The On-Off Tap of Dream Activity

[Plenum]

I have an interesting relationship to the dream world; and I'm not sure everyone has the same type of connection - so I'll share what I can here.

Basically, a pattern developed about 8-9 years ago when I started utilizing my dreams in a more conscious fashion.  That is, actually paying attention to them (valuing them), and trying to make sense of them.  This was primarily motivated by Mr David Wilcock making a big deal of his dreams, and him claiming that he got a lot of relevant pyschic information through them.  That got me intrigued.  After all - we all dream - and we all have this faculty!

So yes, this 'relationship' to the dream world started in proper a fair while ago.  The basic on-off flow goes like this:

* I will receive an on-tap of dreams, and if they are utilized or penetrated for their meaning, then dream activity will continue for ongoing nights

* the off-tap of dreams happens when:

1) I have ignored or not given due attention to some dream that came through

or 2) I have received prompts in my real-world waking activity that I have not consciously recognised as catalyst; this usually happens because I dismissed it as being 'trivial'; or that I buried it under other layers of activity.

With either of those cases, I won't have any meaningful or deep dream activity until the situation is rectified by re-asserting proper attention.  I won't even get a dream reminder or repetition.  It's quite a harsh cut-off of inspiration, and I think it's made the more so because of a commitment of Responsibility; in that I have acknowledged at some level that I will be given everything that I need, at the most opportune time, and that it's incumbent on me to implement what I've attracted to myself.  If I choose to withdraw or divert attention - that's on me.

A consequence of not being able to access deep dream activity is that life becomes very grey and repetitious.  It's like the lights have been dimmed.

So it's an interesting cycling of dreams-on and dreams-off.  When the dreams are on, life becomes infused with a magical, inspirational quality.  Everything is wondrous.  When dreams are off, I've become disconnected from the spiritual light.

But yes, I appreciate that not everyone has the same connection or relating to the dream world.

[isis]

So it's an interesting cycling of dreams-on and dreams-off.  When the dreams are on, life becomes infused with a magical, inspirational quality.  Everything is wondrous.  When dreams are off, I've become disconnected from the spiritual light.

But yes, I appreciate that not everyone has the same connection or relating to the dream world.

My dreams are practically always on but I don't think this is the reason my life is always infused with "a magical, inspirational quality" where "everything is wondrous"...about 5 mornings out of a year I won't remember dreams, & will feel certain I didn't dream at all, but this doesn't cause me to feel "disconnected from the spiritual light" by any means. For me, a day when I wake up with no dream memories is a day that's just as good, if not better, than any other day. It makes me feel like I had more important things to do on those nights when I've seemed to not have dreamed.

I never burden myself with finding some meaning(s) in my dreams & I suspect this is why I get so many of them. If some interpretation jumps out at me - great, I've interpreted it - if not, I don't care.

It's very common for people to encourage contemplating & interpreting dreams but, bc of my experiences, I feel compelled to stress the exact opposite:

I say don't dwell on them, keep in mind they could be nonsense or just another timeline or potential timeline, or they could be a simulation to see how you'd react in a certain situation, consider they may be caused by another or by something you ate, & don't worry about if you get them or not.

What I mean by caused by another: I watch all of the paranormal witness episodes & I've noticed it's very common for someone's dreams to be affected when they move into a house that's haunted so I've concluded others can be the cause of our dreams. When someone I don't think twice about gets in my dreams I usually suspect it's somehow their fault that they've managed to get in my dreams.

[Jade]

Sounds like the switch to recognize when you have an indigo blockage!

