Archetype Control: An Elegant Tool

::Part 1::

In the following article, I'll try my best to communicate what Archetype Control is and how it can be used effectively. It will be by no means a complete guide, but it should be a useful introduction to the topic for all those unfamiliar with it.

Enough fluff, let's get down to business.

~ Pre-Reqs ~

Before we can even start this conversation, we need to establish some definitions and go over a little theory. I highly recommend you acquaint yourself with the idea of a schema. This is because archetypes are a type of schema, a very specific schema, no less.

~ Introduction ~

For the those among you who'd prefer the tl;dr version, schemas serve as a broad way of looking at the world or an idea; a lens, if you will. One that can be switched out with others on the fly to help our brains make automatic decisions on how we should act or think in a given situation. Archetypes are the magnifiers we place within these lenses in order to direct our focus onto a particular object or idea. So, for instance, everyone reading this has an established schema dealing with communication. If we were to focus in on a part of this schema, say a cellular phone, we would immediately be presented with an archetype dealing with that object. We automatically know what a cell phone is used for, where we can find ours, how to work one, etc. It's these automatic associations that allow us to use the phone easily without much thought.

I hope people are starting to see where this is going. Everything I've stated above can be directly applied to dreams. By drawing on strongly developed archetypes, anyone can achieve precision in dream control quickly and easily. The trick lies in knowing what archetypes you already have, how you can call on them, and how they'll affect your dream. Hopefully, by the time you're done reading this guide, you'll be able to do all three.

~ Examples ~

A great way of explaining Archetype Control is through examples.

I'll start by explaining how I fly:

For four years, I was fairly addicted to an MMO entitled City of Heroes/Villains. The game, as you can imagine, entails taking the role of super-powered entity and attempting to keep the peace or bring about the destruction of everything. Obviously, there are several powers that allow the user to quickly travel through the world, namely flight, teleportation, super speed, and super jump. For flight, a player would click on a toggle button that could either be on or off, and turning it on would immediately lift your character from the ground and give you free range of motion through the skies.

When I dream, all I have to do is click that button in order to start flying. More accurately, I emulate what it feels like to hit that button, no keyboard or visualization required. The steps are as follows:

1. Call on the CoH schema in order to put me in the correct frame of mind. - This can be done simply by recalling what it's like to be playing the game.
   
   
   
2. Focus on the flight archetype and everything that entails. - I accomplish this by directing my attention to one particular aspect of the game.
   
   
   
3. Emulate hitting the button that turns flight on. - Think clicking on a particular command, icon, or link. They're all distinct in their own way, and the one I shoot for here is very specific, but still easy for me to do.
   
   
   
4. Let the archetype take care of the rest. - It's as simple as that.
   

This is all very fluid, intuitive, and doesn't take any extensive thought whatsoever. More than that, it's reliable because the archetype I've already ingrained into my psyche (through hours of repetition) does everything for me. I simply need to set it into motion.

Movies, video games, and anime all lend themselves well to this form of control. I myself make use of various powers you'd find in anime and video games all the time. From DBZ style energy blasts to Bleach inspired power-ups to whipping out a gun that creates portals, it all falls under Archetype Control.

So, too, do 'techniques' like controlling your world via cell-phone, asking DCs to do tasks for you, and even the heralded belief method. If you have a firm grasp on what an archetype is, and how it works, these statements should be fairly easy to confirm on your own, but I'll go over them in the next installment. Just in case.

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::Part 2::

~ Common Discoveries ~

I think it's about time I had a disclaimer:

Archetype Control is by no means a new form of dream manipulation and has likely been around since LDing began, with new generations throughout the ages uncovering their own pieces to the puzzle. If one frequents these forums at all, then one knows threads proclaiming the discovery a great new control method pop up all the time. Personally, I think this is a wonderful thing.

However, the reason I'm bringing it to light now is because these discoveries are only parts of a whole. Separate, they're useless to everyone but the people who found them. Together, they paint a picture everyone can look at and understand.

What is that picture? None other than a powerful form of control that can be adapted to do anything reliably and easily.

Each discovery is a personal victory, one in which the oneironaut has succeeded in finding a strong personal archetype he can use to fulfill his goals. And when it comes to Archetype Control, everything needs to be a personal revelation. It's up to you, the dreamer, to recognize your strong personal archetypes and figure out a way to use them in order to achieve a desired outcome. Fortunately, you have knowledge these others did not. Knowledge of the bigger picture. Knowledge of the mechanics behind your future breakthrough. Knowledge enough to seek, within yourself, the solutions to your problems.

