Character Assisted Lucid Dreaming...CALD part VI

thanks you for the nice advices !

For the moment, as you suggested, I will focuse more on the path. Last time I could see this character on land, so for now I am just going to keep it like this, and I will achieve little steps like walking slowly to him and just saying “hi!”

I wanted to meet him with too many feelings inside of me, that’s why I think he was running away. It’s like when you’re a teenager and you fell in love with someone you know nothing about, and as you begin to stalk him he just want to run away from you ^^
So the solution is to focuse on a more relaxed path, just like IRL relationships : take it step by step to be friends first.

Again I want to say that there are a lot of paths, and I could just summon him in front of me, but I prefer to do it the hard way, like IRL :smile:

I’d like to know about your experience : how did your favorite DC replied when you asked him “how can I contact/summon you next time I’m in a LD ?”

That’s awesome! makes me want to make a character :tongue: I sometimes ask my SC but don’t get an answer or I get something totally random…

I’m having a little trouble communicating with my characters. I try to imagine myself there, talking to my characters (which I do anyway), but each time I try to talk to them, my brain randomly thinks of something that interferes with the scene. For example, my brain keeps making something fall out of the sky which lands on my head, which makes it impossible to see (and interferes with the process). It may sound silly, but I can’t control myself and it’s virtually impossible for me to talk to my characters without my brain thinking up that scenario.

I hope you understood what I meant. Can anyone help me? It would be appreciative because I haven’t been able to produce any LDs because of this problem.

I’ve had the same thing from time to time. Lately The Doctor has either snapped my attention back. Still, it is rather annoying. Any advice Talon?

I will use this “open the door” technique as soon as I have my next LD ^^

Talon Arana, I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m back nonetheless. :smile:

I gave a quick post in the “I’m Back” topic if you want to read that.

Anyway I’m really glad this thread is still up and active. I hope to get back into it too, unfortunately I’ve lost contact with my characters (because I lost motivation for everything to do with LDs for months). What should I do?

I’ve got some questions.

  1. How can you tell your not making the responses?
    2.How many characters can you have?
    3.How long does it take until your character becomes independent?
    4.If you can’t think of a name can your SC make up one?
    Also these could be questions for that FAQ you were making.

Ok, Talon is obviously the expert here, but I think she might be taking a break right now. Here’s what I understand so far…

1.) For me, I felt my guy was independent when he started giving me answers I wasn’t expecting. This usually happened just before I fell asleep.

2.) As many as you want, but it’ll be easier making them one at a time.

3.) It can vary. The more time you give your character, the faster it can go, and seeking them out in LD’s can help too

4.) I don’t see why not. If you meet them in a dream, you could ask the character yourself.

Like said, I’m no expert but I hope it helps :smile:

Oh my. Well, my notifications have been less than useful ^^;

Mattias: As a note, your hypnagogic info was so cool, I did some research and used hypnagogic hallucinations as a topic in as english assignment :wink:

Rhewin: Hey buddy C: You’ve been active here! It’s interesting to see that you fell asleep after conversation with The Doctor, has it happened since then? Also, thank you for helping the other forum members in my absence, I really appreciate that you didn’t leave them hanging C:. As for dealing with distracting thoughts while interacting with the character, I would suggest a few things:

1. Clearing your mind
We do this by visualizing a ‘clearing’ scene, for some people it is imaging a clouded sky, and with each breath, the clouds leave and your thoughts are left clear. For me, it’s this open-sky place I imagine, and I empty this glass, wood framed cube of ball bearings. That works well for me, because it appeals to my ideal shapes and how I visualize my thoughts (they are the ball bearings :stuck_out_tongue: ). I also do this selectively, so I can fully focus on one thing when I am overwhelmed with projects.

I think that clearing your thoughts works best with a personalized visualization, so think of what your thoughts would look like, and clear them from existence, except for thoughts of your character.
After which, character interaction may be easier.

