Dream initiated dream recall?

So I recently had a dream wherein my friend and I were discussing a celebrity. When we were talking about him I remembered seeing him in church and told my friend excitedly that I had met him once when I went to church. :chuckle:

When I woke up I realized that this was not a memory from waking life, but it was not a false memory either. It came from another dream I had had a long time ago and completely forgot about. Probably a dream from several months ago that I never remembered enough of it to even write down. The dream caused me to remember a previous dream because it went well with the plot of the dream. I think this has happened to me several times before.

Has anyone else had this experience? Is it common? It is really exciting to me, like you can unlock hidden parts of your mind while dreaming. Has anyone been able to do this successfully on purpose while lucid?

This is a phenomenon known as state-dependent memory. Memory recall tends to be more efficient when it takes place in the same state of consciousness as when the memory was formed.

I figure there are more variables to one's state of consciousness other than whether they are dreaming or not, but I can see how being in the dream state would help remember similar dreams.

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Originally Posted by dolphin

This is a phenomenon known as state-dependent memory. Memory recall tends to be more efficient when it takes place in the same state of consciousness as when the memory was formed.

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This rings a bell with the notes I just wrote on my dream journal; would you take a look and see what you think?

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To the OP: I have had something like this before, but I don't remember any specifics at the moment. :(

This happens in my dreams quite often. It happens more often in locations. I'll be in a location in a dream and remember being there previously. But upon waking I can't ever remember a dream or real situation that is similar. Personally, I agree with you. It is probably just us recalling bits and pieces of forgotten dreams. It would be interesting to try recall forgotten dreams while lucid, just to see what the brain will dig up.

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Originally Posted by dolphin

This is a phenomenon known as state-dependent memory. Memory recall tends to be more efficient when it takes place in the same state of consciousness as when the memory was formed.

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Thanks! That is really interesting. :)

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Originally Posted by DarkestDarkness

To the OP: I have had something like this before, but I don't remember any specifics at the moment. :(

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It's all right, I'm glad to hear that you have experienced it as well!

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Originally Posted by Methos

This happens in my dreams quite often. It happens more often in locations. I'll be in a location in a dream and remember being there previously. But upon waking I can't ever remember a dream or real situation that is similar. Personally, I agree with you. It is probably just us recalling bits and pieces of forgotten dreams. It would be interesting to try recall forgotten dreams while lucid, just to see what the brain will dig up.

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Yeah, I don't know how to describe it, but for some reason I think I can sometimes tell the difference between remembering a forgotten dream and receiving a false memory. :D

I think this might have happened to me the other night. I encountered a dream character that looked like Doctor 10 from Doctor Who. Suddenly my mind flooded with memories of this same character, only in different places and in different forms. So many memories came so quickly that I went into a semi stupor trying to sort the memories out. There were just too many. I wish I could recall them now so I could sort through them and try figure out which ones come from dreams I remember and which may be from dreams I'd forgotten.

Hi Jewel,

The best way to start looking at a dream image is by remembering that it’s most often an “as if” image. That is, it’s usually, but not always, a metaphor/symbol of a part of yourself. So a person, landscape or building etc. usually represents an aspect of your personality in some way.

The dream-ego as seen in a dream can symbolize the dreamer’s current outlook or even what it might evolve into shortly. It often usually includes how a person mostly orientates herself in an everyday way. For example, you yourself might tend to rely on your feelings as a basic guide in making decisions and if so, this would tend to be part of the meaning of the dream-ego.

A “friend” in a dream of the same sex can often picture a way in which the dreamer also tends to orientate herself on a secondary level. For instance, you yourself might have feelings/valuations about “objects”, that is, the friend would symbolize your skill in perceiving the world through the five senses. The nature of these two images together (the dream-ego and the friend) can also hint about whether the dreamer is mostly an extroverted person or more introverted.

Other figures in a dream can symbolize how the dreamer looks to others (often according to their actions and how they’re dressed; this figure is often called the “persona”), how certain faults and failings may appear on the scene in one’s outer life (often called the “shadow”), and how an inner “contra-sexual” figure is currently operating in the dreamer’s inner life (in a girl this figure is a male while in a guy, it’s a female).

Another figure which can be extra important is one that has a certain meaningful feel to it. This can be enhanced by the presence of forms or structures in the dream related to circles and squares of some kind which are obvious or not so obvious. This figure is a sort of center of the personality and it can even be helpful to imagine that this center is the “dream-maker” which organizes dreams in an incredibly complex way and in anything but a random manner. The reason it does this is apparently to help the person (if they have a knack for learning how to understand their own dreams reasonably accurately, or instead, if they can find a reliable person to look at their dreams) to move through the everyday obstacles and challenges of life in order to reach a reasonable degree of completeness as a person over a lifetime.

In your dream, you’re discussing a male celebrity with a friend. Since dreams try to constantly balance out the views and attitudes of the ego in order that the person can move forward more successfully in developing her or his personality to the fullest, it’s likely that whatever this male celebrity and your excited reaction to him symbolizes should be understood more fully. This is especially true because the dream made you sit up and take notice by having you remember on waking that the “memory of seeing him before” was actually from a previous dream that you took little notice of (e.g. you didn’t even write it down). So the dream could be saying something like “You really do have to remember this guy and keep an eye on him”; that is, on how this inner figure could be affecting your decision-making processes and overall direction in life without you really being very aware of it.

