Importance of dream journal

[AntiGravity]

Hmm, Ive been thinking about keeping a dream journal recently, not because I want too however, but because I heard it would help induce OBEs and lucid dreams. The weird thing is I dont really remember my dreams that well, however, after doing some energy work over the past few days, Ive been recalling dreams from the PAST! I remember dreams that Ive had before, but I cant remember the ones I had that night. Do you recommend anything to help Dream Recall?

[AntiGravity]

Thanks a bunch MajorTom! Ill start writing down my dreams ASAP(each day).
Also, do you think an affirmation before sleep each night would help? SOmething like, "I will remember my dreams" or something of that nature.
Thanks again
[]

[Boris]

Yes I read that Leyla post with great interest.

My problem is that a lot of my dreams are so absurd that I can't
see putting any effort into keeping track of them. Half the time I
don't even like them. When I go to bed, I plead, please don't give
me any more of THAT kind of dream. I want some nice wish
fulfillment dreams, where I get to do what I can't do in reality,
right now. But right now my life is full of unavoidable hassles and
conflicts, so maybe dreams that I don't like have some kind of
validity.

To me, the idea of wasting time keeping track of absurdities is
for very nutty people. However, I recently read an article about
how nuttiness and psychic talent go together, in some cases. I am
so to speak, a Vulcan, who thinks predominantly rationally and
logically. But I admit that sometimes I almost immediately have the
answer intuitively, somewhat the way Leyla describes. But even
then, I will still want to belabor the issue logically and build a
logical structure around it as well.

What I suppose I will have to do is make up my mind how much I want
to go to the next step, and access these higher abilities: what I
think they are worth in contribution to life, and how much time I
will put in, for uncertain success, when practical things are more
pressing. I do think that this weird area is the forefront of
science. So I am asking myself, am I now supposed to live weirdly,
to access it?

(I see this post has been partly responded to by many posts written
while I was writing mine.)

[Manix]

Thankyou for reminding MajorTom. I've let my journal slide way to much. I had put to much importance on recording dreams as soon as I woke up, making the journal less fun. I think the point is to write something every day, and enjoy the journal, not make it a PITA. I think I will restart my journal using the computer and word program, use a cool font, and scan in sketches of dream scenes when it suits me. Maybe print out the pages as I feel like it and add them to a three ring binder to make a book. This might make the journal more fun and in turn make me more inclined to write something everyday. I think the more dreams you can remember during day the better you recall gets, the same as it would if you recall in the morning. Sure you can write in the morning before you forget, but I never have time to write them down, not even a hint as to what they were. During the day I can sort out the order and details of dream better anyway.

Thanks again .

[Thing]

another nice thing is that you can continue dreams that you had hehe! its very nice, really!!!

[Dream Cadet]

Hi All,

Keeping a dream journal is very important in recording how you feel about something as well as seeing it.  I often write "I percieve" or "I feel that" when I'm writing.  In image will often cause an emotion in me and I wind up writing a lengthy description of how I feel about it.

D.C.

[innerpilot]

The dream journal is recommended by many Astral teachers including the fairly new International Academy of Consciousness. I have been doing it for many years, one of my friends gives me a book of empty pages every year for Christmas and I usually start a new book Jan.1. Keep book and pen right next to the bed. Lots of times though I have difficulty reading my writing later on in the day. Sometimes I think I write while I'm still "under". But I, as Major Tom has said, have also found that lucidity and remembering increase very quickly. I have also been able to continue some dreams, even three or four times, during the course of one sleep period. It helps one take a more proactive role in the sleep process, which we now know is anything but unconscious.

[AntiGravity]

quote:Originally posted by MajorTom

Yes, I think that's a good idea. I remember when I started a dream jorunal in the past, my dreams soon took on epic proporitions, and each took me like 1 hour to write down . That's simply not feasible
during the day, let alone at night.

As long as you spend some time on it each day, and maybe leave out the less interesting one's due to time considerations, it will continue to be fun. However, best to write down all the dreams with key words, and only later decide which one's to elaborate on, since that waking mind can't be trusted at night . It just wants oblivion and pass out.

