Lucid Dreaming

[sol]

Are any of you lucid each night that you sleep?
Share your lucid dreaming experiences and belief with me.
Tell me how you tried to astral project
your failures your pains, your success and your bliss

I take melatonin and have some various dream herbs when i want to be lucid. usually i have to prepare a week or so in advance and put some semi serious effort into it or it will not occur at all.

it seriously effects my work habits so i haven't in a long time
i am going to try tonight

[jmsn72]

I lucid dream every night during light sleep If I pick up on it I control the dream and remember it.If not then its just like watching a movie.Astral projection is more rare for me than most folks.Usually the pulling sensations,or spinning and rocking feel good but my mind realizes whats gonna happen and interferes.When it does happen it cant be more than a few seconds but then I wake up in my body again.

Projecting can feel good sometimes,others its terrorizing like demons are eating into my head and pinning me down.It always terminates in an OBE of some sort though.

I'd have to try melatonin.Try to do something creative or reading a book that interest you before going to sleep ,it may help.Please let us know how your try worked for you.

[egodiabolus]

This is an interesting topic here, given the over-all philisophical direction of the CoC (we are all "asleep", trying to "wake"). Lucid dreaming exercises could have some parallels to our active efforts in personal reality engineering. If we can learn to manipulate the perspective of our minds while in a dream-state we should become better equipped to do so in a waking state.
Lucid dreaming, for me, usually occurs when I can manage a REM state shortly after falling asleep. I usually achieve this by imagining myself falling down a deep, wide well as I fall asleep. I envision this with as much detail as possible; my robes billowing around me, the equiptment I have chosen to bring with me... There is no fear from this fall; the well is infinitely deep and in this dream state I can fly or at least glide in the direction I see fit.
The walls of the well are not true walls; the are layers stacked one atop another, with each layer being a seperate "realm". I have found that while I often do not have control of what worlds appear, if I see a realm that takes my interest I simply go to it (falling as I am, I often fall past it and have to either float up to it or wait for it to pass again...they seem to cycle when I take an interest).
These realms are typically populated by strange characters of creatures, sometimes connected to some event. Some have proven more resistant to control than others; although they do generally obey my will when I focus. The more dangerous characters put my lucidity to the test...I have been "killed" more than once trying to get some beast to bend to my will. The environment does tend to follow my directions, at least in my immediate sphere of influence.
In dreams that are not initiated in the manner above, I can bring myself to lucidity...usually. While sometimes beneficial, it tends to take the flavor right out of whatever scenario was being indulged in; suddenly being god takes all the challenge out of most events.
Another technique to encourage lucid dreaming is to set an alarm for 2-3 hours before you intend to wake up; just so you have to wake, shut off the alarm, and fall back to sleep. This brings you to a level of conciousness shortly before going into REM state.
I am not a drug person, typically eschewing even aspirin. I am considering testing salvia, but that is for a different discussion.

-Ego

[~Faceless~]

I dont lucid dreaming alot it happans just whenever.I must say however it always leaves me shaking my head in the am or upon waking...it can be very interesting to say the least.

[jmsn72]

It may be a good idea to daydream or spend 2 hours visualizing and imagining something at some point during the day before going to sleep.I don't mean the daydreaming where your mind drifts,I mean the type where you consciously control your internal mental environment,kinda like writing a story or watching a movie in your mind that you yourself are directing but may or may not be a part of.

I find this helps in lucid dreaming.Days when I did this for at least 15 - 30 minutes,I found my dream followed the daydream and was almost as easy to control.I say 2 hours because not everyone is as in touch enough to see things in their minds so it may take longer to get used to.Any significant portion of time where you are extending a maximum level of focus usually gets imprinted and is dreamed about whether u remember it or not.Better to dream of screwing some hot babe in a superdimensional mindset or going on a quest for the silver key than dreaming about the faces you have to deal with at work.

I should make a distinction between creative and destructive imagination.Destructive are fearful thoughts that inhibit and are unregulated in most folk.Creative imagination is that that inspires people to write stories,draw comics,and explore what would be unattainable realms in this consensus reality.

When I was first getting into Lucid Dreamin and Astral Projection,I read something about asking every 30 minutes "am I awake"?If your dedicated enough to do that,its a guaranteed Outer Body Experience the same night.

[sin]

I've experienced hypnogognia quite a few times in my life, man so trippy. My most recent experience involved me brushing long hair that I believed that I had. I got this thing with my hair, there's hereditary baldness in my family. My brother lost his hair at age 18, and I started losing mine at 21. I've had hair transplant surgery (twice) and it's done very little. I am destined to become bald, so there's no fighting it. I have accepted it, and when it gets that bad where I can't mask it anymore - I intend to shave my head and tattoo it. :-)

Anyway, so I have all of these strange dreams that involve my hair - obviously stemming from the anxiety of going bald.

Hypnogognia is the state of dreaming, where you believe you have already woken up (and have slightly) but go back to sleep. This can even happen during the day, when you have that 'day dream' state of dreaming.

Hypnogognia also involves sleep paralysis - you often have no control over body movements. So I'd be sitting up in bed, brushing my long imaginary hair. Then when I wake up, it takes a minute to shake it off and realize I was dreaming and I really don't have this hair.

A few other dreams involved waking up hovering over my bed, half on/half off - and I was convinced I was being abducted by aliens (in my dream).

Others involved experiencing my death in various forms (I always enjoy those).

The mind is amazing, what it can do!

[jmsn72]

The best thing about hypnogogia and other dream states (OBE,hypnopompic,regular dreams,nightmares and astral projection) is the quality of fear.

