Conference hydra::dejavu

    I've tried before to control dreaming on a given night, but without success.
    
    What I have been able to do before is to pick up a dream if it is
    interrupted; i.e., having a dream that is interrupted by waking
    up, and deliberately trying to go back to sleep and pick up where
    I left off in the dream.  When I don't conciously try to do it,
    however, it usually doesn't happen and the dream goes away.
    
    Which dreams I remember depends on how much of an impact they had
    on me; there seem to be three degrees of this.  One, dreams that
    I have and don't recall any part of them at all the following morning,
    two, dreams that I have and recall bits and pieces of them the
    following morning but the memory fades as the day goes by and finally
    is gone completely, and three, dreams that I remember in detail,
    for years.  I could name right now several particular dreams I had as
    a small child, and even remember sitting up awake afterward, because of
    the impact they had on me. 
    
    Doug

    I just had to respond to this new topic!  The control which I can
    exert over my dreams lies in its' content.  I tend to have very
    threatening dreams which obviously reflect my waking fears.  Let
    me explain.  
    
    I believe very much in the spirit world and that if you "open a
    door", you become vulnerable.  Fortunately, for ME, I also believe
    in God and his strength and that my faith in Him can "save" me.
    Well, it's this that permeates my dreams.  The devil has been in
    my dreams many times as well as other evil personalities with which
    I had to confront.  I've noticed more and more that my confrontive
    capabilities are getting stronger in my dreams.  At first I was
    only confronting individuals that were possessed (even little babies
    with red eyes...a very scary image!)saying that I was stronger than
    them.  Now I'm actually confronting the devil himself.  The first
    time I did that, I knew I was scared and wondered if I could actually
    convince him that I was strong enough to do that.  But then a really
    wierd thing happened.  This will sound corny to some of you.  A
    bright light appeared, and what I assumed to be God spoke to me,
    telling me that as long as I believed that I was good, I could beat
    the devil!  Now what do you make of that?  Is there some underlying
    issue that I'm dealing with in my waking state that I have yet to
    determine, or is it as my mother says, that maybe the devil is actually
    trying to test me in my dreams?  Now that's a scary thought!
    
    Any thoughts or comments?  I love reading this Notesfile and have
    never written in Dejavu before, but hope to do so more often.
    
    Lynn   :)
    

                         
                  Results of Some Dream Experiments

   I had been studying dream recall/control methods since 1978, but had 
done little to test any of them. In 1978, I had a series of nightmares 
which were horrible enough to prompt me to test certain Senoi techniques of 
dream control. Before I tested them, my dreams consisted of being chased 
and cornered by various madmen, monsters, and other unpleasent things. 
After studying the Senoi philosophy, I began going to sleep with the strong 
desire to triumph over the creatures who were menacing/chasing me.

   The result was that nightmares would begin, but instead of running I 
found myself fighting the creatures of my nightmares. I won almost all of 
the fights.

   Curiously enough, at the time I began fighting (and conquering) the 
creatures of my nightmares, my waking life began to change. For a time, 
things began to go more smoothly and I became less anxious about certain 
things. In general, my life underwent an improvement. The nightmares 
became less frequent and soon ceased.

   I began thinking about trying dream incubation techniques, but my 
initial experiments failed. I did not put much effort into dream 
incubation, and after the initial experiments I became lazy and did not 
pursue this line of experimentation.

                         *           *           *

   In 1982, I decided, on impulse, to begin experiments in dream recall. I 
kept a notebook near my bed, and went to sleep trying to convince my 
subconscious that I considered my dreams important and wanted to remember 
them. To reinforce what I was telling my subconscious, the first thing I 
would do upon awakening was to try to recall what I had dreamed and write 
down the dreams in my notebook.

   Evidently, my subconscious was convinced after the first week. At first, 
I could only vaguely recall one or two dreams every few days. Then my recall
improved. The dreams became more vivid, and at one point I would recall five
or six dreams every night. It became almost frightening; my dreaming 
experiences began to be as vivid as my waking experiences. The Senoi are 
apparently right: our dream lives, if paid attention to, can be as real as 
our waking lives. I began to ask questions about the nature of reality, and 
wondered if it was possible to become fully conscious during dreaming, like 
certain Eastern monks and Lucid Dream researchers have suggested.