Hehe. I just wrote down my dream like two minutes ago. Its amazing how much I forgot! I had like two or three sentences or the stuff that usually happens in my dreams.(Im at my house, I fly around, theres a crap load of duplicated people inside, outside, and on the roof of my house). THen I thought about one person and it reminded me of a lengthy "scene" in my dream. THough it is possible that I had that dream over the weekend and Im remembering it know. I guess it doesnt matter which nights dream you put down (but its good to put that nights down), just as long as you have A dream in there.
And its also possible I had that dream twice, I usually re dream the "highly emotional" dreams. []
Yea so I have a journal (one that I have to write in) for my dreams and OBEs (when they happen). It stinks that I cant use the computer to write them down, because I actually forgot some of my dream just getting up to get the journal, how much would I forget if I walked down here in the morning!? lol.
Actually I might get another notebook to put my OBEs in instead of putting them both in one book (I guess you could say I like to keep stuff very organized).
Whew, that was a lot to type, bye now!
[]

[Manix]

Catagories & analysis! I never thought about that, I think I might add that to my journal. It's a great idea. Thanks for adding that MajorTom.

[Manix]

Where is his template?

[Manix]

You even included the page number! Thankyou!!!!

[AntiGravity]

quote:Originally posted by MajorTom

Good one. It should go quick.

Recall gets easier after a while.

Dreams definately have a tendecy to repeat, or follow the same theme and symbols. I would say that 75% of my dreams are reoccuring dreams with a different angle, and since I'm focused on OBE's right now, about 50% of them are about OBE's.


Here's a little entry of last night:

4/26/2004   Monday   6:00am


A storm coming through the chimney

Keywords: living room, chimney, barricaded, powerful wind going out, powerful wind coming back, the wind brought several circled wooden objects.

Experience: I was in the house of my parents, but not anything like they ever lived in reality. I had the feeling it was on an upper floor. It was more like an apartment than a house.
   There was a storm outside. Part of the wall where the chimney used to be had been barricaded. Not a good barricade. The cement was still wet and the stones were like rubble.
   I removed the stones. There was a great suction, and a lot of wind past through the chimney. A very powerful 'unnatural' movement.
I got a sense of what was outside. A huge storm was outside, and my location became clearer. It was my parents bedroom in their second house arranged as a living space. Next, after the suction had completed, there was a counter movement (like correcting the unbalance) and a huge powerful wind came through the chimney in the living room. It brough some pieces of rubble from outside with it.
I looked at it, and it turned to be a couple of small wooden decorative circle shaped objects. Later in the dream they started to look like cup holders.


Category: Dream
Setting: Living room, parents bedroom
Players: Myself, parents in background
Symbols: wind through chimney = leaving and reentering the body; circle shaped objects = undetermined.

Comments and guesses: If the wind indeed represents leaving the body, it seems the wind returned something of value. It wasn't clear to me what the use was of the circled objects, but they remind of the circled objects I once had in my hands unepectedly while OBE. They were magcal weapons meant to be thrown at negative influences while OBE.  

Major Tom

Wow, that was great, very nice read even though it was short. It makes my journal look quite plain. Maybe I should add those symbol type things in it too. Do you think it helps you in understanding "yourself" better if you try to interpret the dream into something "more" than what it is? Like directions or symbols or something?
Ill start adding more things to my journal tonight, one more thing however...
When you date the journal, do you use the date when you awake or do you use the night before? By your thing it looks like you label it by the morning after, but I just wanted to check. I dont think it matters though, Im just curious.
By the way, I did get a different journal for my dreams and kept the other for OBEs []. I just think it'd be a little bit of a hassle having both of them in one book, at least for me it would be...
Take care!
[]

[mazdaaf]

yeah-- in my dream journal i also add a "predictions" colume where i can write what i think the dream meant if it meant anything (since my dreams tend to come true in some way). Its nice cause i can look back and see if what i thought was correct plus it helps learning how to decode dreams and such. I also add whether it turned out true or not and in what ways []

