Mirrors in Lucid Dreams (and bad experiences with them)

a self-fullfilling prophecy, or is there really something to the "don't look at yourself in the mirror in the dream" thing?

I ask because as I read this forum I've come across quite a few posters who say looking into the mirror in a lucid was scary/disturbing. I've read that people saw their mirror image as deformed, that they looked normal except their eyes turned black (which sounds more than a bit scary to me), and other similar things. What I'm wondering is, is this just happening because people read of other's experiences, and thus have that mindset that "looking in a mirror in my dream might be scary", so when they do - it happens.... or is it at all possible that there really is something (what kind of something? I have no idea, that's why I'm asking) about looking into a mirror in your lucid dream that generates negative experiences. Could we really not be "supposed" to look in a dream mirror? As a realist I want to doubt such a thing, but the experiences on this forum make me wonder.

How many folks here have looked in a mirror and had nothing scary or strange happen at all?

As for me personally, I'll be avoiding mirrors in my dreams for the forseeable future.

I've only looked into a mirror once in my lucid. The only strange part was that my reflection was there before the actual mirror materialized, if that makes sense.

In other words. I saw myself standing before me. And I thought "What the hell? Is that a mirror?" and then a frame of a mirror showed up around my "image".
The reflection/image itself wasn't deformed or anything as far as I could tell. I was just a bit startled when I didn't see the mirror itself at first.

Although after reading this I have a feeling next time I look into a LD mirror my image WILL be deformed..

I think belief is everything in dreams. You believe you can't fly so you can't. You believe you have to ground the dream because you might wake up, and so if you don't, you wake up.

If you worry about mirrors being bad in some way, they almost certainly will.

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Originally Posted by Photolysis

I think belief is everything in dreams. You believe you can't fly so you can't. You believe you have to ground the dream because you might wake up, and so if you don't, you wake up.

If you worry about mirrors being bad in some way, they almost certainly will.

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ya i agree. Theres nothing necessarily evil or bad looking into a mirror. Its just the thoughts you've already acquired of them.

There was another mirror thread I replied to not too long ago where people related that they have normal reflections when looking in a mirror. I've had normal reflections and some that would be considered scary but weren't scary to me due to the fact that I knew I was dreaming. I was only curious as to why my reflection looked like that.

Mirrors can be a good source of entertainment in a lucid dream. The key, remember it's a dream and wonder logically about why your reflection might appear different.

I think its belief. back in my first lucid with my old account while this site just got started there wasnt many threads aboult mirrors so when I had my first I looked in my mirror and notice I was bald (at the time I had alot of hair) but that was it I was just bald, no black demonic eyes or disfigurment.

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Originally Posted by lonestarx

I think its belief. back in my first lucid with my old account while this site just got started there wasnt many threads aboult mirrors so when I had my first I looked in my mirror and notice I was bald (at the time I had alot of hair) but that was it I was just bald, no black demonic eyes or disfigurment.

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With me, too, the major difference with my refelctions is my hair. I like short hair and in my reflections it's usually longer or in regular dreams when I see a reflection I'm usually fiddling with my long hair trying to get it up out of my face.

Could probably make a game of it:
What will my reflection's hair look like this time around?
(instead of worrying about what scary image one might see)

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Originally Posted by pixiedust

How many folks here have looked in a mirror and had nothing scary or strange happen at all?

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In one LD involving a mirror, I did look like myself although I had longer hair.

In another, I still looked like me, but had fun by repeatedly changing the color of what I was wearing by simply thinking of different colors.

I found both of these dreams very pleasant.

I had no expectations about what I would see and I had never read any negative posts about mirrors yet I was very deformed and it was scary. I didn't prompt it, and I can't think of a reason. Though I did sort of feel it coming right before it happened. As I approached the mirror from an angle I was for some reason scared as if I shouldn't be doing it, but I didn't know why.

I've never actually looked in a mirror before... I might try it out
whenever I think something is about to happen in my dream, it usually does. so I think if someone is thinking about something like that at the time they probably will see it, maybe.

Iv'e only looked into a mirror in my Lucid dreams once. But i didnt see my own reflection, i saw the gulyiest person in my school haha!.. it scared me :shock:.. but still, i think you see what you fear the most haha. I guess i just dont wanna be ugly!.. happy dreaming, -dream-boat-... :D

I wouldn't look into dream mirrors if I were you.

Once I looked into a mirror and saw a very old man with a top had in my place.

Then I looked away, and when I looked back his face had practically decayed away, and then he leapt at me through the mirror.

That was really freaky, and I had to use my waking technique really hard to make him disappear

As said before, alot of the material from your lucid dreams comes from a pre-conceived notion.

So.. if you think badly about mirrors, you will end up having a bad mirror experience.

But the reason most people see a normal reflection is because the mind just simulates what is most expected. So... don't think about it too much, and mirrors can be fine.

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Originally Posted by AmazeO XD

As said before, alot of the material from your lucid dreams comes from a pre-conceived notion.

So.. if you think badly about mirrors, you will end up having a bad mirror experience.

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What about this post though? He says he never read anything bad about mirrors, and didn't expect anything bad to happen..?

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Originally Posted by ThiefDeath

I had no expectations about what I would see and I had never read any negative posts about mirrors yet I was very deformed and it was scary. I didn't prompt it, and I can't think of a reason. Though I did sort of feel it coming right before it happened. As I approached the mirror from an angle I was for some reason scared as if I shouldn't be doing it, but I didn't know why.