The dream pattern I'm currently in is interesting, I'm not sure if I can describe it. I haven't been logging my dreams as often as I should, but it's because they often are nebulous, and locations in the dreamworld are constantly reused/intersected so often when I'm thinking back on "last night's dream" I get a whole string of dreams that are attached to it. I can usually at least recall a "location" from each night, but not always a supporting story. Lately the locations have been "at the lake", "at work" (I have multiple at work locations - at least two different restaurants, and a different work location that is more like a huge building with lots of offices, computers, phones, secretaries, etc.) I also have some dreams where I'm at my grandma's old house (we lived there for a while, too), or some other iteration of the childhood home. I have this very specific "prop house" much more surreal than anything I ever lived in but it's utilized often in my dreams - usually the ones that involve my stepmom. (Well, now that I explore that even more it does seem like it has a layout/feel very similar to one of my specific childhood homes - I must have really liked the location of that one, it had a forest and a creek) I also often have "on the road" dreams, going between two of the places, often. I can usually nudge out the meaning of those pretty quickly depending on vehicle, time of day, etc.

Ah, as I'm typing this, I realized last night's location was "school". Hadn't recalled yet. Now I do. It was my elementary school...

But it's true, I think the more connected we are with our dreamworld, the more the real world is able to take on those qualities as they seep in. We feed both realities with each other (waking reality feeds the dream world and if we let it, the dream world can feed the real world). I usually just get hit with recall of my dreams at random points in the day, and then I lose track of time because I'm not sure if the dream was last night or not, and that really starts to warp things. Seth really advocates the "two sleeps" method to further enhance this - splitting up sleep into like one 5 hour interval and one 2 hour interval for example. I do take naps often but I sleep way more than Seth says is good for you.

[Minyatur]

In the whole year 2015, I probably had about 10 mins total of dream rememberance... was a good year.

[Plenum]

In the whole year 2015, I probably had about 10 mins total of dream rememberance... was a good year.

lol.  thumbs up!

definitely everyone has a different relationship to the dream world.  And it's all good.

I'm sure there are individuals who have a clear waking perception through the Veil, and so dream activity is less needed/relevant in those cases.

[Minyatur]

Well I think I'm either getting brainwashed by countless hours of unconscious sleep of which I mainly never get any awareness of, or that things happen which are not resonant with my awake experience and are better kept separated.

I think of this life as a dream, so when I wake here it's like going back to this dream from another time/space.

[Plenum]

Sounds like the switch to recognize when you have an indigo blockage!

yah; there might be something to that.  Indigo ray is probably the area (aside from yellow ray) that is fairly weak relative to everything else.

Ah, as I'm typing this, I realized last night's location was "school". Hadn't recalled yet. Now I do. It was my elementary school...

one of the settings that I least like, for myself, is my childhood home.  Not because it was an abusive place, but it's associated with the origins of various imbalances - many through my own misinterpretation at those ages.  So whenever my dream setting is 'back there', it's usually a message themed around disempowerment and/or social dislocation.

So while I appreciate the message offered, I usually awake in less-than-a-pleasant-or-happy-mood.  But you referenced Seth - and one of their observations was that when we are ready, we can choose to re-experience emotional traumas, so that we process them without having to induce a rougher experience via real life.  The emotional trauma is just as real, when invoked in a dreamscape (you wake up as if it was real), but the aftershock of knowing it was a dream lessens the impact, and allows for reprocessing without getting shellshocked and paralyzed.

Seth really advocates the "two sleeps" method to further enhance this - splitting up sleep into like one 5 hour interval and one 2 hour interval for example. I do take naps often but I sleep way more than Seth says is good for you.

yah; it's great if one is not working a strict 9-5, forty hour week to be able to muck around with sleep patterns.

On the whole, I probably sleep more than average too.  As you said, I think Seth says you can get by with a lot less sleep; although I'm not sure their numbers really apply to me.  At least for the current configuration of the self.

[Plenum]

I think of this life as a dream, so when I wake here it's like going back to this dream from another time/space.

well, I think one of the functions of dreaming is to remind us of what is 'real'.  If you have a clear awareness that 3d/this-reality is really just an illusory play, the reminder is less needed.  You already know what the game is, and are ready to play it when you wake up 'back here'.

[Jade]

one of the settings that I least like, for myself, is my childhood home.  Not because it was an abusive place, but it's associated with the origins of various imbalances - many through my own misinterpretation at those ages.  So whenever my dream setting is 'back there', it's usually a message themed around disempowerment and/or social dislocation.

