Thread: [INTRO/DC-1] Tutorials

Introduction to Lucid Dreaming/Dream Control

Day One

Hey guys!

Welcome to Intro to Lucid Dreaming/Dream Control Small introduction; I’m Serenity, and I’ve been a lucid dreamer for about 14 years now. I started off basically with just DILDs. I guess I’m a natural, because I can have LD’s without any effort, but they are very few and far between when I don’t try. Maybe one or two a month.

When I found Dreamviews, I became pretty much obsessed! I read everything I possibly could on them, talked about dreaming all the time and now I love helping other people be successful in having them too.


Ed Kelog, and the lucidity scale

So, to start off, I’d like to introduce a scale of lucidity. This scale was developed by a man named Ed Kelog, and it essentially rates the level of awareness you might experience within a lucid dream. The reason I like to introduce such a scale is because lucid dreams are not a cookie cutter thing. Lucidity is qualified by awareness. A lucid dream is merely knowing that you are dreaming. Whether you can consciously break from the plot, or are stuck just knowing you are watching a dream are two entirely different things

The Scale
1/5 I realize that I dream, but continue to follow the dream "script"; no conscious choice.

In this level, it’s almost entirely indistinguishable (for me) to tell this dream from a normal dream. I can usually determine lucidity because I remember making comments to myself about what I’m viewing when I wake up and recall the dream.

Example of a 1/5 lucid dream…
I was in the band with the Beatles The stage had an odd set-up, and if we went too far past the marked stage tape “barriers,” we’d be too close to the audience. I was acting kind of goofy and testing each of the guys on where they should stand, and they were all doing it wrong. But I was being really goofy about it, and after I corrected George Harrison, I thought to myself, “Even if this is just a dream, I’m acting really stupid, I should stop.”

2/5 I still follow the dream script (knowing that I dream), but I can make minor choices in keeping with dream reality. (This is where I know I'm dreaming, but I still have a plot to follow, and that's keeping me from really thinking things through and making my own conscious decisions as to what I want to do. I may transform into a dragon in order to kill puny fools blocking my path though, for example.)

This level is a lot easier to distinguish lucidity because I was able to control the dream, however, I wasn’t lucid enough to break from the plot and work on some personal goals. The thought just never even occurs to me.

Example of a 2/5 lucid dream…
I’m flying over the ocean and through the clouds. I decide that I haven’t spawned my wings out of my back for a really long time now (mainly because I don’t need them to fly, anymore). I spawn them, and continue flying.

3/5 I have the choice of following the dream script or not, can make major choices based on awareness of my potentialities in the dream state e.g. might choose to try a dream experiment instead of continuing the dream scenario, etc.

In these, I can make a decision whether to stop the plot and play around in the dream, or just go along with it, but at least it’s a choice, at this level. Really, the only thing (for me) that separates a 3/5 and a 4/5 is the fact that I don’t think about personal goals. I mostly just work within what the dream has given me.

Example of a 3/5 lucid dream…
Before I got lucid, I started floating around a kitchen singing a song. I realize the absurdity of what I’m doing and snap into awareness. I see that in this room, there’s a glass patio door and wonder if I can go through the glass. So I do

4/5 I'm fully aware that I dream and of the location and state of my physical body; also remember most knowledge from waking life, at least as it relates to goals that I had set for my lucid dreams.

In these, it’s all freedom! I find that when I get this kind of awareness, it’s best to give the dream some extra time to stabilize, because it has the strongest potential to crash. It’s also the hardest phase to control, for some reason.

Example of a 4/5 lucid dream…
In the non-lucid part, I’m staring at a gravel road. I suddenly think, “What are the chances of this being a dream right now?” I’m surprised by the answer A DC asks me a question and I tell her that I need to leave and find someone (it’s a goal of mine to conjure my brother… long story). I go back inside the cabins, but I don’t find him. The dream “crashes” into a false awakening, but as luck would have it; I decided to dream chain, so I was back into a new dream I left the location the dream gave me by flight and set off to find my brother.

5/5 I'm aware of myself as an integrated whole, at least on level with how I would be during a waking focus. Thinking, feeling, creating aspects of self are working as a unified whole. Extraordinary (even for dream reality) abilities and experiences often manifest.

I think I may have only had one of these. I found that control was immensely powerful, remembered goals easily and got so many things accomplished.

Example of a 5/5 lucid dream…
I realized I was dreaming because I saw two versions of my deceased dog trying to play fetch with me. I decided, having no other goals at this point, to fly to the moon to see if I could find Nomad, Raven or Mosh. I flew to the moon easily! I ended up at the amusement park. I met Nomad and Raven there (not shared, unfortunately), and it was under siege. Raven flung me in the air and teleported me to where Mosh was. He and I chatted for the remainder of the dream, and I saw entities from his dreams that I was unfamiliar with, but they appear in his dreams all the time. I could also feel myself waking up by way of feeling like I would fall asleep in the dream. Mosh urged me not to pass out, but I did


Dream Content

It is useful in knowing how dreams are created when trying to learn how to recognize that you’re in one!

