This forum is for the writers to post things that may need editing, revised and/or proof-read. If you don't want to wait for them to post in here, you are more than welcome to automatically take their work and edit it to your liking and post the revised version in here. Just be sure to let them know what you did so they may see the finished snippings.
Department Leader: Department leader's are supervisors of a certain department. They make sure work is being done and they have the authority to tweak, organize, call meetings etc. Staff may consult their department leader and department leader's may consult the Project Leader. Department leader's can hire additional staff members for their department at their discretion. Department leader's, if a staff member is not staying on task or doing what you are asking him/her for the benefit of the department (and ultimately the project) you can recommend them for termination to the Project Leader. Once again, I encourage Department leader's to hire more staff for their departments. To personally hire a new staff member, have them fill out an application and within that application in the additional comments section, have they say that you personally hired them.
The author of this post wrote this cognizant of the fact that staff members work in more than one department.
I can't wait to get started on this. It looks like Chapter 1,3 & 4 have the most progress (links in brianstorming thread)
I'll get started on going through what we have and post any revisions here. For those involved in this department please do the same and highlight any corrections in red. As stated above, let the orginal writer know that thier work as been revised.
Last edited by dreamingofdreaming; 07-01-2009 at 09:23 PM.
Tell me if there is anything i might need to add or change.
Spoiler for -:
[large]Placebos[/large]
A placebo is a sham medical intervention intended to lead the recipient to believe that it may improve his/her condition. In one common placebo procedure, a patient is given an inert sugar pill, told that it may improve his/her condition, but not told that it is in fact inert. Such an intervention may cause the patient to believe the treatment will change his/her condition; and this belief does indeed sometimes cause the patient's condition to improve. This phenomenon is known as the placebo effect.
Placebo - Something that has no effect but still works because you believe it will.
The Placebo Effect can also be used to effect dreaming.
Placebos can good or bad.
Bad Placebo: Saying your name in a dream will make you wake up.
Good placebo: Going to sleep with one eye covered.
Saying your name in a dream does not make you wake up. It will only do that if you believe it will.
Going to sleep with one eye covered will do nothing unless you believe it will.
That is the essense of placebos. If you believe it will happen, it will.
To have a placebo work you need to expect and believe 100% that it will happen. If you have any doubt in your mind, it will not work.
[large]History[/large]
The word placebo, Latin for "I shall please", dates back to a Latin translation of the Bible by Jerome. It was first used in a medicinal context in the 18th century. In 1785 it was defined as a "commonplace method or medicine" and in 1811 it was defined as "any medicine adapted more to please than to benefit the patient", sometimes with a derogative implication but not with the implication of no effect. Placebos were widespread in medicine until the 20th century, and they were sometimes endorsed as necessary deceptions. In 1903 Richard Cabot said that he was brought up to use placebos, but he ultimately concluded by saying that "I have not yet found any case in which a lie does not do more harm than good". In 1961 Henry Beecher found that patients of surgeons he categorized as enthusiasts relieved their patients' chest pain and heart problems more than skeptic surgeons. In 1961 Walter Kennedy introduced the word nocebo.
Tell me if there is anything i might need to add or change.
Spoiler for -:
[large]Placebos[/large]
A placebo is a sham medical intervention intended to lead the recipient to believe that it may improve his/her condition. In one common placebo procedure, a patient is given an inert sugar pill, told that it may improve his/her condition, but not told that it is in fact inert. Such an intervention may cause the patient to believe the treatment will change his/her condition; and this belief does indeed sometimes cause the patient's condition to improve. This phenomenon is known as the placebo effect.
Placebo - Something that has no effect but still works because you believe it will.
The Placebo Effect can also be used to effect dreaming.
Placebos can good or bad.
Bad Placebo: Saying your name in a dream will make you wake up.
Good placebo: Going to sleep with one eye covered.
Saying your name in a dream does not make you wake up. It will only do that if you believe it will.
Going to sleep with one eye covered will do nothing unless you believe it will.
That is the essense of placebos. If you believe it will happen, it will.
To have a placebo work you need to expect and believe 100% that it will happen. If you have any doubt in your mind, it will not work.
