[Sage]

I have always been a vivid dreamer, and I've gotten the impression that there are a few other vivid dreamers here.
This is the place to share any remarkable dreams you may have had. Don't be shy. They don't have to make sense. After all, they're only dreams...

[seebaruk]

K, you asked for it!

Last dream I had that really ****ed with my head was just over a week ago, and remember, this all felt incredibly real:

I was in a forest, and I came across a tree that had chalk drawings on the trunk. The drawing was of a woman with no head or arms and cuts all over her body. I tell some people about this drawing and next thing I know I've cut ahead in time and I'm back in the forest. I come across the tree again. This time however, there's not just a drawing. There's an actual corpse tied to the tree, in exactly the same pose, with no head or arms. The cops come and investigate, and end up catching a man called Robert Blake, who had apparently been doing this all over the country.

Anyway, I wake up kinda freaked and turn to my gf, who's staring right at me, wide awake. She doesn't move or talk, she just stares at me. I start to talk to her but then she grabs me round the throat and starts to choke me! Well, I wake up AGAIN (yeah, it was a stupid dream within a dream, how ****ing weird is that) and am obviously a little afraid that she's gonna try to kill me again! Took me a while to get back to sleep after that.

[EDIT] After checking out google, apparently there's an actor called Robert Blake who was just found innocent in the murder trial of his wife. I must have picked up his name from the news or something before my dream I guess.

[Sage]

Wow, that is a freaky dream!
I hate it when someone I know does something mean or nasty in a dream. Even though I know it was just a dream, I still don't look at them quite the same afterwards.

[Huz]

Ooh - coincidental, and a great idea for a thread! A few days ago I decided to start a paper dream diary, because apparently improving your recall of dreams is the first step to lucid dreaming. Sadly my natural laziness has got the better of me so far - too lazy to write just after waking up, and by the time I'm in the mood the memory has faded - but I'll get there!

I was planning to bore people with a "Dream of the Week!" entry on my blog, but this is even better!

Also, I think Jake's dream (see my sig) is worthy of analysis!

[Jazhara7]

This is what? The fourth thread about dreams now? We have this one, we have Lucid Dreaming, have you ever?, we have Dreams
(about recurring dreams, and ones with a recurring theme), and we also have Your Favourite Dreams.


Well, I just finally remembered a dream again today (I was starting to get worried. I usually remember at least *something* of my dreams, but I couldn't remember even dreaming for some time recently).

I was standing at the train station, looking down onto what resembles the entrance to the passage beneath the train tracks in my town. It's the middle of the night, and nobody is there, except for me. I also remember that everything seemed very tidy and clean, like you'd expect in a holiday club on one of the mediterranean islands. That's quite unusual at the train station, especially for winter. Also, I am sure I didn't wear anything too warm, but it wasn't really cold. It reminded me a bit of a summer night.

As I observe the area, I take note of how they built the thing so that there are no corners where anyone could hide, or hang out without being clearly visible. Just as I have that thought, someone appears from a corner (which is indeed clearly visible) out of thin air, and approaches me with a small open folding knife, like the one my mother carries around (she bought it at the survival shop, and it has a section with teeth. The one the man in my dream was carrying did not have teeth though, but otherwise it could have been the same knife). I scream (there's several of those apartment blocks there as well as several one family houses, so screaming would not be useless. There are people there that might hear), first just a loud shriek, but then a loud and clear "Hilfe!" ("Help!"). Then I try to run away, still screaming. Then I woke up, still freaked, and turn on the light before closing my eyes again.

Gah, Nightmares.


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[seebaruk]

Good to know I'm not the only one who has freaky dreams How bout you Scott, you had any freaky dreams lately?

[RLacey]

When I read threads like this I'm increasingly glad that I can't remember dreams two minutes after I wake up...