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I do agree that much of what happens in a lucid is what you expect to happen, but in the case of people who aren't expecting it, and still have it happen to them, I'm curious what the reason could be.

Ive had regular dreams where I have looked into mirrors and expected to see my face because I thought it was real life and my face was completely deformed, it was scary, but I became lucid

Thats true, they are great dream signs.

I dont know, i was in a bathroom once and the light switch wouldnt work, i never realized it was a dream, i was scared of the dark so it freaked me out, but i didnt look at the mirror in the bathroom for some reason, like something was telling me whatever you do, do not look to your right.

I think threads like this will cause weird images in mirrors cause it makes you think much more about a mirror than you usually would, so when you do come near one instantly you start thinking whats going to be there.

I think you are right Johnny87.

Right now I have a negative attitude, but I am going to try to tackle it in my next few lucids this week.

ive looked at a mirror many times in my Lucid dreams and there all normal, they look exactley like in real life for me

In my second lucid I looked into the mirror and my face was completely warped and twisted. This was before I'd read much about lucid dreaming, so I didn't have any reason to be afraid in the first place. It scared me so much that I lost lucidity instantly.

I basically attribute it to the fact that I couldn't conjour up an image of myself while sleeping, because I don't have a perfect 3D model of myself in my mind. I guess I don't spend enough time in front of the mirror... :D

Except I'm starting to think I have a weird, subconcious fear of mirrors because I avoid looking at them when it's dark.

Mirrors are very common in my lucid dreams, I often run into them, both when I'm looking for them and when I'm not. While mirrors can be scary, the only thing that I've noticed them be consistently is chaotic; they're always a little different from dream to dream.

In my experiences, the first thing I noticed regularly in mirrors is that the image was usually a little warped, though still human. When I tried interacting more directly with them, that's when things really got wierd. I once reached into a mirror in a dream, and my reflection tried to pull my hand in, and for a few dreams after that, it did act nightmarish, although always in different ways, but it stopped doing that after I stopped treating it like a hostile entity. After that, it was sometimes even helpful, although it's help rarely works. However, for every dream where my reflection was unusual, there was another where it was perfectly ordinary. In fact, around 70% of the time my reflection is almost normal, and only becomes unusual when I try to affect it.

I don't think mirrors are inherently evil or hostile in dreams, it's just that they're naturally changing things, and in dreams, without reality to hold them to just reflecting, these changes can spiral out of control. In dreams, everything changes a lot, and thus things that change even in real life, like the image in a mirror, would be unusually chaotic in a dream. They're only scary when by chance they change in a way that seems frightening, and when someone is frightened by some change, the fear causes it to become more frightening, and the whole experience causes them to expect mirrors in lucid dreams to be frightening, which ensures that they probably will be.

Mm- that sounds about right to me. Good thoughts :) I guess it's best just to confront the idea, if mirrors seem scary.

People say that mirrors will make you look funny so they do.... i wont ry to fix it because if i want to see myself i just ... well see myself, but i think it's what people say that makes mirrors what they are in your dream.

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Originally Posted by pixiedust

How many folks here have looked in a mirror and had nothing scary or strange happen at all?

As for me personally, I'll be avoiding mirrors in my dreams for the forseeable future.

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I had a vivid LD experience with a mirror today. I was standing in front of the mirror and I've seen perfect reflection of mine which surprised me a bit because in the past I usually saw something wrong in it. An idea came to me, I tried to pull my hand through the mirror to see what happens and the reflection was still in the perfect state. Maybe that means that I'm no more afraid of my reflection in the mirror in LDs.

Whoa, nice. Good stuff, I wish I could say the same.

I had a drem last night and became lucid.I decided to look into a mirror in the bathroom.At first my face was normal but then it changed into this hiddeous looking creature with fangs and with the neck ripped open.I was a little scared but continued to look at it.I began to talk and its lips moved in sync with mine which indicated to me that this was my reflection.I thought dreams were able to be controlled by the dreamer? i was wishing for that to happen so why did it? any anwers?

I think your reflection would be how you think of yourself. Personally, i don't look in mirrors much so i don't remember looking at myself. As long as you don't have an REALLY low self esteem, you wouldn't see anything scary, i wouldn't think.

I don't think its necessarily belief, but I don't think there's any truth to the superstition about not being "supposed" to look into mirrors in dreams.

I have looked in mirrors in dreams, and I've never gotten a reflection that looks like me. There were a few times I was deformed, and more often than anything else I'm just another person with a completely different appearance. I don't think it has to have anything to do with belief, either though, because I dont remember ever hearing that rumor before now. I think its a lot like when you look down at your hands in dreams, and you have the wrong number of fingers or they seem to melt away. Or when you look at a clock in a dream and the time keeps changing. Its just because there's a level of realism that isn't present in dreams, and perhaps sometimes its also symbolic.

however, the power of suggestion can be a powerful thing, so if you hear something like that, I think its more likely that it might pop up in a dream of your own.

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Originally Posted by Vex Kitten

With me, too, the major difference with my refelctions is my hair.

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Me too, I've looked in the mirror a few times and the only difference was that I had fucking awesome hair, since I just got forced to get a haircut which I hate it was a good moment.

