Lucid Dream Experiences are Seriously Too Extreme…

One day, a thread about a mysterious phenomenon called “lucid dreaming” appeared on an internet forum. Lucid dreaming is a phenomenon where you become aware that you’re dreaming and can freely manipulate that world. The thread creator began to talk about strange commonalities related to lucid dreams.

Lucid dreaming lets you control and play in the dream world, but there are surprisingly many common elements in people’s experiences

• Usually starts from your bedroom
• Looking into a mirror allows you to gain a companion in that world
• You can re-roll your companion
• There’s a technique to prevent awakening by eating humans
• Humans have different dream energy levels, so how long you can extend it is random
• When you’re not used to it, it’s good to ask your companion how to materialize objects or play catch with them
• Generally, people who have more children in their lucid dreams have higher dream control abilities, but by that point they often experience some kind of issues in real life

• [250] That’s just you, man. When I realize “oh, this is a dream,” I usually start doing naughty things.

There used to be a group challenging this together on VIP. Those are their experiences.

VIP refers to one of the famous boards on 2channel (now 5channel). The thread creator mentions that there was a group there in the past that discussed lucid dreaming.

• [261] You probably just got influenced by rules created in such communities and became infected.

Well, that’s probably true. People who experience lucid dreams after seeing this thread will almost certainly get killed by their companions who turned into monsters and stop lucid dreaming. After all, it crosses your mind every time you see your companion.

• [2] Almost none of this applies to my experiences though.

Did you experience it spontaneously rather than intentionally?

• [12] I did try to have lucid dreams! As for the content, I tried to broadly guide it.

Next time, try looking at a mirror consciously.

• [11] Ask me if you have any questions. I’ve played around with it about 30 times.

The thread gradually attracted lucid dreaming practitioners, and various techniques and experiences began to be shared. From here, a discussion of their unique methods begins.

• [13] The rolling method is the most stable for me, but are there any other good ones?
• [17] What’s that? What I do is use a lot of time to sleep about 4 times, making my sleep very light and focusing on the dream.
• [26] When sleep paralysis happens, forcefully try to roll over and project yourself into the hallucinatory world. If you can see the empty shell of your body in the hallucinatory world, you’ve succeeded.
• https://w.atwiki.jp/wiki13_ridatu/pages/144.html
• [31] I didn’t know that. I’ve experienced sleep paralysis, but when that happens, only my consciousness is floating while my body is asleep, so it feels like I’m one step away from lucid dreaming. Then I fall back asleep and enter a lucid dream.
• [34] Interesting~ I was following VIP’s astral projection guide, but this seems like something different.
• https://w.atwiki.jp/wiki13_ridatu/
• [96] If you wait for the sleep paralysis to subside before rolling, you can enter a lucid dream more easily. When I learned this method, it was an eye-opener. If you forcefully roll during sleep paralysis, your vision might not function for a while, but with this method, you can easily separate and see clearly.
• [103] Oh~ I didn’t know you had to wait. Now that you mention it, when I forced it, I remember my limbs being transparent for a while, which was troublesome.
• [135] I want to keep a dream journal, but when I go back to sleep, I forget the content.

The topic shifts to what people do in lucid dreams. Many participants share the common experience of attempting sexual acts but failing.

• [16] When I realize it’s a dream, I try to attack women, but my body stops moving properly halfway through and I wake up.
• [18] Sometimes I realize I’m dreaming too, but when I try to do naughty things, I get excited and wake up.

By the way, I’ve never succeeded. Every time it starts from my bed, but when I try to move, sticky stuff comes out from my back and pulls me back to the bed, and I wake up.

• [25] By the way, you shouldn’t focus on what you want to do before sleep, but start thinking about it after entering the lucid dream.
• [27] I can control it to some extent, but I can’t choose the content. Yesterday, the setting was a manga-like world in Osamu Tezuka’s style, and Rock appeared using a mysterious battery-powered weapon for an adventure.
• [28] There are times when I realize “oh, this is a dream” in the dream, but it usually stops there.

The discussion evolves into talking about strange phenomena and limitations in lucid dreams.

