Here is a sneak preview of one of the articles in LDE 28!
20 Questions About Lucid Dreams
Answered By Members of the Dream Community
(c) 2003 Linda Lane Magallón (Editor), Lucy Gillis, Jill Gregory, Teresa
Magallón, Ruth Sacksteder and Robert Trowbridge
Note: BT=Bob Trowbridge, JG=Jill Gregory, LG=Lucy Gillis, LM=Linda Magallón,
RS=Ruth Sacksteder, TM=Teresa Magallón.
1. What is a lucid dream?
RS: A dream in which the dreamer knows she is dreaming while she is dreaming.
LM: A dream in which you are aware that you're dreaming. Or: Lucid dreaming
is being aware that we are dreaming while the dream is happening.
2. How common are lucid dreams?
RS: There are no good statistics amongst a cross-section of the American
population. The statistics we have are usually from select college students
taking a particular class (like psychology). And certain select people from
the dreaming community have been polled.
LG: I could only guess at the answer, and it wouldn't even be an educated
guess. In my personal experience, it seems that most people don't have them,
however most of those same people claim not to remember dreams in the first
place. Among those who do recall dreams, it seems that very few experience
lucid dreams, however, I wonder if it is simply because they don't know what
a lucid dream is?
3. Is lucid dreaming the same as dream control?
LM: Lucidity is awareness that you dream; dream control is being proactive
with your dreams. And the two don't necessarily go together.
RS: In a fully lucid dream, the dreamer has a conscious choice either to
alter the scenario or go along with it. Being lucid does not equate with
success in controlling dreams. Control and lucidity are two different
ranges, or axes (on a graph).
LG: I interpret dream control to be the ability to control or direct your
dream environment, characters, events, etc. But you can also be lucid and
just watch the dream unfold without participating in it or directing it.
4. Is controlling a lucid dream dangerous? Does it interfere with "normal"
sleep?
RS: No. Lucid dreams are a natural phenomena-they can happen spontaneously.
The number of times you get lucid is far less frequent than the total number
of dreams you have.
BT: No. I know a dreamer who was once conscious all night long. Lucid
dreaming shows us that we are a multiplicity, so it's not a case of either
lucid dreaming or nonlucid dreaming.
JG: It is not possible in either the waking state or the dreaming state to
step outside of the spectrum of both influencing and being influenced
simultaneously. Trying not to influence your dreams while dreaming is
itself a powerful influence upon both states.
TM: I had a dream of a dragon chasing me in which I was lucid and unable to
intentionally wake myself. Eventually I awoke as the dragon was coming
towards me. I was scared in the dream and a little frightened upon waking.
Although this might be considered to be a "bad" lucid dreaming experience,
it never even occurred to me to be afraid of lucid dreaming as a whole.
Subsequently, I've had many lucid dreams, both pleasant and unpleasant. The
enjoyable lucid dream experiences have more than outweighed the few dreams
that were not.
LG: In my personal experience lucid dreaming has never interfered with my
sleep. Quite the contrary, I usually wake refreshed and energized after a
having a lucid dream. I don't think that lucid dreaming is dangerous for
stable, mentally healthy individuals. I would assume that if you have mental
problems, like severe depression, emotional turmoil, etc., that it may not
be productive to attempt to control your dreams. But on the other side of
the coin, it may help you get over some difficulties, like a form of dream
therapy. I believe it depends on the individual, but for the average person,
no, it isn't dangerous.
LM: I've been clinically diagnosed with depression, and being proactive has
been a god-send. For the first 38 years of my life, my "normal" sleep was
nightmares of the titanic variety. But even if they had been just anxiety or
angst dreams, I'd still want to change to a healthier regime. No, not to
repress my problems (like I could), but to attain better balance. So, yes,
lucid dreaming did interfere with my "normal" sleep. Thank goodness. It
was one of the factors in changing my dream content from 100% nightmares to
less than 2%.
5. In what stages of sleep do lucid dreams occur? Are they the same as
"normal" dreams?
RS: They usually, but not invariably, occur in REM sleep.
LM: "Normal" dreams have been reported in all stages of sleep. You can also
be lucid in every stage.
6. If your brain waves are moving at an alpha rate, and you are snoring, is
that considered sleeping?
RS: ???
BT: ZZZ.
LG: I'm with R and L on this: ???ZZZ I simply don't know!
LM: My understanding of the snoring mechanism is that it is engaged as a
result of being very relaxed, but not necessarily asleep.
7. Why would I want to have lucid dreams?
BT: They're trippy. They're fun, especially the short sequences.
