this is a random question, and might have nothing to do with LDs, but i figured lucid dreamers might have more experience with it…
have you ever noticed this…?
some of my friends noticed, that when you lie in bed (or when the room is dark), you don’t really see solid black, you see a kind of fuzz…
some of those shapes are the moving lines called floaters…natural stuff that moves in the fluid of your eye… and some of it just looks like static…
what we noticed is that if you look really really closely, for some people there is sometimes a pattern in this static that doesn’t change… I have a pattern that’s been there my whole life… my friends have drawn patterns that have been there their whole lives… some of them are very intricate, some very simple.
I’ve seen that kind of stuff before, except I don’t see it in the dark. Like I’m just looking at something and then I notice weird shapes that have colors and look like cells or something of the sort. I don’t seem to notice any patterns cause I never really thought much about it before.
sure, Jack, I’ll try…
if you’re looking at your eyelids, trying to see how much light is getting to you, you’ll see it’s not totally black…
after some observation, you might notice small patterns of color that look like they’ve been there all along and just gone unnoticed… not really hallucinations, but they look like they make up the whitish static you see when you aren’t getting much light in your eyes.
if you start looking for static, a lot of people see a pattern of color right in the center of your vision, no matter where you move your eye- which leads me to believe it is somehow built into your eye. a lot of people, and i’ve never noticed this, describe a “band of light” in that area.
what i see is a cluster of asymmetric shapes that goes through certain movements and then repeats. my freinds have described elaborate symmetical, almost geometric shapes, and all kinds of things… but the key thing is that the patterns don’t change. you always see the same pattern.
let me know if you have any luck seeing it… it’s possible some people have it, others don’t, but the few people i’ve talked to about it either say “yeah, i thought that only happened to me…” or they see it for the first time and it really surprises them. i thought i was just crazy before i talked about it with someone.
peace, ian
What you`re talking about is hypnagogic imaginery.Everyone gets it but on different level.Some see them sharp and colorfull ,others just blurries(like unlucky me:(
They also show up after you keep your eyes closed for longer or when u very sleepy/tired.
In some cultures the light in the middle is said to be your soul.
From my own experience they have strong relaxing effect.People looking at them usually fall asleep easier.
I hope i got it right.
thx:)
I can’t even remember back whan I noticed this. Sure enough, people can never actually see a solid color. Be it black or white, you’ll notice if you look close enough that there are actually lots of little colors covering the surface. They tend to flash around, and usually consist of red, green and just about every other color.
I can’t honestly say that I can see a pattern in them though. Well, not one that is constant each time I look at a solid color.
yea sumtimes if i look at something it kinda sees as if little i dunno cirles of like um it seems clear but i can see the outline of it… and i usally see a yellow donut shape, but if i relax my eyes at it it looks like a birds eye view of a pit or like under ground cave.
I’ve been fascinated by the effect you are describing too, saddleback. I find that you can see it best if you rub your eyes quite hard. For me, I get a display of the most unbelievably intricate geometrical patterns that seem to pulsate and rush towards me. I asked my optometrist about them once, and his answer was that our brains don’t like seeing blank - they pick up on any small irregularities in the light coming through your eyelids, and then extrapolate this relative nothing into something - something ordered, and comprehensible. The amazing intricacy of the patterns gave me the first inclings I had, long before I got interested in dreams, of the astounding creative power that just idles away in our brains. It’s also a good example of how big a part our imagination can play in what we see, even outside of our dreams. I guess seeing shouldn’t always be believing.
yes i see these too, but i think they may b diffrent then what i was describing, i can see the yellow donut most easily after i press on my eyes, rite when i stop and if i keep my eyes closed i will see it. I also think that ur optomitrist was wrong (no offence), b/c when i press on the top of my eyes while keeping them open first it jus looks the same as if i was to cross my eyes, then everything but the center part of my vision becomes dark and like fuzzy with little fast moving purple dots, then pretty soon everything is black wit purple, then i kinda see like like black and gold liquid things covering all of my vision and with medium sized dots of very quickly changing color, changing so fast i cant even see it change it jus seems to be rainbow colored
i no this is VERY hard to explain so dont think ur stupid if u dont get it and dont think im high if u dont get it
thanks, Neo
Jeff, what you said makes sense, because I don’t think I’ve been able to point out hypnagogic imagery, although I’ve been looking for it. As I’m relaxing I can see large, faint blurry blobs that “move away,” but that’s it. I’ve done WILD a few times, but haven’t seen anything else. So the staticky stuff I’m describing is hypnagogic imagery? I thought because I could see it when I was wide awake that that wasn’t it, but you’re probably right.
What fascinates me most is that it’s particular to every person and seems not to change as you get older… is that true do you think?
salutations, ian
Forgiven…tho ask Jeff if he doesnt mind:)
i dunno about how it changes or not with age.Fact that i know is that i get them very rarely:(which i dont like cuz some people are describing whole pictures of many colours.I envy those:)
I find that I can see my floaters best when I’m looking up at a clear blue sky. I can make my floaters dance by moving my eyes in different directions. I also can see them on bright white walls. It’s fun to try to “chase” them down, but they always seem to move from direct view. :oof:
those “floaters” are mostly cells that have dettached themselves from the walls of your eyes.
And as for the colourful things, yeah, i get them all the time, i can never actually see pitch black, its always filled with these colours kinda like static, i’ve had it all my life and never thought anything of it.
i saw in a documentary a few days ago about the human eye, the light that comes into your eye gets processed by the brain, the brain then adds detail that isnt allready there, to try and make the image look sharper and more defined, these colours could very well be a by-product of this feature of the brain, your bain sees only black, but wants to add to the picture so that it looks like something, which explains all the geometrical patterns.
there is an experiment that you can do, sit in a dark room and get a candle or something, so that when the lights are off, all you can see is the candle flame or whatever against a pitch black background. sit down, relax and just stare at the candle, dont let your gaze of the candle flame. before too long your brain starts to think there is something wrong with your vision because nothing is moving. then the flame will start to move around and dance. its just your brain simulating movement. pretty cool.
i’m pretty sure that the after images you get from looking at something has something to do with the brain compensating for something aswell.
Yea, or if u jus stare at anything for a long time, trying not to blink, everything gets real colorful, and u have this big urge to move ur eye, but if u dont then after a while everything but the center of ur vision will kinda go black but it will disappear and reappere if u continue, very weird
"here is an experiment that you can do, sit in a dark room and get a candle or something, so that when the lights are off, all you can see is the candle flame or whatever against a pitch black background. sit down, relax and just stare at the candle, dont let your gaze of the candle flame. before too long your brain starts to think there is something wrong with your vision because nothing is moving. then the flame will start to move around and dance. its just your brain simulating movement. pretty cool. "
Perfect excercise to all potheads here:) ps.Me trying it tonight:)