• [29] What happens if you try to do something beyond your abilities in a lucid dream? For example, I can’t do double-digit multiplication, so what happens if I summon a calculator and calculate?
• [46] You’ll feel like you can do those things in the dream. You can’t actually get the correct answer and remember it when you wake up though.
• [36] Even if it’s wrong, it proceeds as if it’s correct, right? I can freely jump around in my dreams.
• [65] I thought lucid dreaming was like being completely awake while dreaming, but it’s more ambiguous, huh.
• [45] What happens if you die in a lucid dream? Does the dream end? Or continue from a third-person perspective?
• [50] You wake up startled. Since your sleep is shallow anyway, you wake up if you get excited.

The thread creator begins to explain the specialized terminology used in the lucid dreaming community. A systematized world-view, almost like a game, becomes apparent.

By the way, there’s even a glossary of terms. Looking at it this way, it’s like a low-budget free simulator game. Partner: Fixed companion in the dream world. Tutorial: Time until finding your partner. ZQN: Extending through human consumption. Freshness: Sense of reality in the dream. NPC: Dream inhabitants. Mannequinization: Phenomenon where humans you try to have sexual activities with or summon become immobile like mannequins.

• [57] I kept experiencing mannequinization. It also caused insomnia, so I’ve stopped.
• [140] ZQN: Extending through human consumption. I used to think the author of “I Am a Hero” must have seen that thread.

“I Am a Hero” is a manga where humans transform into zombie-like beings (ZQN). The participant points out similarities between this work and the lucid dreaming community.

• [51] Even when I dream, I only vaguely remember it, and I’ve never realized “this is a dream.” I’m a bit jealous.
• [52] Extending by eating people is such a bizarre rule, it makes me laugh.
• [294] It’s very strange, but I just thought maybe I might have such dreams after seeing this thread.

You don’t just dream it, you do it. Oh, I tried to suck in people to extend the dream.

• [315] I wouldn’t do that, it’s ridiculous. But the point is even if you think that now, you might do it anyway. That’s how dreams and consciousness work.

**Regarding this, you clearly won’t do it unless you intend to. I also ate because I thought I might eat. **

The conversation shifts to the benefits and risks of keeping a dream journal. Many participants share experiences of dreams becoming more vivid when they keep a journal.

• [54] I kept a dream journal for a while, but scary dreams increased, so I stopped. Also, I hardly dream now, but back then I dreamed every day. I wonder what that was about.
• [62] I also kept a dream journal for lucid dreaming. But since I couldn’t remember most of the dream content, entries were always very short.
• [55] If you keep using your smartphone in the dark until around 3 AM when you’re at your sleepiest limit, you can see them often.
• [61] I can’t believe so many people can experience this. Tell me your techniques.
• [66] Just make your sleep shallow and focus on the dream. I’ve never kept a dream journal.
• [74] If you keep reading with the lights on and take a nap on your back, you’re likely to experience sleep paralysis. When that happens, roll over with all your might, and you can leave your empty shell behind and enter the hallucinatory world. Well, the empty shell is just an image, and establishing a method to enter the hallucinatory world in your mind is most important.
• [95] Taking caffeine pills before sleeping helps you dream because your body is asleep but your head is awake.
• [109] I don’t even dream in the first place. What training should I do to have lucid dreams?
• [114] Make your sleep shallow.
• [117] So I just need to sleep a lot, huh.
• [126] At first, I was sleeping multiple times to try various lucid dreaming methods from different websites. As a result, I realized that just sleeping multiple times makes it easier to see them.
• How to lucid dream from a “”””””””””””””””lucid dream”””””””””””””””” MASTER http://world-fusigi.net/archives/9531039.html
• [147] 1. After waking up, don’t move your body for a while and try to remember the dream. 2. Write down the dream content in a notebook or something, even if it’s excessive. As you continue, at first you might only write 2-3 lines, but eventually you’ll be able to fill 4 notebook pages accurately and remember multiple dreams precisely. I don’t do it anymore because I couldn’t secure morning time, and I felt it wasn’t really related to lucid dreaming.

The thread gradually moves to the horrifying aspects of lucid dreaming. Some participants begin to share eerie experiences where their “companions” suddenly transformed into terrifying entities.

• [122] I also found a companion in my dream, but one day my companion suddenly turned into a monster, and I stopped lucid dreaming.
  
