Guide to Oneironautics
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What is The Multiverse Theory?
In many descriptions, the multiverse theory describes how many worlds, across large amounts of space and even time, have qualities just like our own. It states that somewhere out in space, there is a universe in which you are reading this same article, on the same computer, but with three eyes, not two. It also states that some universes can be drastically different, like in some universes COVID never began. Or humans never even existed. Or Germany had won World War 2. All of these insane universes are theoretically possible, according to the multiverse theory. How Can the Multiverse Exist? Well, my short answer is, because of infinity. If space is really infinite, or always expanding, then it's more impossible for the infinite amount of space not to have the features of infinity rather that not. Basically, everything that could possibly happen, will happen, because of the true meaning of infinity. Another good statement is that because of quantum superposition, everything that can happen, will happen. To explain it more fully: Every choice anyone or anything has ever made has a chance that it could split into another reality. Imagine a large tree, started by the first big choice or event. The Big Bang. This tree since then has sprouted an infinite number of branches, all throughout time, until the day you were born. Those section of branches also have infinite branches, where every choice that lead to where you are now, has split into infinite alternate realities. What Do We Do? Nothing. It's extremely likely that we will never get to fully understand the multiverse, let alone see an alternate reality. Although, it's nice to think about, and to believe we really aren't alone.
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Most dreams have meaning. Either your brain is trying to tell you something, or you're reflecting on a recent event in your life, or your brain is trying to warn you about future events. Either way, we can interpret these dreams, and maybe understand ourselves a bit better.
Personal Context The first thing to look for when you are trying to interpret a dream is your personal context. Is this dream occurring because of something that happened? Something you thought about? Someone you thought about? Is there something in your life that is currently causing stress, happiness, or fear. If your dream relates to something along these lines, it could be possible that the dream is telling you something about your thoughts/ actions. In a recent dream I had, my dad invited me to play cards. For some reason I was frustrated at this, but played anyways. That morning my dad had to leave for a long business trip, so I wouldn't see him for a long time. That dream convinced me to spend as much time with him as possible before he left. Needing to Understand Something Important Sometimes, dreams will try to convey a special message. There isn't much to say about this, except for the fact to look for your emotions. If you feel really stressed or upset in a dream, try to understand why and it may be something that in reality is causing you to feel stressed or upset. A good example of this is a dream I had in which I was moving to a new house. This new house was a million years old, looked disgusting, and every room was as small a closet. This made me feel like I had taken my old house (or in reality, my actual house) for granted. When I woke up, I analyzed this and had discovered that I am in fact taking things for granted, and that I should appreciate things much more. Pre-Cognitive Dreams Pre cognitive dreams mean dreams that predict the future. I've talked about them before, but they're so fascinating that I need to mention them again. Somehow, dreams predict the future. There have been many demonstrations about this throughout history, and I have a bunch of personal stories in which I've had my dreams predict the outcome of the following day. In a recent dream my watch stopped working. That same day, it broke. I had a dream with random music that I'd never heard before play in a Japanese restaurant. When I went with my family, to a Japanese restaurant, on that same day, that music played. Popular Dreams Many dreams can have the same meaning, and are pretty common. Just look them up. Being naked in public can mean you have low self confidence. Being chased can mean you are avoiding something from your childhood or even daily life. Dreams of dying: fear of the unknown. Losing teeth: Worried about your image. Flying: wanting to break free. Key Takeaways:
Why We Get Bored
