident and is over at a body shop being repaired. It's the front right part of the car. I enter the repair shop which is a cavernous warehouse with cars everywhere in various states of repair. I am told my car is in a smaller room and I can pick it up there. I find the car repaired, but with the scratch on the side door (which is there in waking life) not repaired. I start the car and begin to drive away and notice that there is really no exit, no way to get out of the building. I end up driving through a doorway in an attempt to escape this strange place. I really don't think anything about the fact that I have to drive through a door in order to leave. I find myself back in the resturaunt where a play is being performed, like a dinner theatre scene. What is being performed is a re-inactment of an old "I Love Lucy" episode. In this play, the main characters are there...Lucy, Rickie, Fred and Ethel. They are all in the water and trying to get back into a pirate ship. They are sorta of frightened by the fact that there is a shark in the water. One by one they get into the boat, Lucy being the last one to be pulled aboard. The audience is laughing like mad because they can see a shark (the shark fin, actually) approaching Lucy. Rickie is leaning over the side of the boat, stretching out his hand to give Lucy a hand up, and instead of grabbing Lucy, he glabs the shark by the fin and heaves it on board. The audience is howling with laughter at this. At this point the theme music from "I Love Lucy" plays and I awaken. Later that same night....(grin) Cartoon Time: The Golden Chain Belt Non Lucid (but oh so close) I am aware of a Cartoon-like DC who is wearing a Golden Chain Belt. He is hanging under a ledge of a precipice. Below is a deep abyss. The cartoon feel is similar to the scene one might find in an old Road Runner cartoon. I feel as if I too am in the cartoon, and I'm a cartoon character who is interacting with this DC. I am trying to retrieve the Golden Chain Belt, as the DC has obviously stolen it from me. In a "Road Runner" like manner, I "trick" the DC somehow to let go, which he does, falling and crashing...I see the cloud where he impacts, much like in the Road Runner cartoons when the Coyote falls and hits the ground below. The Golden Chain Belt is left behind, hanging by a hook of some sort which is screwed into the underside of the ledge. I swing, Tarzan-like to the hook and take the Golden Chain Belt, and while holding it I remember it's magical property of protecting the owner from all harm. I feel great because I've got my Golden Chain Belt back. At this point I break into song about the Golden Chain Belt, one of the lyrics being a testament to the power of the Golden Chain Belt, and that the owner is safe from all harm. I let go and begin falling, but thinking, "I've got my Golden Chain Belt, so nothing can harm me." I fall, and calmly watch as the ground becomes ever closer. I notice a lake, and "steer" toward it. An instant before hitting the water, I will myself to slow down my descent, and gently splash into the water. I wake up. This dream is somewhat interesting in that the "technique" of falling and "knowing how to land" and not be harmed, was common knowledge for me as a child when I had frequent LD's where I utilized this knowledge to safely land when falling from a great height in the dream world. I wake to my alarm to do WBTB with aid of audio mp3 I downloaded from the web, that one is to play while beginning the WILD part of WBTB. It was helpful, as the next dream, although brief, was lucid for a few moments. I am focusing on the last dream I had, (above) as I listen to the mp3... 4:40 AM Lucid I am standing in a queue at a movie theatre. It's the old fashioned booth that is in front of the Palace Theatre in Luverne where I grew up. When I get to the front of the queue, instead of purchasing a ticket, I suddenly, without forethought or conscious intention, put my hand through the glass, wiggling my fingers to the ticket gal inside, who is amazed that I can do this without breaking the glass. It suddenly occurs to me that I have unconsciously done a RC and *bingo* lucidity. I am very very excited about this, as I've been working so hard for another LD, and immediately awaken. HA! I guess what they say about excitement bringing on waking is true. Live and learn, Grasshopper. Non Lucid Dream fragment, just before awakening for the day: I'm in a college dorm. I'm surrounded by all these college kids, and I'm looking for my room (a triple). I'm told to go to a certain room and choose my bed. The bed is a 3 tiered bunk bed, and the only spot left open is actually on the floor. There is a futon on the floor under the bottom bunk, and I slide easily under the bed and check out the futon, and think to myself, "Christ...how am going to fit my BiPap Machine under here and sleep comfortably...there's only about 4 inches of space when I'm laying on my back from my nose to the bottom of the bed above me?" I get out from under the bed, and seek out the other occupants to negotiate one of the other spaces. I'm alone however and go out into the hall where I notice a strange DC...some sort of "entity" which is HUGE, without much form..."Globular" in shape. The DC is doing this incredibly graceful dance, up and down the halls, and I sense it is not malevolent, but just weird and out of place here. I wake up. Is is just me, or am I getting ever closer to lucidity? It felt sooo close in the first and second dreams, and the elements certainly appear to be there. It's as if my unconscious is giving me all these clues, and I'm just ever so close to picking them up, but I don't. This is really, really interesting stuff for me, and I'm glad I'm doing the journal.

