Can you dream what you haven't seen?

[AndyRM]

Whether I'm right or not, I have always thought that dreams come from somewhere in your subconscious.

Last night backed that up as I had a pretty wild ride, like lucid dreaming, an acid flashback with a bit of drug psychosis thrown in. This has happened before, but never for as long (I literally haven't slept) and never as interactively. I could pick up little objects that were on my bed, interact with the weird films that played in front of my eyes occasionally.

My girlfriend showed up (usually naked, winner!), of her friends who I recently met (only his head, strangely) and two others. Oh and her dog.

There were a lot of things I recognised from my life, films, bits of jewellery, posters... That's cool too because they're always mashed together in some way.

Which is largely where my subconscious theory comes from.

With no warning whatsoever this all stopped, I checked and it was bang on 7.30; perhaps the light in room had changed, maybe my brain had just run out of whatever brought that on (usually lasts about an hour, this was 6.5)... Who knows.

Not having to get up for another two hours I decided to try to get some shut eye, because fun though it was I've got a busy day ahead.

Drifting off another film started, but it was quite faint so I figured it would pass. It did not, it went full on. A sort of desert setting with some kind of battle going on, which ended, but then the casualties all started morphing into animals, mice mainly, snakes, insects, each other.

It was so, so vivid, well made, seemed to have some kind of plot, there were subtitles, things flashed up on the screen. But I've genuinely never seen anything like it and Google hasn't come up with any plausible suggestions for a film I might have forgotten about buried in there.

TL;DR - brains are weird.

So, any suggestions?

 

[AndyRM]

Oh yeah, and the film was pretty disturbing, even for me so I gave it half an hour with my eyes shut trying to turn it off.

When I opened them my room was covered in the kind of graffiti you usually see badly scrawled on bus stops and park walls.

I decided I'd better get up at that point, because that was a little unsettling, I felt very boxed in.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

It's a very interesting question.
Nearly all my dreams are made up of images or fragments of images, sounds, scenes, people or experiences already lived in some way, of course they're mashed up into something I've not experienced before, some sort of bizarre scenario where all the elements are real but the script isn't.

But I think you can dream of something you've not seen. At various (but infrequent) times in my life I've had the same recurring dream about a strange substance which is the whole dream. I can't really describe it well because it doesn't exist, but I'll give it a go. It's kind of a loose, web-like 3D matrix, which feels springy overall, like a loose spongy web, but the fibres are also kind of crackly and harsh, like a crisp packet, and they splinter. I usually sort of fall onto it, and it gives way, allowing me to sink into it, feeling this crackling, sinking sensation. It's terrifying and weird. So I think your brain can invent something not seen.

"But even after admitting this, there is no catharsis"

 

[RoubaixCube]

I think you should lay off the cheese before bed mate.

 

[mudsticks]

Interesting coincidence, we were chatting dreams over dinner last night.

One person could conciously start flying in her dreams, if she realises she's dreaming .

Kind of "Oh I'm dreaming, let's go for a zoom around"

Which sounds brilliant, I want to learn to do that, but clearly no one can fly independent ly in reality.

I've been able to take ridiculously long strides whilst running, and also walked on water a couple of times.. 🤔

Woke up convinced for a few minutes that I really could, but just hadn't realised it was possible.

Clearly none of these things are 'real' in our world, but the creative imagination is.

And It gets to work at night.

 

[Craig the cyclist]

One person could conciously start flying in her dreams, if she realises she's dreaming .

Dreams are experienced only in an unconscious or sub-conscious state, so she can't consciously control something in a un/sub-conscious state. That is her saying she can control her dreams, which clearly she can't as it isn't possible to realise you are dreaming because to realise or recognise such a thing would have to be done from a conscious place. Even if she does take a lot of LSD!

Does she mean that she is able to take herself on consciously guided day dreams? A bit like meditating or extreme mindfulness experiences?

 

[Craig the cyclist]

Oh, and yes, you can dream about what you have never seen, otherwise no-one would be able to dream of a dragon or a wizard.

 

[The Crofted Crest]

Dreams are experienced only in an unconscious or sub-conscious state, so she can't consciously control something in a un/sub-conscious state. That is her saying she can control her dreams, which clearly she can't as it isn't possible to realise you are dreaming because to realise or recognise such a thing would have to be done from a conscious place. Even if she does take a lot of LSD!

Lucid dreams.

 

[T4tomo]

I think you should lay off the cheese before bed mate.

and the LSD

 

[DaveReading]

Oh, and yes, you can dream about what you have never seen, otherwise no-one would be able to dream of a dragon or a wizard.

Books? Films? TV?

 

[numbnuts]

Dream ..........I wish I could just get off to sleep

 

[AndyRM]

Interesting coincidence, we were chatting dreams over dinner last night.

One person could conciously start flying in her dreams, if she realises she's dreaming .

Kind of "Oh I'm dreaming, let's go for a zoom around"

Which sounds brilliant, I want to learn to do that, but clearly no one can fly independent ly in reality.

I've been able to take ridiculously long strides whilst running, and also walked on water a couple of times.. 🤔

Woke up convinced for a few minutes that I really could, but just hadn't realised it was possible.

Clearly none of these things are 'real' in our world, but the creative imagination is.

And It gets to work at night.

Lucid dreaming. I can do it, takes practice though.

 

[JtB]

While I’m actually dreaming I don’t know what direction the dream will take or how it will end, so who or what is directing my dream?

 

[mudsticks]

Lucid dreaming. I can do it, takes practice though.

Apparently you have to imagine you have a sixth finger (when awake) and pinch yourself .

But then do the same in a dream and when you pinch yourself but it doesn't hurt you know your dreaming..

So can then control your dreams..


Or something like that

Although I don't understand how you make yourself imagine the sixth finger when you're dreaming .

Might need to read up on all this..A bit more..

 

[AndyRM]

Apparently you have to imagine you have a sixth finger (when awake) and pinch yourself .

But then do the same in a dream and when you pinch yourself but it doesn't hurt you know your dreaming..

So can then control your dreams..


Or something like that

Although I don't understand how you make yourself imagine the sixth finger when you're dreaming .

Might need to read up on all this..A bit more..

This is a decent guide - https://www.tuck.com/sleep/how-to-lucid-dream/

I wouldn't necessarily recommend the sleep paralysis, I've done it a few times and it can be scary.