[large]History[/large]
The word placebo, Latin for "I shall please", dates back to a Latin translation of the Bible by Jerome. It was first used in a medicinal context in the 18th century. In 1785 it was defined as a "commonplace method or medicine" and in 1811 it was defined as "any medicine adapted more to please than to benefit the patient", sometimes with a derogative implication but not with the implication of no effect. Placebos were widespread in medicine until the 20th century, and they were sometimes endorsed as necessary deceptions. In 1903 Richard Cabot said that he was brought up to use placebos, but he ultimately concluded by saying that "I have not yet found any case in which a lie does not do more harm than good". In 1961 Henry Beecher found that patients of surgeons he categorized as enthusiasts relieved their patients' chest pain and heart problems more than skeptic surgeons. In 1961 Walter Kennedy introduced the word nocebo.
Close Banana, close. There were just a couple of spelling mistakes, nothing serious. Here is the edited result that you can use:
Spoiler for -:
[large]Placebos - [Edited by Shades][/large]
A placebo is a sham medical intervention intended to lead the recipient to believe that it may improve his/her condition. In one common placebo procedure, a patient is given an inert sugar pill, told that it may improve his/her condition, but not told that it is in fact inert. Such an intervention may cause the patient to believe the treatment will change his/her condition; and this belief does indeed sometimes cause the patient's condition to improve. This phenomenon is known as the placebo effect.
Placebo - Something that has no effect but still works because you believe it will.
The Placebo Effect can also be used to effect dreaming.
Placebos can good or bad.
Bad Placebo: Saying your name in a dream will make you wake up.
Good placebo: Going to sleep with one eye covered.
Saying your name in a dream does not make you wake up. It will only do that if you believe it will.
Going to sleep with one eye covered will do nothing unless you believe it will.
That is the essence of placebos. If you believe it will happen, it will.
To have a placebo work you need to expect and believe 100% that it will happen. If you have any doubt in your mind, it will not work.
[large]History[/large]
The word placebo, Latin for "I shall please", dates back to a Latin translation of the Bible by Jerome. It was first used in a medicinal context in the 18th century. In 1785 it was defined as a "commonplace method or medicine" and in 1811 it was defined as "any medicine adapted more to please than to benefit the patient", sometimes with a derogative implication but not with the implication of no effect. Placebos were widespread in medicine until the 20th century, and they were sometimes endorsed as necessary deceptions. In 1903 Richard Cabot said that he was brought up to use placebos, but he ultimately concluded by saying that "I have not yet found any case in which a lie does not do more harm than good". In 1961 Henry Beecher found that patients of surgeons he categorized as enthusiasts relieved their patients' chest pain and heart problems more than sceptic surgeons. In 1961 Walter Kennedy introduced the word nocebo.
The dream world can sometimes be very confusing and odd.
Your voice can be different, mirrors are odd or frightening, The geography of the area or the architecture of a place can be significantly different than in the real world. If you can begin to improve your overall awarness of yourself and the environment around you, that will be a big step towards lucidity.
The dream world can sometimes be frightening but there is no need to be afraid of anything in dreams. None of it is real and is all just your subconcious creating images for you to see. If you start to get frightened just think or say to yourself "None of this is real. I am in control of everything." If you do that, nothing will be firghtening anymore and you are free to do whatever you want.
The dream world can sometimes be very confusing and odd.
Your voice can be different, mirrors are odd or frightening, The geography of the area or the architecture of a place can be significantly different than in the real world. If you can begin to improve your overall awarness of yourself and the environment around you, that will be a big step towards lucidity.
The dream world can sometimes be frightening but there is no need to be afraid of anything in dreams. None of it is real and is all just your subconcious creating images for you to see. If you start to get frightened just think or say to yourself "None of this is real. I am in control of everything." If you do that, nothing will be firghtening anymore and you are free to do whatever you want.
Again, close. There were as before just a few spelling errors.
Spoiler for The Dream World:
[large]The Dream World[/large]
The dream world can sometimes be very confusing and odd.
Your voice can be different, mirrors are odd or frightening, The geography of the area or the architecture of a place can be significantly different than in the real world. If you can begin to improve your overall awareness of yourself and the environment around you, that will be a big step towards lucidity.
The dream world can sometimes be frightening but there is no need to be afraid of anything in dreams. None of it is real and is all just your subconscious creating images for you to see. If you start to get frightened just think or say to yourself: "None of this is real. I am in control of everything." If you do that, nothing will be frightening anymore and you are free to do whatever you want.
Tell me if there is anything i might need to add or change.