There are many other spiritual beliefs in where dreams come from, however, for the sake of this course; I’ll stick to the basics!

Day Residue
What happened today, or what has been happening recently. Usually these are dreams about school, work, or general day-to-day activities. The dream may disguise these events to fit with a schema. Some people find it beneficial to keep an awake journal to sort thoughts or leave the troubles behind for the night. The idea of doing many reality checks throughout the day plays on the idea of dream residue. If you do them a lot, it will carry over into your dreams. As in, you will randomly do a reality check in your dream and discover you’re dreaming!
Watch this video on Day Residue here: http://www.dreamviews.com/vbtube_show.php?tubeid=103

Schemas
Universe laws
The content of our dreams is largely created by the relationships that our brains create between objects, scenes, and other elements. We call these relationships schemas. Some of these schemas may seem strange to the conscious mind, but to the dreaming mind, they make perfect sense. Our dreaming brain constantly changes things around us based on schemas, this is how dreams can seem to have completely random circumstances, but still seem to have a continuous flow.
Supplemental reading: http://www.dreamviews.com/f14/infini...reaming-46571/

Faulty Logic
The part of the brain that houses your logic and reasoning “shut off” when we’re asleep. It’s called the prefrontal cortex. This is why pink elephants and flying trees can be accepted or reasoned as something perfectly acceptable when we dream. Because we may dismiss weird things in dreams, it’s very important that when doing reality checks (while awake) that you don’t always just check when you think something is weird. You should do them when you see weird things, yes… but you should also do them when you think about them!
This is why its important to do reality checks to normal things while we’re awake
Watch this video on Faulty Logic here: http://www.dreamviews.com/vbtube_show.php?tubeid=104

False Memories
Sometimes, dreams feel the need to set a plot, so they barrage us with back ground info.
Or, when you question something (like who is this person, or where did this table come from?), dreams are only so eager to supply you with that information, so you can move along with the plot.
Watch this video on False Memories here: http://www.dreamviews.com/vbtube_show.php?tubeid=105

Id
The id, the ego, and the superego. The ego creates conscious awareness, it analyses what is going on and mediates between the superego and the id. The superego creates mental boundaries, keeping you from doing things that are socially unacceptable and taboo. The id is purely instinctual and runs off of emotion and primal needs. The ego and the superego tend to dominate your waking life, but they are logical, and are focused around the logical centre of the brain, which is shut off. Ergo, the id dominates your dreams.

Emotions
Because the id is the overpowering psychic factor in dreams, emotions tend to be unnaturally powerful in your dreams. This is especially true for emotions like anger and lust, which even in waking life can take temporary control of you. We've all heard the term temporarily insane, this is much more common in dreams. Most people can recall doing terrible things in dreams when they get angry.

Lust
Because lust and the primal urge to mate is strong in dreams, sexual temptations may arise very frequently. Many lucid dreams are transformed into lucid sex dreams because of the overwhelming desire to have sex. This is also due to the unrestrained id.

Fear
One of the most powerful emotions is fear and like the other emotions, it is amplified in dreams. That's why nightmares can be so frightening. Not only is the fear amplified in nightmares, but many schemas are all linked by fear so things that frighten you will constantly show up.

Fear doesn't have to be a nightmare; it can also come from real life anxiety. Some believe that dreams are used for rehearsal of events that we are nervous about such as a presentation in front of lots of people or a job interview.

Attention
Your dream is composed of things entirely created by your brain, therefore without paying attention to them, they cannot exist. Ignoring something entirely will make it disappear; there is no reason for the brain to go through the process of keeping something alive, if it has no link to it. This is a common mistake in sex dreams. Focusing on what you are doing in the act of having sex, causes everything else in the dream to fade away, causing your dream to destabilize.

Likewise, the more attention you give to something, the more your brain will do with it. Focusing on something gives it greater detail. Most elements in your dreams are just concepts of the full element, that's because your brain doesn't need to see every detail of it; it just needs to know that it's there. Because of faulty logic, it accepts it as complete, even if it's not.

This is why closely examining your surroundings is a good way to stabilize your dream, your world gets more detailed and therefore, more stable.
Supplemental reading: http://www.dreamviews.com/f14/nature...control-57283/


Live Chat

The live chat session will take place on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 @ 1am. Please use a time zone converter (like this one! The World Clock – Time Zone Converter) to determine what time that is for you! Meanwhile, please start recording your dreams in your workbook threads. If you can’t recall anything, please write how you attempted to recall your dreams for that day.

/join #dvaintro tabletop


Assignment

Go through your dream journal and analyze where the content of your dreams comes from. Is it mostly day residue? Do you notice a lot of false memories or faulty logic in them?