[Sage]

None of particular interest lately.
Last night I dreamed I was still living in the area where I grew up. I was on my way home from work just as it was getting dark, when the world takes on an indigo hue but there's still enough light to see.
At a gas station, I spot an old white Chrysler New Yorker with a for sale sign in the window. Even though I neither need nor particularly want one of these, I stop to have a look at it. It's not perfect, but it's in fairly good shape and has a dark blue interior. The owner of the station appears beside me with the keys and asks if I want to fire it up. I tell him I'm just looking, but he insists.
I open the door and sit down, inhaling the aroma of an older car that's been shut up for a while. I stick the key in the ignition, give the gas pedal a quick tap, and turn the key. It fires right up, running a little rough at first but soon settling down to the classic Chrysler slightly lumpy burbling idle. It's a little loud for a New Yorker, but not objectionably so. Probably time for new mufflers, I think to myself.
The owner says "Why don't you take it for a spin?". I tell him I just stopped to look, but he says it needs to be driven some to keep the battery charged up. I close the door and roll down the driver's window, noticing that it works smoothly and doesn't hang. He says "Just ride around until the battery gauge is stable. I'll be here a while.". I check the gas gauge, and it says half a tank is left.
Without even looking I immediately find the light switch, pause a moment to marvel at how old Chrysler products seem to have been ergonomically engineered for me personally, and cut on the lights. Their yellow glow tells me they haven't been upgraded to halogen units, but they'll do for around here.
I press the brake pedal and find it reasonably firm, then drop the gearshift into "D". The car hesitates very slightly, then pulls very strongly forward.
Once on the road, the car drives exceptionally well. It doesn't pull to either side, and except for a slight hesitation on takeoff (probably a dirty carburetor, I think), it moves with remarkable grace for such a large car. The windows are short and remind me of gunslits, but I have no problem seeing out of them. I begin wondering how much of my funds I can liquefy, and how much insurance will be on this beast. As the night breeze from the open window plays in my hair, I decide it doesn't matter; The New Yorker has to come home with me.

[seebaruk]

That's an incredibly vivid dream alright. And you really like cars eh

[Sage]

Originally Posted by seebaruk

That's an incredibly vivid dream alright.

Yeah, my mind feels the need to render even the most mundane and boring subject matter with "You Are There" color and clarity, including smells and occasionally tastes.

Originally Posted by seebaruk

And you really like cars eh

A friend of mine once observed "Scott is queer for cars; Men are just a sideline". Too true.

[seebaruk]

Hehe, that's a quality quote. You should have that as your signature.

[jjacob]

Well I usually forget most of my dreams within an hour of getting up, but a friend of mine is really into lucid dreaming - that's where you dream lucidly as if you were in control of yourself and your dream. I succeeded once and I remember that it was awesome, but it's a bit too personal to share here on this forum I'll ask her about it later on (she has books on the subject) but from what she told me the basic technique for doing this is as follows; during the daytime, look at your hand repeatedly while thinking about looking at your hand (do this like 5-10 times during the day), then, when you go to bed do it one more time. Now some people do this more easily than others (some can't do it at all) - but the idea is that when you're dreaming your brain will remember to look at your hand, and this will put you in the dream "physically"/lucidly. It may sound a bit 'out-there', but from my personal experience it actually works sometimes and it's totally worth the "effort". It's literally like walking around inside of your own dreams and while this may sound scary, it's really, really pleasant. In fact I'm going to do it again today and see if it works

[Jelena]

Scott: I enjoyed reading your dream. It made me understand more about what you and your fellow car-freaks experience and enjoy when it comes to cars. I´ve never had the feeling for it myself. Last time we got a new (well not brand new)car my co-workers asked what kind of car it was. My answer: Well it´s green.

jjacob: Lucid dreaming! Sounds scary. Are you sure it hasn´t got anything to do with visiting those coffee shops you have?

[jjacob]

Originally Posted by LenaJ

Scott: I enjoyed reading your dream. It made me understand more about what you and your fellow car-freaks experience and enjoy when it comes to cars. I´ve never had the feeling for it myself. Last time we got a new (well not brand new)car my co-workers asked what kind of car it was. My answer: Well it´s green.

