Thread: do you think some dreams are not your own?

Hey all, I was wondering what your thoughts would be on this.

First of all, I have really good dream recall; if I sleep enough then I'll have no problems vividly remembering that night's dreams. I also always dream in color, always have all five senses in dreams, although they are not always present (for example, I might not have a dream with food in it, so I won't have the sense of taste in that dream). I'm always in "first-person", unless its when I'm viewing a dream like a movie. I also always have dreams about places that are on Earth as far as I can tell, but its always changed in some way or different. I might dream that I'm on my college campus, but in the dream its a completely different place, but I know its still mine and I know where everything is at in the dream.

I also have been having deja vu in my dreams a lot lately. I'll be walking along and think to myself "hey, I've been here before" , when its the first time (as far as I know) that I've dreamed this. And I always know where everything is at in my dream. Which I find weird, but cool.

And like I said before, I'll be dreaming of Earth-like places, but they're new each time and I have never been anywhere like the ones in my dreams. Its just weird because I hardly ever dream of anything that relates to me at all lol.

So, think they're just random dreams of mine, or could there be a connection to the collective consciousness or otherwise?

Reminds me of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVL-TvFJ878

A guy claims to have shared a dream with his brother and, upon questioning him later, finds that he had the exact same dream from a different perspective. What do you think?

That's a cool video, and I agree with him about it being a shared dream. Hmm, perhaps I've dreamed things before and don't remember them?

I think it could make sense though, because they're family and that kind of connection could've led to this shared dream. That's also interesting that they both were able to have the same amount of control in the dream and that they both became lucid. Geez, a spontaneous shared dream... I've heard techniques for consciously trying to have them and this is definitely something unusual. Especially since there's a few on here that always try to coordinate and have them and people usually have problems.

I tend to think that dreams are our own, but that they can also happen outside our mind, which probably happens with shard dreams. Again, it makes me wonder if all the DCs in my dreams are really just made up be me, or if some are actually real people.

Originally Posted by Neo Neo

That's a cool video, and I agree with him about it being a shared dream. Hmm, perhaps I've dreamed things before and don't remember them?

I think it could make sense though, because they're family and that kind of connection could've led to this shared dream. That's also interesting that they both were able to have the same amount of control in the dream and that they both became lucid. Geez, a spontaneous shared dream... I've heard techniques for consciously trying to have them and this is definitely something unusual. Especially since there's a few on here that always try to coordinate and have them and people usually have problems.

I tend to think that dreams are our own, but that they can also happen outside our mind, which probably happens with shard dreams. Again, it makes me wonder if all the DCs in my dreams are really just made up be me, or if some are actually real people.

Agree. I personally think that dreams are indeed acted on the astral plane or whatever plane the dream takes place in. This would explain some of the dream sharing that we have heard about and explain a lot of other things

Originally Posted by BigFan

I personally think that dreams are indeed acted on the astral plane or whatever plane the dream takes place in.

Shared dreaming DOES NOT occur on an astral plane. Each participant in a shared dream experiences their own independent dream, and there are differences between both accounts. But these are archetypal differences that basically describe the same thing.

Originally Posted by The Cusp

Shared dreaming DOES NOT occur on an astral plane. Each participant in a shared dream experiences their own independent dream, and there are differences between both accounts. But these are archetypal differences that basically describe the same thing.

I agree. Some people believe otherwise though.

Originally Posted by The Cusp

Shared dreaming DOES NOT occur on an astral plane. Each participant in a shared dream experiences their own independent dream, and there are differences between both accounts. But these are archetypal differences that basically describe the same thing.

Well, I've heard instances where something was shared in the dream and they both remembered it when they woke up, so, saying that they have independent dreams wouldn't explain that. To me, this is just another thing to explore

Originally Posted by BigFan

Well, I've heard instances where something was shared in the dream and they both remembered it when they woke up, so, saying that they have independent dreams wouldn't explain that. To me, this is just another thing to explore

Sure, but until I experience it myself at least, I don't believe them. Too bad only they know the real truth. And if they were saying the truth, chances are it isn't a coincidence.