Sometimes, practicing lucid dreaming can become irritating. Writing your dreams down every morning can be extremally tiring or disruptive of your morning schedule. Waking up in the middle of the night or chanting in your mind as you fall asleep just to probably have a lucid dream can also be extremally annoying. In general, not having the expected outcome of having a lucid dream can make someone feel like stopping their attempt at lucid dreaming. Why This Is Terrible Stopping writing down your dreams for just a few nights can change your dream recall drastically from 3-5 dreams per night to just 1 or even 0. Getting out of the habit of preparing for a lucid dream can make it really hard to fall back into, just as it would be to start performing reality checks again. It's easy to forget how amazing and thrilling lucid dreaming is, but we can't let it stop us from trying to be the best oneironauts we can be. How To Stick With It Of course, we can't completely control whether or not we have a lucid dream each night, so not having one can be extremely discouraging. But, if you ever feel like stopping, just sit for a minute and think. Think about the limitless possibilities you can achieve, while asleep. Think of the list of cool things you want to do and how badly you wanted to experience them. Remember your goals and just don't let laziness take over your curiosity. If something is to hard to stick with, like writing down your dreams every morning, just make it easier for yourself. If you used to take to much time writing them all down, voice record them instead. If a specific technique makes you feel too tired in the morning, use a different one. There are so many ways to approach lucid dreaming, and you don't need to do the most to have a lucid dream every once in a while. Be realistic. Lucid dreams are hard to come by, and even the biggest experts can't have a lucid dream each day. It's important to enjoy the process, remember your goals, and form solid lucid dreaming habits. Eventually, you will get better and better and lucid dreaming will become automatic for you, and you'll realize that you're extremely happy you never stopped. Key Takeaways:
Having a Consistent Dream Journal
The first and most important part of lucid dreaming is having a dream journal. What's the point of having a lucid dream if you cannot remember it? Make sure to right your dreams everyday, whether it's on paper, an online notes app, or even a voice recording. This will not only boost the amount of dreams you have but also the vividness of them. From my experience, never stop. Two summers ago, I thought, "Why not just skip this morning, I'm sure I'll remember them tomorrow anyways." Long story short, I'd even fallen out of the habit of writing them, just because of that one day. Just skipping one day can be okay. Skipping two or three may be a bit dangerous. But completely not journaling for a week sent me completely back to ground zero. I had no dreams to recall after 7 days of not journaling. Make sure you stay consistent if you want to remember your dreams, or just don't let the habit of writing them down fall apart. Using Correct Techniques and Doing Reality Checks The next thing every oneironaut should do is perform reality checks often. If you are unfamiliar with the term, it is exactly what it sounds like. Reality checks are a way of making sure you are not in a dream. For example, my personal reality check is to push my finger through the palm of my hand. if it goes through, I'm dreaming. If not, then I am in reality. Performing reality checks often and making it a habit, specifically when you are skeptical of whether you are dreaming or not, can eventually melt into your lucid dreams. This isn't the only way to perform a reality check, see what best suits you. Of course, a solid technique should also be in place for raising your chances of experiencing a lucid dream. The most popular technique is called MILD, short for mnemonic induction of lucid dreaming. MILD consists of repeating to yourself a mantra, or a phrase that sticks in your brain as you fall asleep. Repeating something like "I will lucid dream tonight" will increase your chances in having a lucid dream, but only if you let the thought remain in your brain as you fall asleep. Another commonly used technique is called WILD, short for Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming. It's also exactly how it sounds. All you need to do is set an alarm for 6 or 5 hours after bed, right during your REM sleep period, and wake up for a little bit. Take 15-30 minutes doing whatever you want. Go to the bathroom, maybe write down a dream you remembered, but just don't go on your phone. When enough time has passed, go back to bed with the intent of having a lucid dream. Because you are having a dream right after being awake, your chances of remembering to have a lucid dream are much higher. You can also pair this with other methods, like MILD, and increase your chances even more. Have A Plan Having a plan for lucid dreaming is also important. When we are in a dream, our memory is extremely foggy, even if we are lucid. So, knowing what your plans or goals are for your next lucid dream can come in very handy. Unplanned lucid dreams are extremely fun, but after waking up you always realize that you wanted to do something more. You don't need a physical plan, but if you want you can write yourself a checklist for things you want to do in your next lucid dream. Key Takeaways:
The dream started in some city. I was walking in a big city with my dad, and I had extremely suddenly realized that I was dreaming. I continued to walk with him down the sidewalk, and take the whole dream in. Everything felt so incredibly real. I could feel my feet hitting the floor, the sun on my back, and everything feeling extremely vivid.
