Thread: Parents think LDing is an occult...

I used to discuss my dreams with everyone I knew. Before I knew the term 'lucid dream', I had them, and would describe by nocturnal adventures to my mother. She expressed some concern at some of the 'dangerous' things I was doing, like jumping out of windows -- I should be careful not to do that in real life. I knew I wouldn't be stupid enough to do that. I assured her that in dreams I could somehow tell the difference. That's the only time anyone I knew raised any 'objection' to lucid dreaming (or one aspect of mine). Practical, completely irreligious in nature, as was my upbringing.

Re: advice for LDers with hatin' parents: members have already suggested the option of keeping it secret. Easy to do with something that goes on purely inside your head. And keep your journals electronic.

If you're a more confrontational type, see if you can get other reasonable people (real people, not internet people) on your side. Friends, teachers, doctors, an understanding church leader..?

My family think it will make me loopy.

I used to tell people but i stoped because they arent really intrested my parents don't know but if they did they wouldn't really care. My dad is an open minded person so he would probably think it is intresting.
Nothing can stop me i have wanted to lucid dream before i even knew it exitsted but i didn't think it was possible. Imagine the excitement on my face when i discovered it was real

Well, I guess I convinced my mom that it has nothing to do with witch craft, and all that, but now she thinks it's bad for my health... >.>

I even tried explaining it's just dreams, it can't hurt you. Ugh, this is really aggravating...

*sigh...

It is weird how everybody seems to be afraid of it... like it's going to hurt you or something. I guess LaBerge is right... everybody subscribes to the Freudian idea that dreams are important 'messages from the subconscious", and that we shouldn't tamper with them. Like somehow taking control of a dream will choke off the messages that are supposed to be coming through the pipeline.

Little do they realize that in lucid dreams any messages from the subconscious can actually come through much louder and clearer... it's a lot easier to get the message by talking to a dream character lucidly than by just being endlessly chased around by giant bears who never say anything!!

Originally Posted by Darkmatters

It is weird how everybody seems to be afraid of it... like it's going to hurt you or something.

Yeah, it astounds me how superstitious people can be about such things. It is one thing to be a little afraid of something unknown, but the next logical step is to investigate and educate yourself about that unknown and thereby remove any superstitions about it.

And as many have pointed out, lucid dreaming has been scientifically proven and as a natural ability of the mind it is ludicrous to think that it is the work of some dark force. But then, I guess it is just easier for some people to get through life if they don't have to make the effort to challenge their superstitions.

It's sad really, to think that people live their entire lives in such mental cocoons when there is so much to explore while you are alive.

It is quite sad to hear about some of the people here having controlling parents. My mother always let me be myself and stood by any decision I made, that's why if I ever told her about lucid dreaming I'm sure she wouldn't have tried to stop me from doing it.

Though, it is really annoying that anybody I try to tell about lucid dreaming just doesn't find it interesting. When I first found out about it I kind of kept it to myself, but eventaully I tried to tell a friend about it. He told me he already heard about it but just didn't find it interesting. I tried to convince him that lucid dreaming could change his life for the better but he thought I was crazy and refused to believe that dreams could have that effect.

I told my cousin about it once because he is a lot like me and we share a lot of interests. When I first told him he said it sounded really cool, but he doesn't think he would be willing to put the effort into it. I told him to at least read about it online before he makes a decision but he just refused.

It's so frustrating how people can just say "i'm not interested" when it comes to lucid dreaming.

One of the great things about lucid dreaming:
How is anyone gonna stop you?

Originally Posted by pllplp

One of the great things about lucid dreaming:
How is anyone gonna stop you?

Hahaha exactly!

"Bitch Mom: NO MORE LUCID DREAMING!!"
"Us: *goes to sleep* Ehehehehe.. sucka! "

Lol yeah. I keep it to myself. My brother asks sometimes.

I don't see why people who are uneducated or even just a little skeptical over lucid dreaming are so dead-set against it, as I've seen reported on in this thread.

I started this topic to collect information on the safety of lucid dreaming to dispell such accusations as someone telling you it'll make you "loopy", as mentioned above on this page. The conclusion of the topic's initial questions resulted in the findings that lucid dreaming IS safe in EVERY way, and that the only way it could be a problem is if someone was using it as a complete and total escape from reality, just like over-usage of video games, books, movies, and even praying, among other examples, could be used as an escape from reality.

I mean, REALLY now, it's dreaming! It's natural, you're just making it happen more often and paying attention to your sleep schedule - in ways, it's made me more healthy by being well aware of how much sleep I'm getting. It should be encouraged, not put down.

Yeah, I tried telling my friends about lucid dreaming, but that didn't turn out so well...

Also, it seems like everyone thinks LD'ing is crazy, except my little brother. I was proud how he was slightly interested in it, and he didn't automatically assume I'm making it all up. Hopefully he'll ask me more about it, and soon practice lucid dreaming.

but as for everyone else, I keep getting strange looks, and stuff like, "dude, are you high?" or, "umm, ok man, that's cool..." It really surprises me, you can do ANYTHING you want, no consequences, and everything feels real! People are so damn blind...