Spoiler for -:
[large]Placebos[/large]
A placebo is a [[-sham]] medical intervention intended to lead the recipient to believe that it may [actually] improve his/her condition. In one common placebo procedure [the] patient is given a [[-inert]] sugar pill, told that it may improve his/her condition, but not told that it is inert. Such an intervention may cause the patient to believe the treatment will change his/her condition; and this belief [alone has shown to sometimes improve condition of said individual]. This phenomenon is known as the Placebo Effect, [and can also be used to [a]ffect dreaming.]
Placebo - [a substance] that has no [active] effect but [prescribed moreso for the mental relief (than the problem itself) of whomever uses it].
[[-The Placebo Effect can also be used to [a]ffect dreaming.]]
Placebos can [work both negatively and positively].
[Example of a] Bad Placebo: [s]aying your name in a dream will make you wake up.
[Example of a] Good [P]lacebo: [g]oing to sleep with one eye covered.
Saying your name in a dream does not make you wake up. [You can only succeed if you truly believe it will.]
Going to sleep with one eye covered will do nothing unless you believe it will.
[This] is the essen[c]e of placebos. If you believe it will, [it will happen].
[Placebo succession stems from your personal expectation and belief that it does work 100%. Not a doubt in your head is permitted.
[large]History[/large]
The word placebo, Latin for "I shall please", dates back to a Latin translation of the Bible by Jerome. It was first used in a medicinal context in the 18th century. In 1785 it was defined as a "commonplace method or medicine" and in 1811 it was defined as "any medicine adapted more to please than to benefit the patient", sometimes with a derogative implication [instead of] the implication of no effect. Placebos were widespread in medicine until the 20th century, and [even then] they were sometimes endorsed as necessary deceptions. In 1903 Richard Cabot claimed he was brought up to use placebos, but he ultimately concluded by saying that "I have not yet found any case in which a lie does not do more harm than good". In 1961 Henry Beecher found that patients of surgeons he categorized as enthusiasts relieved their patients' chest pain and heart problems more than skeptic surgeons. In 1961 Walter Kennedy introduced the word nocebo.
I think you might want to reword the 'Good placebo/Bad placebo' bit... I was going to rewrite it but I don't even know what you're trying to say there. You basically said they're the exact same thing even though you divided them into good and bad.
A placebo is a sham medical intervention intended to lead the recipient to believe that it may improve his/her condition. In one common placebo procedure, a patient is given an inert sugar pill, told that it may improve his/her condition, but not told that it is in fact inert. Such an intervention may cause the patient to believe the treatment will change his/her condition; and this belief does indeed sometimes cause the patient's condition to improve. This phenomenon is known as the placebo effect.
Placebo - Something that has no effect but still works because you believe it will.
The Placebo Effect can also be used to effect dreaming.
Placebos can have positive and negative effects
Negative Placebo: Saying your name in a dream will make you wake up.
Positive placebo: Going to sleep with one eye covered will make you have dreams about flying.
Saying your name in a dream does not make you wake up. It will only do that if you believe it will.
Going to sleep with one eye covered will do nothing unless you believe it will.
That is the essence of placebos. If you believe it will happen, it will.
To have a placebo work you need to expect and believe 100% that it will happen. If you have any doubt in your mind, it will not work.
[large]History[/large]
The word placebo, Latin for "I shall please", dates back to a Latin translation of the Bible by Jerome. It was first used in a medicinal context in the 18th century. In 1785 it was defined as a "commonplace method or medicine" and in 1811 it was defined as "any medicine adapted more to please than to benefit the patient", sometimes with a derogative implication but not with the implication of no effect. Placebos were widespread in medicine until the 20th century, and they were sometimes endorsed as necessary deceptions. In 1903 Richard Cabot said that he was brought up to use placebos, but he ultimately concluded by saying that "I have not yet found any case in which a lie does not do more harm than good". In 1961 Henry Beecher found that patients of surgeons he categorized as enthusiasts relieved their patients' chest pain and heart problems more than sceptic surgeons. In 1961 Walter Kennedy introduced the word nocebo.
Great information and examples; just a few thoughts...
It seems very choppy and the one line sentences don't fit in; they could probably all be in one paragraph. If the history paragraph goes after the definition one then the examples can go at the bottom and it would all flow a little better...
