I created its own thread for this post. The subject was interesting but it was not really at its good place in the “BIG Was this a LD?” topic and would generate an off-topic discussion.
it sounds to me like there is a vaccum regarding depth and degree criteria for lucid dreaming.
In my experience theres an entire spectrum of lucidity, which also dips down and through the situations of lucid Visualization. High end lucid visualization is intentional halucination, but generally the opacity and feild integrity of such visualizations is still significantly below the standard
non-lucid dream level.
(opacity- opaqueness or solidity; feild integrity:
how many different objects manage to stay real and how real they stay at one time.)
Theres a batch of criteria I would use, and I can see
how i would describe that spectrum myself personally based on my experiences, but i’ll wait for comment…
The other night I was able to achieve a ‘level’ of LD beyond that which I have thus far achieved.
Until the other day (night!), my LD’s were just the ability to recognise that it was an LD and I could more or less ‘go with the flow’ of the LD. It was not possible to change the subject of the LD, although on occasions I have had FA’s which have allowed me to enter the LD state with the ability to say to myself ‘Ok, you can fly safely now’.
However, that was the past. The other night I had a sensation as follows:-
Awake <----> FA <----> LD
whereby I could switch between the LD and what I believe was a FA who in turn could ‘communicate’ with my awake ‘self’ (although I recognise that this could have been just another level of FA). In any case, the central FA was able to ask the higher level ‘What do you want to dream about?’ and could then pass that on to the LD state. This meant that I was able to take myself from a dream about flying to one about animals, and, as I wished, I could let the FA ‘take control’ again and ask of the ‘Awake’ what I would like next. It was very important not to let the ‘Awake’ try to talk to the LD as this would have brought me to full wakefullness.
Whilst in the LD the FA was ‘ready’ to accept requests and I could not contact/recognise the Awake state.
Naturally, I need to work on this some more, but it certainly seems that it’s now possible to take a greater level of control over LD’s - via the LD director.
Clarity of senses:
Which sense is working, and how detailled is its perception? Usually vision would be the top point, but to some people hearing or touch can be just as important.
Also, this could include the sense of the DB itself. In one LD I had I was running and I even felt the strain on my muscles. I spoke and felt the vibrations caused by my voice. Sometimes I have good vision and even touch but don’t feel my DB itself at all.
Degree of lucidity:
How aware are you that you’re dreaming? Can you tell where your real body is? Are you still unconsciously going with the flow? Well, that one’s hard to measure…
Degree of control/powers:
How much influence do you have on the dream environment? Can you break the laws of physics you’re used to? Can you construct your dream environment or are you restricted to what your subconscious presents to you?