Originally Posted by Clyde Machine

the only way it could be a problem is if someone was using it as a complete and total escape from reality, just like over-usage of video games, books, movies, and even praying, among other examples, could be used as an escape from reality.

I think I read this on the homepage, but I'm pretty sure that's not possible either. Because think about it, you can only really sleep when you're tired, and the only way to lucid dream is when you sleep, so you can't sleep whenever you want, thus, you can't LD whenever you want. So as far as I know, lucid dreaming can only be positive.

I told my best friend. They think its the coolest ever...I don't think I'm gonna tell dad though, mom would probably be cool with it, I haven't told anyone cept best friend.

Most people don't listen to me or care about lucid dreaming, salvia trips, or DMT related stuff. Kinda sucks, cause I like talking about this stuff. I only have 1 friend who is interested. It's pretty cool having a good friend who knows what I know

I've told my mother about it and she didn't have any problem with it, and I even told her about my first lucid experience. She then shared with me how she's one of those people whose dreams tend to come true when she dreams of something significant. I have told several of my friends, only one of which had anything less than supportive to say about it, and even then it was just them voicing their concerns about it and asking if it was safe to do. So, I haven't run into any issues with telling others about it, but when I read about people being ignorant and scared of it.... It just gets to me. Fear comes from uncertainty and lack of education - so you know how people would stop drawing assumptions about it and being afraid of any of us inducing lucid dreams?

That's right: education.

Originally Posted by Heavy Sleeper

It is quite sad to hear about some of the people here having controlling parents. My mother always let me be myself and stood by any decision I made, that's why if I ever told her about lucid dreaming I'm sure she wouldn't have tried to stop me from doing it.

It really is. I feel the same way about my parents; it's such a shame that so many people's parents don't listen to their kids or let them make their own choices, even about something like paying attention to their dreams.

Originally Posted by lVlerciless

I think I read this on the homepage, but I'm pretty sure that's not possible either. Because think about it, you can only really sleep when you're tired, and the only way to lucid dream is when you sleep, so you can't sleep whenever you want, thus, you can't LD whenever you want. So as far as I know, lucid dreaming can only be positive.

One could spend their whole life obsessing over their next lucid dream and stop caring about reality. Things aren't going too well? Doesn't matter; everything will be great when you LD tonight. You can't play video games all the time either; you have to stop to eat and sleep at least every now and then. And some people can sleep for a long time.

Originally Posted by Clyde Machine

I've told my mother about it and she didn't have any problem with it, and I even told her about my first lucid experience. She then shared with me how she's one of those people whose dreams tend to come true when she dreams of something significant. I have told several of my friends, only one of which had anything less than supportive to say about it, and even then it was just them voicing their concerns about it and asking if it was safe to do. So, I haven't run into any issues with telling others about it, but when I read about people being ignorant and scared of it.... It just gets to me. Fear comes from uncertainty and lack of education - so you know how people would stop drawing assumptions about it and being afraid of any of us inducing lucid dreams?

That's right: education.

Yeah I tried showing them this website so they could see what i was doing, and read all about it, but they refused...

Originally Posted by Hidden

One could spend their whole life obsessing over their next lucid dream and stop caring about reality. Things aren't going too well? Doesn't matter; everything will be great when you LD tonight. You can't play video games all the time either; you have to stop to eat and sleep at least every now and then. And some people can sleep for a long time.

True, very true, but then they will find some other obsession to fill the gap. It depends on the person, really, you can't blame lucid dreaming.

Originally Posted by Lucidness

My family think it will make me loopy.

In a way, it did. CAN'T GET A DAMN WILD! haha.

Yeah I tried showing them this website so they could see what i was doing, and read all about it, but they refused...
.

next time they say something weird refer them to wikipedia. do they dare argue with wikipedia?

Originally Posted by lVlerciless

True, very true, but then they will find some other obsession to fill the gap. It depends on the person, really, you can't blame lucid dreaming.

Well, yeah. I wasn't blaming lucid dreaming, just like I don't blame video games because some people get way too obsessed.

Lol, Wikipedia is awesome.

Originally Posted by lVlerciless

Yeah I tried showing them this website so they could see what i was doing, and read all about it, but they refused...

I guess it depends on the angle with which you approach someone about lucid dreaming? I just kind of presented it to people I knew, saying I'd found a blog article about it and was interested in it. Even though they need to be educated about it to talk to you about it and understand it, I'm afraid the NEED to be educated doesn't translate into the WANT to be educated about it....

Just hope you'll run into a fellow DV member in real life sometime, I suppose!

And +1 to Wikipedia.

I used it to stop nightmares, so my parents are cool with it. Ive been interested in dreaming for a while before I stumbled upon this website, and have loved it since then.

Originally Posted by Hidden

Well, yeah. I wasn't blaming lucid dreaming, just like I don't blame video games because some people get way too obsessed.

Lol, Wikipedia is awesome.

Yeah, I know, just saying, lol.

Also thanks for the advice guys, the talk about LDing has died down in my family, I don't think they really care anymore, rofl.

Originally Posted by lVlerciless

Yeah, I know, just saying, lol.

Also thanks for the advice guys, the talk about LDing has died down in my family, I don't think they really care anymore, rofl.

What exactly was their problem with it? Did they just not know what it was, or....?