[Chameleon]

Hi Wavy I’ll respond to the ND one first. I thought this dream was very funny and I was chuckling for a while yesterday – mainly through familiarity. I’ve often woken up yelling something. I’ve also woken laughing my head off…and crying my eyes out. I wonder about returning to old haunts. There is one working place that I dream about more than any other. The only thing I can put it down to is that I was happy there, but beyond that, it was a time of personal changes/excitement/fears. A lot of “growing up” was done in those few years. It was between being about 25-30 years old. I think there is an emotional link with that period of my life and my mind associates it with the place I worked at. For instance, I lived in Hong Kong for a couple of years. This also was a happy time, but it was calm and non-eventful (in a personal way). I hardly ever dream about Hong Kong. Isn’t that strange considering it’s the only foreign place I’ve ever lived? Seems it’s more to do about internal changes than external. At least that’s my theory and I’m sticking to it for now. Cham

[Chameleon]

Lucy et al You are asking if you are getting closer??? Woohoo. Look at your journal. Each day it gets longer. This is four dreams you've recalled. Four! That's magic. And a Lucid! *Cham does a few cartwheels around the room* Give it a few more weeks, we can reverse our roles and you'll be mentoring me. I love the Lucy one. Lots of symbology and if it was my dream, I'd be keen to attempt interpretation. I think the black cube is fascinating. The cartoon dream is very interesting. You had "dream knowledge" as you say, which is certainly connected to lucidity. What I mean by this is subconsciously/unconsciously or even dream consciously, you "knew" that you were not in Physical reality, otherwise you’d have most likely pooped your pants (pardon the expression). There is a sort of lucidity that is not quite lucid, if that makes sense. It’s when you “know” you can fly, but don’t realise you are dreaming. Of course, we know we cannot fly in waking life, therefore we MUST be dreaming…but we don’t take the thought that far. Maybe that’s the key. Our rational brains don’t follow through. As an aside, my favourite cartoon is Road Runner. Movie Theatre - *does a few more cartwheels* That is Great. It is generally how I become lucid - it is an almost unconscious effort/movement that makes me think, "hang on, I just did that!" It makes me believe that you are a Natural. Don't worry about the excited thing - that will wear off the more you have them. Be prepared to go through a really frustrating stage of waking up as soon as you get lucid. Maybe it will be different with you, seeing as your first adult lucid was long, but for me I had to learn the hard and arduous way. Possibly because I’m an excitable person in waking life. Normally, the last dream in a series is the best and most lucid. I'm surprised the big blobby entity DC didn’t trigger lucidity. That seemed to have been its purpose. If you read back your dreams, have you noticed just how many lucid triggers you are getting? Dreams are chock-full of them. Once we learn how to be aware - as in mindful - we notice them far more. Which is really odd - because I'm the most mindless character I know. Anyway, I'm absolutely thrilled and delighted with your latest journeys. In fact, I'll raise a glass to you - I'm only on my second... Cham

[Wavygravy]