• [209] When I woke up, my tulpa had turned into a grotesque monster and attacked me, so I couldn’t do lucid dreaming or tulpas anymore.

A “tulpa” is a pseudo-entity created by strongly visualizing an image. Among lucid dream practitioners, it’s sometimes perceived as a companion.

Laughing because I had the same experience as 122. How much do those guys betray us?

• [125] You guys should probably avoid doing such things. My junior got into that stuff and was interfered with by something called Dorodoro-san? and developed something like PTSD, now going to a mental health clinic.
• [130] What’s that? It sounds terrifying. I’m curious.
• [142] Honestly, it’s dubious, but apparently the dream world is independent, and if you go too far, you get noticed by something strange and receive interference. Dorodoro-san? is just what I vaguely remember my junior saying, I think it was something like that.

“Dorodoro-san” is an urban legend-like entity in Japanese internet culture. It’s depicted as an eerie being that appears when someone delves too deeply into lucid dreaming or occult-like practices.

Apparently if you go from one dream world to another about three times in a row, you can meet acquaintances who also jumped into dreams. I think it’s just ravings from someone who’s lost their mind.

• [146] This is embarrassing at my age, but whenever I start to have a lucid dream, I inevitably think of horror. Usually Sadako or something appears right in front of me, and I hurriedly wake up and it’s over.
• [154] At first, I could only have scary dreams of being pulled into and trapped in Pokémon battle screens. If you consciously try to change the channel, the scene changes more easily.
• [159] Experiences related to lucid dreams are similar in broad strokes, but there are many aspects that vary by individual. I can’t get a guide no matter how much I look in mirrors or do anything else, I don’t have a body when I return to my room, and I don’t think it’s noisy during sleep paralysis.
• [161] I wonder why there isn’t serious research on lucid dreaming, which truly exists and is like a full-dive VR. It would be revolutionary if they could clarify the mechanism and develop methods or technologies to have lucid dreams freely.

I think it’s mostly been clarified. Part of the brain is asleep while part is awake, and the awake part mistakenly thinks it’s fully conscious.

• [175] For something supposedly well-understood, it’s not very mainstream. It seems almost occult-like.

The conversation shifts to participants sharing specific dream contents. There’s a detailed report from a participant who had a dream about a spaceship.

• [162] Just woke up, and this thread is timely for me. • Seems I’m a spaceship pilot. • Crew is 4 people including me. • All other staff are foreigners too. • Already gone to and returned from planetary systems twice. • Forcing it with a low budget, equipment is shabby. • This time also has a dangerous atmosphere, but everyone gets along well. • Some magnetic storm occurs and the equipment is overheating, but we go anyway. • Preparing for departure on some cool sloped ramp. • There’s a treasure chest halfway, but can’t get it. • Door won’t open at the bottom of the ramp. • Iron mesh descends along the ramp multiple times from above, trouble occurs, keep bumping into it, no staff notices, situation is getting dangerous, then I wake up.
• [173] Haven’t you been playing too much Among Us?

“Among Us” is a game about finding impostors among a crew, set on a spaceship. The participant is pointing out this influence.

• [178] I heard you can time leap if you master lucid dreaming.
• [183] I only realize “oh, this is a dream” in the middle of nightmares. From there, I either wake up as I try to steer it toward my preferred developments, or it turns back into a regular dream.
• [190] In those cases, I go back to sleep and get revenge in a shallow lucid dream.
• [201] Same here, laughing. I even sometimes go to the toilet and then rewatch it. I can’t do that normally, but when I wake up from a lucid dream, I can do it quite often. Some part of the brain must still be asleep.
• [213] Oh, it’s the same! I just saw one after a long time! I really want to be in a state where I can always have lucid dreams. It’s frustrating when I can’t enter it at all.
• [237] You just have to try various methods. Recently, I can have lucid dreams with high probability when I get long sleep. For example, if I need to wake up at 6:30 the next day, I get into bed and sleep before 8:00 PM the previous night. I wake up in the middle of the night, but if I forcefully go back to sleep repeatedly, I reach a point where I think “Ah, I can enter now.”
• [243] Making your sleep shallow is definitely the best. I can’t sleep for long periods, so I sleep many times and get a similar effect.
• [193] Applying aroma oil to your neck and meditating is also valid. It mimics how witches go to the spirit realm.
• [198] I’ve looked in a mirror but nothing was reflected. I’ve never tried eating humans.