Originally Posted by BigFan

Well, I've heard instances where something was shared in the dream and they both remembered it when they woke up, so, saying that they have independent dreams wouldn't explain that. To me, this is just another thing to explore

I've studied various accounts of shared dreaming over the years, even though it's rare to get both sides of the dream. SOme memorable one are a father and son who go to a dream restaurant. In the father's it's a Denny's, in the son's dream, it's a Burger King. But every thing else is the same. Another father and (young) son example, the father sees his son run into him in the kitchen, and is worried he will fall and hurt himself. But from the son's perspective, his father bent down and kissed him on the head. Again, everything else is the same.

Those kinds of differences occur in real life as well. Take an animal lover and someone who's afraid of dogs. When those two people encounter the same dog, they are each going to see it in a very different way.

Originally Posted by BigFan

Well, it would be difficult to know whether the DCs are your own creation in your head or an actual person, but, that's what experimentation is for. Possibly a question and telling them you love them, would give one an idea which one it is

It is hard to tell, especially if they aren't lucid. Then they act just like any other dream character.

Originally Posted by Neo Neo

I also have been having deja vu in my dreams a lot lately. I'll be walking along and think to myself "hey, I've been here before" , when its the first time (as far as I know) that I've dreamed this. And I always know where everything is at in my dream. Which I find weird, but cool.

Same here, in waking life and in my dreams...I often feel or know that I have been here or done this, when I know that I haven't.
-FreakyDreamer

I think that shared dreaming is possible, and I'm all for the possibility of it being on the astral plane, but at the same time it would be really hard to prove where it occurs... and it would also raise questions about DCs and whether they're actually made up or possibly real people. For me (and I'm sure others as well) I get lots of different locations and people in my dreams that I wonder if something more could be going on than just being in our minds. We know that they're "our" dreams, and there's science to back up our sleep patterns, and that our minds are involved, but because of the wide range of experiences with dreams I wonder if there could be other things going on that we don't know about or just ignore because it seems too "out there". I don't know, just thoughts of mine

Originally Posted by Paraknight

Sure, but until I experience it myself at least, I don't believe them. Too bad only they know the real truth. And if they were saying the truth, chances are it isn't a coincidence.

I can't say I fully disagree, however, I've read too many accounts and doubt that everyone who has an account is to out to just make some stuff up

Originally Posted by Neo Neo

I think that shared dreaming is possible, and I'm all for the possibility of it being on the astral plane, but at the same time it would be really hard to prove where it occurs... and it would also raise questions about DCs and whether they're actually made up or possibly real people. For me (and I'm sure others as well) I get lots of different locations and people in my dreams that I wonder if something more could be going on than just being in our minds. We know that they're "our" dreams, and there's science to back up our sleep patterns, and that our minds are involved, but because of the wide range of experiences with dreams I wonder if there could be other things going on that we don't know about or just ignore because it seems too "out there". I don't know, just thoughts of mine

Well, it would be difficult to know whether the DCs are your own creation in your head or an actual person, but, that's what experimentation is for. Possibly a question and telling them you love them, would give one an idea which one it is

Yeah, I still have yet to tell my DCs I love them, I've been lucid lately but keep losing my lucidity because I get so interested in whats happening in the dream that I lose focus... but my DCs have been acting more like actual people lately, sometimes they aren't very talkative or smart and are just sort of there. Recently they've been very realistic in they ways they've been reacting towards what I've been doing. But, now I'm just digressing off the topic of this thread

its all good, and I would agree that lucid dreaming is a skill that needs to be developed (with the exception of the natural lucid dreamers on here ) and when I'm able to talk to my DCs more it should give me clues if they could be real people or not. However small chance that may be

I had some recent dreams about the world being completely controlled by the government and mind controlled. In one part, several adults were in a classroom and were being taught societal rules and ways to act. You couldn't show any emotion, question anything, or really be expressive in any way. And it was implied that there were security systems everywhere which were constantly observing everyone's actions. There was dialogue between DCs that seemed so genuinely real, and the mood of the dream was dark and it was almost like a mild nightmare, except I was just watching the dream for the most part.

There's more too, but my point is that I have no idea where any of this came from . I havn't been thinking of anything remotely close to the subjects in this dream, yet it got really detailed with everything, like it had its own society and culture.

I know that we all dream random things and that dreams don't have to make sense, but it just interests me that our minds can do this like this, which leads back to the title of this thread