Thanks for commenting, Cham. I too am struck by all the triggers, there seem to have been a lot last night. As I re-read my journaling, I am struck by how "close" I seem to be in making that last tiny little step. When you describe a type of LD that is not quite lucid it feels like that is what is happening more and more. It was especially true last night and in the ND dream as well. I also think the mp3 I listened to helped..a sort of spacy, ambiant thing with some sort of white noise in it, along with a male voice repeating phrases like, "I am dreaming" "I will remember to do RC to validate my dream state" " and so on. It lasts about 25 minutes or so. I have it on my iPod which I have next to bed, set to play through once, and then stop. Can't hurt, huh? Thanks again for the feedback and support. BTW, although I love wine, please drink a pint of bitter (hopefully a "real ale" not one of those from Whitbread or other large commercial brewery) for me the next time you're down at your local pub. How I love real, English Ale! OMG! I just had an insight about the "I Love Lucy" dream....it's really, "I Love Lucid" isn't it??? Wow!!! How that totally fits!!! Isn't the unconscious simply wonderful???

[Wavygravy]

July 16 Couldn't seem to get to sleep last night, so about midnight I took 400 mg of valarian. Eventually got to sleep, but too deeply, as I slept through my 4 AM WBTB alarm, and had zero recall. Live and learn.

[Wavygravy]

July 16 A little before bedtime I've been reading posts on WILD'ing and have decided to try tonight. I think I have enough conscious knowledge of the process that it will not freak me out. I posted somewhere else about an experience a few years ago, when my mind "awoke" before my body and I was in SP and experiencing some pretty vivid hypogagic hallucinations. I had extreme feelings of dread, and sensed the presence of evil (I felt this presence at the foot of my bed). I really believed at the time I was experiencing my death. I eventually forced myself to move, and was back in the waking world. If only I knew then what I know now, I might have jumped quickly into lucidity. I've been doing WBTB so it seems natural to really focus on the WILD technique. Staying conscious and present and not getting caught up in the imagry of moving through the stages of WILD seems to be where I get off track. We'll just have a go tonight and see what happens. After not having dream recall last night, I feel "primed" for tonight. Tomorrow's post should be interesting.

[Wavygravy]

July 17 I had another night of insomnia, feeling tired and getting into bed about 11 and not falling asleep until maybe 1:30 or 2. I was up at 3 to pee, and again when 4 AM WBTB alarm went off. Being super tired and worried about my sleep debt, I'm shelving the WILD thang (you make my heart sing!) until some date in the near future (after my sleep debt is paid!) No dream recall until last REM cycle just before waking at 7 AM: Event Horizon on the East Side non lucid I am carrying Dugan, in his favored mode--riding on my shoulder (like one would hold a baby to burp), as we walk in "the hood" on Columbus East Side. I am aware that I've parked my white van (I have a van, but it's silver in RL) somewhere in the neighborhood and we're walking back to it, after doing something else in the dream world that I can't recall. I feeling rather apprehensive, as a 59 year old white guy with a cat on his shoulder is most certainly out of place here. We come accross a group of DC's, young black kids, who are laughing and joking with each other in a steriotypical black "gangsta" sort of way. They see us, and approach us, and I begin to become frightened. Dugan senses this and begins to squirm and I worry that he'll get freaked out and jump down and run away, and I'll loose him. The kids are very mellow though, but I can't help but think they're just feining friendliness, and it's best that I find my van asap and get the hell out of Dodge. I tell them about not being able to find my white van, and they walk with me for a few blocks while I'm frantically looking down each street for it. We come accross a green van, and I say, "hey, this is it!" (hoping they'll continue on their way and I can get going). One kids says, "you told us you had a white van" and I reply that this is my other green van, and will do. They obviously don't believe me. I take out my keychain and go to the back of the van, and surprisingly the key fits the lock and the door opens easily. Inside are the racks and tools that one would find in a construction worker or electrician's vehicle. I thank them for their help, and the leave us. I look around and the streets are empty of all traffic, and pedestrian life. I can hear the wind blowing, and there is extreme silence...not what one would expect in the middle of a large city...no "city noise". At this point in the dream, I remember where I was prior, and I have the experience of replaying the previous dream (at least it feels this way. I was, perhaps, just remembering a previous dream)...Dugan and I are with a party of people on the moon. It has been colonized, and we've been sent to investigate what's happened to the previous occupants, who are all missing. The place is in a shambles, nobody around, and it's very very creepy. We set up a series of force fields to protect us, and various party members leave to explore and see what they can find. Somehow I suspect that the previous party have been killed and eaten by savage alien dinosaurs that have somehow come to the colony. I want to tell someone what I think is going on, but I'm alone with Dugan, with no way to communicate with the other party members. We finally notice a single male DC coming back to the encampment, who is excited and pleased with his new "find". He opens his shirt pocket to reveal a small T-Rex. The DC says, "isn't he cute? He's really hungry though, and although he's only a few oz. he's already eaten an entire pound of hamburger!" He decides to go back to earth with his new found "pet" via a transporter (like in Star Trek) and goes to the transport sight and prepares to "beam" home. I tell him that the creature is dangerous, and he scoffs at the notion and steps onto one of the circles, preparing to beam home. I awaken. Lots of fear, dread, and feeling unsettled here as well as obvious movie references--Event Horizon, Jurassic Park, Star Trek.