So while I appreciate the message offered, I usually awake in less-than-a-pleasant-or-happy-mood.  But you referenced Seth - and one of their observations was that when we are ready, we can choose to re-experience emotional traumas, so that we process them without having to induce a rougher experience via real life.  The emotional trauma is just as real, when invoked in a dreamscape (you wake up as if it was real), but the aftershock of knowing it was a dream lessens the impact, and allows for reprocessing without getting shellshocked and paralyzed.

I know what you mean. I think I block out some of these even consciously because there are a few "villains" I don't like to face. My aunt and my dad usually color my dreams with an ugly hue. I know being afraid of them, even in my dreams, hinders my ability to dream and process them thoroughly, even though I consciously recognize that they are more symbolic as villains/shadows than anything.

The "prop house" I feel is often more of a "therapy" type setting, at least that's the feel I get. It's usually pretty idyllic, and if these if anyone's the villain it's my stepmom, but really more her addiction is the villain. But in the prop house I feel very in control of what is happening and even "superior" to the parental figures, and never afraid. I feel like we spend most of the time in the "living room" as a group.

yah; it's great if one is not working a strict 9-5, forty hour week to be able to muck around with sleep patterns.


On the whole, I probably sleep more than average too.  As you said, I think Seth says you can get by with a lot less sleep; although I'm not sure their numbers really apply to me.  At least for the current configuration of the self.

Yeah, it would be nice someday to get by with the 6.5 or so that Seth says is optimal, but I really enjoy at least 10 hours each day.

[Plenum]

What I mean by caused by another: I watch all of the paranormal witness episodes & I've noticed it's very common for someone's dreams to be affected when they move into a house that's haunted so I've concluded others can be the cause of our dreams. When someone I don't think twice about gets in my dreams I usually suspect it's somehow their fault that they've managed to get in my dreams.

yah; that's an angle I hadn't really considered till now.  

For myself, I've never really felt like that there's been that much negative influence around me (either in the waking state or dream state).  But I've definitely heard stories from individuals where they are tormented or even tortured by what is an ongoing 'entity'.  That would seem to be a case of an external entity invading the dream space, and really controlling affairs.

[anagogy]

What I mean by caused by another: I watch all of the paranormal witness episodes & I've noticed it's very common for someone's dreams to be affected when they move into a house that's haunted so I've concluded others can be the cause of our dreams. When someone I don't think twice about gets in my dreams I usually suspect it's somehow their fault that they've managed to get in my dreams.

I've found (and this is simply my opinion based on my personal experiences) that we will often dream of others who are mentally dwelling on us heavily.  I didn't make the connection for a long time, but I can actually feel this in my waking state to lesser extent, and can oftentimes feel when somebody is really thinking about me.  I've even texted friends whom I felt doing this and asked them matter of factly why are they thinking about me (which they then confirmed).  I've learned not to do that, though, as people tend to find it a little disconcerting.  Idle thought doesn't register usually, but heavy thought feels to my perception like they keep entering my thoughts, and it is completely out of character to what I was thinking about.  So anyway, I believe subconsciously we always register when someone is thinking about us, and it often spills over into our less analytical time/space experiences at night (or day, for you vampires).  

[isis]

What I mean by caused by another: I watch all of the paranormal witness episodes & I've noticed it's very common for someone's dreams to be affected when they move into a house that's haunted so I've concluded others can be the cause of our dreams. When someone I don't think twice about gets in my dreams I usually suspect it's somehow their fault that they've managed to get in my dreams.

I've found (and this is simply my opinion based on my personal experiences) that we will often dream of others who are mentally dwelling on us heavily.  I didn't make the connection for a long time, but I can actually feel this in my waking state to lesser extent, and can oftentimes feel when somebody is really thinking about me.  I've even texted friends whom I felt doing this and asked them matter of factly why are they thinking about me (which they then confirmed).  I've learned not to do that, though, as people tend to find it a little disconcerting.  Idle thought doesn't register usually, but heavy thought feels to my perception like they keep entering my thoughts, and it is completely out of character to what I was thinking about.  So anyway, I believe subconsciously we always register when someone is thinking about us, and it often spills over into our less analytical time/space experiences at night (or day, for you vampires).  