   My sleep periods began to change. I found myself waking up in the middle 
of the night with dreams to write down. Because I worked on a regular 8:00 
to 5:00 schedule, I began to lose sleep on some days, and later began 
waking up late (with even more dreams to recall). This was too much. I 
began ignoring dreams and trying to get my body back into a more "normal" 
sleep schedule. Eventually my awareness of dreams dimmed. I became more 
"normal", recalling only a few dreams.

                         *           *           *

   My conclusions: Dream recall is possible, at least for me. It takes time 
and effort, and a kind of emotional commitment to your Self. You can also 
exert control over your dreams, but this is more difficult and I have never 
achieved the degree of control that some people say is possible. I think, 
however, that desire and persistance play an important part in both dream 
recall and dream control; in fact, dream recall is probably an important 
first step to dream control.

   I suspect that my experiences with dream recall were the result of a 
lack of control over myself. I put a great deal more effort than I needed 
for dream recall, making the suggestions to my subconscious even after I 
was beginning to recall dreams. What I am saying is that I may have been 
too enthusiastic. I believe that if my dream recall efforts are tempered 
by some common sense, I can build a dream life without it having such 
negative effects on my waking life. My theory is that I can create a 
balance between my dream and waking life that would benefit both.

   Since 1982 I have not tested my theories. To be perfectly honest, I'm a 
little afraid to.

                                                   -Robert Brown III

I can confirm Richard's comment about dream recall.  I have been recording
my dreams regularily and trying to work with them for about 2 years now.
I find (consistantly) that during periods when I am most sincere and am
really trying to understand and *apply* what I learn, my recall is much
better.  Application seems to be a real key.  In slow, neglectful periods I 
find recall to be difficult.  Since I began, however, the longest period of
no recall has been four or five days.

Terry (zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......)

    
    
        I use to have dreams, like: I would be running from some kind
    of monster figure, that's trying to get me. I'd run and run so,
    that I would be so tired that I would fall; when I get back up I
    would fall again, and again , and again; and it would seem as if
    that monster would be getting closer and closer, but then, I'll
    wake up. Now I understand what those dreams meant. It was just showing
    me what my life was going to be like; how the enemy was going to
    be constantly on my trail, but will NEVER defeat me! Then I remember
    having a dream, that while i was running, I came to this huge buliding
    that looked like an Acropolis, that had a lots of stairs. I dreamed
    that I ran up all those stairs, and when I reached the top, I jumped
    back down the stairs with wings, and landed on my feet. I guess
    I could say that I remember 99.8% of my dreams...:-)
    
    I ALSO WOULD LIKE TO MENTION: The building I saw in my dream, as
    a little child, was the same building I saw in a vision a few years
    ago!
    
    
    LORENZO
    

    I have what researchers call "Lucid Dreams" quite regularly, but
    I have never tried make them happen. Without trying to control my
    dreams, I am conscious that I have control over the dream that I
    am presently in. Most times I remember what I did that day, and
    what I have planned for tommorrow. This isn't all that great, and
    I'm glad that all my dreams aren't lucid.
    
    The last one took place last night. I dreamed that I was standing
    outside an old boarded up building on a city street, and that I
    was with some friends who wanted to restore the downtown section
    of the city. We opened the plywooded front doors, and found that
    the inside was a beautiful old movie theater...all dusty and torn
    down. For some reason, I think it has something to do with the power
    of selfless service, I raised my hands and commanded the front lobby
    to be instantly restored. All of the sudden the lights came on and
    the mirrors were shiney, and the wallpaper was new, and the doors
    were all polished...gleaming brass and plate glass, and the chandeliers
    (sp?) were tinkling and glittering. At this point I knew I was having
    a "lucid dream". My friends and I ran through the rest of the theater
    restoring it in a similar way. It was a wonderful feeling to see
    a beautiful old building come to life...we filled the popcorn machines
    and the candy counters, and then restored the two-tiered theater
    itself. I commanded the projector to start, and some unkown old
    cartoon began to play...not the main show. At this point I realized
    that I niether had my contacts in or my glasses on (since I was
    asleep), and my vision was blurry. Since it was a lucid dream, I
    commanded my dream eyes to be healed...and gradually the movie came
    into focus. Then the dream faded.
    