On my first lucid I found a mirror because I wanted to try to transform into something. When I found the mirror and saw myself I looked really pretty, my hair was done nicly and I had makeup on. That is really strange because I usually just shove it up and never wear makeup except special occasions. I know for a fine fact that im not pretty and im the opposite of self confident but it was really nice to see it like that.
Then one time in a non lucid i looked in a mirror at my teeth and they had black bits on them and yellow tips. It was absalutly disgusting and I was well freaked out when I woke up.
I am going to try again next time I am lucid, hopefully it wont be scary.

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Originally Posted by miggsy

I had a drem last night and became lucid.I decided to look into a mirror in the bathroom.At first my face was normal but then it changed into this hiddeous looking creature with fangs and with the neck ripped open.I was a little scared but continued to look at it.I began to talk and its lips moved in sync with mine which indicated to me that this was my reflection.I thought dreams were able to be controlled by the dreamer? i was wishing for that to happen so why did it? any anwers?

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You were wishing for what to happen?

As far as dream control, what is your idea of dream control?

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Originally Posted by pixiedust

a self-fullfilling prophecy, or is there really something to the "don't look at yourself in the mirror in the dream" thing?

I ask because as I read this forum I've come across quite a few posters who say looking into the mirror in a lucid was scary/disturbing. I've read that people saw their mirror image as deformed, that they looked normal except their eyes turned black (which sounds more than a bit scary to me), and other similar things. What I'm wondering is, is this just happening because people read of other's experiences, and thus have that mindset that "looking in a mirror in my dream might be scary", so when they do - it happens.... or is it at all possible that there really is something (what kind of something? I have no idea, that's why I'm asking) about looking into a mirror in your lucid dream that generates negative experiences. Could we really not be "supposed" to look in a dream mirror? As a realist I want to doubt such a thing, but the experiences on this forum make me wonder.

How many folks here have looked in a mirror and had nothing scary or strange happen at all?

As for me personally, I'll be avoiding mirrors in my dreams for the forseeable future.

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Look in mirrors in dreams! It's cool!

I had a lucid dream where I looked in a mirror, and did an RC with my hands, and my hands only appeared in the mirror, but not in front of my face!

I had a non-lucid where I looked in the mirror, and I saw some a-holes gave me a military haircut, and I had a lot of grey hair. I was pissed, shouting: WHO DID THIS TO ME?

I went through a mirror before, and everything was backwards, right was left, left was right, and all words were backwards. I was hoping for something more. :?

I thoroughly believe you should always do the exact thing you are afraid to do in dreams. Doing this will decrease your fears, and increase your powers. Just say, "this is a just a dream."

(I say "F*** this! This is a dream!" but, that's just me.)

I like looking in mirrors in my lucid dreams. I almost always see myself with something "different" about me. One time I saw myself with 1 eye like a cyclops, another with long curly black hair, another with no mouth. It's some cool stuff. No need to be afraid.

I came across a mirror on one of my first lucids. 3 mirrors, actually, standing together on a table. I was curious to see what I would look like because of all these rumours, but my reflexion was pretty normal. I then started to morph myself for kicks. Only after I was through with all the morphing and enjoying my handiwork did i see my reflexion start to change on its own and make me look deformed.
It's was fun. :)

Look in the mirror while tripping on shrooms. Now thats creepy/cool.

Yeah if your lucid mirrors can be fun, like making yourself skinner, different colour hair, fangs... options are endless.
But the non-lucids can be alittle unnerving like watching your teeth falling out. :shock:
Though it can encourage you to focus on detail.

I did once in a dream I posted here and saw my sisters face. I quickly morphed it back into mine though.

I find that lucid dreaming is a skill. It develops and refines as you continue to dream. When I first looked into a mirror (I was scared too) I saw myself and could identify the figure as me - I had my main features, like the right hair style and body shape. But often your face doesn't quite look as you'd expect. Not to say it will be deformed and disturbing, but I personally don't see those important features like contours of the face or anything like a freckle. I imagine this is because faces are very detailed really, and to remember the exact look and style of a face can be hard.
I once had a haircut and it took a while before my LDs were "updated" to the new hair type. As I say, the more you look in the mirror the more realistic it gets. In fact, its better in a dream because I loose the frizz to my hair. :D

I have not had any bad experiences looking in mirrors in dreams, though these are non-lucid dreams, as I'm just starting to learn lucid dreaming. In one such dream, my reflection in the mirror looked really great (though not much like the actual me, and not wearing clothes I would ever wear), and in the next, I looked just like myself, but with longer hair. (In the dream, I thought, "That's odd--wasn't my hair quite short just earlier today?" but didn't realize I was dreaming.)

I am a newbie in the field of lucid dreaming but I am very intrigued by the concept. Last Thursday I bought Laberge's EWLD. On Friday it arrived. On Saturday morning I read the first two chapters. On Sat. afternoon I took a nap on my couch. I had a dream that a immense table lamp was rising out of the sea. I said to myself, "that's impossible I must be dreaming" immediately the lamp turned into the disembodied gray head of a large Rottweiler like dog and came towards me menacingly. I awoke.

On Sunday morning I dreamt I was in an unfamiliar apartment that belonged to me. The living room had wall to ceiling mirrors. I looked in the mirror and saw that I was black. I immediately said to myself, "that's impossible I'm not black, I must be dreaming." Once I realized this everything became extremely lucid. I calmly regarded my surroundings and I said to myself this is amazing. This reality is more real than my waking reality. The dream went on for quite a while.

