Thread: Deep Dive Challenge: Subconscious Spelunking

Deep Dive Challenge: Subconscious Spelunking

Hi all! I had an interesting lucid last week that prompted me to think about depth and the connotations we assign to directions. In this dream, I phased down through the floor instead of through a wall. The results were interesting. I ended up in a large, ornately decorated medieval chamber lit by torches. There was interesting architecture as well as unique weapons within the room; everything seemed solid and well-formed, and overall I found it to be more "finished" while at the same time being completely removed from my waking life experience.

In comparison, when I phase through a wall, I'll usually end up in the place that would (at least loosely) logically exist in adjoining space to the first room. For instance, if I WILD or become lucid from an FA from my bed, when I phase through the wall or window I'll usually end up in an outdoor space, sometimes outside my apartment, sometimes in another well-known open space (college campus, childhood home, etc.). All of this combines into a vague notion that by going down instead of sideways, you force the dream to create/access a space that is enclosed and finished rather than open. EDIT: This could be because of the connotations we generally assign to directions, i.e. down = hell, the underworld, the underbelly of society, sewers, whereas sideways is more of the same, status quo, etc. I don't have enough evidence to support this theory, but it so I thought I'd see what others experience.

Spoiler for details:

The concept of this competition is quite simple: you get one point for every level you explore and document (a few sentences describing the room (and anyone or anything in it) will suffice, to prevent people from just sliding through 10 floors quickly). Although this is a competition, it's also (and more importantly) an exploration to see what interesting places, people, artifacts, and experiences you can find as you delve deeper and deeper into the depths of your mind.

EDIT:
Tentative Scoring System:
Levels 1-3 (3 pts)
Levels 4-5 (5 pts)
Level 6 & below (7 pts)
Ask a DC who they are (2 pts)
Ask a DC what this place is (2 pts)
Take a DC down a level with you (1 pt per level)
Ask a DC to show you something in the level (2 pts)

Ways to phase downwards:
Expect that the ground has turned to quicksand and slowly feel yourself sink down.
Dive from a second story (or higher) balcony.
Kneel down and push yourself face first!

The competition will begin on the night of March 11 and last for one month.

If you have any suggestions for ways to score points, please post them below!

Please sign up below if you're interested, and get ready to explore!

can you "cheat" by viewing multiple floors at a time and having a narrator describe them?

Originally Posted by 9sk

can you "cheat" by viewing multiple floors at a time and having a narrator describe them?

You're free to do whatever you want in your dreams and I'd actually be interested in the results of what you're describing. However for the purposes of scoring, one level would definitely count as one individual location that you physically visit, explore, and interact with before moving on to the next.

Since this competition concept is still "n beta" I want to keep it pretty open-ended, but I may add other possibilities to score on each level to incentivise exploring as you go.

I phase through the floor/ground quite a bit. The way I usually phase through the ground is just by imagining there's a hole in the ground and jumping into it. I use this as a reality check.

When I phase through the floor while indoors, I usually just end up in another room, nowhere significant to me at the time. Occasionally, I will end up in a duplicate of the room I started in. A couple of times, I have ended up in a fancy restaurant.

I've flushed myself down a toilet a few times. I usually end up going down a series of pipes. One time, I saw a dark underwater castle at the end of a large pipe.

When I phase through the ground, I usually end up someplace underground. One time, I phased through the ground in a park and ended up in a room where there was a ping pong table and a critter to play against (rat or rabbit, I forget which.)

Originally Posted by dolphin

I phase through the floor/ground quite a bit. The way I usually phase through the ground is just by imagining there's a hole in the ground and jumping into it. I use this as a reality check.

When I phase through the floor while indoors, I usually just end up in another room, nowhere significant to me at the time. Occasionally, I will end up in a duplicate of the room I started in. A couple of times, I have ended up in a fancy restaurant.

I've flushed myself down a toilet a few times. I usually end up going down a series of pipes. One time, I saw a dark underwater castle at the end of a large pipe.

When I phase through the ground, I usually end up someplace underground. One time, I phased through the ground in a park and ended up in a room where there was a ping pong table and a critter to play against (rat or rabbit, I forget which.)

Interesting observations dolphin! When you say you use jumping into holes in the ground as a reality check, I worry for your safety a bit

It seems like your experience is similar to what I was thinking, in that you usually end up in an enclosed room. Your rabbit ping pong opponent also reminds me of another connotation attached to direction: the phrase "down the rabbit hole".

Update to scoring: 1 bonus point per level if you go down in style, be it a hole in the ground, through a manhole or small opening, through a sidewalk crack, or even down a toilet!

I like the idea of exploring our subconscious and the simplicity of the scoring! I'm in.

Glad to have you on board fogelbise!

Alright, the competition starts tonight! So far it seems like it will just be me and you, fogelbise, but anyone can feel free to jump in at any time in the competition!

Finalized Scoring System:
Levels 1-3 (3 pts per level)
Levels 4-5 (5 pts per level)
Level 6 & below (7 pts per level)
Ask a DC who they are (1 pt)
Ask a DC what this place is (1 pt)
Take a DC down a level with you (2 pts per level)
Ask a DC to show you something in the level (1 pt)
Go down in a stylish way - pipe, toilet, giant sinkhole, etc (1 pt)

Good luck and happy dreaming!

I think I'll try with an attempt to break the dry spell I've been having, though I might try to help memory by planning something beforehand (for example, 10 floors corresponding to each number, or 7 floors corresponding to ROYGBV and perhaps adding on black and white to make it easy to write down). If there are too many floors that are too different it'd be tough to remember.

Sounds good 9sk, glad to have another competitor! Remember that the idea is to explore more so than to rack up points, so I wouldn't worry too much about pre-planning floors or anything. That being said, you can approach it whichever way works best for you. Just dive deep and see what you can find!

Thank you ZAD and welcome 9sk. I hope we all have some interesting experiences, even any folks who were shy to join. I am personally looking for such experiences and appreciate the scoring aspect to motivate me to stop being lazy with my LD practices, which has affected the quality of my lucid dreams recently.

Had my first attempt this morning. During a converted FA, I phased through a very small mirror first, then remembered this goal. I crouched down on my bedroom floor and stuck an arm through, then tried to go face first. But the closer I got, the farther some force pushed me away.

Was able to stabilize with the "I am ZAD" and gain some length in other lucids though. Will attempt again next lucid.

I've only had a few low level lucids and have yet to try this.

It's been the same for me fb, little to no lucidity lately. I've decided to get lucid tonight and try again, after having a very interesting semilucid (control without awareness, if that makes sense) this morning. The dream's setting and overall feeling were similar to the original dream mentioned above: underground, vast, and filled with strange contraptions and characters. I would almost describe it as a hellscape (possibly day residue from my fiance watching "The Order" on netflix). It was the motivation I needed though, and tonight I'll try to return there.

Good luck!

Finally achieved it a few days ago! Haven't got a chance to post until now, but I went down at least 6 levels (don't have DJ handy). Will post details soon.

Things I found: it's a great stabilizer; repeat rooms; level of detail.