Respecting Dream Figures in Lucid Dreams... Or else!!!

Lucid Adventures
1

Something happened to me last night that I hadn’t experienced before.

I had a lucid dream in which a dream figure helped me build a launching tower to get me to a different location. We built three seats for some reason. When it was done the dream figure’s little brother hopped in one of the seats and I protested, stating that I wanted to travel alone. I tried to use my will to erase the boy, and I immediately woke up. It felt like I was punished for not respecting a proper dream figure. There’s an account of that dream in my DJ for anyone who’s interested. Link is my signature.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone ever had a similar experience, where they disrespected or otherwise failed to acknowledge a dream figure as an equal, a worthy entity, and were “punished” for it in one way or another.

In his book Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self, Robert Waggoner talks about how some dream figures seem to be mere thought forms, while others are more autonomous in nature. If you think about it, the dream figures in your dreams are, one way or another, a part of yourself, a representation of something that’s part of your being. So not respecting that part would then result in essentially a punishment by yourself, for your own actions.

This has sort of opened my eyes a little and I was really frustrated that I had to act out like I did in the dream. There were three of us, and three seats. We all helped build the launching tower. We all deserved to go. Dream figures in lucid dreams (the autonomous kind) do not like to be disrespected. And when I woke up from that dream, I immediately felt sorry for what I did. It almost felt like I’d betrayed myself, because I was very close to accomplishing a personal goal of mine in that dream.

I know that from now on I’ll try even harder to respect the figures in my lucid dreams. Last week I almost killed someone but instead I ended up talking to them. And now I denied someone access to something they felt entitled to. Next time, I’ll definitely share.

Any thoughts, comments or personal experiences?

2

Hmm. I do think we should respect dream figures. You’re right, they are apart of your subconcious and I feel like if you do something disrespectful to them then it’d probably be disrespectful to yourself. I don’t know. I had a friend who made a dream character disappear in a lucid dream. It wasn’t intentional, though. He more so was realising that the characters are part of his mind and he can forget them if he wants, so he as much to a dream character and he disappeared. He didn’t feel anything bad about it, but I thought it was wrong. I think it’s a matter of opinion, really. If you feel that whole moral “treat others like you want to be treated” kind of thing.

3

I have a feeling something like that might have happened to me, I’ll look through my DJ’s later :wink:

One thing I was thinking though (this is just a feeling I have, and might be personal…) is that maybe disrespecting in a “normal” way might “just” offend a DC. The real problam is disrespecting their existance (as in trying to erase them :tongue: ). Like, yelling at the kid and being rude would make you just kind of an idiot (or not depending on your view of DC’s) but totally erasing him might have been seen by your SC (soul, inner self, etc) as abusing your power or something :lol:

Or you could look at it with the active/passive control thing in mind. Trying to do something more drastic in terms of manipulation of the dream world and characters tends to make things fall apart easier…

</random_thoughts>

4

I like the idea that dreams are simulations of the real world to prepare oneself for all kinds of situations one might be in.
If that is the case this seems like a good way to “learn you a lesson” that not only applies to how you treat DC’s but also people you encounter in the waking life. Everybody deserves to be treated with respect and as equals, being a DC or a “real” person.
Dunno if this is relevant, I just thought I would put it out there.

5

:wave: fxwz, why don’t you go and introduce yourself in the presentation topic :content:

Also, it’ very true that until you think of DC’s as real, different people from you (like ND’s), they may as well be so, as it has the same effect on you whether you behave to them in a certain way, since you are actually convincing yourself there is no difference during those moments and WL. And autonomous DC’s sure make you feel like treating them like normal people, that’s the way everyone’s used to IWL anyway, it comes natural to (and of course it’s very useful for experiencing social situations).

But, of course, DC’s can still be treated as puppets, as long as you realize and accept they are just this when you want. Many people feel guiltless when using brute force on DC’s that are used for that purpose, and rightly so, our dreams are open to all possibilities, so it’s very possible to spawn up some puppet DC’s for practice :smile:

6

this is a really fascinating issue that LDing presents us with, I think. Where does one draw that line between giving respect and using callously for one’s own ends.

And its more complex an issue than it seems. Might someone on the level of some LD4all members, who has complete control over all aspects of the Dream, start to “lose it” in WL? When to all intents and purposes, there is no longer very much difference between DreamLife and WakingLife - which is which?

In the DJ of WritersCube there are some frankly creepy moments, where certain of his persistent DCs do start to question their own realities. He has written that some DCs have been able to come to terms with it while others have been driven over the edge into insanity.

Personally, and it should perhaps be said, as someone who has yet to have a LD, I think it is important to treat DCs as real people as much as possible; at the very least they are real facets of your own SC so treating them well is treating yourself well… at the very most… well… we shall see :smile:

namaste y’all

7

The way I see DCs is that they have different “classes” as I will now list.

“The Actor”
These DCs are there to simply make the scenario you are in as real as possible. They aim to keep you away from lucidity and even act normal when you become lucid. It is incredibly hard to tug them out of character, and if you persist enough they will eventually just ignore you.

“The Director”
Different people call these DCs by different names and interpret them as many different things. Some people see them as their DG, some as their SG and others think it is the embodiment of their SC (However, this is not always the case.)
These DCs can control your environment and have the most control in the dream, perhaps even more control than yourself. They can cause you to become lucid, or lose lucidity. It can be harder to get ahold of this class of DC than other classes due to their influence.

“The Figure”
The shadowy figure in your doorway, the person chasing you down that corridor, the hand that just grabbed your leg. A mix of “The Actor” and “The Director” however, this movie is a nightmare. These DCs are the main obstacle of fear you face when having a nightmare. Unless you face them, they are merely an actor, and will feed off your fear until you wake up. When you face them, they drop their act and perhaps change form. They may reveal some truth to you, and perhaps even a gift. Not the most important, yet probably the most influential DC you will encounter.

“The Communicator”
A step up from actor. These DCs may start off as an actor, but will drop their act if you become lucid and challenge them. Most of the time, they will happily hold an out-of-character conversation with you and may even reveal some secrets about yourself, perhaps assist you in advancing your lucid powers and knowledge.

((If I have missed any out, just say))

Therefore, if you offend an actor, it will not matter, as they are merely puppets of your SC, or a director, and will merely act as someone perhaps would in waking life.
If you offend a director, they may take proper offense to this and may make you lose lucidity or end the dream.