~ Implementations ~

The steps to utilize basic Archetype Control are surprisingly straightforward:

1. Recognize your goal.
   
2. Find an existing personal archetype you feel would bring about the desired results.
   
3. Get Lucid.
   
4. Call on the schema the archetype lies under, using basic recall skills.
   
5. Focus in on the archetype in question.
   
6. Set the archetype in motion.
   

As you can see, that leaves a lot of room for creative implementation. The important thing is that you find a way to set the archetype in motion. Chanting Kamehameha in the proper stance, for instance, might be a great way for a DBZ fan to set in motion the act of firing off a powerful energy blast. Or maybe you need to flick your wand in just the right way when casting Wingardium Leviosa.

Finding the right motions, sounds, or feelings that will invoke the associations needed to thrust your archetype into action is of critical importance. And sometimes, you need to figure this stuff out on the fly. To illustrate my point, light levels seem to be a difficult thing for most people to adjust at will. I myself ran into this problem during a lucid awhile back, so I stopped and thought about all the ways I knew to make things brighter IRL. Oddly enough, the TI-83 graphing calculator came to mind, with its ability to change the contrast of the screen with a few button presses. Deciding to at least give it a try, I pulled one out of my pocket and hit the right buttons, thinking of the world around me as the screen. Lo and behold, despite my reservations, the world brightened with every push of the button.

This is just one example of a not-so-standard implementation of Archetype Control. That kind of approach is required to accomplish more complex goals using this method, but practically speaking it won't be necessary for most routine tasks. If your archetypes are strong, and chosen well, putting them into action will be a simple matter of emulation.

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::Part 3::

~ Building New Archetypes / How To Do Anything ~

After you've familiarized yourself with the archetypes you already have, you might be wondering what else there is to do. Well, the wonderful thing about archetypes is you can make new ones designed to fulfill a specific task. A task that those you have now aren't suited for. Very simply, this is done through conditioning.

There are tons of ways to condition your mind and create new, powerful associations. For example, video games persist as an excellent way to develop new archetypes. Why? Because their repetitive nature and pervasive presentation allow associations to develop naturally and easily. Gamers learn that if they hit this button, something cool happens, and those results become intuitive for them, second nature. And as you'd expect, these simple actions can be directly translated to dreams using methods we've already discussed.

Beyond video games lies the realm of music, videos, and daydreams. These are all useful tools in creating strong associations IWL, but it's important to note they only become powerful through repetition. Try listening to the same song over and over again, keeping your goal, you end result, firmly in mind. Or watch your favorite television/movie characters perform the same actions throughout the video, over and over again. And for those times when you've go nothing better to do, visualize your task throughout the day, ingraining that method completely within your mind's eye.

Remember, these are just a handful of ways you can build archetypes to suit your needs. There are tons of ways to create the associations needed for precise dream control. Sometimes you just have to get creative. The important thing to remember is that you prescribe meaning to your archetype building. Don't just do it blindly; really get into it. That's always how I've gotten my best results.

But it gets better.

Waking life isn't the only place you can develop new Archetypes. As it turns out, if you figure out how to do something cool in a dream, and are able to reproduce those results, you've got the makings of an intensely powerful Archetype right at your fingertips. Archetypes built in dreams, though hard to create if you aren't lucid often, can be incredibly useful. Moreso, I've found that dream-built Archetypes take significantly less time to develop than the traditional sort as the schemata driving the dream-built ones are already there.

To build up the association, the same rules apply: repetition and meaning. Draw from the right schemata (there usually isn't just one for these) and perform the action you first used to initiate control. Eventually, this action alone will be enough to control the dream in the desired way.

~ The Belief Myth Explained ~

I touched on this issue in a fairly recent post. I've provided an edited version below for the purpose of this guide.

The quote does a good job of summing up how belief and expectation fit into the tools we're working with here. As it turns out, belief is just one big unfocused schemata. It has its uses, yes, but your results will vary, even when combining it with more focused Archetypes and Schemata.

~ References ~

- http://www.dreamviews.com/f14/nature...control-57283/

The Cusp's original work which sparked my interest and subsequent research into Archetypes, Schemata, and how dreams operated at an atomic level.

- http://www.dreamviews.com/f14/master...-dreams-48095/

BillyBob's foray into teaching the DV community about Schemata. We disagree on some fundamentals (concerning primarily belief) and his end result is much broader than the focus of this guide (it also require a major shift in how you perceive things), but it's still an excellent resource.

- http://www.dreamviews.com/f14/infini...reaming-46571/

Another one of BillyBob's masterpieces. It also touches on Schemata and how to make use of it. I believe it's a precursor to his “Mastering Your Dreams” guide.