RS: To overcome nightmares, rehearse for waking life, enhance creativity,
have fun, interesting adventures, self and spiritual discovery, to
experiment with the dreamscape, to explore, to do dream healings on
yourself, to attempt psi, to dream with other people.
JG: It's an excellent way to learn about yourself and the dreamworld. A
lucid dream manifests things quicker; it's a safe place to practice.
8. Is lucid dreaming a spiritual state?
LG: No. In it's simplest definition, lucid dreaming is being aware of the
dream state while in the dreamstate. It is awareness, not spirituality.
RS: Not any more or any less than any other state. The dream state isn't any
more spiritual than the waking. People can have spiritual experiences in
dreams or while awake.
BT: Not always. It can be used for anything. I've done activities far from
spiritual, like eating almonds and hoping that there would be pieces in my
teeth when I woke up. An idiot who has a lucid dream is just an idiot who
knows he's dreaming.
JG: It can be for you, depending on how you like to be with your dreams or
sources of wisdom.
9. What's the difference between lucid dreaming and shamanic dreaming?
RS: Shamanic dreaming is defined so many ways, I'm not sure what state of
consciousness the "dreamer" is in.
LM: Lucid dreaming occurs while you are asleep. With very few exceptions,
shamanic "dreaming" is conscious "dreaming," that is, it takes place while
you're awake.
10. Can anyone learn lucid dreaming?
BT: I think so. For the non-sighted, dreaming doesn't have to mean visual
dreaming.
LG: I believe that anyone can learn to have lucid dreams. I don't know of
anything that could prevent it.
RS: Many people who have never had a lucid dream can learn to have one. It
seem easier for young people to learn but older people have learned lucid
dreaming as well.
11. How can I learn to be a lucid dreamer? What does it take?
RS: You need time, space, energy to make the effort and strong motivation.
JG: Getting to know yourself pretty well as a dreamer and as a person with
varying levels of awareness in various situations both waking and dreaming.
Identifying specific blocks to your lucidity and updating those arrangements.
Read about dreams and especially sample dreams before going to sleep.
Welcome all of your dreams!
LG: It takes dedication and a genuine interest in lucid dreaming. However,
don't try too hard. Be persistent, but also patient and gentle with yourself.
12. Does improving dream recall help induce lucidity?
RS: Yes, but not invariably.
BT: Not likely.
LM: Not by itself. It's just the first step.
JG: Frequent recall helps a lot.
LG: I believe it can help. It certainly can't hurt!
13. What are the best books on lucid dreaming?
BT: LaBerge.
RS: LaBerge, Magallón, Brooks & Vogelsong.
JG: Ken Kelzer, Scott Sparrow, and Mortan Schatzman, Ed
LM: I'd add Oliver Fox and Jane Roberts.
LG: I'd add Celia Green.
(See references at end of article.)
14. What are the lucid dream induction techniques? How can I have a lucid
dream?
RS: Read LaBerge's book. The technique that works the best for me: wake up
when you reach your usual night's amount of sleep, less two hours. Stay up
one hour. Go back to sleep. Other techniques: MILD, reality testing during
the day, reading about lucid dreaming.
BT: My best method is to awaken early, stay up from a few minutes to 2
hours, then go back to sleep.
LM: Read Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming, by LaBerge and Rheingold.
I recommend early awakenings, also. However, if my current dreams seem light
years away from lucidity, I find it best to take things in stages. I don't
try to go from zero to sixty in a single night. Instead, I rev up my
consciousness by getting my non-lucid dreaming self more active: I incubate
flying dreams. A couple nights of non-lucid flying means it's oh, so much
easier to go lucid from this new plateau of energy.
LG: The power of suggestion and frequent reality testing works best for me.
I keep telling myself that I will have a lucid dream that night.
15. What does reality testing mean and what are the best methods?
LG: Reality testing means checking to see whether you are dreaming or awake.
Sometimes you can believe that you are awake when you are in fact dreaming.
That's where testing the reality of your situation comes in. In other words,
if you can fly, you're dreaming. Personally, reading and re-reading text
works best for me. Rarely has text ever remained stable in my dreams when
I've attempted to re-read it.
RS: Attempt to read and reread print. Jump up and see if you float, even a
little bit. Generally speaking, if one is questioning one is in a dream, one
is.
BT: Well, don't jump out a window or off a cliff.
LM: I don't like to use reality testing techniques because I've observed
that they encourage the production of false awakenings (where you have to
test because you aren't sure you are lucid). I think it's much more
effective to incubate full lucid dreams (where you're sure from the get-go).
16. How well do lucid dream induction devices work?
LM: I don't know myself. Every time I drifted into sleep, I'd automatically
grab the visor and pull it off!
RS: They work best when people are doing other things as well to enhance
lucidity such as reality testing during the day, LaBerge's MILD techniques,
waking early.