So for me the mirror or my reflection in it became a Dreamsign that I was able to use to realize that I was dreaming. A truly positive effect.
I am really amazed by all this and look forward to working with lucid dreams as much as possible

I've had all sorts of weird run-ins with mirrors in my dreams. They are not always frightening, but they are always bizarre or disturbing. There is definitely something about looking at yourself in a mirror while lucid. Something about the extra self awareness of being lucid layered on top of the reflection. Strange stuff.

This reminds me of a task of the month we did a few years ago:
http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ad.php?t=44482

I can only remember two dreams with mirrors in them..

In one of them I was lucid in the blackness of a dream so I tried to summon an angel(Ariel)by vibrating the name and drawing a sigil. Then I felt my wrist being squeezed as if to make me aware that they were there so I said "I know your there can you help me with what I wish to know", and instantly I found myself standing infront of the mirror in my bathroom staring at the reflection of someone else. Which was freaky and gave me a shock. He had a very bright blue aura around his head which was coming out his hollowed eyes which showed little black spots under his eyes. And I could hardly speak because I was in shock but I introduced myself and when I did I spoke with many voices inside me and it was like it echoed which made me feel like the reflection was inside, which made it even more freaky but he sensed that and left soon after.

And then in the other dream with a mirror, I tried to call for Ariel again and found a large mirror in a castle which a small green mexican walking fish looking creature crawled out from(a black hollow mirror)and frilled its head at me as if to attack, when it did that it tured red, so I flew away across the shore and it followed me and turned into a chinese style dragon. Which I just flew away from because it grew so fast and it was huge, so I flew away until I woke myself up. lol, And I dont run from things often in dreams especially when I'm lucid. :D

I just got a shock to see a walking fish.

I rember looking in the mirror once in my dream, and when I looked, I saw my eyes white, like upside down. Could be coincidence, I saw a lot of creepy stuff that night :P

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Originally Posted by Barns

I wouldn't look into dream mirrors if I were you.

Once I looked into a mirror and saw a very old man with a top had in my place.

Then I looked away, and when I looked back his face had practically decayed away, and then he leapt at me through the mirror.

That was really freaky, and I had to use my waking technique really hard to make him disappear

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I just read this and it spooked me. That would be really really scary. :shock:
I tried to provoke a scary image in the mirror. I had an LD where I was a ghost. I looked into the mirror and kept screaming really loudly (loud noises seem to provoke freaky things in my dream) but nothing happened. I just turned white (like a ghost you see).

I have a feeling this thread had something to do with this dream. My mirror phobia has been coming back lately.

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Originally Posted by Robot_Butler

I was out on the front patio with my father, when I noticed a tan, axe-head shaped UFO flying above us. Startled, I tried to point it out to my father, only to realize he was nowhere to be found. My confusion lasted only a few seconds before I woke from the vision and found myself lying on the ground. I had blacked out, fallen out of my chair, and imagined the entire UFO scenario. The sky was empty except
for a flock of small, black birds. Something still did not feel right. I felt a pain in the side of my stomach, like a foreign object was lodged there. Was I just abducted and implanted? Did I really just black out?

Nauseous and dizzy, I made my way to the bathroom. Worried I would black out again, I told my father to come in after me if I wasn't out in two minutes. I sat on the toilet to steady myself, and looked at my reflection in the mirror. I was alone in the bathroom, but could feel some sort of presence next to me. As I turned my head to look, Josh appeared from thin air and let out a nightmarish scream right in my face. I screamed, too, feeling a disorienting dual awareness. Josh started dragging me into the mirror as I felt my real body struggling to scream through the sleep paralysis.

I recognized the feeling of a dream, and assumed I must have passed out again. I continued to scream, desperately hoping my father would hear my screams, and come into the bathroom to wake me up. Hands shook me awake. I expected to wake on the bathroom floor with my father, but instead found myself safely in bed with my girlfriend.

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I looked once into the mirror in my dream and one half of my face was my brother's, the other was a mutated version of mine, since I'm into unnatural things it was lovely :boogie:

In one dream it felt like I was high off my ass, on Cannabis :D, and I looked in the mirror to check my eyes out... They were all off center and fucked up... In the dream, I thought to myself, "Wow, I've never been this high before" hahha

I've never had a mirror experience that really scared me. Probably the worst thing that's happened was I was making love to a woman, and then looked up into a mirror and saw that she was some old haggard ghoulish looking thing. I just said, "Do you really have to look like that?" And she became a beautiful brunette. It's a little weird because I'm pretty sure that would scare me in real life.

Other than that, I often see myself looking like a different person, or I'll have a beard, or my head will be too big. I've even seen a female version of myself. Nothing that I found scary though.

I really shouldn't of gone onto this thread just before bed :paranoid:

I'm terrified about looking in mirrors in dreams, mostly b/c of what I've heard. I don't recall ever actually having a bad experience tho.

(I had about a year of lucids where I was IN people.Two separate consciousnesses one body)

Yes the mirrors can be disturbing in Dreams. I think then we really SEE ourselves, not in the filtered down waking "reality" state of awareness.
Seeing myself and MY eyes on/in the body of a girl being abducted by what she thought was aliens..disturbing as hell, being I could not save her.

:disconcerted:

Morrigan

In the Physical World what you see is what you get, in the Dream World what you think is what you'll get.