I also took out some sentences that I felt were redundant. Please feel free to edit again and make any comments or questions...
Spoiler for -:
The Placebo Effect
A placebo is a sham medical intervention intended to lead the recipient to believe that it may change his/her condition. In one common placebo procedure, a patient is given an inert sugar pill, told that it may improve his/her condition, but not told that it is in fact inert. Such an intervention may cause the patient to believe the treatment will change his/her condition; and this belief does indeed sometimes cause the patient's condition to improve.This phenomenon is known as the placebo effect.
History
The word placebo, Latin for "I shall please", dates back to a Latin translation of the Bible by Jerome. It was first used in a medicinal context in the 18th century. In 1785 it was defined as a "commonplace method or medicine" and in 1811 it was defined as "any medicine adapted more to please than to benefit the patient", sometimes with a derogative implication but not with the implication of no effect. Placebos were widespread in medicine until the 20th century, and they were sometimes endorsed as necessary deceptions. In 1903 Richard Cabot said that he was brought up to use placebos, but he ultimately concluded by saying that "I have not yet found any case in which a lie does not do more harm than good". In 1961 Henry Beecher found that patients of surgeons he categorized as enthusiasts relieved their patients' chest pain and heart problems more than sceptic surgeons. In 1961 Walter Kennedy introduced the word nocebo.
Dream Application
The Placebo Effect can also be used to effect dreaming in both positive and negative ways. An example of a negative dreaming placebo effect is the belief that saying one's name in a dream will make one wake up. A positive dreaming placebo effect example is the belief that going to sleep with one eye covered will make one have dreams about flying. However, it is imperative to remember that these "rules" will only happen if you truly believe they will. This is the essence of placebos; if you believe it will happen, it will.
I think having a brilliant description of a "dream world" would be a great intro to this. Including all the common dream elements in a creative way i.e. non functioning technology, anti gravity, scary mirrors, abstract images/colors etc... If anyone has any ideas go ahead. I'll conjure up something this week...
CB thanks for editing the placebo effect post also
This is going to get messy having everything in one thread, however can I make a couple of suggestions to help you keep some order.
Track all changes: So if you make an emend, use strikethrough to show what you've deleted. Use red to show what text you've added.
Control the versions of your chapters, for example, your initial version will be v0.1 this will make it easier if more than one person are reviewing. So if you post up v0.1 I will review it, make changes and if accepted this then becomes v0.2 - so everyone works from the right version.
[edit: actually I notice CB did that, can I suggest everyone does the same, maybe using strike out for deleted though]
For example:
Spoiler for Placebos : Version 0.1:
Version: 0.1 Editor: Banana Change: Original Draft
[large]Placebos[/large]
A placebo is a sham medical intervention intended to lead the recipient to believe that it may improve his/her condition. In one common placebo procedure, a patient is given an inert sugar pill, told that it may improve his/her condition, but not told that it is in fact inert. Such an intervention may cause the patient to believe the treatment will change his/her condition; and this belief does indeed sometimes cause the patient's condition to improve. This phenomenon is known as the placebo effect....
Placebo - Something that has no effect but still works because you believe it will.
The Placebo Effect can also be used to effect dreaming.
Placebos can good or bad.
Bad Placebo: Saying your name in a dream will make you wake up.
Good placebo: Going to sleep with one eye covered.
Saying your name in a dream does not make you wake up. It will only do that if you believe it will.
Going to sleep with one eye covered will do nothing unless you believe it will.
That is the essense of placebos. If you believe it will happen, it will.
To have a placebo work you need to expect and believe 100% that it will happen. If you have any doubt in your mind, it will not work.
[large]History[/large]
The word placebo, Latin for "I shall please", dates back to a Latin translation of the Bible by Jerome. It was first used in a medicinal context in the 18th century. In 1785 it was defined as a "commonplace method or medicine" and in 1811 it was defined as "any medicine adapted more to please than to benefit the patient", sometimes with a derogative implication but not with the implication of no effect. Placebos were widespread in medicine until the 20th century, and they were sometimes endorsed as necessary deceptions. In 1903 Richard Cabot said that he was brought up to use placebos, but he ultimately concluded by saying that "I have not yet found any case in which a lie does not do more harm than good". In 1961 Henry Beecher found that patients of surgeons he categorized as enthusiasts relieved their patients' chest pain and heart problems more than skeptic surgeons. In 1961 Walter Kennedy introduced the word nocebo.