    I would be interested in learning how to control the regularity
    of these dreams. Has anyone tried?

    In the Native American tradition dreams are real. As children
    they are asked their dreams in the morning and importance is
    placed on the dreams so that as they grow they will remember
    them. We all usually have from 4 to 6 dreams a night.
    A number of people mentioned the monsters, madmen, etc. These
    are viewed as the "dark creature". We all have dark creatures
    to overcome, in the waking and dreaming state. We must battle
    the dark creature and defeat it. We cannot kill it for it is
    part of us, the action/drive part. It will be and is a tricky
    creature. As you strangle it, it will become those you love.
    Keep strangling! Demand a gift. When it give you a gift and you
    wake up expecting a Cadillac in your drive way (it got you again).
    Take a gift that is real in both worlds. Once it is truly defeated
    it becomes your ally. Just as we face our dark creatures(fears)
    in our waking life , faced and conquered them, this gives us self
    confidence, self-esteem and courage(allys) in the waking world.
    The People learn to to be in control during their dreams(concious
    while unconcious). Western culture is a linear culture so, write
    down your dreams, remember them, then control them, defeat your
    dark creatures, take your power.
    
    Russ
    EW

      I just recently entered a new level with my dreaming and find
    it very exciting!  I had recently spoken with my sister on the phone
    who was going to Florida for the weekend with my nephew (he's still
    a toddler).
    
      A few nights later I dreamed that there were a group of people
    standing around a pool when my nephew fell in. Everyone just stood
    around watching.  I couln't believe it, they all just stood there.
    So I jumped in and pulled him above the surface.  Still in the water
    I couldn't believe that nobody else would do anything.
    
    So I started my dream over!!  Once again, everyone was standing
    around a pool and my nephew fell in.  Again, everyone just stood
    there watching.  Once again I jumped in and saved him.  Still, I
    was amazed at the lack of action.
    
      I still find this small step forward exciting.  I've previously
    never been able to start a dream over from the beginning (even if
    the content remained the same)
    
    All the big steps start with little ones,
    
    --  Tracy

    I've only done this once, but I continued a dream the next nite.
    
    One nite I had a really good dream, people I enjoyed being with, things
    I enjoyed doing.  Of course I woke up at the alarm and had to go to
    work.  All day I could not get the dream out of my mind.  I actually
    could not wait to go to sleep.  When I did go to sleep that nite, I was
    still thinking of the dream.  While dreaming, it continued where it
    left off the previous nite.  
    
    This was a couple of years ago, and I haven't been able to do it since,
    but I did try thinking of past dreams and I have dreamed similiar ones. 
    Just as fun.  
    
    I basically have good dreams, once in a while I will have a nitemare,
    but not often.  I can't even remember the last time I had a nitemare.
    
    When I dream, I feel like I am in total control and that I can be or do
    what ever I want to.  In life, I am basically a happy person and my
    motto is "life is too short to get into fights or be angry..." So I TRY
    to get along with every different type of person.  (some are harder,
    but I think it's worth the effort to at least try...)
    
    After reading quite a few of the dream topics (with about 4 more topics
    to check out..) I think I am going to start a dream journal tomorrow!
    
    Usually if I have an exceptionally great dream, I draw it.  Wierd huh?
    
    I like to draw and color....
    
    -=Doreen=-

    re: .9 (Doreen)
    
    That's not so weird (to draw your dreams).  Neat things begin to
    happen the more we fix our symbols in some art form.  I think it
    helps us to see the symbols of the waking dream as well.
    
    guy