This is actually exactly what I meant by "somehow" but just didn't feel like elaborating...so thank you for this post.

I'm made aware of it in my waking state too & I've also tested it before. I suspected I was sensing when a friend of mine was thinking (heavily) about me bc she kept popping in my mind when I felt she shouldn't have been, it was like I just knew I wasn't intentionally thinking of her, so I decided to email her hoping that she would confirm what I thought. Then, sure enough, her reply began with, "OMG. I was just thinking about you." I decided not to tell her I knew that, bc I didn't want to make her uncomfortable. I was fortunate she was comfortable with letting me know she had just been thinking of me.

[Minyatur]

Maybe I don't dream because no one actually dwell on my existence.

*sorrow*

[anagogy]

Maybe I don't dream because no one actually dwell on my existence.

*sorrow*

I don't know if you smoke, but when I used to smoke cannabis it would just obliterate my dream recall.

[Enyiah]

My dreams are usually very vivid and I can easily recall them. At times I have visited other dimensions, they felt like parallel realities! 
I worked in healthcare and have met several departed souls in my dream state. They seem to come to let me know they are alright.  I met with my beautiful  cat after she passed away.  I was in a semi-conscious dreamstate and she came up on my bed to be petted.  It felt sooooo real! 

I don't have the ability to interpret my dreams, the symbolism (the way Jim McCarty does on his blog) but the encounters are very vivid and the realism cannot be ignored. 

[Minyatur]

Maybe I don't dream because no one actually dwell on my existence.

*sorrow*

I don't know if you smoke, but when I used to smoke cannabis it would just obliterate my dream recall.

Sure, but I do not recall remembering dreaming any more before smoking.

[anagogy]

It's interesting, when I'm in that place between waking and sleeping, I can actually sometimes remember dreams I had clear back in childhood. It always blows my mind how you can access certain memories in certain specific states but not others.

[Bring4th_Austin]

Hey Plenum, what sort of methods do you use for interpreting your dreams?

Also, what causes you to go from doing dreamwork to ignoring dreams, causing the off-tap? I also have a tenuous relationship with dreams, and I would say that I tend more towards ignoring them and having them disappear into the ether. I will have spurts of activity where I decide to consciously interpret and contemplate my dreams, logging them as soon as I wake up and attempting to find meaning, but as is a theme in my life, the motivation wanes and I return to a less proactive state. I struggle with this motivation and wish I could be more consistent. Perhaps trying to find the heart of what causes me to stop my active dream interpretation will help.

one of the settings that I least like, for myself, is my childhood home.  Not because it was an abusive place, but it's associated with the origins of various imbalances - many through my own misinterpretation at those ages.  So whenever my dream setting is 'back there', it's usually a message themed around disempowerment and/or social dislocation.

Thanks for sharing this tidbit. One of the most common recurring locations in my dreams is my high school. I always heard that interpretation of being in school is related to the learning that one is doing in one's life, and while that made some sense, it never felt like it was the whole story. It seems very obvious, but I never considered that it could be that I have imbalances related to my high school experience. Public schooling was one of the biggest catalysts in my life, and high school certainly the most turbulent. I think this gives me a new and helpful perspective.

It's very common for people to encourage contemplating & interpreting dreams but, bc of my experiences, I feel compelled to stress the exact opposite:

I had an experience recently that supports the idea of not dwelling too much on dreams. When I was home for the holidays, I started to experience a stronger-than-typical internal catalyst that comes with visiting my parents. There's really nothing in the outer environment that would warrant strong emotional reactions - in fact, outer circumstances are very pleasant. But I still felt strong internal turmoil and unprovoked emotionally charged reactions. One night as I was going to sleep I determined to myself that I needed to get over this so that I could have a good visit with my parents, since I don't get to see them very often and I know that my mom at least could sense my unpleasant emotions.