And I saw demonic eyes. I had never heard of this or read about not doing it. There was no self-fulfilling prophecy there. I was smiling, looked evil, had green glowing eyes. The mirror was in front of me, and I was afraid to look, knowing it was a dream and could likely be distorted. I had deja vu, as though, I had had other lucid dreams where a mirror was in front of me, I was afraid to look, but forgot the lucid dream -- only to be remembered in the dream. The mirror was in front of me, a large mirror, I think, in a sky scraper being built, way up high at night. I think I flew there. The reflection didn't manifest, it was like I was a ghost, until I wanted to see myself. And there I was, brave and fearless to look and discover that I looked like a sociopathic monster/ demon. I looked like I needed the exorcist for sure.

Wonder what that means??? I had been trying really hard to see myself through someone else's eyes recently, someone that hates me and thinks I'm psycho. Maybe I've been trying too hard to do so that I've actually started believing I am what he thinks I am... interesting...

Actually, reading some of the other responses, I realize my fear of mirrors came from the whole, never look in a mirror while tripping thing... perhaps it was a self fulfilling prophecy after all. I am disappointed I see myself as being so insane. I looked hot though, something like, a Megan Fox succubus.

My first experience of looking at myself in the mirror was a projection of who or what I wanted to be back then. 'T was a fun experience. I was staring at an awesome J-Pop artist. (I'd like to think so xP)

But as I acquired these info about how unpleasant it would be to look at oneself in the mirror, it actually turn out to be a scary experience. It was inevitable, as I couldn't help but feel and think about it at that event. I believe it really just gets stimulated from what you are anticipating, from an acquired fact or your mere suppositions. Intentionally or otherwise.

Now what I really wanna experience, is walking through it or entering one. And watching the world from a visually opposite perspective.

I've had a lot of interesting experiences with mirrors in dreams...not exactly bad, but sometimes creepy or startling. I rarely see myself accurately. Many times the image is someone who looks nothing like me. Sometimes it moves around on its own, and if I yell at it to act like a proper mirror image, it just makes faces or rude gestures at me, lol.

I think mirrors can reflect how you subconsiously think of yourself. So depressed people/those with low self esteem, it might be scary.

One of my OBE goals was to look in a mirror, so one night i woke up got out of bed and thought 'Hmm, if im really dreaming i should look in the mirror, that will confirm it' I looked in the mirror, looked perfectly normal, came to the conclusion i werent dreaming and went straight back to bed. Fail -_-

After reading this thread I figured I would probably end up dreaming about a mirror. Well, I did! Last night in my dream I came to a mirror in a part of my house I had never been (I don't feel like typing the rest of the dream). So I looked in the mirror and I was normal, I looked away and then back and I was still normal. I looked away and this time decided I was going to make my image deformed. So when I looked I saw my face, mutilated, and making clicking and groaning noises (real freaky stuff). But I wasn't startled, I expected it to happen and made it happen, I was actually proud of myself that I was able to do it. But I didn't actually become lucid, I'm still working on that, lol.

Mirrors in my dreams are a dead giveaway that I'm dreaming, somehow. Because they never reflect me :P At least, not how I should be. (I use them for OBEs too). EDIT: I think I just figured out why they're Dream Signals: I rarely look in a mirror in my waking life. I know where every mirror is in my parents' house and my appartment, and only lookin them when grooming myself in the morning and after a shower. It's just not normal for me to be looking in a mirror any other moment, so if such a moment does occur, I know I'm dreaming because I wouldn't normally do that.

(fear confession: I'm actually afraid of mirrors. I don't know why, I just am. I know my image won't change IRL. It just reflects. But I think it has to do with the old myth/legend that mirrors only reflect souls/creatures with souls. So I guess I'm kinda scared that something will show that I can't see with my physical eyes, or something I can see with my physical eyes, won't show up in the mirror. Mirrors freak me out. I'm sorry if I freaked someone else out by saying this..)

One dream I specifically remember being reflected in, though, is this one:
I'm in a bathroom (I think it's a private bathroom, but has two sinks), washing my hands and face, when suddenly I notice an oddity about my left eye. There's a sort of transparent film over it, which slowly turns white and then yellowish to bright gold. I can't see clearly though it, so I begin to carefully peel it off. It hurts a little but is very bearable, so when the cling film is removed, I notice the same has happened to my right eye, so I repeat procedure.

After this, it's almost as if something prohibiting me from "seeing what is so" had been peeled from my inner eyes. I can see through people's intentions a lot easier now.

I have only looked in a mirror once while dreaming, and that is how my dream began. I was staring at myself in a mirror in a normal dream and looked closer and thought "hmm, am i dreaming?" Suddenly my reflection's eyes started to cross in all different directions, at this point i became lucid(probably my 3rd or 4th LD)I shouted "I'm dreaming!!" I was so excited i busted out of my bathroom door and everything became blurry and i fell over and quickly faded out of the dream. So for me I have not had any scary experiences with mirrors.

I've looked into mirrors a few times while dreaming. I never actually see a reflection. Mirrors are instead just portals in my dreams.

Funny thing is that many of you guys are seeing different hair (better hair, worst hair, strange hair etc) :) Maybe your giving too much attention to how you look in reality?
I think that those of you that are affraid of mirros are probably afraid of your unknow nature.
If you heard that you will see something strange and you belive in that - thats probably going to happen.

The point is there is no mirror! You are just projecting the image of your self, but you are not doing this "by yourself", your letting your subconsciousness do the job. Realize that in the dreams even if you have controll your not doing anythig by your conscius self. You just think of some thing and the subconsciousness is doing the job for you. Think of some place and you can be there - you dont have to create it rock by rock / atom by atom.

