Questions about lucid nightmares!

Hi every novice as well as advanced members!

I have pondered upon a question after listening to Y'Shaarj's sounds from the MMORPG game World of Warcraft which is a demon-like voice that reminded me of nightmares. I've never actually experienced a lucid nightmare (probably because I haven't had that many lucid dreams), but it made me wonder about the experiences some of you have.

How is a lucid nightmare? Are you aware that the things you are seeing is a mere reflection of your deepest subconsious worries, or do you completely lose control of your rational thinking? Have some of you overcome your nightmares, and what happened when you did?

Is it possible to summon a lucid nightmare, in order to face and conquer some of your deepest unconscious fears? I've always believed that such a battle is frightening to face, but also pretty hard to control. I've always had this extreme fear of spiders, and I have actually no idea where from. I used to be able to pick up spiders when I was a child. Is it possible for me, through a lucid nightmare, to overcome this fear?

Answers will be greatly appreciated!

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I have pondered upon a question after listening to Y'Shaarj's sounds from the MMORPG game World of Warcraft which is a demon-like voice that reminded me of nightmares. I've never actually experienced a lucid nightmare (probably because I haven't had that many lucid dreams), but it made me wonder about the experiences some of you have.

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Really? Not Yogg-Saron? He's the old god that best aludes to dreaming (isn't he?), and he even mentions lucid dreaming in the end of P1 of the encounter:

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Transforming (Phase Two):
Sara: I am the lucid dream.
Sara: The monster in your nightmares.
Sara and Yogg-Saron: The fiend of a thousand faces.
Sara and Yogg-Saron: Cower before my true form.
Yogg-Saron: BOW DOWN BEFORE THE GOD OF DEATH!

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How is a lucid nightmare? Are you aware that the things you are seeing is a mere reflection of your deepest subconsious worries, or do you completely lose control of your rational thinking? Have some of you overcome your nightmares, and what happened when you did?

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I never experience any major "lucid nightmare" since any disturbance within the dream could be answered, or in the worst case, avoided. But I did faced a small episode after becoming lucid in which after a weird interaction with 2 DC's inside my kitchen, I proceeded to pass the bathroom and noticed my reflection was completely dark and had no eyes. When I moved, the reflection did not, and it appeared like he was screaming (although I could hear no sound). My dream control was working, but due what you'd call a projection of one my biggest fears, I got so scared I tried to run away asap, eventually fighting a progressively darker dream in which and waking up after finally managing to leave home.

That and creepy DCs: I find creepy DC as a serious alert to run away ahahah (I probably should stop doing that xD)

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Is it possible to summon a lucid nightmare, in order to face and conquer some of your deepest unconscious fears?

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If you're asking if you can cure a phobia with a lucid dream: nope. Phobias can't be cured within a single encounter, much less in a lucid dream: the fact that you know you're not facing a real spider/you can wake yourself up/run away will reduce the amount of stress and the strength of the response. But you could indeed weaken the unconditioned response towards spiders if you apply principles of exposure therapy in a lucid dream yes: it's currently a topic being explored (I think) in clinical psychology, just that lucid dreaming is currently pushed aside and virtual reality exposure therapy prioritized.

I actually also listened to Yogg-Saron in his transformation "I am the lucid dream. The monster in your nightmares" which is just a plain epic audio as well! But I've come to the conclusion that Y'Shaarj has a pretty freaking scary voice.

Anyway, so you actually lost control of your 'fight-or-flight' response in the dream. I've always believed that lucid dreaming = control of your dreams, but you actually got frightened? Damn. I think it is probably a great skill to be able to fight the evil within us :D

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Originally Posted by SnorlaxDreamer

Anyway, so you actually lost control of your 'fight-or-flight' response in the dream. I've always believed that lucid dreaming = control of your dreams, but you actually got frightened? Damn. I think it is probably a great skill to be able to fight the evil within us :D

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You can't control subconscious processes and behaviour deeply rooted in your evolutionary origins just like that :P Even in a lucid dream, you will be subject to basic emotional responses, and fear is one of them. What is important is what comes next: answering that fear with the knowledge that it is unfounded: you're experiencing a dream. Sometimes you can either not be lucid enough, or in my case, not interested on confronting that particular event (yet).