I’ve never found a mirror. I wake up too quickly. As for eating, it was more like sucking them in. I didn’t feel like it extended anything at all.

• [219] If you’re interested in astral projection, search for the Monroe Institute. You’ll find that astral projection is a scientific thing.

The “Monroe Institute” is an organization that researches consciousness expansion and astral projection. It’s known for studying paranormal phenomena with a scientific approach.

• [225] I was interested in lucid dreaming, but after reading this, I got scared and gave up. https://note.com/matsumototakeuma/n/na924b9afdd71

This seems to happen quite often. Not as severe, but like dreaming even when you think you’re awake.

• [241] I’ve experienced something close to this, though I can’t have lucid dreams. Thinking I was awake when I was actually dreaming. People who remember lucid dreams probably fixate on this and make it worse.
• [254] I feel like I saw this on 2ch a very long time ago. Back when note didn’t even exist.
• [236] People who truly want to experience lucid dreams should search through foreign papers. There’s a lot of information. They basically use drugs or supplements. For instance, 8mg of galantamine increases the probability of having lucid dreams by 5.8 times compared to placebo.
• http://dreamstudies.org/2016/06/13/does-galantamine-affect-lucid-dreams-a-new-research-update/

“Galantamine” is a medication for dementia, and some report a side effect of increased lucid dreaming. It’s sometimes used experimentally in lucid dream research.

I actually don’t recommend dream journals. You start dreaming as if a switch has been flipped in your head (actually, you just stop forgetting dreams), and then your memories really start to mix.

• [262] Eventually, it becomes uncontrollable and Dorodoro-san comes.
• [265] Once I had a dream of falling from an extremely high place and being repeatedly impaled by lance-like sharp objects. The experiential time was over 30 minutes, and it was truly terrifying. I still can’t forget it.
• [266] It’s not something to laugh about, but I couldn’t help it.

The thread gradually becomes a place for sharing terrifying experiences. Especially stories of “tulpas” transforming into horrifying forms continue.

• [296] Tulpas are seriously scary. This is what my tulpa ultimately became. My tulpa was standing on a wide, empty road with its back to me, and when it turned around, it looked like this.
• [308] Lawsuit 😡 I’m too scared to sleep now.
• [313] Eek. Stop it, stop it, it’s scary.
• [317] It looks like a monster, but if you actually talked to it, it might be a good guy.

Why are all the people here those whose companions got taken over by Dorodoro-san?

• [331] It spreads using threads like this as a medium.
• [365] When I woke up, this was right in front of me.
• [299] I like this.
• [319] Is it common for tulpas or companions to become monsters? There are several people here with that experience.

I’ve researched quite a bit, but this is the first I’ve heard of it. Someone is probably trying to plant this idea and others are jumping on the bandwagon.

• [346] Is there someone trying to destroy other people’s dreams? Scary~ 🥺
• [352] I just learned about tulpas for the first time. Now I can’t forget about it, so I better plant a suggestion to get excited about tulpas now.

Toward the end of the thread, one participant shares the content of their dream journal, talking about their strange experiences.

• [328] I’ve been keeping a dream journal for about 3 years, but I’ve never had a lucid dream. This is today’s dream. I have about 400 of these, and it’s interesting to read them back. Today’s is relatively logical and not that chaotic.
• [333] It’s similar to my dream journal. Maybe being able to remember parts like “why I don’t understand” is the key to seeing them.
• [344] I’m not sure. My dreams are so disjointed—like someone who was a friend a moment ago turns into Obama when I look back at them. It’s scary how I accept Obama without any sense of strangeness in the dream.
• [334] The content is quite interesting.
• [351] The sudden detailed setting for the female student is so dreamlike, it makes me laugh.

The thread covers various perspectives on lucid dreaming and concludes with participants’ personal anecdotes.

• [337] I occasionally have lucid dreams, but none of this applies to me.
• [359] When I was psychologically damaged as a child, I had the same nightmare every night, so I could easily recognize I was dreaming and had lucid dreams all the time. I even went from dream to dream like in Inception.
• [252] A world overrun with zombies was the most fun dream.