Dreams and life – lucid and otherwise.
Delphinus
Morgan Mason is a spoiled college student that finds the day-in day-out classes of public university a challenge more matched for a mouse than a man. He spends his free time creeping around the internet and writing ridiculous stories about turtles or hookers. Though he could lucid dream as a kid (a gift from his mother) and did so often, lately he has fallen out of practice but has spent the last couple years searching for as much information on the topic as he could find.
Posts by Delphinus
Conquering your Nightmares
Feb 22nd
When I was very young, I was afraid of a lot of things. I lived in a crime-ridden area, just on the edge of a forest of dangerous animals. Add that to the superstitions of the local people and the care of an over cautious mother and you get to be afraid of a lot of things. It was not uncommon for me to step out the door and have my foot land right next to a poisonous snake. We’d check our shoes in the morning for snakes, spiders, or angry reptiles. The appearance of peeping toms or men with firearms were uncommon, but they still happened. The area’s strong belief in spirits, ghosts, and even demons had seeped into my mind. Needless to say, I was perpetually scared.
To follow suit, my dreams were dangerous too. Giant beast would commonly make appearances to attack me. I’d be paralyzed and swallowed by a snake. Extraterrestrials would chase me down. Big dogs would use me as a chew toy. I got rid of these nightmares the hard way – waiting it out. I had been lucid dreaming on occasion, but I still didn’t know the name for it, nor the uses. Luckily, the nightmares faded as I realized that I didn’t have as much to fear as I though. But still, when I found out people had been using lucid dreaming to battle nightmares, I was a little pissed. I had suffered for ages when I really did not have to. It is too late for me (besides the occasional stress-caused night terror) but if you suffer from nightmares, or have friends that do, I suggest lucid dreaming as an answer.
In premise, people use lucid dreaming to face their fears. Turn a nightmare into a lucid dream, and you’re in control. Turn the tables on a common monster, and you’ll be terrorizing your nightmares. This might just give you the comfort and confidence to rid yourself of your personal demons and start enjoying your sleep.
Find Your Own
Feb 8th
There are hundreds of lucid dreaming techniques out there, and many have trouble choosing which one to start out with. Well, really, the only one who can solve that is you.
For me, the best combination has been checking to see if I am dreaming many times during the day – this is called reality checking – and a healthy amount of sleep. However, I know many people who do this and still have no results.
Those same people might go out and try different techniques. They could be successful on their first try, or it could take months of no results. But eventually, they will find what works best for them. I know many dreamers who lost hope after only a few tries. I believe that if they had stuck to it, they would have been successful. They just needed to find their own personal method.
Mortal Mist has many resources on techniques. If you need more, there are several listed elsewhere online. Take each one with a grain of salt, though. Some of them out there may be an over-complication of an already developed method. Others can be the user’s own misinterpretation of what things really are. Look for comments, if there is something wrong with it, someone has probably pointed it out. And it can’t hurt to have a friend that is knowledgeable or well-versed in techniques.
I believe that every technique merits a decent attempt, an honest try. If you don’t succeed, record the results. Maybe you remember something. Maybe you had a weird feeling. Whatever it is, keep notes. If you give up on one technique and start another, you can always come back. Notes are wonderful for dreamers.
And keep at it. Losing hope is the pitfall of every beginning dreamer.
Worth The Wait
Jan 28th
Now, sadly, I do not remember what my first lucid dream was like. I would have been very young, like many things, the dream faded with age. As such, I can not personally tell you what a first lucid dream is like. However, I have told friends about lucid dreaming and even taught others how to do it. I’ve been told their first experiences, and I think I’ve gained a grasp of what it is like.
My current room mate just recently had his first lucid dream. As he told it, he had been standing in the middle of the street and he suddenly just knew he was dreaming. He looked up and down the street, taking in his surroundings. He saw the colors more vivid than life. Everything shone with extraordinary brilliance. He felt happy. He concentrated on flying. He lifted himself off the ground shortly. He moved down the street but the dream faded quickly. He was happy to hear that it was his first lucid dream. He asked me if it was one. He didn’t know you could have a lucid dream without trying. (I guess I’m not a great teacher.)
The way he described it was fittingly, “inexplicable.” Until you’ve had the experience, I don’t think words could properly translate the feelings and pure beauty of a lucid dream. I had told and taught my room mate – an old friend – about lucid dreaming quite a long time ago, but when he had no success, he gave up. I hope this recent experience will revitalize his ambition.
Too often people will lose hope when they do not succeed as soon as they would like to. I’ve known people to give up after the first night. Others who’ve stuck to it for months before having success. What do they say about it? “Worth the wait.”
The first dream where you realize you can do anything – however shortly – is enough to change any spirits. Lucid dreaming my be hard to get into, but it’s worth it when you do.
Inquire within yourself
Jan 22nd
Many people out there, even within lucid dreaming communities, lose contact with the true meaning of a lucid dream. A lucid dream is simply a dream in which you are aware that you are dreaming. Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’ve already had this interesting experience. Many people will merely shrug it off as “one of those things,” but others will take this special situation and use it to gain dream control. Which is exactly what it sounds like.
Lucid dreaming is the entryway to a world unlike any other. A world where you can rule or you can explore. A world where you can terrorize your nightmares and relive your favorite memories and moments as if they were real life. A world infinitely vast and only as expendable as your own imagination.
Now, if lucid dreaming is such a great thing, why do so few know about it? To be honest, I don’t know. It has been given a bad name, lobbed in with mysticism, and called a psuedoscience, but if you go out and ask someone, “Have you ever had a dream where you knew you were dreaming?” they will almost definitely say yes. Studies show that almost everyone will experience a lucid dream at some point in their life. So, if everyone has the ability to do it without any noticeable effort, isn’t it reasonable to think that those who do put effort into it could achieve this fantastical feat?
There are many methods to increase the frequency of lucid dreams, but the first step is almost always believing that this thing exists. Inside yourself is the most enjoyable experience in the world, all it takes is a little determination.