Remember: dream control doesn't necessarily eliminate emotional responses (although I guess you do get less sensitive after some time facing the same type of experiences).

Edit: btw, edited my previous post to answer your last question.

The best way to conquer fears is to expose yourself to those fears, if you hate spiders have them crawl all over your arms. Should be quiet easy in an LD, I hate spiders too but because I once accidently had a large one (The size of your palm) 1 inch of my face I lost that fear. After all, they're wonderfull creatures that eat insects and prevent you from being mosquito bait.

Hi,

I've once ago had a short lucid dream nightmare
During lucid dream i've accidently spawned slenderman
Then i've spooked out and woke myself up :shock:

A second lucid dreaming nightmare which i had was way more spooky
In previous one slenderman just stared at me on other side of street and i've simply decided to wake up before some scary shit begins :cheeky:
At this dream i was at my school. I had a plan to get myself onto LOST Series Island
So i've started searching for nearest doors and found one
I've told myself in mind that behind those doors there is Dharma Bunker
Then i have opened them. Me and some random students entered throught
After like a seven or maybe twelve seconds of exploring a bunker a smoke monster spawned there and i've got quite scared
He was attacking other students so i've decided to run while he's at them
But unfortunely as soon as i started to run he started to chase me down
I've saw a glass doors and i went throught them, then closed em'
Smoke Monster was on other side of them
I was thinking that he won't get me there lol.
But guess what? He opened them
And at that moment i've got spooked even more than i already was. I woke up quite fast (I think i was breathing heavily after this awakening aswell :shock:)

That was kinda scary but yet stunning experience :cheeky:

I think the easiest way to overcome lucid nightmare is to belive fully that nightmare of ours is friendly and won't harm us and just smile
Example: If i were to see Slenderman i'd just tell myself that he's very friendly and i would hug him.

It might be quite troublesome aswell to apply such logic
Since i try to look tough but i can panic easily i guess

When i'il get better at WILDing i'd love to experiment with that logic :D

All of my lucid nightmares seemed to be connected to a deep seeded issue in my life, alcoholism, fear of infidelity, parts of my ego that I didn't recognize but were seemingly trying to protect themselves. My ego representations would turn nasty, giving off a bad vibe, sometimes going full on demonic. After a few years of facing them head on and using a technique I felt safe with (I prayed out loud or sang a hymn during these lucid attacks) these ego monsters began to dissolve. I read a chapter in Robbert Wagoneers, Lucid Dreaming Gateway to the Innerself in which he describes having an experience where the awareness behind the dream spoke to him and told him that "behind all darkness is light and the darkness is only there because the light illuminates it." So in that sense their is no real evil, that there is really only light. "That everything is sacred, even the space between his fingers is sacred. " After reading that chapter and digesting the words I realized that the evil I saw in my LD's were reflections of some part of me broken and needing repair, that my ego was defending damaged pieces of it's self, but that there was nothing but light behind these interpretations. Once I was no longer afraid of the false fronts my ego was throwing up, they dissolved. I have been on a hiatus for a couple of years and recently gotten back through the door to lucidity, so I have new ego monsters I encounter, but I think this time the journey to the light will be much shorter. I'd recommend that book to anyone, he is a very intellect man, great writer and an accomplished Oneironaut.

hehehe... experiments, oh my.

I remember doing that after creating a "fear/nightmare" DC.
Basically, created a DC out of every single fear I had and then gave birth to it. Just being within a few meters of said DC would make me cry and run of fear while forgetting that I had powers, but remaining lucid. It took a while to properly fight the DC, but when I finally did got over the phobia part of these fears and now I can easily think clearly during such situations.