[AntiGravity]

Thanks a whole lot MajorTom! Very helpful. It might be awhile before I am able to interpret certain things in my dreams, though. I few things I noticed in your posts, 1) you have short descriptions of the (Im guessing) important parts of the dream. Is this the way to go instead of writing down the whole dream? and 2) pertaining to your last post, I noticed you had wrote that dream down (or had that dream) an hour before the previous dream excerpt. Does this mean that you woke up, wrote that dream down, went to sleep again and did the same thing at 6:00am, -or- did you have multiple dreams that you recorded in different sections? Or neither of the two?

Hmm, dont know how to word this last thing so Ill just forget it.
Thanks again Tom!

[MoonlightFairy]

On the topic of dreams, did anyone else stop having dreams (well you always dream but I mean...neve remembering them at all) as you got a bit older? I mean, I used to dream all the time when I was very young but I realized I just wasn't having dreams anymor euntil I started thinking about it and wanted to have dreams and remember my dreams.

[AntiGravity]

quote:Originally posted by MajorTom

The short description are mainly a matter of recall. I only restarted my journal a week ago after a long lapse, and it's all I remember for now of each dream the next day.

However, it's plenty already I will probably continue doing it in synopsis form. Each entry takes like 20 mintes to write down, and last night I had 5 entries, which adds up to 1:40 hrs working on the journal. Of course, the more the better, and the more detail the better, but I simply got some real life restrictions as well as keeping the journal fun and being able to keep it in the long run.

Once my recall gets better I'll wrtie out the most importan dreams in detail, whereas I will drop others completly which I'm doign already. Although I still remeber the keywords at nigth.

At the moment, I'm memorizing key words each time I wake up after a dream. I would write them down otherwse, but I don't want to wake up my wife with turning on the lights. I ordered some lightpens, at which point I no longer have to memroize in the middle of the night, but can just write down key words.

Thanks Tom ( you dont mind Tom, do you []).I think I should try to just remember key ideas and words too. I woke up this morning, still in bed, I was trying to remember as much as I could. I had remembered a fairly long dream and went to write it down. I got up to get my journal, and I forgot it all! Man that sucks. But I did remember something, however it was more like a small dream segment of low importance than a dream. I also found it harder to go to sleep thinking about what I want to dream about and how Im going to remember it all in the morning. Maybe I should just let it go and dream whatever the heck I want to dream about.
Thats all from me, take care!
[]

[AntiGravity]

quote:Originally posted by MajorTom

Hi Gravity. Don't mind Tom

The forgetting can be a nuisence, but it's important to still write down whast you remember. Even if it's just a little bit.

Before getting up, it sometimes helps to go over the dream in your mind, and memorize the most important aspects.

Also, there are of course some other fractors. Last night, I only remembered one very small fragments, as opposed to 6 dreams the previous night for the simple reason of being tired.

Yep, you got that right, Tom []. Thats what I did to try to remember my dream, go over the whole thing in my head and try to remember it (I can see how well that went, lol). No biggie, Ill try to remember, like I said before, key ideas and words, then fill in the rest like you did. Well Ill keep you updated on my progress, best wishes to all!
[)] <-(That smilely(sp?) kicks butt)

[dkj400]

A few tips:
1) When you wake up, DON'T MOVE. You don't want to break away from that low awareness and sleep.
2) If you remember your dream anyway (happens sometimes []) then its all sorted. If not, then think. You may remember a slight fragment of your dream.
3) Pronouncing a Mantra in your head can sometimes help remember. RAOM GAOM - Raaaaaahhhhhhhhhooooooohhhhhmmmmmmmmmm Gaaaaahhhhhhhooooohhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmm
When saying this (in your head), a fragment of your dream can sometimes just pop up out of nowhere.
4) When you've remembered something, thing on it some more. Just try and think of the events which happened leading up to or away from your current dream fragment. Just like that, it all becomes clear (seriously).
5) As you remember more and more, you will be able to retrace everything that happened in your dream.
6) If all fails, don't worry. I've sometimes remembered my dreams during the day due to some slight pondering.