That night, I had a very cathartic dream in my childhood home with my whole family. It was full of a wide range of emotions, situations, and themes. It felt like an intensive scouring of all things unconscious that could be causing these emotions, just bringing them to the surface and allowing them to be experienced. It was not a very restful night because of it, but it shifted my experience totally without any need to examine or interpret the dream. The next day all of the catalyst I experienced was gone and I felt a great sense of patience and peace that wasn't there before. The rest of the trip was totally free of this unpleasant emotional charge and I had a great visit with my parents. It seemed that all that was needed was the desire to be harmonious and then experience of the dream. I was amazed at how effective it was just experiencing the dream and not doing any "extracurricular" work.

[Plenum]

Hey Plenum, what sort of methods do you use for interpreting your dreams?

for me, it's figuring out the symbols being deployed - and how they are relating to each other.  It's not something I ever studied, but back when I first got into the Archetypes via Ra, my dream activity just exploded.  I was already receptive to this activity because of David Wilcock's referencing of dreams, but something just got triggered into another gear.  I think there was a good 18 months where it was just a nightly experience of incoming inspiration and reprogramming opportunities.  Of course, I still had tons of blockages back then, and so this was much needed experience, but I learnt to see how the 'actors on the stage' in the dream were relaying a message of re-interpretation.

You would think that your Higher Self could just appear, and read out a scroll with clear understandings, and everything would be all good.  But much like real-life, the understandings really don't have much value or relevance unless it's rooted in some kind of confounding experience, which we then apply our faculties of analysis and intuition into comprehending.  And so a dream functions in the same way; by giving us an experience that is highly coded, but programmed with intent, that to someone who is receptive, is a puzzle to be unpacked for a new way of seeing how parts are relating to each other.

Again, that is a personal relationship to the dream world that everyone has, and not everyone is wanting to use these experiences that way.  I am sure that much dream activity is just the brain re-organising experiences from the day, to make sense of it to itself, and it's not this level of personal communications that I'm referencing up above.

Also, what causes you to go from doing dreamwork to ignoring dreams, causing the off-tap?

Just as a clarification, I think dreamwork has a specific connotation in some circles.  Although I don't travel in those fields very much, when used in the specific sense, I think dreamwork is talking about OBE type experiences, or deliberate use of the sleeping state for some kind of lucidity.  It's actually using the sleep state for specific work in that state.  

Dream analysis and interpretation would probably not fall into the category of 'dreamwork' using their definitions.  Although, that said, the particular way in which I defer to my unconscious to help me gain insights and understandings might count as 'dreamwork'.  Anyway, it's just a point of distinction; not too important.

As to your question, I would say that I don't ignore dreams as such.  If I remember them (ie, they get impressed into the memory enough that the waking self can register them), then there is something to decode and ponder on.  The 'off tap' is more triggered by how I am using my conscious resources, in reference to catalyst.  I actually think, given further thought since I posted the OP, that it's much more the case that I am given everything I need in terms of waking catalyst and dream material; and that I am not further loaded with inputs until I can decipher what the understanding is.  The 'off tap' is more just me being locked in a white padded room, with all the puzzle pieces, until I apply enough attention to figure out just exactly what is being referenced.  It is frustrating, to be sure.

but as is a theme in my life, the motivation wanes and I return to a less proactive state. I struggle with this motivation and wish I could be more consistent. Perhaps trying to find the heart of what causes me to stop my active dream interpretation will help.

I would probably say that the value of this kind of activity determines the amount of application we bring to it.  That is, if it is valuable (and productive) enough of a practice, then we will be drawn to it naturally, and not think of it as something we need to do or that we forget or withdraw from.  We will naturally want to do it, if it yields things that we greatly desire.

If it yields just marginal insights, or things that are interesting, but not all that interesting, then there are plenty of other ways to use our waking time.  Lots more demands for our attention.  More applicable use of our limited resources.

