Attained slight form of lucidity, but I did not control the dream

[Karnos]

Even though I just joined this forum, I had been trying to attain lucidity from some time back. I used to be able to lucid dream when I was a kind and a teenager, but no more. However this happened two nights ago; for some reason I did not write it down on my dream journal until a couple of hours ago, though. I have noticed that my dream recall has strengthened in the last weeks or so. In this dream I was inside an undefined space, colored in elegant patterns of red and black. In the space, with me, there were two large birds, as large as peacocks, although devoid of the flowering crown of feathers on their back. One of these peacocks was physically intact; the only abnormality with it, it seemed, was that the feathers were tattooed on the strip naked skin, instead of being independent of the body. Dream logic being what it was, I saw nothing unnusual on that (It probably has to do that where I live, in Barcelona, is very common to see people with tattoos. What was once a kind of tabu is now so common that even in dreams I don't see anything remarcable about it) The second peacock, however, with all of its feathers, was missing the top part of the skull. The eyes were connected to the head through a series of bones and muscle, while the beak (a very abstract beack) seemed to be floating or connected to the rest of the body by delicate ligaments. The only thing occupying the space where the skull and the brain were supposed to be, was a small dot of light or fire that now I interpret as, probably, the pineal gland. This fire was connected to the head (and body) of the peacock through a thin layer of muscle, while this fire or gland floated on a cloud of light. This is the moment when I was aware something was wrong about the ordearl. I knew that what I was witnessing was neither normal nor possible in the real world of physics and biology. I probably did not fully suspect that I was in a dream, but probably in a "dream-like". I knew I was experiencing something very unusual. I think I probably woke up after that, I don't remember. I guess I let the very symbolic nature of the dream take me away instead of screwing it up. So even though I were not able to take reins on the matter, I consider it a small success that I was able to identify and be aware of the strangeness that was happening.

[gab]

I hear from few people, that they lost their ability to lucid dream as they were able to when they were kids. I think that's natural, since as we get older, we are more and more aware of the "laws of physics" and we believe less and less in 'magical things', like lucid dreaming. But it just means, that now you have to actually work to get your lucid, hehe. Please don't be disappointed, but the dream you had was not lucid. But here is the good news. Once you start noticing things like this in your dreams, you are closer to start having lucid dreams, because it means, that you are becoming more aware in dreams. Now all you need is little more awareness, something that will make you question reality and to ask yourself "wow, is this a dream"? You can achieve that by practicing daytime awareness, reality checks and mantras. It's all described here in Collection of techniques for DILD. More DILD tutorials are in DV Wiki from top nav bar. And dream journal is important, because it helps you to remember your future dreams. And even in lucid dream you don't allways have control, and sometimes you can have control in non-lucid dream. The only indicator of a lucid dream is that you know, you are dreaming. SAT - sporadic daytime awareness technique Please don't hesitate to ask should you have any more questions. Happy dreams

[Karnos]

Thanks for the input, I've been researching some of this stuff in my spare time, and doing some of these reality checks, although the All day Awareness is very tiring. Whatever the case, I did feel kind of aware during that moment, although then again, the mind is strange like that.

[gab]

Thanks for the input, I've been researching some of this stuff in my spare time, and doing some of these reality checks, although the All day Awareness is very tiring. Whatever the case, I did feel kind of aware during that moment, although then again, the mind is strange like that. Could you please tell me, if the link I posted to SAT opens correctly on SAT? You are second person mentioning ADA when I linked to SAT. And if you check the "Collection..." link, there is shorter form of awareness described. But yes, to successfull dreamers, lucid dreaming is not as much of a hobby, as more of a lifestyle. Once you get used to awareness, it should get easier. Here is another great explanation of 'awareness mindset' in WILD by sageous. Awareness is the single most important thing for a lucid dreamer. It makes your dreams longer and makes you more 'there' in the dream. Happy dreams