[Wavygravy]

July 19 6 AM The Keeper on Bald Mountain non lucid I am in a mountain region that feels much like Northern Wales in the UK. The dream has a Lord of the Rings feel to it. I am hiking on the mountain and searching for a mountain "hut". I am hoping to find a certain person who I know inhabits the hut. I find the hut, which is obviously rustic, made of large blocks which have been taken from the mountain. It is quite small, one room, with a window or two, a fireplace, a few chairs and a bed. I've been sent by lord knows who to find "The Keeper of the Hut", who will impart to me some "special knowledge." I know that after I obtain this knowledge, his work will be done, and I will take his place as the keeper. Hence, there is a "let me pass on my knowledge to you my son" feel to the experience. The keeper is an old man who has a white beard and is dressed in rags. He begins to tell me the important things that I must know (none of which I can remember) the hut is attacked by evil forces, who are somehow trying to conquer this area. A battle is about to begin. Suddenly the Keeper and I are not alone and the battle ensues. The DC's who are attacking us are diffuse...I cannot make out any faces, but understand they are sent to conquer this area. We are terribly outnumbered, and I begin to doubt that we will win this battle. I find myself outside now, and can see the hut in the distance. I can see bolts of flame or fire coming from the hut, hitting things off on the mountainside opposite the hut, and know the keeper is shooting them from his hands...I think about what special power the keeper possesses to be able to do this, and decide that he is some kind of King, or royality, who is in disguise and put in the hut. I feel a wonderful sense of honor and privlidge to have been a part of the battle, to "fight the good fight" with the King. The battle suddenly ends and we are victorious. I return to the hut, the interior of which, has become much much larger, although still made of stone. The keeper or King is now gone and it feels as though, "the torch has been passed as the battle is won." Now I am The Keeper. I don't sense anything special about this, other than I suddenly feel very sexually charged, and "horny". At this point I begin to fantasize about conjouring up a woman to have sex with. During the fantasy I think about all the women I have met in my life...they flash accross my memory in lightening fast speed...so many possiblities! So many wonderful women to have sex with!! I awaken with an erection, and laugh out loud, thinking, "oh so close!" Well, I got close to July's task of shooting fireworks out of my hands...my DC did it rather well. I'm also struck as to the "almost lucid" quality of this dream...lots of "hints" that I don't pick up on--the DC shooting fireworks, the "imparting of knowledge" (my new LD goal of finding my DG) and the draw of having lucid sex again. This imparting knowledge thing from DC's is beginning to be a re-occuring theme, and must be a dream sign.

