Dream Question

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 03 Mar 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

aciddragon	03 Mar 2002
I've read a lot of the posts here and can't seem to recall anyone talking about this so... When you dream do you see yourself or is it like looking out your own eyes. For me, it's as thur I'm looking thur my own eyes. Also, I remember a long time ago hearing that not everyone dreams in color..Is this true?!? The past 2 weeks, I've been remembering my dreams almost on a nightly basis. The strange part of it is for the past almost 3 years I haven't been able to remember my dreams at all. Not sure if it was due to the stress that I was under or if my body just didn't want me too or if I didn't want too?!? Anyway let me know. I'm curious how others see their dreams. Thanks :)

raeanne	03 Mar 2002
Aciddragon, I definitely have dreamed in color but I’m not sure if I do all the time. Some of my dreams are rather odd and details, like color, aren’t important so I don’t remember those details. Most of my dreams are from the first person point of view and seen through my own eyes. But, again, there have been other dreams where I seem to be able to view the scene from third person point of view, like I’m looking down on the action and see myself as an actor in a play. Most of my dreams are very “story like”. My mother used to tell me I was making up stuff when I told her my dreams. She said dreams were just bits and pieces of disconnected stuff like photographs passing by one after the other. Well, mine weren’t like that at all! I have had stories where the plot seems to jump all over the place but it is still like a story. All of my senses seem to be able to work in my dreams. Sometimes I will wake up hearing, tasting, and smelling, the same things that were in my dream. The sounds, tastes, and smells disappear very quickly though. Emotions can also be very strong in my dreams and carry over to the first moments after I wake up. I have woken up laughing, crying, angry, sad, etc. I guess my dreams are a mixed bag of everything!

cayacia	03 Mar 2002
More often than not I dream in the third person, looking down on what is happening. Sometimes one of the figures will be myself, and I will just know it, even though it doesn't look like me. Usually if I'm dreaming of myself and I look like myself, I can see things through my owns eyes for the most part. Sometimes I switch persons and look like someone else, then the view changes too. I don't think I've ever dreamed in black and white. There is always some color, but sometimes it's so dark or so unclear that I can't really tell. Especially when what I'm seeing looks like a video when a 5-year-old has the camera...everything moves around so fast I can't tell what's going on.

slinky_jo	03 Mar 2002
I always dream in first person and in colour. I can always remember my dreams, and have about 3 or 4 a night. I find that all my senses are incredibly heightened (incl the 6th sense) - sometimes it is like my dreams are more real that reality - my dreams can be so..... uh, I can't think of the word! But when I dream, I never know that I AM dreaming, until I wake up, which can be pretty scary. It's almost like I don't actually dream, but I go to other worlds, where senses and emotions are heightened. Let me tell you, often it's not fun at all.

blumoon	04 Mar 2002
well i cant say for sure what colour (or not) my dreams are except for one dream that i will never forget, the first half of the dream was in b&w and the second half was in colour, who knows why :-) ive had dreams where i think oh ok i am awake now this didnt happen and then i realize i am still dreaming! but they are a rare occurance... raeanne i too have had dreams where you are seeing yourself in the third person, also has anyone here had someone in their dream where you cant see their face/what they look like properly or at all but you just 'know' who it is? wierd :-)

purplelady	04 Mar 2002
I almost always dream in color! Since I keep a dream diary , I'm pretty aware of this. I record the colors that stand out to perhaps look up their symbolism. I think that I'm usually experiencing the dream as being myself/looking thru my own eyes. However , I do sometimes recall a dream that I am just an outside observer, or looking at or down at a scene that I may or may not even be in. You say you haven't remembered a dream in 3 years and now remember them every night?! Just curious , but what has changed? Has your daily schedule or time changed? Have you quit using an alarm clock , or wake up earlier or later? Just curious.

aciddragon	04 Mar 2002
Well, I started practicing relaxing before I go to bed now. Doing 2-4-2 breathing. I don't work quite as many hours now...say 45-50 verses 60-65 and also I sleep at night now instead of the daytime. I think that mess up the body when you work the midnight shift. :) So, there are a few changes I've made that probably helped me to start remembering them, also I'm trying more now to recall them.

isthmus nekoi	06 Mar 2002
Interesting question... I have both pov and third person, although sometimes, I am not myself. I study film so I have a lot of third person/camera shots. Pans, closeups but no wipes/fade outs/dissolves (wouldn't that be amusing!). I also get styles - film noire etc. Sometimes I get a soundtrack. Every now and then, it's animated. Talk about identification w/the camera! Granted, sometimes, the image is not there at all. Oh yes, and it is true that not everyone dreams in colour. Maybe they watch too many black and white movies ^_~ I used to lucid dream until I felt like I was cheating. Didn't want to take the control away from the unconscious when I was sleeping. So I don't get lucid anymore...! I woke up laughing, once. When I thought about what had made me laugh, it wasn't funny at all! Don't you love that about dreaming? Everything makes sense when you're asleep ^_^

Malachite	08 Mar 2002
interesting question... I'm pretty sure that I 'see' from inside my own head, but I don't know if I see through my eyes...I don't think i do.... Its kinda like I'm me but not me....half-detached... however, when i trance out, it's not only through my dream eyes, but actually routed through my optic nerves, which is very hard to describe... Malachite

Strange2	08 Mar 2002
I always dream in color, and don't recall ever dreaming in black and white. The point of view in my dreams switches frequently from my own eyes to a third-party camera-like view in which I can see my body. I very infrequently dream about people from my waking life. Mostly it's people and places I've never been to so far in my current life. Occassionally I'm somebody else in my dreams. I also have recurring famous guest stars in my dreams, like Bill Gates offering me these wild jobs. or Mike Ditka putting me into a football game. Fun!

The Dream Question thread was originally posted on 03 Mar 2002 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.