Wednesday 29 July 2015

Dream 465 (WILD & FALSE AWAKENING)

'Drugs Are Bad'
Dream date: 28 July 2015
I decided to attempt the WILD Technique (Wake Initiated/Induced Lucid Dreaming). However, while I was starting this technique, I had a strange certainty that I would end up in a false awakening and was quite concerned. I had been looking at macabre/horror-themed things on the internet (while planning my horror novel) and was worried that some of the ideas/imagery I had seen might enter or influence the content of my dreams - and in particular, a false awakening, which always makes things far more scary for me. I did not experience either hypnagogia or sleep paralysis during the time I was trying to perform the WILD Technique - I must have fallen asleep quite quickly.

In fact, I did have a false awakening. I woke up in my bed, completely paralysed (sleep paralysis). My room looked exactly as it does in real-life - nothing was different, but I instantly knew this was a false awakening because of not being able to move and the fact there was a strange buzzing noise in the room (electronic sounding), which often occurs when I experience a false awakening. I tried to get out of bed, but I couldn't. I was quite anxious, as I was in fear that something scary might happen or a dream character might enter my room while I was paralysed. I decided I wanted to wake up and I started shouting: 'Wake up!' to myself to try and force this, but it didn't happen. I tried my hardest to get out of bed (thinking that if I could exit my room I might be able to change the dream scene and enter a proper lucid dream (this has worked before). I eventually, after much struggling, managed to throw myself onto the floor and found I could only crawl, not stand up. I was naked (in actuality I was wearing a grey boob tube and grey pyjama bottoms in real-life, and I knew this in the lucid state). I crawled to my door and found that it was half missing - the wood at the bottom was splintered as if someone had kicked it in. There was also a strange plastic laundry basket propped against the wall where my set of drawers should have been. I crawled through the hole in my door and entered the bathroom. The bathroom looked as it does in real-life, but it was really cold. I was still naked. I managed to stand up, but could not move once I was upright. I was still paralysed. I kept thinking bad thoughts about what might happen while I was unable to move, and desperately wanted to wake up. I started screaming 'Wake up!' again and eventually woke up in my bed. 

I then went back to sleep and had a normal dream. I was in the kitchen (poorly lit) of an unfamiliar house, which it transpired that I lived in with a male dream character who was a composite of RD and someone else known to me, but not recalled from the dream. RD and I had a quantity of drugs which we wanted to hide. I think we were expecting a visit from the police. Our back garden was actually a very small cemetery/graveyard (with only 1 or 2 graves, a small stone wall, some grass and some weeping willow trees). The garden was on a slope, with the graves at the lowest part, which was closest to the back of the house/the kitchen door. It was night. I looked at one of the graves and told RD that it was 'custom' for drugs to be buried in this garden. We buried some of the drugs in the earth on top of one of the graves (not deep enough to hit the coffin/casket). We then went back into the kitchen.

I told RD that we should smoke a joint, and he went to roll one. Some other dream characters (unknown to me) came into the house and through to the kitchen. RD and I told them about us burying the drugs in the carpet. I looked at the half rolled joint which was on the kitchen table. There was a lot of cannabis in it and it looked like it would be a strong one. I was about to finish rolling the joint when RD started to put some crack cocaine in it, on top of the cannabis. I was not pleased as I did not want to take Class A drugs, especially not something dangerous and addictive as crack cocaine. I said to RD: 'Why did you ruin that spliff?' and he told me he had 'made it better' and encouraged me to smoke it. Despite my reservations, I lit the joint and started smoking it. I experienced the sensation of getting high/stoned from cannabis, but not necessarily any sensation of smoking crack (which I am not sure I could imagine anyway). The dream characters were all gathered around an L-shaped work surface having conversations with one another. I was aware that I was due to got to a class/lecture of some kind.

TIME: 06:30 - 11:00 hours (this dream started as soon as I 'fell asleep' and the second non-lucid part seemed to continue almost immediately after I went back to sleep after waking)
LUCIDITY: Approximately 20% of the dream was lucid - 5 minutes out of a 20 minute dream (estimated). Good clarity but minimal control (only able to move my body in limited ways and use my voice)
SPECIAL NOTES: REM rebound effect from recent cannabis use

Dream Information:
  • RD is a long-term university friend - I associate him with drugs

Dreamsigns:
  • I lived in an unfamiliar house with the RD dream character (IA - Inner Awareness)

Recurrent Dream Themes:
  • Cannabis
  • Being enrolled in a class/learning institution

Potential Day/Dream Residue:
None of note

Waking Thoughts & Emotions:
I wonder if my certainty that I might have a false awakening (I suppose I thought this might happen as it usually does when I am experiencing the REM rebound effect a few days after cannabis use has halted) made it more likely to happen. Setting a clear intention to lucid dream often helps to trigger lucidity in DILDs (Dream Initiated/Induced Lucid Dreaming), so perhaps even though I tried to perform a WILD (which often results in a false awakening for me), the idea being in my mind influenced what happened. I did not enjoy the false awakening, as I was unable to control it or make it a full lucid dream. I wish I had thought to spin around once I was in the bathroom, as this can help change a dream scene/environment or content and it may have helped me have a more enjoyable lucid experience. 


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