Thread: Gateways

Total newbie, I wanted to discuss something. I never mentioned this to anyone before, but now I think it might be worthwhile.

While going to sleep, I have always had this "thing" happen as I am about to doze off. It's hard to describe. Basically, I fall into a weird mental state and I hear a loud ringing sound. Sometimes, my heartbeat gets thrown off. Therefore, I snap myself out of it (not exactly a pleasant experience). This may happen a couple times before I just fall asleep.

Also, does anyone else have sleepless nights only to get sleepy right before it's time to wake up? At those times, I usually go into a half-sleep state and really strange images flash about. Not even really dreams. I'm mostly awake, but I'm not thinking. It's just uncontrolled things that flash in my head. And I hear things. I sometimes think a phone is ringing or someone is calling my name.

The reason I'm asking this is that I think it is a combination of these two things that gave me my first lucid dream. I was doing both of them and all of a sudden I got sucked into a dream. I just want to know if these are gateways and if anyone else has experienced anything like them. Or is it a brain tumor or something?

i think it is you going into SP, which you use to WILD, and you did infact WILD i think.
check out this tutorial for more info so you know exactly what you are doing.
http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ead.php?t=1886

Thanks for your reply. I have looked up SD and I do think it is related. And yes, I did WILD. I have no doubt about that. It was un-mistakable.

But I was wondering if anyone else experiences these precursors? The loud ringing in my ears before going to sleep has been getting more intense lately. I don't really feel paralyzed when falling asleep. But in the past couple years, I have felt a little different at the brink of sleep. That is, when I am consciously falling asleep, not when I fall asleep out of exhaustion.

I used to sleep 8 hours straight (or more). Nowadays, six hours would be wonderful. I'm 36 years old, if that makes a difference. Many nights, I can't sleep at all. I have gone 2 days without sleep on a couple occasions. Eventually, I get sleepy and crash.

Well, that is much more than you ever wanted to know about me.

Hey, both of these things you are talking about are types of Hypnagogic Hallucinations (also called HH or HI, hypnagogic imagery), little hallucinations that everyone gets as they are falling asleep. Don't be afraid to mention these to people or to discuss them, this is a completely normal phenomenon that everyone experiences but might not remember.

There IS a way to enter a lucid dream, a type of WILD, called the Hypnagogic Imagery Technique, sounds like this is exactly what you used Congratulations

This is not sleep paralysis, though such hallucinations can occur during sleep paralysis.

Originally Posted by Shift

Hey, both of these things you are talking about are types of Hypnagogic Hallucinations (also called HH or HI, hypnagogic imagery), little hallucinations that everyone gets as they are falling asleep. Don't be afraid to mention these to people or to discuss them, this is a completely normal phenomenon that everyone experiences but might not remember.

There IS a way to enter a lucid dream, a type of WILD, called the Hypnagogic Imagery Technique, sounds like this is exactly what you used Congratulations

This is not sleep paralysis, though such hallucinations can occur during sleep paralysis.

oh, well i knew it was HH/HI, but to be honest, i assumed he was in SP because it seemed like he WILDed, and i thought you had to go into SP to WILD

Originally Posted by slash112

oh, well i knew it was HH/HI, but to be honest, i assumed he was in SP because it seemed like he WILDed, and i thought you had to go into SP to WILD

Nope, a very common misconception. SP is not necessary for anything. It sometimes happens, and when it does you've lucked into an opportunity to WILD.

ahhh, thank you for reminding me of the loud ringing noise! I totally forgot I used to experience that. But yeah, the images are pretty common I think. I believe its called hypnagogic imagery. I dont know if the sounds have a fancy name like that, but as images are visual hallucinations, the sounds are audio hallucinations.

Have you ever experienced where it starts off low but gets loud really fast? I can remember that happening when I was younger.

They are definitely gateways in a sense. I think I know what you mean when you say you enter a weird mental state, because that is exactly how I describe what its like when I know I will be able to WILD.

When I close my eyes its usually like I'm in a room with all the lights off, but I can just barely see around me. Usually images will flash, and I cant really explain it, but I try to enter them. It may be like how you described your first lucid, as being sucked in. I don't know if you mean it like you felt it like that, or just figuratively, but that's how I feel when it happens to me.

It's weird seeing so many posts about people trying so hard to WILD, because I have never been able to force one. I have had a lot of WILDs, and before most of them I could tell the moment I closed my eyes that I would be able to. I just can tell I'm in that mental state that will allow me to enter a dream. Weird but an awesome feeling.

If you want any tips about entering dreams I may be able to help, but everyone is different so they may not work as well for you.