Spoiler for Placebos : Version 0.2:
Version: 0.2 Editor: Adam Change: Spelling & grammar change - few word amends
[large]Placebos[/large]
A placebos is a sham medical intervention intended to lead the recipient to believe that it may actually improve his/her condition. In one common placebo procedure, a the patient is given an inert sugar pill, told that it may improve his/her condition, but not told that it is in fact inert. Such an intervention may cause the patient to believe the treatment will change his/her condition; and this belief does indeed sometimes cause the patient's condition to improve. This phenomenon is known as the placebo effect....
Yeah, I was thinking yesterday (after CB's post), that we definitely need a better system to track changes. Lets use Adam's suggestion above, it may take a little longer to do but will save time in the end.
Great post Adam, and I agree with you and dreaming. Regarding the room we have...the rest of the forum is for all of us to use however we like. Feel free to create new topics to log your personal progress and what not.
Imagine.
You're reading this book. You look around, and everything feels so perfect and real. "Of course this is reality", you tell yourself, but for some reason that doesn't convince you. After thinking for a while, you come up with a way to test reality - to do something which wouldn't work if you were in waking reality. You take the magic wand out of your pocket (was it there in first place?), and say: "Abracadabra". Suddenly, all objects around you start levitating. By this time, you can barely believe it: you are in your dream, inside your own head. Thing is, somehow everything looks so real you could have sworn it was reality. Still in awe, you think about the limitless possibilities the situation offers: you can fly above the clouds, swim beneath the waves, cross walls, and explore the hyperrealistic simulation game your very own mind created.
After a while, you wake up from that dream, in shock, knowing this was no regular dream. You were right - that is far from being just another dream. You were in control, you were conscious of the whole experience: you were having a lucid dream.
The word 'dream' is often used as a term to describe something one would like to do, but cannot achieve, a fantasy, but the word 'dream' has another meaning, too. Your personal world, almost identical to its real counterpart is something that you experience every night, over and over again. By becoming aware of these dreams, you can make those fantasies come true, just by realising that you are dreaming. This is called lucid dreaming: being aware of dreaming while you're dreaming. By the time you've read this book, you should know ways to become lucid and techniques to carry out what you want to do. Best thing is, you can learn and train to have these dreams frequently!
Now you may think: "I don't have dreams, so how'd I get lucid in them?" [comment: yes, yes, I know it shouldn't be in quotation marks, but without them it's so unclear.] The answer is simple: you do have dreams, you just don't remember them. Without dreams you would've been crazy by now. The fact that people dream every night over and over again, is, just like lucid dreaming, proven by science. The first to give this proof and study lucid dreams with scientific rigour was Stephen LaBerge, PhD, but more on that later.
The funny thing about dreams is, even though it's all made up by our own minds, that most of us are always very certain about being in waking reality while we're at it. This is what blocks us to have lucid dreams and many techniques are based of this principle. Learning to have regular lucid dreams takes time, but most people are able to reach results pretty quickly. There are some people that practice for months before their first lucid dream, however. The keyword here is patience. If you are motivated and you practice diligently, lucid dreaming will be a skill that can change your life, can give you artistic and scientific insights and can help you understand your purpose in life.
First things first: dream recall.
Dream recall is absolutely vital to your lucid dreaming abilities. Not only is it required to carry out most of the techniques outlined in this book, but it's also required to remember a great lucid dream you just might've had. Furthermore, if you don't think you dream, go and do this for a few days. You will quickly notice that, in fact, you do dream. Dream recall is a skill that can be trained easily and quickly and it is one that yields visible results. The general consensus is that you should keep a Dream Journal, in which you record your dreams and note any strange things that might have occured in them, so-called dreamsigns. By these dreamsigns you can recognise that you are dreaming, thus becoming lucid, but more on that later.
It is advised that you develop some recall before you start trying techniques, so you can familiarise yourself a bit better with your nightlife. You can journal online, download a program, use a leather-bonded book filled with blank pages or you could use a standard copy book, whatever you prefer. You could even use a simple voice-recorder to journal your dreams.
