Okay, So I’ve never been in SP, therefore I’ve never experienced HI, and I have some questions for you guys:
Thanks guys for your help, I greatly appreciate it 
Technically, you don’t even have to be in SP to experience HI. It can happen just when your going to bed and drifting off, it happens to me all the time
@ Castillo, Thanks for your input, that was very helpful 
@ GTG145, I just see swirling dots, then black, then I dream. So, I’m guessing to see HI’s I would have to be in SP or something.
You go into SP every time you sleep. Its just a matter of having your mind awake when you do it.
I personally haven’t achieved induction of SP yet, however I have had SP experiences where I was awake. I for instance woke up in my dream and hallucinated “the old hag” or a scary ghost child on top of me, not letting me move. Because you are in SP, you can’t yell or move. You won’t necessarily get a scary HI in SP, its just that to account for the fact that you can’t move, your brain would probably imagine something like a scary person not letting you move. Plus it also depends on whether or not you consider it scary, the first time I had that experience I was 12 or 11, and it freaked me out, however just 4 weeks ago I have had a similar experience and I realized it was nothing to be afraid of.
To achieve SP spontaneously (as I have found), you must sleep on your back, and have your face look up in an angle of around 90* (directly up) or further (as if you don’t have a pillow). What this does is relax your tongue, when your tongue relaxes it makes you feel like your throat is full (you dont notice this yourself when you are asleep). Your body naturally does not want this position as its uncomfortable so it wakes you up with something like a nightmare, which is why most people hallucinate scary images.
You can PM me if you have any questions, I am by no means a master but I do read a lot of information and can give you rational answers 
! I am also new to inducing SP / LD
The swirling dots are a form of HI.
In ‘Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming’, LaBerge says that there are three stages of HI. The first stage is patterns and flashes of light that move across your vision. Then, in the second stage, they start to transform into fuller shapes–objects and people. Finally, the third stage shows whole scenes and landscapes. From there you enter the dream. These stages shift and flow smoothly.
Your “swirling dots” sound like they are the first type of HI. It sounds like you’re falling asleep too quickly. Try focusing your mind on something like counting, like Castillo said, and let the HI progress naturally. Watch it passively. It should turn into more complex shapes, and eventually you will be able to enter the dream world consciously.
Thank you both for those posts, they were very helpful and I will try them tonight. The thing I’m most afraid of is the hag/ scary kid, but I’m sure I’ll get over it. I think you are right Drumm, and I do tend to fall asleep fast or not at all. Another q, do I need to be relaxed when I get things started?
@Crazy I had HI today, and basically the lights in my eyes formed a picture in my head when I was having my eyes closed and it is like watching a movie but you dont know what’ll happen next
I assume to induce a SP, you just wanna relax and not move at all, but still stay conscious instead of dreaming. Listen to the HI and count in your head, 1 I am dreaming, 2 i am dreaming. The key is to not fall asleep, but get the body into the SP state.
@AJ, I heard:) Im glad one of us is getting somewhere, ahhaha a little frustrating I will admit, but I shall prevail!
@Fad, I think the hardest thing is to not fall asleep >.<
First of all, HI can SP can happen separately and you need neather to get a LD! (even WILD).
SP can be scary, but it’s almost always fear itself that creates the scary things. So if you enter SP with a happy attitude (remember that nothing you see is real, so if you see the hag you can smile to it in your mind and not fear it. chances are it will not be scary). I’ve never had scary SP… but I bet it would be fun nonetheless 
shapes and colors are the first stages of HI, as someone said above. The trick is to watch them passively without focusing too much. In the beginning they are a bit unstable so too much focus can make them go away. After they start turning into more solid images they tend to be more stable. Also, you can become aware of HI in a more advanced stage. Most of my HI’s are like that, I suddenly am seeing a vivid image.
I don’t suggest looking at SP or HI too much as a checkpoint, because as I said they don’t always happen (some people never have them and can LD with no problem). So if you keep waiting too much for SP or HI you might even miss a chance to LD 
Good luck!
Thank you mattias. I only looked into the HI and SP because I’m having a bit of a dryspell to say. Thank you though for the advice, it helps alot to know i don’t HAVE to do SP or HI’s.
Yea I see what you mean dry spells are depressing. I went from at leasat 3 LD 's a week to short blury ND 's and no dreams at all. Feb-March I had more LD 's than usuall improving time after time until it just stopped happening and dream recall isn’t what it used to be either. After afew weeks of this I’ve decided to try again and pick up on afew old techniques I never learned how to master starting here with SP and HI.
Oh ok, have fun then! 
I just say because I see so many people say things like “my body was all numb and I saw images, but then nothing happened” and I’m like “what do you mean nothing happened?” xD
Thank you:)