[Chameleon]

Hi Wavy The dream triggers are actually quite normal. It’s only when we start to explore our dreams that we realise just how many we are given during the course of a good night’s sleep! Someone not interested in dreams will still get all the triggers – but they will deem their dreams to be “full of nonsense” and dismiss them. Of course they are full of nonsense – that’s the whole point of the triggers!! Ha ha. And I do feel that you are literally knocking on the lucid door more and more. Your awareness and respect is paying dividends. Something I am very good at (apart from blowing my own trumpet) is cryptic crosswords. Dream analysing can be akin to doing a cryptic crossword – at least mine are. Our subconscious seems to have a personality all of its own and can really challenge us, or make us laugh, such as your “I love Lucid” – that’s great!! I posted somewhere else about an experience a few years ago, when my mind "awoke" before my body and I was in SP and experiencing some pretty vivid hypogagic hallucinations. I had extreme feelings of dread, and sensed the presence of evil (I felt this presence at the foot of my bed). I'm not sure whether you already realised, but this is classic sleep paralysis stuff, along with “Old Hag” syndrome, or “Dweller on the Threshold”. If you want more information on this, just shout. I particularly like the latest journey, with the Keeper of the Hut. The information the previous keeper passes onto you – the really important stuff that you forget – is very interesting. It tends to follow that anything of worth in dreams hardly ever gets brought back here. However, perhaps our logical rational side of the brain can’t make sense of it, and so it stays lodged in our subconscious. Therefore, we do actually get the message, it is simply sitting there in the back of our minds awaiting recall. I did bring a line back recently when I was in that “no mans land”. The line was… Love is a slow line. It made sense there…but it’s utter rubbish here!! Good old sex again… I was up to no good last night with a DC. Cham

[Wavygravy]

July 22nd Cash Money non lucid I am at the ATM planning to withdraw some cash. My children are with me; they are kids rather than the adults they are in RL. This particular ATM is a sort of kiosk, with back to back ATMs so to speak. I notice a DC, the bank attendant, is on the other side, filling the machine with money, having just done the same with my machine. I notice that he has left 4 or 5 wrapped packets of cash, all in $100 dollar bills on the shelf of the ATM. I know I should give them to the bank guy, but instead, as one of the girls asks me a question, I shield myself from them and the bank guy and I put them in a large envelope which I stuff in under my T shirt, the bottom being stuffed down my shorts. One of the corners of the large envelope keeps sticking out of the top of my T shirt at the neck, and I have to keep pushing it inside so as not to be seen. I act normally. I calmly walk to the kids and engage them in conversation, all the while, the corner of the envelope keeps wanting to pop out at my T shirt neck and I have to keep pushing it down. We return home, where I find a few moments to remove the cash and put it in the pockets of my jacket and pants. Later I begin to worry about what I've done. Maybe the ATM camera will have captured the theaft? The more I think of this, the more I am convinced that this indeed is the case. So, how not to get caught? I think of shaving off my beard...that'll help me from being recognized. I'll have to go to a different bank from now on too. I know I can't tell Alison about the cash, because she'll insist that I return it, and I'll still be in all kinds of hot water. I examine the money...there are thousands and thousands of dollars, all in $100 bills. I begin to hatch a scheme to launder the money through my business..."yeah, that's the ticket" I think to myself. I'll just record services from clients as cash payments and deposit the cash into my account over time. Nobody will suspect me. My brother appears and I tell him what happened and ask his advice. He too says I'll get caught, and I share my "laundrying scheme" with him, convincing myself of my plan's fool proof nature and deriding his concerns. I awake, groggy.