Something likely happened recently that was similar in tone to what occurred in the past to cause the earlier dream of the celebrity to appear. You can possibly find out something of what he symbolizes by seeing what spontaneous memories, thoughts and feelings come to mind when you focus on the idea of this male celebrity in your dream. Writing down what appears and then sifting through it carefully can be helpful in coming to a clearer understanding of his meaning over time.

It’s also known through careful observation of thousands of dreams by trained professionals that there is also a kind of natural rhythmic movement in the unconscious where certain figures and motifs appear, disappear and reappear over time.

In any case, without knowing anything much about you, this way of looking at your dream might not fit your personal circumstances very well, but I hope that these ideas can be helpful in some way.

If you’d like to explore the overall approach used here in looking at your dream, a very good starter book is “Man and his Symbols” edited by Carl Jung.

Please feel free to comment on, or to ask any questions about, this particular way of looking at your dream.

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Originally Posted by Athanor

Hi Jewel,

The best way to start looking at a dream image is by remembering that it’s most often an “as if” image. That is, it’s usually, but not always, a metaphor/symbol of a part of yourself. So a person, landscape or building etc. usually represents an aspect of your personality in some way.

A “friend” in a dream of the same sex can often picture a way in which the dreamer also tends to orientate herself on a secondary level. For instance, you yourself might have feelings/valuations about “objects”, that is, the friend would symbolize your skill in perceiving the world through the five senses. The nature of these two images together (the dream-ego and the friend) can also hint about whether the dreamer is mostly an extroverted person or more introverted.

Other figures in a dream can symbolize how the dreamer looks to others (often according to their actions and how they’re dressed; this figure is often called the “persona”), how certain faults and failings may appear on the scene in one’s outer life (often called the “shadow”), and how an inner “contra-sexual” figure is currently operating in the dreamer’s inner life (in a girl this figure is a male while in a guy, it’s a female).

Another figure which can be extra important is one that has a certain meaningful feel to it. This can be enhanced by the presence of forms or structures in the dream related to circles and squares of some kind which are obvious or not so obvious. This figure is a sort of center of the personality and it can even be helpful to imagine that this center is the “dream-maker” which organizes dreams in an incredibly complex way and in anything but a random manner. The reason it does this is apparently to help the person (if they have a knack for learning how to understand their own dreams reasonably accurately, or instead, if they can find a reliable person to look at their dreams) to move through the everyday obstacles and challenges of life in order to reach a reasonable degree of completeness as a person over a lifetime.

In your dream, you’re discussing a male celebrity with a friend. Since dreams try to constantly balance out the views and attitudes of the ego in order that the person can move forward more successfully in developing her or his personality to the fullest, it’s likely that whatever this male celebrity and your excited reaction to him symbolizes should be understood more fully. This is especially true because the dream made you sit up and take notice by having you remember on waking that the “memory of seeing him before” was actually from a previous dream that you took little notice of (e.g. you didn’t even write it down). So the dream could be saying something like “You really do have to remember this guy and keep an eye on him”; that is, on how this inner figure could be affecting your decision-making processes and overall direction in life without you really being very aware of it.

Something likely happened recently that was similar in tone to what occurred in the past to cause the earlier dream of the celebrity to appear. You can possibly find out something of what he symbolizes by seeing what spontaneous memories, thoughts and feelings come to mind when you focus on the idea of this male celebrity in your dream. Writing down what appears and then sifting through it carefully can be helpful in coming to a clearer understanding of his meaning over time.

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Wow, that's a lot of information! Sorry about the super late reply by the way.

Although I usually don't try to find meaning in my simpler dreams, and I usually look at dream interpretation with only passing interest, the explanation you've given here is intriguing. I do believe that because dreams are created by my subconscious, they can tell me a lot about myself. I will have to think more about this. By "figures" I assume you mean people in the dream (like dream characters)? I'm not too well versed in psychology in general, if that helps. I believe that because my dreams are mostly very happy (generally happier than my waking life, although I think my life is good) they usually represent my inner desires, both conscious and subconscious.

As to my original question, are you suggesting that my recollection of a previous dream might signify that this dream is essentially "trying to tell me something important"? I suppose that would give me a good reason as to why I remembered it ... anyways thank you for your reply!

You’re right that dreams can tell you a lot about yourself, so if you work at learning how to properly look at your dreams and have a knack for it, doing so would be one of the most valuable tools you could develop as you move forward.

“Figures” are the same as “dream characters”, and in the case of the celebrity in your dream, he does seem to fit your idea that he represents your inner desires in some way. In this case, you might have a mostly unconscious feeling, for example, that you want to be “seen”, “be famous”, and “be loved” like celebrities say they are by their fans.

The dream takes place in a church, probably symbolizing some aspect of your gradual maturing and spiritual progress over time. So the idea could be that any such wish to be celebrated and eminent etc. in the eyes of others should be watched closely in order that it doesn’t tend to distort over time your self-development towards a certain kind of unique wholeness of your own personality. If so, then the dream, with its link to the earlier one, is indeed “trying to tell you something important".

Anyway, in addition to “Man and his Symbols” by Carl Jung, you might also like “Inner Work” by Robert Johnson in order to get a reliable idea at how dreams should be looked at.

In any case, if any other questions come to mind, please feel free to ask them.