Thread: history of lucid dreaming

Originally Posted by LLR

ok my aunt told me that for a lnog time she could fly in her dreams and my mama and my great aunt bouth had DJs so could that mean i have lucid in my blood

The fact that they told you probably has something to do with it, I think.

I don't think there has been any link discovered between genes and lucid dreaming. It seems more likely that living in an environment where you talk about dreams, or lucids, or OBEs, or whatever can help induce them. Also culturally, the foods you eat (say you eat foods that are high in vitamins that are known to help Lding), the sleeping schedule you are on (may be related to work, school, religion), and personal discipline (which can be instilled by family) may play a role. Think of all of the people who come to this site from a strong Christian background, whose families see LDing as evil, or corrupt, or just wrong, and are against it, dreaming, sharing dreams, blah blah blah. Not to be insensitive, just so I don't write a lot since I tend to... this is not a good atmosphere to foster experimenting with dreaming and lucidity. Most of those people describe their SP experiences as demonic, or possessed, and they may not listen when you explain the physiology of it. So I think culture plays a huge role, regardless of genetics.

I know since I joined DV I have read a lot about the speculation on inheriting the ability to LD, but I think it's something that the majority of humans are capable of. Whether or not you are a natural seems kind of random, or at least that's my conclusion by what I've read. But who knows, maybe it is a gene? Maybe one day we will know for sure! *crosses fingers*
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That is cool. Lucid dreaming and vivid dreaming in general are common in my family and I turned out to be a natural. As Shift pointed out maybe an aptitude to LD has to do with a "culture" (like a family) where discussion of dreams, dream control, etc are all commonly discussed and taken as normal. Or maybe it is genes. I'd love to know!

However, I can really see how someone growing up with discussions of vivid dream recall, dream control, etc would have an easiery time LDing than someone who grew up with little to no discussion of dreams or even a negative view of dreams (like some who are told horror stories about demons attacking people in their sleep, for example). The preconscieved notions in our heads about dreaming can have a HUGE impact on our dreams, since the subconscious is designed to key in on any strong beliefs, especially those attatched to emotions. The subconscious likes to reaffirm our beliefs and will go out of its way to do this. Wether we believe that LDing is normal, natural and easy or rare, unususual, and hard. The subconscious has little interest in determining wether these beliefs are based on valid thinking or simple predijudce.