[Chameleon]

Howdi Doodi I have been thinking about your "becoming a thief" dream theme lately. What is it that you are stealing? Not in your dreams, but in waking life? Are you stealing time - off work - and do you feel guilty about this or are you under pressure that you will have a heck of a lot to deal with when you return? Or maybe it's to do with being stealthy, clever and sneaky. As thieves tend to operate at night, the dreams might represent your dreaming life. Maybe because you are learning to be more aware and "steal lucidity" in your dreams, this is reflected? After all, one needs stealth, cleverness and sneakiness to get lucid!! Just some thoughts… Cham

[Wavygravy]

August 8 3:36 AM Walking in Paris non-lucid I am in Paris walking around at night with Mark, Greg and Johnny from the band. We are all carrying large suitcases. We decend into the Metro to catch a train. We notice as we are walking in the Metro, that there are large pits, covered with mats disguised to look like the floor, which if you stepped upon them, would cause you to fall into them. I discover this quite by accident when I take a step with my left foot, and I nearly plunge into a pit. I think to myself, "holy shit...what is this?" We continue to walk around, very carefully. I feel somewhat lost, and nobody seems to know where we're going or what we're doing down there, but it's clear that we're not there to catch a train or anything. Suddenly I remember that we are there to play a gig...our high shcool class reunion has been set up in Paris, to make it easier for our exchange student, Dominique to attend. We come upon a number of our classmates, who too are wandering around, looking for the place where the event is to be held. I run into Laura Hoiland; we talk together, and she says to me, "did you just get your haircut? It's sooo short, and I'm really pissed off about it...I like it when it's long." I really don't know what to say to her, other than I didn't ask to have it cut that short, but that's the way it turned out. Don't have much to say other than I'm glad to be getting some dream recall, which has been gone for the most part since my Mom's recent death. I continue with lots of RC's and prime myself for lucidity before sleeping. Hope this is the beginning to getting back on track.

[Wavygravy]

August 12 The Blue Mounds DILD! I am at the Blue Mounds in SW Minnesota near my home town. Ani and Alison are with me as we explore the bluffs from the top of the quarry. Ani, being the adventurer that she is begins peering over the edge of the cliff, and I become frightened, telling her to step back and that I'm fearful that she will fall over the edge. She laughs, but then begins to slip. I rush to her, pulling her back from a sure death, and instead, fall over the cliff myself. The feeling comes over me, similar to "the falling feeling" I had as a child, and I become lucid. I begin to swoop and float, eventually flying back to the top where Alison and Ani are incredulous. "It's OK" I tell them, this is a dream. They easily accept this and we begin walking back toward the interpretive center, which is closed when we arrive. I begin to show off by walking through the front door of the center. It's a strange experience, like slipping through a black wall of jello. I reallize I've had my dream eyes closed, and when I open them I am in my place back in Ohio. My cat, Dugan is looking at me, like, "oh, you're back." It suddenly occurs to me that Dugan may be my dream guide, so I ask him, "are you my dream guide, Dugan?" He gives me one of his famous "slow blinks" as we are locked into eye contact. I wake up. A wonderful experience, as I have a very clear experience, brought on from old old memories and feelings from my childhood lucid dream days. I'm happy and excited for tonight.

[Wavygravy]

