Thread: No dreamsigns

I've concluded that since I must let my mind wander and drift into sleep, I can't do WILD, MILD, FILD, HILD or anything that involves doing something while falling asleep. I believe it is possible for me to do DILD, although I haven't been able to yet. Here's my question: I have dreams saved since April, and I'm now cranking out 2, 3, or 4 non-lucids a night. The problem is that I've gone over them all, and I've found absolutely nothing in common. I mean, some are 1st person, some are 3rd person. Some examples involve me riding in a school bus, throwing a bomb, watching relatives stab eachother with spears, downloading a computer virus, getting clawed at by rats, being in a racecar race against my friends, getting lost, beating somebody up, burning down a shed, having surgery performed on me while awake in a room full of candy, having a cat sized buffalo as a pet, grabbing colored pencils out of a lake, and all kinds of weird stuff. But nothing at all in common in any of them. Am I missing something? Is there a good way to attain lucidity in DILD without dream signs?

Let me rephrase that. I know that these things are characteristic of dreams. The problem is that the same thing does not happen twice. I can't exactly be on the lookout for having surgery while awake in a room full of candy if that particular thing never happens again. I can try to recognize the general "weird" quality of dreams, but that hasn't worked yet. Should I just keep trying with my RCs during the day and hope I'll randomly do one at night?

Originally posted by Gemini Man
Let me rephrase that. I know that these things are characteristic of dreams. The problem is that the same thing does not happen twice. I can't exactly be on the lookout for having surgery while awake in a room full of candy if that particular thing never happens again. I can try to recognize the general "weird" quality of dreams, but that hasn't worked yet. Should I just keep trying with my RCs during the day and hope I'll randomly do one at night?

I'm the same as you. I have yet to find a recurring dream-sign.

I hardly think that this will limit you in your quest though. Its simply about checking your reality. Recurring dream-signs just help the process.

I would say. Keep doing RC's as well as be in constant awareness of your reality. Just be constantly aware and constantly checking.

And stop being negative. You can do it. How long have being trying for?

I've been trying since I've found out about lucid dreams and this site in April. And yeah, mabye I am being too negative. Mabye I'm just frustrated at not making much progress. Although my dream recall is pretty good, I have had no lucids.

Originally posted by Gemini Man
I've been trying since I've found out about lucid dreams and this site in April. And yeah, mabye I am being too negative. Mabye I'm just frustrated at not making much progress. Although my dream recall is pretty good, I have had no lucids.

Its only been about 3 months. There is no deadline. You pretty much have all of your life to practice. I would suggest convincing yourself that you will have one. Keep trying. You will succeed. But if you tell yourself you wont. Then you wont.

Hi all, even with dreamsigns there's no guarantee for lucidity. I've had the same dreamsign for weeks almost every night BUT still no LDs. I've got the hour and a half long LD from autosggestion.

IMJ

Well, we and everything around us are constantly changing, so it makes sense that our dreams also change all of the time. I'm also in the same boat as you, though sometimes when I've thought I've found a DS then I never see it again

As imj alluded to, it's not always about finding DSs. Even if you did notice one, you have to be able to take the next step and recognize it when you see it again. The main thing when it comes to DSs is training yourself to notice anything out of the ordinary that could lead you to believe that you are dreaming.

Maybe keep a look out for the type of dreamsign you have in your dreams instead of individual dreamsigns. If you don't have Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming, in it LaBerge lists 4 main categories of dreamsign with subcategories:

INNER AWARENESS
Thoughts
Emotions
Sensations
Perceptions

ACTION
Ego(you) action
Character action
Object action

FORM
Ego form
Character form
Setting form
Object form

CONTEXT
Ego role
Character role
Character place
Object place
Setting place
Setting time
Situation

I guess the dreamsigns you mentioned mainly come under ACTION so pay attention to what you, people and things do. Hope this helps.

Holy crap, Gemeni Man, you are the exact same as me. My mind needs to wander to fall asleep, and I am negative.
But yes, you can do DILD's, because I can too
And yes, you can do WILD's as well, because I was able to get HI. For some reason... WILD's are different. Even if you need your mind to wander to fall asleep.... and concentrating keeps you awake... it's fine. Your mind stays awake and your body falls asleep, just like what's supposed to happen


Edit: My dreamsign are characters from the stupid anime InuYasha in my dreams. Last night, in my dream, I was actually InuYasha himself, and I didn't go lucid haha. Don't be discouraged. I find it funny

All right thanks, I'll try looking for actions as dream signs. And WILD works for you? I've tried it and can't get any HI. Do you do WBTB or count and say "I am dreaming"?

Well, I managed to get the HI in the WILD, so I'm going to assume it would work (because if it didn't I probably would just lay there board as hell with no HI).

What I did, I just layed there and did the 61 point method. Of course, I did I terrible job concentrating, and my mind wandered unbelievable amounts, but I managed to scare the crap out of myself with the HI. It was... unbelievable.

Then of course my brother's bed creaked and screwed me up

I didn't actually use WBTB, because I didn't really want to get a WILD. I'm sure a WBTB might help though, because not only will you get longer dreams, but you might be able to fall asleep faster and it might prevent the fact that you need to have your mind wander to fall asleep.

Originally posted by Gemini Man
All right thanks, I'll try looking for actions as dream signs.

Good idea. Below is how I worked it out, do the same with your other dreamsigns.

me riding in a school bus - CONTEXT - situation
throwing a bomb - ACTION - ego action
watching relatives stab each other with spears - ACTION - character action
downloading a computer virus - ACTION - ego action
getting clawed at by rats - ACTION - object action
being in a racecar race against my friends - CONTEXT - ego role
getting lost -
beating somebody up - ACTION - ego action
burning down a shed - ACTION - ego action
having surgery performed on me while awake in a room full of candy - CONTEXT situation
having a cat sized buffalo as a pet - FORM - object form
grabbing colored pencils out of a lake - CONTEXT - object place

INNER AWARENESS: 0
Thoughts
Emotions
Sensations
Perceptions

ACTION: 6
Ego(you) action 4
Character action 1
Object action 1

FORM: 1
Ego form
Character form
Setting form
Object form 1

CONTEXT: 4
Ego role 1
Character role
Character place
Object place 1
Setting place
Setting time
Situation 2

LaBerge says in EWLD, "Make a habit of examining your daily life for events that fit under your dreamsign category. For instance, if your target category is action, study how you, other people, animals, objects, and machines act and move. Become thoroughly familiar with the way things usually are in waking life. This will prepare you to notice when something unusual happens in a dream."