One of my goals in LD was to jump into a mirror - (before ive heard/read that it will be a strange experiece) well it was strange :) again you get what you expect. But what will be the element of strageness - thats the suprice that your subconsciousness will serve you ( thanks to this it can be strange ). If it would be 100% predicible it woudnt be strange or scarry or unusuall. If there would be a popular opinion that (for example) drinking water in dreams will couse a very strange experience - thats whats gonna happen.
Mirrors are cool :) no need to be afraid.

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Originally Posted by pixiedust

a self-fullfilling prophecy, or is there really something to the "don't look at yourself in the mirror in the dream" thing?

I ask because as I read this forum I've come across quite a few posters who say looking into the mirror in a lucid was scary/disturbing. I've read that people saw their mirror image as deformed, that they looked normal except their eyes turned black (which sounds more than a bit scary to me), and other similar things. What I'm wondering is, is this just happening because people read of other's experiences, and thus have that mindset that "looking in a mirror in my dream might be scary", so when they do - it happens.... or is it at all possible that there really is something (what kind of something? I have no idea, that's why I'm asking) about looking into a mirror in your lucid dream that generates negative experiences. Could we really not be "supposed" to look in a dream mirror? As a realist I want to doubt such a thing, but the experiences on this forum make me wonder.

How many folks here have looked in a mirror and had nothing scary or strange happen at all?

As for me personally, I'll be avoiding mirrors in my dreams for the forseeable future.

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I was lucid dreaming and when I looked in the mirror I had a body but no head. it was creepy but I realised its just a dream and to roll with it.

So far I haven't looked into any mirrors during a lucid dream. I hope it's awesome.

In non-lucids though, my experiences have ranged anywhere from normal to scary to nightmare. I have seen myself as myself, as a younger or older version of myself, as something completely different...I have seen disturbing things that I sometimes wish I could unsee.

The fact that such experiences never caused me to gain lucidity is maybe what annoys me the most.

But beyond that, I am also strongly reminded of how (in waking life) I had been warned against looking into the mirror under the influence of certain drugs.

I knew that negative preconceived notions were dangerous, and I had this feeling that whatever I saw...it would reveal something about me, something beyond what a normal, sober, reality-based mirror can reveal. And what did I do? I chose to look.

One time it wasnt as bad, but another time they had to coax me out of the bathroom I got so upset. I didn't want anyone to see what I had seen...Even though I knew the reflection was altered by the drug...my sober, reality-based assumption of mirrors had been so challenged that I was upset even though I knew getting upset was ridiculous!

Some people might blame the warner, for putting the idea in my head. But he was there coaxing me out, so if anything my fear seems to be the root of the conflict.

And if anything, all these experiences upset me only in that sometimes...I wish I could just instinctively know when a mirror is just a mirror, and when it is more or less. That would just be easier.

Wishful thinking, I suppose.

Trouble is, I often resent that kind of supermirror too, so clearly my issue with them goes beyond dreaming.

I've had my first close-to-lucid dream a couple of days ago, but had a false awakening due to excitement i think. Anyways, i'm still pretty lucid and was still able to do a couple of weird things, one of them being looking in a mirror. I never read anything about looking in a mirror before and it looking creepy, but when i looked into the mirror i just saw myself, except my eyes were super tiny. I found this pretty funny to be honest, but i thought it was a bit weird for my first lucid experience :)

I don't know if this helps with your inquiry but when I was on mushrooms and looked in a mirror my pupils went square in the reflection like a goats, it was weird as. the night vision was awesome though, and how things softly changed colours lol. trippy.

In one of my first lucid dreams I looked at a mirror simply out of curiosity since I had heard the same things that were brought up here. I remember that I looked like myself, but in a way like a Lord of the Rings villain at the same time. I didn't see it as creepy at the time, but just more as interesting. I was a little creeped out by it when I woke up though. It was almost as if that part of my brain was shut down during the dream, either that or my knowledge that it was a dream derailed the fear.

Hi everyone, I want to share my experiences with mirrors in lucid dreams.

Most of the lucid dreams I had were conscious false awakenings. I just stand up from my bed, walk in the darkness and when the optics activate I end up in a room in my house.

At the beginning of my lucid dream experience I have never encountered mirrors, or I didn’t give much attention to them. I was reading some articles on the internet and then I read the warning “Never look at the mirrors while in lucid dream” then they explain that this and that will happen and blah, blah, blah. Hmmm, mirrors, I don’t think I have had problems with them, next time I become lucid I will examine one to see that exactly is happening.

After that, when I became lucid, it took me a while to remember that I need to examine the mirrors. I did and nothing happened, everything seemed normal. This happened a couple of times and always the same result, the mirror reflection was flawless and responded normally.

But one time I ended up at the large bathroom on my house but it seemed inverted. There is a large mirror that covers the entire wall over the 2 washbasins (2m x 1.5m). I was looking to my reflection on the mirror and mocking it to do something scary to frighten me, initially nothing happened the reflection just acted as normal and I thought that this doesn’t work at all, but after a while it happened. The reflection on the mirror zoomed to my face with 3 large steps ending showing my mouth (with the size of the wall) smiling slyly. Among with the 3 zooming actions there was also 3 music chords (with trumpets). I shocked and waked up, this was a good scaring show I said.

