Lucid Dreaming

This morning I had the most disconcerting dream, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

In my senior year in High School I did my yearly English term paper on Lucid Dreaming. Since I attended a Fundamental Baptist school, my teacher was not impressed. He disapproved so much that he managed to lose my term paper and gave me an “F”. Again, I digress.

A little over a week from now I will be attending the monthly meeting of my Metaphysical discussion group. In the last meeting I volunteered to prepare a discussion on Lucid Dreaming. Having been dreaming lucidly for almost 30 years, I thought it would be simple enough. Now I’m not so sure.

When I was younger I would realize I was dreaming almost every night, the result being that I taught myself to fly in my dreams. I followed the simple steps written in a library book whose exact name is lost in the cobwebbed archives of my mind. It was simple and entertaining; it was also a great escape from the daily stresses of life. Having a bad day? Take a nap and go flying over a beautiful countryside. I even have a place that I’ve “created” in my dreams over the years. It’s a huge valley surrounded by very tall snowcapped mountains. There’s a community of ogres that make the mountains their home and protect the valley just by the fear that their existence generates. The valley is green and full of trees and plant life. There are ponds and creeks throughout; there’s also a wonderfully misty lake in the very center surrounded by the densest forest of the tallest trees. Well, you get the picture! My dream world was much more inviting than the real one and it was totally under my control. As the years have passed, I have more ties to the real world, more reasons to be awake and less time to sleep long enough to dream lucidly.

In a general sense this is a good development, but as preparation for my discussion group, I thought it wise to “practice” so to speak. Having stayed up until midnight last night for the New Year’s Eve countdown and having a free day today, I had the perfect opportunity to sleep late and “awaken” within my dream. It worked perfectly. My dogs woke me at 6:00 A.M., the time I normally wake up in the morning. I let them out and gave them their morning Milkbone (c), a treat they associate with love and world peace (their world, of course). I ate a banana to avoid a drop in sugar level, and went back to sleep.

I found myself visiting a friend; a rather important and close friend, yet one that lives far enough away that I cannot visit regularly. Not to mention that we are no longer seeing each other, that may be another reason we don’t visit. Our daughters were all there, and it wasn’t even his house, but under the circumstances I was happy to be there. Abruptly I realized I was dreaming. When I mentioned it to him, he seemed quite happy about the idea. We sent the girls outside to play; an unusual thing to do since the youngest is 13 and the oldest is 20, but it was my dream. The doors were locked and things were going very well indeed… and then he disappeared. Just *POOF* and he was gone.

No amount of trying on my part brought him back (quite symbolic, by the way). The fact that I was in total dishabille did not keep me from getting up and searching for him. The house was dark and deserted, all the windows shut, curtains drawn and doors locked. No one was outside either. Then suddenly a van full of people pulls up at the front of the house. I head to the back room to get my clothes and there’s another group of them wandering about the house. Interestingly enough being naked didn’t bother me. I was just angry that they had intruded on my dream. A short discussion ensued where I was informed that I was breaking a whole series of rules by controlling my dreams. I was lectured quite seriously on my lack of respect for the hard work that these people had put into creating my real dream, the one I had nonchalantly pushed aside in order to dally with an old lover.

Suddenly in the middle of the lecture, I realized that I hadn’t gone flying in a long time, so I flew out the nearest window (yes, it was now open, dreams are like that!). The leader urged me to watch out for the electrical wires and that was the last I heard from them. After flying around the neighborhood for a while I did try to get to my valley, but I woke up instead. It was almost 11:00 A.M.

The good news is that I was able to dream lucidly again when I attempted it. The bad news is that I still miss my friend more than I thought. The guilt in the dream is easily explained by my 12 years of attended various religions schools.

Now to prepare for the discussion group.