OK. I get it. Do a dream journal and I increase the likelihood of having a LD. I used to have frequent LD's as a kid, and after working on RC's and self hypnosis for about a month, I had my first LD in adulthood (that I remember, that is) on Sunday, July 6, 2008. It was wonderful, and I want more. Following is my dream: I remember little or nothing about what was going on before I was having a conversation with a DC, about my tattoos. I showed him the one on my left calf, and to my shock, it was not there! In it's place was a blurry flesh-toned smudge. I remember thinking, HUH? What the f_ck!? So I looked at the tattoo on my right calf, and it too was gone...just a blurry thingie instead. At this point I suddenly became lucid. I did a quick RC by "willing" myself off the ground about a foot, which I accomplished easily. Yes! Somehow I kept calm enough to drop to the ground and examine the floor, which had become soil and grass. This seemed to deepen my lucidity and I was blown away by the utter clarity and vividness of my dream reality. I then said aloud, "OK, let's get to it" and I willed myself to fly, which I did. I was once again inside, so I flew gracefully and easily near the ceiling. No arm flapping, just floating where ever I wished to go. I noticed a small child who was watching me fly who I knew instinctively wanted to fly, so I landed, gave a quick lesson, after which we flew around together for a short time. I then wanted to experience flight outside, so I went out and flew around just above tree top level for some time. It then occurred to me that this was my chance to have a sexual encounter, so I landed near a cafe. I entered the cafe, and was greeted by a red haired woman, who said she would be my waitress. I looked her in the eye and said I was here to have sex with her, and she quickly undressed, laughing, saying what a great idea that was. The encounter was quite vivid and lots of fun. I did not reach orgasm, as I began to loose focus and the lucidity seemed to waiver. I decided to fly again to see if this brought things back to clarity, which it did. I returned to the cafe and again began having sex with my red headed friend. Once again the dream began to fade, and I knew I was going to awaken shortly. I remember thinking, "you've done it once, so you can do it again. Relax and wake up...it's ok." I did, with a wonderful feeling of accomplishment and wonder as to the power of the experience. It is now Wednesday, and that sense of wonder is still with me. I have been unsuccessful in my attempts since then to induce a LD, but am confident that I shall, once again soon, become lucid in my dreams.

[Wavygravy]

August 15 Party Time in Chicago non-lucid I'm on a commune, a farm, with lots of hippie type people around. On the farm, there is a very large house, much like one I lived in while going to university. I recognize one person, Paul Forester, but the other DC's I can't name, but somehow, am familiar with them. Most of the participants are men, although there are a few women about. It's a huge gathering. I enter the house, which is also pretty packed, with maybe 30 people. It's a casual atmosphere, with most people smoking pot, although there is some alcohol there as well. It's a fun, relaxed vibe. I explore the house, arriving eventually on an upper floor, which leads to the roof of the house. On the roof, there are perhaps six, very old and worn, pool tables. I quickly look them over and am dissapointed that there is not a snooker table among them. The tables have been covered by large tarps, which are being removed by a group of children, aged about 8-10. It appears that the people on the roof are getting ready to shoot some pool. The pool balls are in beat-up old metalic boxes, some boxes having incomplete sets of pool balls. There are only 3 cues, one of which has been broken, and is only 2 feet long. An old cue tip has been glued onto the end. It looks silly, and certainly wouldn't work well. The kids are actively getting the tables ready for the adults to play pool, even though, many tables have incomplete sets of balls on them. At this point, I look out at the scene below, and discover that we are not on a farm at all, but in Chicago. The assembled crowd are now talking about what they've been doing in the city, where they plan to go later, etc. At one point, a DC begins to pass around microphones to everyone, each one being wireless, and colored...every color of the rainbow. I am given a red one, and quickly turn it on, and say, "testes, one...two....testes, one....two." I walk over to a small group, whom I assume will smile at me, for making my little joke, and am met by total indifference. "Oh well," I think. I take my mic, and walk over to a wall on the roof, and climb up on it, looking at the cars driving by, the people hanging out below etc. and begin talking into the mic, saying random stuff like, "helllloooo Chicago!" People below, wave to me, and some of the cars driving by, honk their horns at me in response. A DC that I seem to know, comes up to me and gives me some of his "special hash" which has been rolled up with tobacco into huge spliffs. He tells me that people are smoking out of a large bong, and invites me along to watch, or maybe use the bong. We find it, and it's a huge funnel-like thing, which looks strangely like one of those super long horns they use in the Swiss Alps...the ones that are like five feet long. The DC has his head in the large end of this "bong" which is filled with dope smoke. He manages to easily inhale almost all of the smoke, leaving a little behind, which I take in greedily. I then try to light one of the spliffs he has given me, and notice it is coated in powdered sugar, and is in fact, a bickie of some sort, covered with sugar. "I can't smoke this" I think as I awaken. "Take me back....take me way way back" as Van the Man said...a real feeling from the late 60's in this one. To be young again.....