Another time, I was observing myself on the mirror, then I realized that on the reflection I looked a bit skinny and my hair were longer. Then I tried to manipulate the mirror image, I wanted to look more muscular (at least I wanted to try to see if this works). After a while the mirror reflection started to react with sudden changes. It is working I said and pushed the manipulation beyond my control to see how much I can change my reflection. Then disaster!! I heard a very loud thunder strike sound, my reflection started to talk with high speed (with no words or sound coming from its mouth, it just moved its lips and mouth) and it stayed on its standing position while I lost all physics and my body control. I started levitating and rotating like a piece of wood and falling on the mirror (with very low pace), I closed my eyes while flying towards the strange behaved mirror reflection, I hit the glass and waken up.

Another time, I was looking on my reflection, it seemed normal but the eyes were solid black. Nothing to be alarmed of everything looked normal I said. Then I kept looking and examining my reflection and looked again to the black eyes (no pupils, no sclera, just black). What is this?! I said, black eyes! This is not good, not good at all, I need to move away, I need to leave NOW! I turned my back and start walking away, then as I walked further and further from the reflection, it started to growl louder and louder while taking big breaths between the growls. Then I waken up normally.

Another time, I was walking towards the large bedroom, which has a large mirror on the wall (2m x 1.5m, yes my house has some large mirrors). Then I was looking at my reflection as I approach the mirror from distance (I was over 6 meters away). Then the exact moment I realized what I was doing (looking at my reflection) everything blacked out for a brief moment, then blacked again and again, then I waken up.

The last time I was looking on the mirror. The exact moment I thought that something scary can happen, it did. My reflection did a scary face on me (similar to the fan made scary faces on youtube) and screamed loudly. I waken up laughing and at the same time terrified.

Since no one have posted any more experiences with mirrors since my last post I decided to make another post on this subject. I really think I terrified many of you by posting my scary experiences. Don’t worry I was more scared than you to look at the mirrors but I had that urge to look again and again. Sooner or later I will experience another mirror reflection and I should perceive it as part of the dream and not like something scary.

Last night I had a very very long lucid dream (DILD), actually it consisted of many smaller lucid dreams, when it faded I immediately restarted it to the same location and it kept going on and on. I tried many old and new activities to this dream, long distance sustained flight, portal travel, interacting with dream people, summon people, traveling to the moon but the most anticipated was the mirror reflection. I had terrifying experience with it in the past but it was time to settle the matter once and for all.

I was in the large bedroom, the one with that large 2x1.5m mirror. I was looking at it for brief moments. My reflection was flawless. I had in my mind that something wrong or scary might happen and I was prepared for it.

My sister was in that room but she has a burn mark on her forehead. I called her to come to the mirror to examine if her reflection with that mark was also shown on the mirror. And it did, the reflections of me and my sisters were flawless, whatever I see in the dream it reflected to the mirror.

One time an “Asterisk” type sound was heard while taking brief looks at the mirror.

3 times I saw myself with solid black eyes, similar to what I have experience before. Apart from the eyes the reflection was flawless. The first 2 looks were brief and nothing scary happened. The 3rd time I examined closely the reflection and especially the eyes. They were solid black and also the tips of the eyelids were black, I could close and open my eyes at will, although I didn’t lost my sight each time I closed. I tried all 3 times to pass through the mirror and I couldn’t make it. I felt my hands and head going into it but I find strong resistance after about 30cm, looking inside this area I could see nothing but a grey thick substance. With all the 3 attempts, the dream faded. I returned to my bed and successfully restarted the Lucid Dream to the same room.

The whole time I had a feeling that something scary is emerging but when felt it, I let it go away and didn’t hold on it. This caused the subconscious to get rid of a scary mirror reflection and keep the reflection to act normally.

My conclusion about mirrors is that initially they always behave normally, unless you deeply want them to do something scary. Sometimes they will show a deformed image but only slightly, for example you may be fatter, skinnier, have different haircut, different eyes or may have a mark on your face. The largest portion of the reflected image will project the real reflection or a different person and nothing too different like to show a monster instead, unless you aim for it and again it will have as a base the initial reflection.

I found passing through the mirrors difficult, maybe because it was my first time, I didn’t know what will happen and deeply inside I felt that nothing will happen (similar to my first failed attempts to fly in Lucid Dreams).

I tried that. They were almost completely black. I managed to fix them but when I put the attention to my face, it started morphing randomly. It was fun.

Probably my earliest dream memory was from my early childhood, around 5 years old. I looked in the bathroom mirror and I was a large reptilian extraterrestrial. I then proceeded to eat my mom's arm. Strange to say the least.

He just said, "As I approached the mirror from an angle I was for some reason scared as if I shouldn't be doing it." He was scared of it to begin with, of course he's going to see something scary in the mirror.

There might be some symbolic meaning behind it (something to do with identity, perhaps), as that's what I believe dreams fundamentally are, but it's definitely also a belief thing. If you think something will happen, it will.