Onto the next step: techniques
Many people have lucid dreams naturally. If you are, however, not one of those lucky persons, there still are many ways to get lucid. You take advantages of techniques developed and tested over the years. So after you've developed some dream recall skills, you choose one of the techniques which are outlined in this book (or somewhere outside this book, but let's consider just the book for now). Each technique has it's pros and cons and you should choose whatever you think is best for you. It is even possible to blend techniques together to create your own personalised way of inducing lucid dreams. Carrying out the technique of your choice, you can start training to have regular lucid dreams. Around this time you can set up things you want to accomplish in your lucid dreams too. A goal can vary from getting a lucid dream frequency of 1 per week, or flying to the moon. You can set up litterally [Spell check, please] anything. Just be sure that you set up both goals on the short term, as well on the long term. Also make sure that they are what you want. Finally, it's recommended that you write these goals in your dream journal, too.
After a while you will have become an experienced lucid dreamer. At that point, it might be a good idea to let go of the techniques and rely on your own skills, instead of putting all your confidence in the techniques. This helps you become more of a natural on lucid dreaming.
Acronyms/Abbreviations
What about DILD, WILD, VILD, DEILD, EWOLD, WBTB and SP? The lucid dream community uses a lot of acronyms/abbreviations, mostly to indicate techniques. For example, DILD stands for Dream Initiated Lucid Dream. The meaning of the acronyms/abbreviations will become clear in the rest of the book, so don't fret if you encounter them, because most of them are explained here. It's not that hard to remember them and once you've learnt them, you'll be able to understand virtually any casual (non-scientific) lucid dreaming-related text.
So, now we embark on the wonderful journey of lucid dreams. We hope you'll appreciate the work we've put in this book and that you will be able to enjoy lucid dreams for as long as you like. Now, shall we begin with chapter 1 and start with Dream Recall, shan't we?.
Spoiler for Edited: Version #2:
VERSION 2
Imagine.
You're reading this book. You look around, and everything feels so perfect and real. "Of course this is reality", you tell yourself, but for some reason that doesn't convince you. After thinking for a while, you come up with a way to test reality - to do something which wouldn't work if you were in waking reality. You take the magic wand out of your pocket (was it there in first place?), and say: "Abracadabra". Suddenly, all objects around you start levitating. By this time, you can barely believe it; you are in your dream, inside your own head. Thing is, somehow everything looks so real you could have sworn it was reality. Still in awe, you think about the limitless possibilities the situation offers: you can fly above the clouds, swim beneath the waves, walk through walls, and explore this hyper realistic simulation game your very own mind created. After a while, you wake up from that dream, in shock, knowing this was no regular dream. You were right - this was far from being just another dream. You were in control, you were conscious of the whole experience: you were having a lucid dream.
The word 'dream' is often used as a term to describe something one would like to do, but cannot achieve; a fantasy. However, the word 'dream' has another meaning as well. Your personal world, almost identical to its real counterpart is something that you experience every night, over and over again. By becoming aware of these dreams, you can make those fantasies come true, just by realizing that you are dreaming. This is called lucid dreaming; being aware of dreaming while you're dreaming. By the time you've read this book, you should know ways to become lucid and techniques to carry out what you want to do. Best thing is, you can learn and train to have these dreams frequently!
Now you may think: "I don't have dreams, so how did I get lucid in them?" [comment: yes, yes, I know it shouldn't be in quotation marks, but without them it's so unclear.] The answer is simple: you do have dreams, you just don't remember them. Without dreams you would be crazy by now. The fact that people dream every night over and over again, is, just like lucid dreaming, proven by science. The first to give this proof and study lucid dreams with scientific rigor was Stephen LaBerge, PhD, but more on that later.
The funny thing about dreams is, even though it's all made up by our own minds, that most of us are always very certain about being in waking reality while we're in it. This is what blocks us from having lucid dreams, many techniques are based off this principle as well. Learning to have regular lucid dreams takes time, but most people are able to reach results pretty quickly. However, there are some people that practice for months before they experience their first lucid dream. The keyword here is patience. If you are motivated and you practice diligently, lucid dreaming will be a skill that can change your life, can give you artistic and scientific insights and can help you understand your purpose in life. "...lucid dreaming will be a skill that can change your life in many ways; by giving you artistic and scientific insights, by allowing you to overcome your fears and fulfill your deepest desires and by helping you understand your overall purpose in life."
First things first: Dream recall.