It didn't occur to me that my "dad" wasn't actually who I thought he was, but because I was still a bit foggy, I decided to keep walking with him. We started going back to the same place that the dream started, and I decided to try to change the dream. Just like in the movie Inception, I tried bending the world. It kind of worked, except that I bent gravity instead of the sidewalk. I can't even make up words to describe it, although walking did feel extremely weird. It felt as though I was supposed to be pulled down to the ground but instead It was like I was walking on a wall. When we arrived at some church, we suddenly appeared at the top of the building. We stood on a big rooftop, with a church bell right beside us. Then, I tried to teleport. I wanted to do it but had never practiced it before. So, to try and make it easier for myself, I decided that I would snap whenever the teleportation would happen. I looked far beyond the church and, when I put my two fingers together, found a very strange goo on my hand. It was like slippery and clear water, but it made me unable to snap my fingers and frightened. Before I could inspect the strange substance, I woke up. Why this is important to you It's necessary to understand that your first lucid dream doesn't have to be an extravagant adventure where you immediately fly and explore the dream world. Flying, teleportation, and all things after take time to learn and master, and you will definitely not do it in your very first lucid dream. The first lucid dream is so important because it is the first time you realize how beautiful the dream world is. Then you are in a vivid lucid dream, it feels amazing. As I described, you can feel, hear, see, touch, taste, and smell everything! Just taking in the dream world and appreciating the moment is way more than good enough to make you want to keep going. From there, you can develop your skills and, of course, master flying and all the crazy things your imagination can think of. Key Takeaways:
What are False Awakenings
You might not have heard the term "false awakening." What it means is, having the experience of waking up. Getting out of bed, and even brushing your teeth or doing what you usually do. The thing is, you're still dreaming. Basically, false awakening are like believing that you have woken up but not being in reality, rather just still dreaming. Are false awakenings real Yes, false awakenings are real. They can happen to anyone, and they demonstrate the importance of always performing a reality check. What to do about them What we can do about false awakenings is take advantage of them. Their goal is to try and trick you into thinking you are in reality. Instead, if you perform a reality check every time you wake up, maybe false awakenings can turn into a great lucid dreaming experience instead. My personal experiences I have had MANY false awakenings in my lucid dreaming journey. As I've mentioned before, when I got stuck in my dream I had many false awakenings over and over again, unable to escape. I've also had them just before actually waking up, and it's always so hard to recognize that it's a dream, because everything seems so real, and identical to your actual bedroom. Key Takeaways:
Have you ever experienced a dream that seemed it could be a reality, only to have that very same scenario unfold in your day later on? Well, it's not uncommon. The conversation of dreams predicting the future has been brought up so many times, but no one knows the truth.
Examples Of Dreams Predicting The Future A week before Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, he had a dream about his own death. Mark Twain had a dream about Henry Clemens death before he died. A survivor of the titanic had a dream about it sinking while asleep on the ship. My Experiences I have many dreams that predict the future, you just have to decode them. I once had a dream that I finally spoke with someone I haven't seen in a while. I saw him that same day. I had a dream in which a song was playing at a casino. That same day it played at some random restaurant. Precognitive Dreams What we call this phenomena is a precognitive dream, and it's very common. We don't know how or why our brains know the outcome of the future, but it is something we may soon make sense of. The dreaming world is extremely complex, and we may never understand it fully. Key Takeaways:
As I might've mentioned before, lucid dreaming can be utilized as a form of therapy. In fact, some people recommend using lucid dreaming as a way to defuse nightmares, get over fears, and even heal physical wounds. If this sounds good to you, you should keep reading.
Using Lucid Dreams To Defuse Nightmares The best way to get over a nightmare is to become lucid in one. Next, you fight it. I don't mean like an actual fist fight, but you stand your ground, and the rest will follow. For example, If a person trying to chase you down is a recurring theme of your nightmares, you can try to become lucid, and stop running. The idea is that you know you are dreaming, and cannot get hurt. While everything may feel real, you cannot die. As the person approaches, they will most likely see that you are confident, and stop. This is a real example that I've seen before. And, the nightmare was actually trying to tell the person something. So it slowly walked toward the dreamer, and explained, metaphorically, that they should "stop running." This is common, usually nightmares are just our brains trying to communicate something to us through dreams, and once you accept the nightmare, there is nothing to be afraid of, and it will stop recurring forever. Using Lucid Dreams To Get Over Fears Just like nightmares, fears can also be defused through dreams. Scared of spiders? Become friends with a million of them. Scared of heights? Go and fly. Scared of rollercoasters? Ride one! It's as easy as it sounds to get over fears in dreams because, again, there is nothing to be afraid of. I actually was once really scared of this waterslide. I couldn't even think about going on it. It was one of those ones where the floor drops and you plummet through the air. However, one day I had a dream about that same slide and... I rode it. The next time we went to that same waterpark I rode that slide with ease, and it was just as exhilarating as I had dreamed it. Using Lucid Dreams To Heal Physically It is rare, and extremely difficult to achieve, but healing physically is possible. If you've ever been sick, and had a dream that night where you felt completely fine, you may understand. Trying to heal a wound through dreams requires a lot of focus and mental energy, but people have done it. I personally have only barely cured a sickness through lucid dream healing, but other people have healed their toes using dreams. The only way I can possibly explain it is as though you are trying to take power or energy and shove it into yourself to feel better. If you can imagine your own way of doing it, go ahead, because it doesn't have to be the same for everyone. Key Takeaways
Dream characters are unique. They have many interesting qualities and may be used as a tool. With them, you can talk to your subconscious, better your mental health, and just have good fun with. First, we need to talk about what characters you can make in your dreams, and then we can talk about the different levels of characters.