It's interesting to read some of these, I thought I was the only one. :bliss: I've suffered from sleep paralysis all my life, now that I'm older I can make myself aware or wake up but I chose to stay asleep and enjoy lucid dreaming. I can turn my nightmares into awesome lucid dreams but it doesn't always work.
Yesterday I had a dream I was in a post apocalyptic type world and I was waiting for someone to come get me. I was waiting in a house, while they went out for supplies. I remember having deja vu when I saw a particular room. I noticed a mirror and felt scared of it "but I didn't know why". I then noticed more mirrors all around the room. I couldn't see any reflection in the biggest mirror, it was like a gray blurry cloud, but I wasn't looking directly at it. I was trying to see it through my peripheral vision as I headed to the door.
I felt like if I looked at it something bad would happen.
I told himself, as I walked to the door, "don't look at it, don't let it get you, you know you're dreaming, just get outside". I didn't have to turn the knob, the door just blew open. It was daylight out and it was almost blinding because the room was so dark. I knew I was dreaming but didn't want to continue, even though I was now safe, so I woke up.
I don't know what would have happened if I had looked into the mirror. :alien:

I had a similar experience last night.

It was a dream involving a mirror. I wasn’t interacting or looking at it as I was busy with something else in the dream (I cannot recall). Suddenly I looked at the mirror with trill, there was no reflection of me. I immediately knew what to do with the mirror, to make it show something scary. I looked at it and push it to show something. After a while, out of nowhere my face with my palms touching the other side of the glass appeared in the mirror with a scary look, I also heard a scream coming from behind then I woke up.

I need to mention that it was just a normal dream. The thing I am concerned is that my subconscious is somehow programmed to do this thing, every time I see a mirror in dreams. The problem is I don’t know how did I managed to do this, although I can recall all the mirror events I still can’t reach to a clear conclusion.

I don't remember my face being scary or distorted in dreams. I do remember being in a room full of bended and twisted mirrors (everything was distorted normally how it would be if the morror was bent IRL though). I have looked into mirrors a couple of times (non-lucid) and thought "wow, I'm looking pretty attractive today!" :D so it is actually quite pleasant for me.

In a lucid I was in our school's toilet. It felt like a force tried to pull me to watch my self from a mirror so I did, and in it I saw a terrifying, changing and distorted face of mine. It kept smiling to me like a demon and I was unable to pull my eyes off from it.

I never really had bad experiences with mirrors in my dreams. I do recall a couple of dreams where I looked in the mirror and saw a person standing behind me, that was creepy obviously but nothing happened, the person didn't do anything. My face looks a little distorted, usually, in dream-mirrors but never in a scary way, just slightly different than in RL.

I wasn't lucid, but this dream was extremely vivid.

I was looking in my mirror and it was EXTREMELY frightening. I looked the same... but it was just the way I was staring at myself so menacingly. That was the last time I remember feeling fear in a dream. It was a long time ago, when I was active on these forums and taking a dream class.

I hadn't heard anything about dream mirrors being scary, but I still believe dreams are all about expectations. You can certainly learn how to overcome the shock if a mirror through expectation.

Well I've had two experiences the first was actually only my second lucid dream and I was at an amusement park and i saw a mirror in the middle of no where so I looked and I saw myself as a 30 year old with a family but the more I looked the older I got and my family disappeared and for some reason it really played with my emotions and I burst into tears.

The second was a wild sort of so I just woke up randomly and I got up out of my bed and I walked to my lounge and there where no windows at all it was completely dark except for a light shining on a window so I looked into it and I rapidly started aging until it all stopped and I had no eyes just black with holes on my face and my teeth where chipped with holes and black and it was just a horrible sight almost like a demon crossed with a zombie and no doubt it woke me up so yeah that's what happened with me

I have a more positive attitude when it comes to dream mirrors. Whenever I come across a mirror in a lucid dream, I walk through it to see what's on the other side. It's a nice way to change the scenery. Another time I reached into the mirror and pulled out a bunch of fluffy baby dogs :-)

I came across this thread quite some time ago and was fascinated and thought “Okay, I need to try looking at a mirror in an LD and see for myself.” It seems last night I finally got around to trying it once (out of eleventy trillion other things on my LD to-do list).

My expectation was that nothing “scary” would happen (which is hard to imagine being possible when I already know I'm dreaming). When I looked, my reflection mostly looked normal, as far as I could tell during the dream (it's possible I might have looked different but didn't recognize the difference). Then I held up my hand and found my fingers were really short, almost like stumps, which I found amusing. I seemed to be remembering people talking about their hands looking weird in dreams in the back of my mind while doing this, which is probably why that happened. Other than that, I didn't notice anything too odd.

Of course, I'll have to try this some more sometime; maybe I can do some fun things with it. :)

Mirrors in dreams are interesting. When you are aware you are dreaming, the mirror often will become distorted, deformed, or just become something/someone bizarre. I don't find this scary personally, but I can see how one could. You can even have conversations with your reflection! I find this quite cool, and it can lead to insights about things. It's something to try.....but it's downright freaky so if that bothers you don't do it.

One of my lucid dreams, I looked in the mirror and it was demonic and my reflection screamed at me. I broke the mirror. Lol, but I tend to stay away from mirrors in dreams.

I sometimes have scary or creepy experiences with mirrors in my dreams, lucid and nonlucid. But recently I had a lucid dream in which I used a mirror a a sort of portal to summon an object. I reached into the mirror, expected to feel something, and then pulled out a couple of old books.

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Originally Posted by insideout

I sometimes have scary or creepy experiences with mirrors in my dreams, lucid and nonlucid. But recently I had a lucid dream in which I used a mirror a a sort of portal to summon an object. I reached into the mirror, expected to feel something, and then pulled out a couple of old books.

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I tried doing that before. It doesn't work for me