Dreaming with intent experiment, Day 1

I suppose technically this is day 2, since the night before last I tried and just didn't wake up remembering anything, but I'm just going to count days with results.  My experiment, my rules.


When I was at the training last week, one of the veterans and I were discussing nightmares, and he told me about Lucid Dreaming, and the success he has had re-formatting and finding meaning in his nightmares.  I was intrigued, so I did a bit of research (and am continuing to) and thought I would give things a try.


Step one is to just try to remember your dreams and record them in a journal for a while, and maybe try to do some "light" dream interpretation.  The things I read recommend meditating before bed.


I already meditate as I am heading to sleep, so that part was easy.  Last night I added in a bit of EFT Tapping to open up my third eye/hypothalamus-pituitary region, and to reinforce that I wanted to remember my dreams come morning.  During my meditation, I asked my spirit guide ("angel") to please facilitate letting my sub-conscious mind communicate with my conscious mind in my dreams, and to help me remember them in the morning.


Part of the research I read said that your best chance at lucid dreaming comes after you have woken up in the morning, and gone back to sleep.  Since I usually wake up between 3 and 4 am and eventually get back to sleep, this wasn't a problem.  I woke up this morning and intentionally didn't look at the time, as I didn't want to be focused on how much time I had left.  All I know is it was still dark out.


(I am going to record everything here, so this is a long post; I am doing this mostly for my own records, but if anyone wants to chime in, feel free.  I was going to do this on a separate, private blog, but then I thought what the heck, some of you might connect some dots I don't see.)


I did eventually drift off to sleep again, and then I had this "dream":

I was at what I knew in the dream was Sebastian's house, even though it is not his real life residence.  We were in the atrium at the back of the house; to one side was a weathered grey cedar deck, with steps down to the back yard, which was fenced wooden cedar fence down the two sides and page wire at the back.
At some point in the dream he was showing me a video on his iPad, a video he had created with his new video editing software.  It was a video of him and his long time friend T, (female) driving in his car.  He had edited out the view from the windshield and added scenes that made it look like they were driving around the inside of a Starbuck's, and there were 4 german shepherd in the back seat.  S and his friend T were laughing and leaning in to each other in the video; in the dream S was watching me out of the corner of his eye, it felt like he was waiting for me to get angry or jealous, but I have never felt that way about his relationship with T, and didn't in the dream.  Besides, I was too focused on the 4 german shepherds in the back seat, and a bit on the cool video editing.
Then I realized that my Sweet Girl (who died April 2011) and Shadow, a black belgian shepherd from a place I used to work (who died long before my girl) were both there, and asking to go out.  We let them out, and Sweet Girl peed on the deck, because she was too old and stiff to go down the stairs (something she never did in real life).  In the dream I waited tensely for S to get mad about that (he is OCD) but he just gave a sad laugh and said he knew she was old and it wasn't her fault.  Shadow went into the back yard, and we followed them out.
Shadow ran to the back wall of the house and was jumping up.  We realized that there were hornets swarming around the eaves of the house; we also realized that my mother was in the back yard.  I asked my mom if the hornets were mating, and she replied that no, they were just climbing on each other while in flight. (?)
I looked down and realized that one of the hornets was on my shirt near the right side of my collar bone.  It flew off, then started flying around my face and trying to fly up my nose.  it didn't sting me, but I was freaking out.  Then I woke up.

So it seems I forgot to ask my sub-conscious to give me anything simple or easy to understand.  That's OK, I guess, because at this stage the main point, as it has been explained to me, is to remember and record your dreams, and to look for any symbolism.  The veteran I was talking to recommended a specific reference book, which I have yet to acquire, but a quick internet search revealed the following: 


(suggestions from  http://www.thecuriousdreamer.com/dreamdictionary/ Copyright 2012 The Curious Dreamer)


Tips to Understand Dream Meaning Dream symbol meanings are different for each person. It's important to consider: Personal meaning—What the dream symbol means to you, what it reminds you of, how it makes you feel. Context—How the dream symbol appears in the dream. For example, in a dream about a bee—what was the bee doing, how and where it was doing it, and how did you feel about it? Look beyond the obvious—A dream is often about something other than its obvious meaning. Physical events in the dream commonly represent mental or emotional matters.

DOGS: Loyalty, protectiveness. Dreaming of this animal can represent: Having too much of one of these qualities, or that you could benefit by being less this way Not having enough of one of these qualities, or that you could benefit by being more like this Someone or something in your real life with whom you associate one of these qualities (an event, situation, threat, etc.) For more clues, pay attention to what the animal was doing or any particular characteristic that stood out. A dog can also represent an actual dog in your life, or your inner child (meaning that you could benefit from more attention to your fun, playfulness, or nurturing). A dog in trouble, sick, or overlooked can mean you may be overlooking a responsibility for yourself or your life.

Hornets:   An under-estimated or hidden danger A fear, perhaps of attack or persecution Anger, especially out-of-control anger or an unchecked response to provocation Dreaming of this insect can represent: Having too much of one of these qualities, or that you could benefit by being less this way Not having enough of one of these qualities, or that you could benefit by being more like this Someone or something in your real life with whom you associate one of these qualities (an event, situation, threat, etc.)

Mother:  Your real-life mother, an authority or caretaker figure (such as your employer), or your spiritual parent (God) The idea of motherhood, motherly qualities, or parenthood in general

Outdoors:  Beyond you, outside of your inner experience. The part of your life where you interact with others or make impressions on others A house usually represent you, inside the house represents your inner life (your thoughts, feelings, etc.), and so things happening outdoors would represent things going on around you. Depending on the particular kind of outdoor setting in your dream, it could also represent a particular real place, or a particular set of feelings (like a cemetery could represent loss or sadness).

People: A person in a dream can represent that actual person, or the characteristics you attribute to that person. Meaning, if you dream about your boss who is always in a hurry, your boss may represent himself, or he may represent the idea of hurrying: for example, a feeling like you need to hurry something, or that you are hurrying too much or need more patience. Also, the significant symbolism of a person in a dream may not be who they are, but what they're doing, how they're doing it, or their attitude—anything that stands out about them. Pay attention to how the person appears, as well as what the actual person symbolizes to you