# Lucid Dreaming **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 19, 1999, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691 "1999-08-19T18:18:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pooch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dbc845/32.png) [@Pooch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pooch)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 1999, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/21 "1999-08-20T02:06:00Z")
I should let it go, but…Sweet Jesus, TubaDiva, the guy indirectly asks for a book recommendation and you assume he can’t use a search machine. Are there any good books out there on common courtesy? Ooops! Never mind, I’ll check it out myself. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 1999, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/22 "1999-08-20T02:52:00Z")
I’ve had a lot of experience with lucid dreaming. Unfortunately, they tend to result in very horrific nightmares. It’s like it occurs to me what would be really scary to have happen, and it does. I sleep much better if I leave my dreams alone. * * * Carpe hoc! ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 1999, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/23 "1999-08-20T13:07:00Z")
On the other hand, if you were ALREADY in a nightmare and could achieve lucidity you could take control of it and steer it in a more positive direction. I’ve tried the affirmation technique but maybe I’m just not convincing myself. The flashing light thingy sounds promising but I don’t think I could justify the expense to my wife. Thanks to almost everyone for your input; C#3 and TubaDiva, you kids knock it off or so help me, I’m turning this car around and we aren’t going to WallyWorld after all! * * * Live a Lush Life Da Chef ---
**Author:** ![JoeyBlades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a87d85/32.png) [@JoeyBlades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeyBlades)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 1999, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/24 "1999-08-20T13:42:00Z")
Nearly everytime I dream there’s an element of lucidity. i.e. I know I’m dreaming, but I don’t consciously control it. It’s more like watching a surrealistic movie. I go, “Wow! That was weird. Good thing it’s only a dream.” Ostensibly, my dreams are merely a form of entertainment where I am both participant and observer. They rarely end in any kind of nightmare-ish scenarios, so maybe I do control them at an unconscious level. I am very skeptical that you can learn to control your dreams by reading a book or through the use of some specific mental gymnastics, though I don’t doubt that some people have more control of their dreams than I do. To be honest, I wouldn’t want any more control - where’s the entertainment value in that? “All the world’s a stage”… _have you seen my script?_ ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 1999, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/25 "1999-08-20T13:52:00Z")
so maybe I do control them at an unconscious level. \>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\> Well controling them at an unconcious or sub-concious level and controling them at a concious level is the difference between a lucid dream and a normal dream To be honest, I wouldn’t want any more control - where’s the entertainment value in that? \>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\> Well I suppose we could consider this a can of worms. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 1999, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/26 "1999-08-20T15:16:00Z")
Joey, HERE’S a recommendation you won’t find in any stinkin’ search engine. Read Winsor McKay’s DREAMS OF THE RAREBIT FIEND (Dover, 1973), reprints of comic strips for adults that ran originally in 1905. Then, just before you turn in for the night, eat a large amount of melted cheese. As one of McKay’s shuddering protagonists says in a final panel, “You cannot tell me that Dutchman did not put something into the rarebit besides ale.” * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![JoeyBlades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a87d85/32.png) [@JoeyBlades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeyBlades)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 1999, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/27 "1999-08-20T21:52:00Z")
Joey P, You wrote: > [@](#): > > Well controling them at an unconcious or sub-concious level and controling them at a concious level is the difference between a lucid dream and a normal dream Hmmm… I always thought that you merely had to be aware that it was a dream for it to be a lucid one… but then I’ve never seen the official definition, so you could be right. ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 1999, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/28 "1999-08-20T22:15:00Z")
