Thread: Using a Totem as a Reality Check reminder..

I won't rant on and on here now so bear with me.

I recently watched inception (Groans and moans ensue.) however I was trying to Lucid Dream beforehand. However the Totem idea intrigued me, so I did some research and realized it's a shitty, useless technique because objects would follow the same path in a dream as it would in waking life.

However what if you used a totem as a kind of reminder. Such as every time you spin it, you ask yourself: Am I dreaming? And then you do whatever RC you prefer to do.

Also! What if one of the reality checks was that if I am dreaming, and I'm in a dream and my totem let's say for example is the one like Inception. If my RC would be to make the totem continually spin -which should work in my dream as I can control everything- would that not make the totem an effective tool?

Totems can certainly be used as a reminder, but you won't always have the totem in your dreams, so it's best not to rely completely on them.
As for being a reality check, the spinning top totem has been debunked; there's a few different reasons for this. Firstly, although you'll have the totem in waking life, you won't always have it in a dream - you'll have to summon it. By this point, you'll already know you're dreaming if you summon it and it appears. Once you have the totem, even though you might be able to keep it spinning, dream control doesn't always work (even if you're very good at it, certain dreams simply won't yield results from said control). I've had many dreams like this.

The totem concept is an unfortunate way to obfuscate the relatively simple yet inherently complex art of reality checking.

The only way I can think to make use of a totem as a reality check is to actively will and expect the totem to carry out dream behaviour when you RC with it in waking life, that way if you used it in a dream it would hopefully perform the dream behaviour, too.

Two issues arise from this: If you were aware enough to RC with your totem, then surely you would be aware enough to carry out a conventional RC? Secondly, as Puffin said, there's no guarantee your dream control would work if you weren't already lucid.

To reliably use you totem in a dream, you would have to be RCing with it constantly, this isn't practical. You would also have to take it with you literally everywhere (even to bed) to make sure it would appear in your dream. With that much effort involved you may as well use Puffin's SAT DILD or Kingyoshi's ADA.

So yeah, totems are a nice piece of cinema symbolism, but a solution for lucidity induction they are not.

I agree with the others. It's also much easier to e.g block the airways, and try to breathe. But inception wouldn't have been that funny, if Cobb just tried to push his fingers throw his palm, ah?

By the way..
<<<------ MY AVATAR, haha!

Well as said that's just another way of reality checking. And given you don't randomly happen to have totems in your dreams it sounds rather inconvenient too, better stay with normal reality checks like pinching your nose, and adjusting your RCs to your individual dream signs.
However isn't this thread kinda misplaced in the research section? I think it fits better within General Lucid Discussion or Lucid Aids...

Originally Posted by StaySharp

However isn't this thread kinda misplaced in the research section? I think it fits better within General Lucid Discussion or Lucid Aids...

Moved.

I have a suggestion.

Instead of using a totem as a reality check, like in the movie. Find other uses for it.

I have a necklace that I've worn 24/7 since I was seven years old. Even then, it never once appeared in a non-lucid dream. HOWEVER, when I am lucid I can reach for it and it is always there. I use this as a kind of grounding element in the dream, I focus on the shape and size of it, looking for any imperfections in the small metal pendant, or any inconsistencies with the waking necklace. In this way the dream becomes clear and realistic and lasts much longer. Because I always use the same thing, and it is always with me, I don't risk the usual delay that comes with inspecting other things in the dream. This also has the effect of giving me stellar dream control, but I don't expect it would work that way for everyone.

Originally Posted by RebelSeven

I have a suggestion.

Instead of using a totem as a reality check, like in the movie. Find other uses for it.

I have a necklace that I've worn 24/7 since I was seven years old. Even then, it never once appeared in a non-lucid dream. HOWEVER, when I am lucid I can reach for it and it is always there. I use this as a kind of grounding element in the dream, I focus on the shape and size of it, looking for any imperfections in the small metal pendant, or any inconsistencies with the waking necklace. In this way the dream becomes clear and realistic and lasts much longer. Because I always use the same thing, and it is always with me, I don't risk the usual delay that comes with inspecting other things in the dream. This also has the effect of giving me stellar dream control, but I don't expect it would work that way for everyone.

Great post, having a totem as a stable element in the dream is a far better usage than as a lucidity induction tool.