Who you can summon in dreams First things first, summoning people you love that are dead is incredible. Just to see them again and feel as though you are talking to them feels so real and authentic. This alone has gotten many people inspired to start lucid dreaming, and it has even helped some people to get over grief. And of course, you can summon anyone you want! Friends, family, pets. You can really just have a party with whoever you may like. In fact, in one lucid dream, I once summoned my brother and our childhood friends to ride broomsticks at nighttime in New York. Sure, none of them are real, and of course, they don't remember this when you wake up, but it's still just fun to do whatever you want with whoever you want. "You know, I actually had a lucid dream yesterday, and I got us on Saturn's rings to eat birthday cake," is a really good conversation starter. The types of dream characters Other than the characters you summon, there are others that roam the dream world. Now it's time to talk about them, and what fun they bring to the table. First, we have the average people. These are the dream characters that are on their way to work, or waiting for the subway. These people are not real. They are clueless that they are in your dream, and they are just mindless extensions of your subconscious aiding the dream reality to stay real. Second, we have the conscious characters. You can ask them for to appear, and they can help you. These are the smarter extensions of yourself that know things about your subconscious. You can ask them deep questions about yourself, or ask them about your future. Things like: "Why am I so paranoid?" Or "How do I start my diet?" Or "What's next for me in life?" These characters know more about yourself than you do, and they can guide and help you. Third, are the dream masters. These characters know more about the dream, about you, about anything than anyone. They are smarter than smart, and they radiate as though they have the powers of a god. They can tell you lottery numbers, or what's after death. They may even share the circumstances of your demise. Don't get too excited, these people are hard to come by. But, if you do, learn as much as you can from them. All of these characters might speak metaphorically or in quotes, so try to make sense of what wisdom they've given you. Remember, people in dreams are just as important as people in reality, so make sure to be cognizant of them. Key takeaways:
Getting too excited
As I've mentioned before, the first thing many people do in a lucid dream is get super excited and forget to ground themselves. Some people go up to dream characters and say, "Hey, this is a dream! It's all fake!" Hopefully you realize how bad that is, even just thinking that the dream is all fake can send you back to reality. Looking in a mirror No one really knows why, but sometimes mirrors in lucid dreams can be very dangerous to look at. Sometimes, you might see yourself, other times, a scary monster or a negative image of yourself. Mirrors are complicated and dreams and can be very bad for your optimism and thoughts in one. Getting negative thoughts Similarly, any negative thoughts, whether it's a monster behind you or the fact that you might just fall out of the sky, they can lead you down dark paths in lucid dreaming and maybe even lead to a lucid nightmare. Trust me, you don't want to know what that's like, so try to stay positive. Murder I don't know why you would kill someone in the first place, but it is terrible. Not only is the act of killing someone just so inhumane, but everyone, everything in a dream, is an extension of yourself, or your subconscious. If you do anything like that, it would be as though you are killing a part of yourself, so please, just don't do it. Let lucid dreaming take over your life We all love lucid dreaming, it is an amazing tool and hobby, but don't let it rule your life. Don't just look forward to going to sleep, appreciate reality as well. It's easy to get caught up in lucid dreaming, but don't forget about the beauty of reality. |
Description:Lucid Dreaming Home consists of a bunch of articles pertaining to the main subject, lucid dreaming. I may post about other topics on here, just about things that generally interest me.
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