I noticed there is a quality of fear in reality attached to survival and loss only.Like having a gun pointed at you,being surrounded or the threat of losing your life.A very real and valid fear but there's a quality that differs from that of dream,nightmare or waking dream states.

I went to sleep with my feet dangling over the bottom of the bed.Had a lucid dream,all of a sudden I had this fear I was going to literally fall into oblivion in the dream because there was nothing beneath my feet.

It's strange but its almost like the fear is associated not with losing the physical body but with losing the mind to total oblivion in dream,astral and hypnogoic states.There's also this mind boggling sense of urgency to the fear that lacks in reality.Like when your about to get jumped in real life,theres the moment of fear,then you fight ,then its over;whatever happened happened,no sense of urgency,everything is just automatic,mechanical.In dreams however its something different like your body is not just going through the motions.The whole environment in dream can have this push and produce this feel of urgency like,its so hard to explain...but it's like things are more important there than in this reality.

I noticed that in hypnogogic states is probably the best time to communicate with demonic entities due in part to the fear and the way the mind messes with you.It's more potent to encounter something then than in a real ritual.

Best thing is if you are having a sleep paralysis moment,you would swear your body is being possessed.Trippy but useful in someways. Pacts and things made with entities in such states still bind and results seen as a result seem stronger than the results of a ritual,least from my experience.

Anyhow,if you ever go lucid in a dream,try calling the name of some entity be it demonic or Lovecraftian or whatever.Good shit,I assure you.

[Ny'obstaresh]

I've had a few moments of lucidity in several dreams, but not a wholly lucid one (to the best of my recollection). I'm getting some Bitter Grass (Calea zacatechichi) this week though, cos that apparently helps to become lucid. Will post results.

[Sarak G'hash]

it takes a LOT of practice. be patient and keep working on it.

[Ny'obstaresh]

Oh, I shall. I have all the time in the Multiverse...

[sin]

Anyhow,if you ever go lucid in a dream,try calling the name of some entity be it demonic or Lovecraftian or whatever.Good shit,I assure you.

Ya know, I haven't tried that - at least not in bed. I do however practice self-hypnosis, and transcendental states. The use of archetypes is key in invocation/evocation trance rituals. The only *problem* I could see is if I'm consciously aware enough to call out a specific name, then I'm not 'under'. I may be able to do some practice techniques, where the names are stored to memory prior to descent. It's not uncommon for the trancer to sing, moan, cry out, laugh or go into a catatontic state during trance.

[LostSoul]

I admire those who can lucid dream; so far, it is a practice that I have been sadly unable to master...

[sin]

Jul 21, 2009 9:34:00 GMT -6 LostSoul said:

I admire those who can lucid dream; so far, it is a practice that I have been sadly unable to master...

One word:

Mugwort, lots of it.

Used by Native Americans, to invoke spirits, lucid dreams, and astral travel.

You have to smoke a shit ton of it, but eventually when you go to bed, you will have lucid dreams.

Some even stick it in dream pillows for good measure.

Burn it as incense
Smoke it
Dream Pillows

Couldn't hurt to try it right?

I smoke it, it's actually recommended to potheads trying to quit or cut back on their dope habit.

[Ny'obstaresh]

One word:

Mugwort, lots of it.

Yeah, mugwort is good stuff. I used to mix it with yarrow and shredded rose petals when I used it. Never tried to properly lucid dream with it, but I used to smoke it before I went to my Circle when I lived on my parent's ranch. All three ingredients grew naturally there, too, so that was a bonus. It is quite helpful. I'm eager to see what this Calea does, though. Apparently very useful. Well, I'm ordering it later today, so I should have some results to post by the end of the week. Yay.

[sin]

Jul 21, 2009 17:01:30 GMT -6 Ny'obstaresh said:

One word:

Mugwort, lots of it.

Yeah, mugwort is good stuff. I used to mix it with yarrow and shredded rose petals when I used it. Never tried to properly lucid dream with it, but I used to smoke it before I went to my Circle when I lived on my parent's ranch. All three ingredients grew naturally there, too, so that was a bonus. It is quite helpful. I'm eager to see what this Calea does, though. Apparently very useful. Well, I'm ordering it later today, so I should have some results to post by the end of the week. Yay.

I grow it on my property, so it's in abundance - in fact it can get out of control if you let it.

Johnny's Seeds, is an excellent source for seeds. His prices are fantabulous too, in comparison to other seed dealers.

Good luck and let me know how it pans out for you.

[Ny'obstaresh]

Cheers, Cora. You're an endless wealth of information

Ia Ia!

[zack]

rare that i ever remember a dream if i do its often forgetten the next day even when i wrote it down dream catchers bah my room is filled with em im gunna try sleeping tonight with them not in my room and see if i dream again

[Ny'obstaresh]

You should keep a dream diary. You kinda train yourself into remembering them. And if you can't remember your dream you should write it down as "I have chosen not to remember my dream" as this makes it into a choice, on a subconscious level. Write in it every morning, as many details as you can remember, and read it often. It really helps.

[mindsword]

I read about a technique: Keep a note in your pocket with some sort of easy memorable symbol/word. Keep checking it maybe 5 times a day, and eventually you will check it in your sleep, but this time the symbol will not look like it did when you were awake, then you will know you are dreaming. It is very easy and effective, but becomes a little stressing after a while.

It worked for me, but when it did i got so happy about it that i just woke up After a while i just got lazy and i havent carried a note for a few years and i havent lucid dreamt either. Im thinking of getting a tattoo on my hand so i can just look down on it without having to grasp around in my pocket everytime.