I have two recurring dreams that are always very frightening – one where I’m being chased (or else I’m just lost) in some sort of dark Hollywood style industrial area, you know, with big pipes and valves and steel stairs. Really scary, but I don’t dream it all that often. The other one, which I dream all the time, is your basic “Omigosh I just realized I’m not wearing any pants!” dream. I dream this one so often that lately I’ve begun to be aware, in my dream, that “no pants” = “dreaming” (since I almost never go out for the day without wearing pants). If I could just be a little more aware maybe I could move on to a new nightmare. p.s. I wonder at what age or level of maturity I will stop having this dream? I’m way past teenage fantasies, happily married, not (so far as I know) a closet exhibitionist. When I discover I’m not dressed it’s not a “here I am, take a look!” kind of feeling at all – just acute embarassment and (of course) a crazy idea that if I do this just right I can get away with it and no one will notice. ## Any Freudians out there that can help me out? “non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter necessitatem” ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 1999, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/29 "1999-08-21T01:55:00Z")
pluto - I’m an anti-Freudian(The more I know about Freudian theory & current knowledge, the more horrified I get) Both of your dreams are quite common -here is a page with interpretations (somewhat Jungian) of the ten most common dreams. [http://www.jeremytaylor.com/hitparade.htm](http://www.jeremytaylor.com/hitparade.htm) ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 1999, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/30 "1999-08-21T04:10:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Read Winsor McKay’s DREAMS OF THE RAREBIT FIEND (Dover, 1973), reprints of comic strips for adults that ran originally in 1905. You’re talking _Little Nemo_, right? Totally off topic, of course, but you just mentioned something SO wonderful! For those of you who have not had the pleasure of old comic strips, you have missed quite a fabulous experience. If you loved _Calvin & Hobbes_, you’ll appreciate _Krazy Kat_. Somewhere around here I’ve got a book of collected _Toonerville Trolley_ strips that are still fresh and funny eons later. One warning: you’ll be disgusted at how juvenile a lot of our stuff is compared to these guys. (I also reference you to Walt Kelly; _Pogo_ will never grow stale.) [Krazy Kat](http://www.krazy.com/coconino.htm) [Pogo](http://www.kenpiercebooks.com/pogo.htm) [Little Nemo and LOTSA NEAT OLD COMICS](http://www.kenpiercebooks.com/nemo.htm) your humble TubaDiva Impressed with Ike’s tastes, literary and musical ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 1999, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/31 "1999-08-21T04:38:00Z")
Sorry, TD. IIRC, _Dreams_ was a different strip from _Little Nemo_ though the subject matter was similar. In _Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend_, the main character was an adult who had strange dreams. It predates _Little Nemo_. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 1999, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/32 "1999-08-21T04:43:00Z")
Aha! Found a site with some reprints of _Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend_. Enjoy! [http://www.wondersociety.com/rws/art/mccay/rarebit/index.html](http://www.wondersociety.com/rws/art/mccay/rarebit/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 1999, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/33 "1999-08-21T07:10:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Aha! Found a site with some reprints of Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend. Enjoy! And quite fiendish they are. Thank you! On another sort of fiendish level, there’s also: [The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers](http://www.ripoffpress.com/) Should we split this discussion of things comic (and cosmic) off to another thread? your humble TubaDiva Remembering Agent F. Frederick Skitty" in “I Led Nine Lives!” ---
**Author:** ![Temujin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Temujin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temujin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 1999, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/34 "1999-08-21T09:09:00Z")
What a great topic! I’ve had a few very lucid dreams, but in my experience, there’s no clear line between a lucid dream and a non-lucid dream. Rather, dreaming involves varying degrees of lucidity. For example, when I was a child, I developed a technique for waking up from nightmares: In my dream, I’d open my eyes wide. Then I’d wake up. In these instances, I was lucid enough to realize I was only dreaming, but not lucid enough not to be afraid. As an adult, I’ve had some dreams during which I knew I was dreaming, but I didn’t take control and change the dream. Instead, I just let myself dream. I’ve also had dreams where I took control and just did whatever I wanted. Usually, when I do this, I get very sluggish and sleepy in my dream, and then I wake up. My gut feeling is that when someone decides to take control of a dream, different parts of the brain that were resting begin to turn on, because you are DOING more. Maybe this prompts a person to wake up. Maybe the trick is to find a middle ground: to achieve a degree of lucidity while dreaming, and yet also to stay relaxed enough so that you don’t wake up. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 1999, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/35 "1999-08-21T13:27:00Z")