I think that dreams and meditation are very alike in that way; they are both tools to peer beyond what the conscious mind is doing and thinking, and tries to reveal deeper motivational patterns.  And yet, not everyone has the time or the resources to meditate/dream-analyze for hours each day.  Not everyone would want to, even if they could.

[isis]

I was amazed at how effective it was just experiencing the dream and not doing any "extracurricular" work.

Yeah, the experience alone is often quite enough for me & seems to accomplish exactly what it was meant for.

For instance, it's common for me to dream of things I fear/desire then after waking I no longer have as much fear/desire for w/e bc the dream has given me this kinda 'been there, done that' feeling about it.

It's interesting, when I'm in that place between waking and sleeping, I can actually sometimes remember dreams I had clear back in childhood.  It always blows my mind how you can access certain memories in certain specific states but not others.

I'm unfamiliar with this half-in half-out thing...but I do notice different levels of lucidness in dreams.

I recalled my high school 6 digit lunch # in a dream (when put under pressure) & I'm certain that's something I wouldn't have recalled in my normal waking state.

My dreams are usually very vivid and I can easily recall them. At times I have visited other dimensions, they felt like parallel realities! 
I worked in healthcare and have met several departed souls in my dream state. They seem to come to let me know they are alright.  I met with my beautiful  cat after she passed away.  I was in a semi-conscious dreamstate and she came up on my bed to be petted.  It felt sooooo real! 

I don't have the ability to interpret my dreams, the symbolism (the way Jim McCarty does on his blog) but the encounters are very vivid and the realism cannot be ignored. 

I see a pet I had from ages 5-18 a lot & that's a great example of a dream I deem not meant be interpreted. My dreams often feel like just time for communion with loved ones...not msgs with cryptic symbols I should spend any time thinking about in waking life.

[anagogy]

I think it is safe to say that dreams serve a lot of different functions for different people.  I've certainly had the "symbolic communication" type experiences and the symbols were too obvious for me to not recognize them as some kind of nonverbal communication, but I've also had plenty of the ones that were just complete nonsense and felt more like my subconscious throwing up repressed emotions/thoughts inside my brain from all the catalyst it experienced during the previous week.  And then I've had the ones which are more like "healing dreams" for lack of better description where I feel rejuvenated by the dream itself, and then the out of body types where you are just floating through random crap in your house.  Lately I've been seeing dead friends in dreams, and I think they are just dropping by for a chat while my focus is withdrawn from the physical.

[Marc]

The place really affects the dream. I've lived as a nomad for most of my life, and every house that I slept and had different karma and issues that were being worked through as a collective house. The spirit of the house is one entity. when I stay in a certain place for a longer period of time I am able to connect with the karma and the collective mind Of a whole neighborhood forest in my dreamsgate. I can go anywhere in my dreams at night and do anything. Right now my mission is remembering my Sol. And meditation I will use crystals to help me astral project. I would really like to see the pyramids renovated in this time space. They unlock the key to longer lifespans and healing this world. I have a few small crystal pyramids that I use for dreaming and I use every crystal I come in contact with to help transmute the energy to a more harmonious vibration. In my dreams I have accumulated many lifetimes of experiences and sometimes in a single night there will be eons in my dreams I have accumulated many lifetimes of experiences and sometimes in a single night they'll be Æons that go by of experience. Abilities such as Time travel levitation teleportation shape shifting invisibility and of course flying are all used from time to time in the lucid state. Lately I've been communing with spirits that are in a legible initiating change. Samael, Lucifer, and the face changing God... One self in a mirror of the sun. They commune with me now throughout the day when I maintain a quiet enough mind to hear them. Use mirrors in dreams to help remember past lives by seeing the face change.

[Minyatur]

I never rememberer eons of dreams, actually quite the opposite but I do feel like I leave from eons and upon waking it feels strange to awake in this place.

[AnthroHeart]

When I awaken, most of the time I have left family behind. Those that bring me a profound peace.
Except for the odd off-scary dream (which is a minority).

Most of my dreams leave me feeling warm and fuzzy during them, which quickly fades as I awaken.