This was posted in the newbie zone because newer members might be confused as to what RCs and dream signs actually do, and might be misinformed.

I've been here for a while now, and I've seen the following misconception alot in the forums. I guess it's probably just from the way the tutorials were written. So, I wanted to post this to let people know how lucidity really comes about, instead of posting five hundred more messages in seperate boards to seperate people.

Here goes.

Dream signs and reality checks DO NOT cause lucidity, only awareness/consciousness does. Dream signs and reality checks are NOT required to become lucid. Some people do claim to have become lucid from them, but that's only because they were aware enough to begin with; the awareness may have finally gone over the top when they did the reality check or saw the dream sign afterwards.

Reality checks and dream signs don't even have to be used, but they should. This is because they're important in the sense of confirming the fact that you're dreaming. In the peak of my lucid experiences, I only made five or six a day, and didn't overdo it. Lucidity was caused by awareness; looking for dream signs and doing a reality check (or two) followed afterwards.