Dream recall is absolutely vital to your lucid dreaming abilities. Not only is it required to carry out most of the techniques outlined in this book, but it is also required to remember a great lucid dream you might of just had. Furthermore, if you don't think you dream, try this for a few days and you will quickly notice that, in fact, you do dream.
Dream recall is a skill that can be trained easily and quickly and it is one that yields visible results. The general consensus is that you should keep a Dream Journal, in which you record your dreams and note any strange or common things that might have occurred in them, these are called dream signs. With dream signs you can recognize that you are dreaming, thus becoming lucid, but more on that later.
It is advised that you develop some recall before you start trying techniques, so you can familiarize yourself a bit better with your nightlife. You can journal online, download a program, use a leather-bonded book filled with blank pages or you could use a standard copy book, whatever you prefer. You could even use a simple voice-recorder to journal your dreams.
Onto the next step: Techniques.
Many people have lucid dreams naturally. If you are, however, not one of those lucky persons, there still are many ways to get lucid. You take advantages of techniques developed and tested over the years. So after you've developed some dream recall skills, you choose one of the techniques which are outlined in this book (or somewhere outside this book, but let's consider just the book for now). Each technique has its pros and cons and you should choose whatever you think is best for you. It is even possible to blend techniques together to create your own personalized way of inducing lucid dreams. Carrying out the technique of your choice, you can start training to have regular lucid dreams. Around this time you can set up things you want to accomplish in your lucid dreams too. A goal can vary from getting a lucid dream frequency of 1 per week, or flying to the moon. You can set up literally anything. Just be sure that you set up both goals on the short term, as well as on the long term. Also make sure that they are what you want. It is recommended that you write these goals in your dream journal as well.
After a while you will have become an experienced lucid dreamer. At that point, it might be a good idea to let go of the techniques and rely on your own skills, instead of putting all your confidence in the techniques. This will help you become more of a natural on lucid dreaming.
Acronyms/Abbreviations
What about DILD, WILD, VILD, DEILD, EWOLD, WBTB and SP? The lucid dream community uses a lot of acronyms/abbreviations, mostly to indicate techniques. For example, DILD stands for Dream Initiated Lucid Dream. The meaning of the acronyms/abbreviations will become clear in the rest of the book, so don't fret if you encounter them, because most of them are explained here. It's not that hard to remember them and once you've learned them, you will be able to understand virtually any casual (non-scientific) lucid dreaming-related text.
So, now we embark on the wonderful journey of lucid dreams. We hope you'll appreciate the work we have put in this book and that you will be able to enjoy lucid dreams for as long as you like. {{Now, shall we begin with chapter 1 and start with Dream Recall, shan't we?.}}
Great start!! I basically corrected spelling errors and minor grammatical issues. I also changed most if not all contractions, others may feel differently. I also found tense to be an issue, I tried keeping it consistent. To all others in this department please make any further changes or suggestions. Thanks!
Last edited by dreamingofdreaming; 07-13-2009 at 05:44 AM.
You're reading this book. You look around, and everything feels so perfect and real. "Of course this is reality", you tell yourself, but for some reason that doesn't convince you. After thinking for a while, you come up with a way to test reality - to do something which wouldn't work if you were in waking reality. You take the magic wand out of your pocket (was it there in first place?), and say: "Abracadabra". Suddenly, all objects around you start levitating. By this time, you can barely believe it: you are in your dream, inside your own head. The thing is, somehow everything looks so real, you could have sworn it was reality. Still in awe, you think about the limitless possibilities the situation offers: you can fly above the clouds, swim beneath the waves, cross walls, and explore the hyper-realistic simulation game your very own mind created.
After a while, you wake up from that dream, in shock, knowing this was no regular dream. You were right - that is far from being just another dream. You were in control, you were conscious of the whole experience: you were having a lucid dream.
The word 'dream' is often used as a term to describe something one would like to do, but cannot achieve; a fantasy. The word 'dream' has another meaning, too. Your personal world, almost identical to its real counterpart, is something that you experience every night, over and over again. By becoming aware of these dreams, you can make those fantasies come true, just by realizing that you are dreaming. This is called lucid dreaming: being aware of dreaming while you're dreaming. By the time you've read this book, you should know ways to become lucid and techniques to carry out what you want to do. Best thing is, you can learn and train to have these dreams frequently!