Well controling them at an unconcious or sub-concious level and controling them at a concious level is the difference between a lucid dream and a normal dream * * * Hmmm… I always thought that you merely had to be aware that it was a dream for it to be a lucid one… but then I’ve never seen the official definition, so you could be right. * * * Well I’m not sure of the exact meaning (although the first post says realizing and controling) but just becuase you realize your dreaming (which alot of people do) does not mean you’ll be able to control it. The only thing I can think of to compare it to right now is when you are doing something and someone starts talking to you. You KNOW they are talking to you but for some reason you just to comprehend (or hear) any thing they say. * * * Formerly known as Nec3f on the AOL SDMB ---
**Author:** ![eggo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@eggo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eggo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 1999, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/36 "1999-08-21T18:29:00Z")
the usual progress of my lucid dreams: 1. walking along (usualy), non-lucidly 2. the scenery changes suddinly 3. i realize that i am dreaming 4. i say to myself “man now i can control my dream! what should i do?” 5. i think a little 6. my sleep body disolves 7. i wake up and feel like i fall off the celing–very disconcerting– on another note, until about a year ago every dream i had ended the same way…the world came to an end (usualy as a result of something i did) and i was floating in space-the only living being left in the universe. talk about guilt! eggo ---
**Author:** ![Sonic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Sonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonic)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 1999, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/37 "1999-08-21T19:18:00Z")
I read a thing about lucid dreaming in this dream book I had and it had some was to make yourself have lucid dreams. I can’t remember them that well, but it was something like; as you’re falling asleep, say everything you’re experiencing, but keep reminding yourself that it’s a dream. (Not out loud, please) Then when you start to fall into a dream, your subconcious (I know, I can’t spell) will keep reminding you that you’re dreaming. I’ve had lucid dreams before but I never tried this method, so I have NO idea if it works. Hope it helps though! * * * Remember- If you’re angry it takes 42 muscles to frown, and only a few muscles to smack the idiot that mad you angry in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Mirage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Mirage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirage)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/38 "2001-01-16T21:19:25Z")
A quick yahoo search will turn up all sorts of websites, some good, some bad. The best way that I’ve heard of to dream more lucidly is to keep a dream diary. Not as much to not-miss lucid dreams, they are so vivid that you’ll remeber them regardless, but to become more in tuned with your dreams. Writing them down will make you think of them, and the more that you think of them, the more you’ll remember. Because your consious mind is getting “exercise” working with the dreaming areas of your brain, you’ll start to have more lucids dreams and they will be more stable. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/39 "2001-01-16T22:10:24Z")
What I’ve heard is that the key is to be able to _realize_ that you’re dreaming. One way to do this is to train yourself to periodically think, “Am I dreaming?” If you do that enough while you’re awake, the behavior is supposed to spill over into your dreams and so finally while dreaming you think “Am I dreaming?” and, by garsh, you are. Another is to recognize recurring elements in your dreams. (This is where having a dream journal is helpful.) Again, you train yourself to notice these elements while you are awake, and then when you encounter them in the dream, they should make you notice that you’re dreaming. I’ve had very few lucid dreams. Unfortunately, they were usually along the lines of me thinking, “Hey, I’m dreaming!” and waking up immediately. ☹ I also have recalled dreams when I knew I was dreaming in the dream, but really, I was just dreaming that I knew I was dreaming. . . you know what I mean? Not a true lucid dream. ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691/40 "2001-01-16T23:55:53Z")
i had a book once called “lucid dreaming in 30 days” which i got at the used bookstore and cracked me up. it had a whole chapter on ideas for “lucid sex dreams” for “advanced lucid dreamers.” brilliant! but i did try and follow the advice for a while, as did my pals. podkayne had similar advice- it recommended pausing throughout the day and asking yourself “am i awake?” and then performing some kind of test to prove wakefulness. do it for a while, and you’ll do it during a dream and “switch on” when the answer is “no, i am dreaming!” in theory. the problem is, how do you distinguish a dream about lucid dreaming from a dream about whatever else it was you thought about all day? if something is on your mind all day, you’ll probably dream about it. i question the amount of true “lucidity” in lucid dreams- it’s probably just very good dream recall. my final conclusion is that most people would benefit a lot more from a book called “lucid consciousness in 30 days.” it would recommend you pause throughout the day and ask yourself “am i doing something stupid?” and then perform some kind of test. -fh [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucid-dreaming/2691.md?page=3)