Yeah I remember having a few dreams about cars/driving myself. It reminded me of certain movies (though which ones..) only with yourself as the protagonist - the sense of speed, the wind and all the tingly sensations of driving a car/moped/motorbike. I think they actually replaced the dreams I used to have about flying away (in superman fashion, minus the cape ), which, if I learned correctly, are related to sexual fantasies/hormones/etc. - I don't remember having any of that after around the age of sixteen. I guess they may be the 'adult' variety of those flying dreams or something

Originally Posted by LenaJ

jjacob: Lucid dreaming! Sounds scary. Are you sure it hasn´t got anything to do with visiting those coffee shops you have?

Exactly, but that's only because people tend to think about nightmares with regards to this kind of thing And yes, I'm sure it has nothing to do with drugs I'll ask my friend about those books, she has a whole series written by some shaman (sp?) who, although undoubtedly has done his fair share of psychedelic drugs, is apparently an expert on the subject of dreams (even in the scientific community he's regarded as such) and all things related. He even participated in an experiment where his neural activity was monitored while he dreamt lucidly and it turned out he had different parts of his brain firing off than when he was not lucidly dreaming, which is basically why I lost my scepticism about the subject and got more interested. And before you think my friend is a little bit out-there; she's a perfectly normal (non-hippy, although there's nothing wrong with that ) girl, studying medicine and pretty sceptical about these kinds of things. Anyway, it may sound scary, but it's very pleasant indeed, from what I've experienced (granted, I've only 'done' it once, but I seriously don't think there's anything to be scared about). I'm looking around on Amazon.com for these series, and it turns out there's a shitload of books on the subject of lucid dreaming. Perhaps they're not all good, but most should atleast get you interested, there's even some related to the roots of it in Tibetan yoga, perhaps I might get that one (I've asked my friend to bring those books dozens of times, but she's forgetful ). Mind you, I didn't believe any of this at first, but that all changed when I had such a dream myself

[Sage]

Originally Posted by LenaJ

Scott: I enjoyed reading your dream.

Thank you Ma'am. Here's another, albeit on an entirely different subject.

[SakSquash]

I always have dreams where my teeth are breaking or falling out, and also dreams where i'm right next to a deadly snake and I have to move away very very slowly in order to get away, but I never do. They always bite me.

[Karmillo]

I have freaky dreams but i cant rmember them...they eventualy work there way into the crap I talk about though...

[Jazhara7]

Originally Posted by LenaJ

jjacob: Lucid dreaming! Sounds scary. Are you sure it hasn´t got anything to do with visiting those coffee shops you have?

Actually, in Lucid Dreaming you *have* nearly complete control over your dreams. It's said to be incredibly vivid, so much that you might think you are awake. In fact, the first step to lucid dreaming is to realise you are dreaming. Normally your brain tries to distract you once you start to 'become lucid' (for example, you notice that it is not really possible that you are flying. If you become aware of that, your brain launches a distraction, which might take any shape, even purple spotted dogs: "Hey, I'm flying! I must be dream...hey! There's a purple spotted dog! Wicked!"). But once you become lucid, you can control what you want to dream. Some things seem to be impossible to control though. One of those things is often the level of illumination - so if you dream that you flick a lightswitch in your room, but nothing happens, even though you *know* the light should be working, that might be a sign that you are dreaming.

Oh, and since you are in control, I guess you *could* have a nightmare if you wanted to. But then again, who wants to have a nightmare?

It's all a question of knowing recurring elements of your dreams, and recognising them.

You should visit Dreamviews. They have advice on how you can practice lucid dreaming, and also try to explain dreams (both lucid and normal) and sleep with a bit of science.


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[Jelena]

Originally Posted by Jazhara7

You should visit Dreamviews. They have advice on how you can practice lucid dreaming, and also try to explain dreams (both lucid and normal) and sleep with a bit of science.

I don´t know if I want to be in control of my dreams. I haven´t heard about it before today and I don´t know what good it will do. If I´m controlling my dreams while sleeping, do I really wake up thoroughly rested? I know that the REM sleep are just short moments but still...
I´ll read the link and see if I understand some more.

[Dasilva]

I had a dream once when I was controlling what happened in my dream. It was extremely wierd but I could say and control everyhthing I did.

I had a rather disturbing dream thats been stuck in my mind for years, not for all ages though.