Now you may think I don't have dreams, so how would I get lucid in them? [comment: yes, yes, I know it shouldn't be in quotation marks, but without them it's so unclear.][comment: underlining changes the feeling, and making it first person represents thought] The answer is simple: you do have dreams, you just don't remember them. Without dreams you would've become crazy by now. The fact that people dream every night over and over again, is, just like lucid dreaming, proven by science. The first to give this proof and study lucid dreams with scientific rigour was Stephen LaBerge, PhD, but more on that later.
The funny thing about dreams is, that, even though it's all made up by our own minds, that most of us are always very certain about being in waking reality while we're at it. This is what blocks us to from haveing lucid dreams, and many techniques are based off this principle. Learning to have regular lucid dreams takes time, but most people are able to reach [add an adjective here; exciting, incredible, inspirational?] results pretty quickly. However, there are some people that practice for months before their first lucid dream, however. The keyword here is patience. If you are motivated and you practice diligently, lucid dreaming will be a skill that can change your life, can give you artistic and scientific insights and can help you understand your purpose in life.
First things first: dream recall.
Dream recall is absolutely vital to your lucid dreaming abilities. Not only is it required to carry out most of the techniques outlined in this book, but it's also required to remember a great lucid dream you just might've had. Furthermore, if you don't think you dream, go and do this for a few days. You will quickly notice that, in fact, you do dream. Dream recall is a skill that can be trained easily and quickly and it is one that yields visible results. The general consensus is that you should keep a Dream Journal, in which you record your dreams and note any strange things that might have occured in them, so-called dreamsigns. By these dreamsigns you can recognise that you are dreaming, thus becoming lucid, but more on that later.
It is advised that you develop some recall before you start trying techniques, so you can familiarisze yourself a bit better with your nightlife. You can journal online, download a program, use a leather-bonded book filled with blank pages or you could use a standard copy book, whatever you prefer. You could even use a simple voice-recorder to journal your dreams.
Onto the next step: techniques
Many people have lucid dreams naturally. If you are, however, not one of those lucky persons, there still are many ways to get lucid. You take advantages of techniques developed and tested over the years. So after you've developed some dream recall skills, you choose one of the techniques which are outlined in this book (or somewhere outside this book, but let's consider just the book for now). Each technique has it's pros and cons and you should choose whatever you think is best for you. It is even possible to blend techniques together to create your own personalised way of inducing lucid dreams. Carrying out the technique of your choice, you can start training to have regular lucid dreams. Around this time you can set up things you want to accomplish in your lucid dreams too. A goal can vary from getting a lucid dream frequency of 1 per week, or flying to the moon. You can set up litterallyliterally [Spell check, please] anything. Just be sure that you set up both goals on the short term, as well on the long term. Also make sure that they are what you want. Finally, it's recommended that you write these goals in your dream journal, too.
After a while you will have become an experienced lucid dreamer. At that point, it might be a good idea to let go of the techniques and rely on your own skills, instead of putting all your confidence in the techniques. This helps you become more of a natural on lucid dreaming.
Acronyms/Abbreviations
What about DILD, WILD, VILD, DEILD, EWOLD, WBTB and SP? The lucid dream community uses a lot of acronyms/abbreviations, mostly to indicate techniques. For example, DILD stands for Dream Initiated Lucid Dream. The meaning of the acronyms/abbreviations will become clear in the rest of the book, so don't fret if you encounter them, because most of them are explained here. It's not that hard to remember them and once you've learnt learned them, you'll be able to understand virtually any casual (non-scientific) lucid dreaming-related text.
So, now we embark on the wonderful journey of lucid dreams. We hope you'll appreciate the work we've put in this book and that you will be able to enjoy lucid dreams for as long as you like. Now, shall we begin with chapter 1 and start with Dream Recall, shan't we?
Thanks Marcc, however, to keep this neat we need to keep a chronological order of the versions edited. So the original that Jeff posted is #1, the Version I edited is #2 (I apologize for not numbering it; fixed) and then the next version (from #2) would be #3 and so forth. My version has the same edits yours had (minus a few) anyways. So add in any differences that you find from mine or make suggestions on my edits.
Marcc, great. However, - Jess is right. Feel free to tweak and/or revise already revised versions of original drafts. Doing this forces the editors to catch and chip away at errors the first editor(s) may have skipped.
Hi, just to let you know, I'm pasting this in google docs. I'll be sure to post back here. It's just that google docs is a little easier than posting here all the time.
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