I'm getting more and more aware. Sometimes I'm dreaming and can feel/sense my physical body and still see my dream, not so clearly, but CAN see it. And when I think of something with my physical body, I see it happen in the dream. Its weird, cause I actually think I'm daydreaming, but then I wake up fully...

When I'm Lucid dreaming, I can actually wake myself up at my will when I don't like whats happening (usually when I abuse an Anime/Game Babe []) and then go back into my current dream but at a different place away from the trouble.

I've also had (and I'm sure other people have to) dreams which take place in the same place. I know I've had different dreams which happen in the same area about 10 times. And thats just one place. I've got many more places I've created with my mind. It's so cool to actually have my own world and meet the SAME people and actually be REMEMBERED.


Remember, when going to sleep, repeat in your mind:
"I will remember my dreams" - To remember dreams.
"I will remember my dreams and wake up after each one" - To remember dreams and to wake up after each one to write it down.
"I will be aware that I am dreaming" - For a Lucid dream.

[Manix]

quote:Originally posted by MajorTom

Gravity, here's aother one of last nigth where the dream'explains' itself within the dreams. But starngely, I'm even less sure about this ones symbology. I'll find out eventually. As you can see, I've been busy dreaming aout OBE's last night, as was my intent, which usually provides a good guide as ow to interpret them.

4/26/2004   Monday   5:00am


Old  city  and OBE

Keywords: tram/train, old city from past, a point was made in the dream, easier to find one's way in the older cities, not as easy to get lost, more road signs, and to go for those cities as if I had choice.

Experience: I found myself in an old train or tram. It could have around the turn of 19th century or early 20th century (were there trams back then?). A point was made in the dream, namely that to as easier to find one's way in the older cities while OBE. Not as easy to get lost, since cites were smaller with more road signs. I should go for those cities if I had a choice.

Category: Dream
Setting: City from past
Players: Myself
Symbols: Tram/train = Travel/OBE navigation

Comments and guesses: Not sure what the old city represents. Maybe an encouragement to keep things simple while OBE, and do things the old fashioned way.

Hey, nifty Coincidence. I dreamed about a train and city the same night! Only mine was a freight train carrying propane and the city I was heading to was futuristic. The only road signs I saw indicated the radiation levels in that particular area. Ok...that had nothing to do with your dream I just thought they were neat similarities.
EDIT: I just realized I made another point. Though the imagary might have been similar, the actually meanings of the symbols differ drastically, further proving, most those dream dictionaries are a waste of cash.

[Manix]

I hadn't even considered the signs being a symbol, there were so many others, I overlooked their possable meanings. Be careful MajorTom, if you keep giving me such excellent ideas, I'll be poking you in the ribs for opinions on a regualar basis. LOL

EDIT: An interesting bit of information I found out when I bought a telescope. If you use a red light to read/write in the dark (your penlight for example) your eyes will not have to re-adjust to the dark.

[AntiGravity]

Hehe, well I dont think Ill be trying to use just keywords for remembering dreams anytime soon. I tried it this morning, and apparantly, I had a dream that I was playing tag with a snake, what the hell? lol. Also thanks for the tip on the red light Manix, Ill try that next morning.
Bye!

[Dreamgirl]

I completely agree about the importance of dream journals.  My father introduced me to the idea when I was very young.  I ran across some of his dream journals in an old cabinet, read about a paragraph or two and was so frightened that I stayed away from the idea until I became older (I'll leave age out of this).  But Now I also believe in the importance of drawing/ visually recounting the places that i have visited in my mind.  It's surprising how much detail you can recall if you really become obsessed with the dream.  []

[FreeFaller]

hey on this journal thing well see i will wake up and not remember having any dreams which i call dreamless nights, so what am i supposed to write down? and even if i remember a dream it is like only part then i make up the rest.. something i noticed is that i frequently remember dreams from my past during the day i dont know why but i do.