In the beginning was the word.

I had a very stressful dream the other night, which I won't go into details about, but let's just say that it was very stressful and as it progressed it became all the more stressful, to a point where I realized that this was a dream and that I should wake up.

And that's what happened. I said "wake up" and the next thing I remember I was in my bedroom and was opening my eyes.

Shit, I told myself. This wasn't what I meant. I meant wake up inside the dream, turn lucid.

But I can't blame myself for that. "Wake up" means exactly that. It wasn't my fault that there is no word or phrase like "Lucid up" or something.

So I thought maybe there should; after all, in the beginning was the word and words have power.

To get to the point, I'm suggesting that the community should come up with a word or phrase that means "waking up inside a dream." We have the definition(s) but we don't have the word or phrase. At least, I don't.

So, people, please throw some suggestions and if there is anyone around who's into linguistics, or Latin, or Ancient Greek, or whatever, then he's more than welcome to elaborate on a word.

This is just a suggestion, but I believe that what happened to me might happen or might have already happened to someone else, too. So we should look into it.

Cheers.

I totally get what you meant with "waking up"! The message just got interpreted a bit too straightforwardly I guess. Single words as voice commands to increase awareness and clarity of the dream are really effective; like shouting "Lucidity!" Could that be the word? Lucidity! Nicely captures the moment and the accomplishment of gaining awareness inside a dream. A reality check and stopping to recognize the situation accompanied with phrases like " Okay, I'm now lucid inside a dream" does miracles as well.

Yes, you are right that Lucidity could work just fine. I'm just trying to point out that since Lucid Dreaming gets bigger and bigger and there is an active community here, it would be wise to create words that accurately describe desirable states and successful methods so Lucid Dreaming can be slowly incorporated in everyday life as something normal as breathing, not just something exotic as it currently is.

I might be a new member here, but I feel, since this forum is considered by many the number 1 regarding Lucid Dreaming, that we have the responsibility to enrich the awareness of the rest of the world with people's inherent ability to lucid dream, and I feel strongly that creating a down-to-earth vocabulary and not acronyms of techniques is the first step towards that goal.

Also, I'd like to emphasize that new words that have direct connection to our psyche our the most powerful ones, and in the case of Lucid Dreaming, a state that is surely connected very much to our psyche, it is fundamental to have a verb to describe it.

I know this might not feel of great importance right now and that my choice and syntax of words might make me sound like a public speaker who got lost inside a forum, but trust me when I say that a basic vocabulary could be the foundation for further dream work and dream experiences. With people doing more and more advanced stuff and new people discovering Lucid dreaming more and more rapidly, I believe that the usage of a well-built vocabulary can help us transition more smoothly from phase to phase and converse with much greater ease.

Finally, I'd also like to point out that terms and definitions about Lucid Dreaming are inevitable to happen sooner or later, so I'd suggest, since this is something inevitable as we progress, that the coining of terms should be done by the more experienced members here, after discussion and collaboration.

I personally would love to, for once, witness something that people from all over the world managed to agree upon and make it happen. And what's better than naming our dreams?

And, yes, I may sound like a dreamer, but I'm not the only one!

I think that a new vocabulary could be potentially invigorating and would allow some of us dreamers to try to express a certain kind of experience in words. On the other hand, lucid dreaming is profoundly experiential. It defies words and concepts. So anything we choose to say about lucidity will never be it. If a new vocabulary helps new dreamers, then I think that is good.

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Originally Posted by ThreeCat

On the other hand, lucid dreaming is profoundly experiential. It defies words and concepts. So anything we choose to say about lucidity will never be it.

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Doesn't that ring true for every word?

The map is never the territory

I suggest building a vocabulary to express concepts and experiences not replace them (not that they could replaced with words, anyway).

It would be interesting if you, ThreeCat, and other experienced members listed the most basic concepts and experiences here or in another thread so the community can decide on what words or phrases describe them best.

All in all, lucid dreaming, if I understand it correctly, is about the "left brain" merging with the "right" in some special way. And I believe the creation of a vocabulary could help with this merging.

How about "wake out". Wake up means up out of dream world. Perhaps Wake out implies moving more parallel.

If you know that you need to tell your self to become lucid then aren't you already lucid? If you need more than that then that is what reality checks are for.

Words are going to mean different things depending on usage and who is using them. You should use what ever word YOU think matches your intended meaning the closest. This is the case with all mantras. I find that simply saying "I'm dreaming." or "I realize I am dreaming." is the mantra that works best for me. After all, what does being lucid mean other than to realize you are dreaming?

Don't get caught up in semantics. It won't help you to lucid dream. In fact, if we tried to impose one mantra on everyone it would only confuse and distract people from their intended goal. We already do have a large amount of vocabulary built up about lucid dreaming. Lucid itself didn't mean lucid dreaming until we needed a word to describe it. Lucid originally meant clear and then later more specifically clear mindedness. We also have terms like recall, vividness, stability, DILD, WILD, and more to describe dreams!

I just noticed your could have religious implications behind the whole "in the beginning was the word" thing. I agree, words are very powerful. I just think of that power as more of a subjective thing.