BT: Well, it worked once for one dreamer and never worked for another. n=2.
That's 50%. :-) Ask if they have a money-back guarantee.
LG: Like RS, I think they work well when you are trying other techniques to
induce lucidity as well. I wouldn't want to become dependent on any device
to induce my lucidity. I prefer to do it myself, and not rely totally on
outside means. But a little boost once in a while doesn't hurt.
17. How can I use lucid dreaming for nightmares?
BT: If you're lucid, invite the nightmare character into your dream and beat
the @#$%! out of him. :-)
LG: Some people advise confronting and combating nightmarish characters,
while others suggest making peace or embracing nightmarish characters. I
believe that whether a combative or passive approach works best depends upon
the type of nightmare and the type of person experiencing the nightmare.
RS: The more I developed lucid dreaming, the less nightmares I had.
Regarding scary figures, once you become lucid, fear often disappears.
Otherwise, some people combat. Others make friends or merge and find the
scary figures altered. Perhaps the best way to make scary figures go away is
to ignore them and interest yourself in other aspects of the dream.
LM: I've used lucid dreams to experiment with the intensity of fear.
Sometimes when I've encountered a scary figure, I've stood my ground to see
how much fear I could take before losing the dream. Same with frightening
events like earthquakes or slipping down a hill.
18. How can I keep from waking up right after I become lucid?
BT: Spinning worked once.
LM: Look at your hands. Hold on to something.
RS: Keep active in the dream and try not to get too excited. That can wake
you up.
LG: Remain relatively calm and touch things, or fly, or otherwise engage
directly in the dream environment. Sometimes singing helps too.
19. Is it possible to forget you've had a lucid dream?
BT: Umm, I forget.
RS: Yes.
LG: On one occasion, I recalled many hours after waking that I had been
lucid the night before, so I guess it's quite possible that you could forget
you had a lucid dream.
20. What do people do in lucid dreams?
LG: I think you are limited only by your imagination.
BT: Sex, fly, appear and disappear, play with the dreamscape, get in touch
with guide figures, walk through walls.
RS: Many people enjoy doing things that they can't do in waking life like
flying or walking through walls. Some people try experiments they or others
have devised. Some people like to explore the dreamscape. There are probably
as many different lucid dream activities as there are lucid dreamers.
LM: Geez, how many hours do you have?
Questions Where We Passed, Took the Fifth, Etc.
- How do I control my lucid dreams?
LM: (This was asked by someone who assumed that lucid dreams were
completely controllable. The consensus is: they aren't.)
- To what extent can I control my dream?
LM: (Truth is, nobody knows.)
- To what extent can I control my dream?
LM: (Truth is, nobody knows.)
- Where can I find training on lucid dreaming?
LM: (Nobody knows of any training course.)
- Why (physiologically) do we have lucid dreams? How does the brain produce lucid dreaming?
LM: (Good references: LaBerge and Gachenbach & Bosveld.)
- How do I use the lucid dream states with clients in the psychotherapeutic setting?
LM: (There are a whole bucket-load of reasons why I think this is a bad idea. Nobody disagreed with me.)
- Are lucid dreams interpreted differently than non-lucid dreams?
LM: (See the articles by Robert Waggoner and me in LDE No. 23.)
References
- Brooks, Janice E. & Jay A. Vogelsong. The Conscious Exploration of Dreaming. Bloomington, IN: 1st Books Library (www.1stBooks.com), 2000.
- Fox, Oliver (Hugh Calloway). Astral Projection. Secaucus, NJ: The Citadel Press, 1980.
- Gachenbach, Jayne, & Jane Bosveld. Control Your Dreams. NY: Harper & Row, 1989.
- Green, Celia. E. Lucid Dreams. Oxford: Institute of Psychophysical Research, 1968.
- Kelzer, Kenneth. The Sun & The Shadow: My Experiment With Lucid Dreaming. Virginia Beach, VA: A.R.E. Press, 1987.
- LaBerge, Stephen. Lucid Dreaming. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, 1985.
- LaBerge, Stephen & Howard Rheingold. Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming. NY: Ballantine Books, 1990.
- Magallón, Linda Lane. Mutual Dreaming. NY: Pocket Books 1997.
- Roberts, Jane. Seth, Dreams and Projections of Consciousness. Walpole, NH: Stillpoint Pub., 1986.
- Schatzman, Mortan (Ed.) Hervey de Saint-Denys: Dreams and How To Guide Them. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1982.
- Sparrow, Scott. Lucid Dreaming: Dawning of the Clear Light. Virginia Beach, VA: A.R.E. Press, 1976, 1982.
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