Wednesday, April 02, 2008

LUCID DREAMS and Questions

I am trying to get back to blogging. I feel kind of out of touch with blogging, yet working on it and touching base with things I have written on before, regardless of how long ago it was. Which pretty much brings me to the blog of dreams, due to the fact that I have had lot of dreams lately, plus the subject of dreams have always interested me. I wrote a blog about dreaming and what it all means over a year ago called What Are Our Dreams Trying To Tell Us?, and a reader commented that I might be a lucid dreamer. My first reaction was "NO, that is not so", yet, I was ignorant to the fact of what a lucid dream meant, and thought it meant that I peed in my bed! OK, I am not the smartest tool in the tool shed at times, but I do pay great attention to educate myself to understand and research more on the subjects I write about, and with lucid dreams, I think I have accomplished some what of this.

Readers may ask the question, what is lucid dreams? This question was also one I wanted to know as well, and basically, the answer is being aware of what you are dreaming while in a deep sleep. The quality of lucid dreams can vary with individuals in many degrees, which in times can be exciting or frightening, depending on how you look or deal with your dream. At high levels of your dreams, if you are a lucid dreamer, you are pretty much aware of everything experienced in your dreams as if in real life so to speak, and the ability of handle it. If the dream scares you, you are capable to wake yourself up in efforts of not facing the trauma that it might have brought you otherwise from a sweaty and scary sudden wake up dream, realizing the reality that you are not in any real immediate danger, and safely tucked in the comfort of your own bed. For example, say you have a constant dream of going down a long hill of a road where it meets at a five points area with no stop signs available, and on the way down the hill, you see multiple car accidents, and all the gore, before getting to the bottom of the hill. With a lucid dream, you would be able to wake yourself before getting to the bottom of the hill, or if you wanted to, you could avoid the trauma of the bad dream and wake yourself up. Or you could take the responsibility within your dream to meet what your fears are at the bottom of the nightmare hill, proceeding through your fears as you go, and braving your way through the five points and onto the next road. Pretty much like a video game play, reaching the next level. The dream decision is yours, to take it to the next experience, or end it where you feel most comfortable. This is my opinion at least when it concerns lucid dreams, and how I try and work with them when I have that chance.

When it comes to lower levels of lucid dreams, this to me represents a level of being less comfortable and the ability in a degree concerning a dream world of what can happen or not, in relationship with depending on a choice inside the dream, which has not yet matured in a dream stage of lucid dreaming. Yet, I think this level of dreaming leads towards help and experience y with what will eventually be total lucid dreams that one (you) might experience at a later stage concerning your dreams in time. Examples of low level lucid dreams gives the dreamer the ability to fly or alter their dreams to fit their particular mood at times and in some cases I think, or this level of dreaming may find a map in comforting ways to the dreamer , yet also in these low level dreams, the realization of what they (you) are dreaming may not deliver the option to change or alter the dream. The dreamer may wake up in a cold sweat, fear of immediate conscious danger that is not real, before the dreamer realizes it is only sleep related. Yet, also at times, when they (dreamer, you, etc.) wakes up, the realization sets in that this was only a bad dream, finally apparent to the dreamer. Therefore, I think with that in mind, the dreamer will reflect with the knowledge given, that they are safe and have the ability to deal with their dreams and work with their dreams on a more comfortable level. At least this is true with me, and what I have accomplished in my own dream route.

I wanted to know more about the definition of LUCID DREAMS! The best description I found was given in the link provided, explains that lucid dreams are experienced by ones who are dreaming while actually knowing what they are dreaming, described by Frederik van Eeden, an exceptional link who also goes on to suggest that the word of "lucid" and in relationship to dreamers in a mental clarity, such as being in a midst of a dream and realizing the experience of being there, yet understanding it was not a real physical experience, but just a dream. My take on this, is that the dreamer is triggered or set off by the dreamer realizing impossible things in the dream, such as flying, meeting or fighting monsters, seeing ones they know are dead in real life, but are alive in their dreams, etc. With this definition and explanation, this pretty much describes me and what I have felt within my own personal dreams.

A great deal goes into the research of lucid dreaming, such as how far can lucid dreams be controlled, or are they related to out of body experiences, why one has lucid dreams, how it deals with adventure and the fantasy world in dreams relations, facing and overcoming nightmares, and the list continues, and with me, etc. means etc. as so much is given on the the Internet concerning these very questions. Thankfully the Internet is vast and stock full of many links and information to help dreamers understand more, as it is a very questioned subject.

I have given the most researched link that I found on the Internet to the readers in regards of information concerning Lucid Dreams. Many more links can be found on the Internet by using keywords of "LUCID DREAMS", and other keywords. It really is a very interesting subject! And with my take f lucid dreams, I give you my Thoughts And Considerations!

If you are interested in this subject and can find the time, check out the particular link I have given above on Frederik van Eeden , or do some research on your own!


Thoughts and Considerations from Katie, and her Logue!

4 comments:

  1. I've learned something new in your blog today, Katie. For the longest time, I thought lucid dreaming meant that the dreams looked and felt very real and it was difficult to tell them apart from real life.

    I've only known I was dreaming one time, and it took a lot of convincing to make myself believe it enough to change what was happening. I'd like to try it again to see if I have better results.

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  2. Anonymous10:16 AM

    I enjoyed this article on lucid dreams, particularly your observation that there is so much "up the air" about the topic.

    BTW, I have compiled a list of historic definitions of lucid dreams from my thesis on the subject. I think you'd interested to see how some things have changed and others stayed the same for the last 2000 years!

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  3. Hi Ryan, thank you so much for visiting my blog. I would be very interested to see your links. If you would not mind, please place then here or a message. I always approve my messages before published, so if you do not want others to see, just let me know in the message.

    Hi ms. karen. Thanks again for your comments.

    Katie

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  4. Ha! I have had lucid dreams before. The first I remember were when I was a kid. I'd have these dreams where there were snakes everywhere I walked, coming out of holes in the Earth. Then, in one dream, I realized it was a dream and had to try to control what I did.

    Very interesting. I love how dreams can tell us about our psychology, but I also have a weird whimsical desire to believe that we are tapping into a bigger body of consciousness with them.

    My daughter had "dreams" where she is going to another dimension. She says they are not like her other dreams and that she doesn't really consider it dreaming. Very interesting stuff.

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