2. Counter distracting thoughts with thoughts involving your character.
If you keep getting off-track thoughts/ visualizations, why not involve your character when countering them?
For example, Teraflare8866 says she imagines things stuff fall towards her out of the blue, so she could get her character involved in catching it, and continuing on. C:

I completely sympathize with this, because when I try to visualize something, for example, rolling, it sometimes seems to transform into something else, or move in a way I didn’t intend. Something always seems to make things come out not quite how we want them to in visualizing.

There are a few more, but we should leave it here for now, since the other suggestions may not be as practical for before-bed character interaction. C:

Teraflare8866: Hey! Sorry to hear that you haven’t gotten LDs because of this. I’m sincerely sorry for not showing up earlier ><. My reply to Rhewin above is written for both you and him. If you do not find either suggestion helpful, please let me know and I will find some other ways to combat your problem if it hasn’t been resolved yet! Wishing you best of luck C:

Luke Strife: Hey! Of course I didn’t forget you. Good to see you C: Ah… Reconnecting with characters. It can be hard to do that. However, we can try a few things to get back to where you were. C:
First, take a moment to just sort of… feel for their essence. Ah, that seems obscure ^^;.
Do you know that feeling you get, when you’re in a particular person’s presence? For example, the presence of your mother will be different from that of your friend? Those feelings are the different imprints they have made on you from your experiences and relationship together.
You should try to look for the presence of your character; you may be familiar with this when trying to initiate a conversation, as if you are summoning them to the forefront of your mind. If this doesn’t work, then you’re essentially starting from the beginning again.

Next, you could try and initiate a pen-and-paper (or on a word program) conversation with them. The key is to go with the moment, and never stop to think the replies or go back and edit. This sometimes helps people to connect with a character, and also to get unexpected replies.

If all else fails, you can start with new characters, and sometimes the old ones will show up… sort of randomly. It has happened before, and I don’t doubt that it’s sort of common with characters that just kind of fade.

Hopefully that helps!

sentis:

  1. How can you tell you’re not making the responses?
    The sense that you can predict your character’s every word and that you are ‘thinking’ a response into them is no longer there. When your character is more or less independent, they can react quickly to a situation without you giving much thought to it (e.x. a friend asks a ‘what-if’ situation about the character, and you get an almost automatic reply). However, this can also just be a result of being intimately familiar with the character concept and what they are likely to do in situations, especially if one is accustomed to roleplaying. Mostly though, it’s just knowing yourself, and whether or not it feels right.

  2. How many characters can you have?
    You can have as many as you like! I have friends who have dozens upon dozens of characters, how many you can develop is up to you. Personally, I only have 9 characters I am familiar with and have developed to an ok extent, and two that I have developed thoroughly.

  3. How long does it take until your character becomes independent?
    Again, the character independence depends on the person creating the character, and the character themselves.
    Some people here create characters that are independent from the start. I have a character, Ghost, who hasn’t changed in sentience since creation, and is fairly aware.
    For some characters, independence takes years. Another example of mine is Naknus, who took several years developing a separate thought pattern and habits from my own. It just depends on who is involved.

  4. If you can’t think of a name can your SC make up one?
    Of course :P. Names can and do change however, so I don’t think that what you refer to the character as is too important as long as there’s something to address them by. C:
    Thanks for those questions!

LucidDreamer1996: Hey, how has progress gone for you lately? C:

FawnBrown: Ah ^^; Thank you? Having your Spirit Guide help you sounds cool C: I do believe some people have their spirit guide assist them here instead of a character C: How do you interact with yours?

Ch3rry: It’s great to hear your progress C: I have to agree that the first time is terribly exciting, congrats! I hope you two have had many invigorating conversations since then C:

Colors: I see. It’s cool though, you know what’s right for you, and you know how to pursue what you want. Great rewards come from effort. For me? My characters have never been dream characters, so I have always consciously summoned them to me ^^; But… In pursuing dream characters within dreams, it has sometimes been difficult and often in vain. This is why I chose to summon characters, but the next time I encounter a DC I must re-meet, I will be sure to update you on the situation using different ways of getting to the character. C:

Again, I’m sorry to everyone for not being around ^^;
I’m hoping everyone has or has had happy lucids.

Do a reality check!

~Happy lucids,
Tal

My charecter does respond quick,but when I ask her to help me go lucid she says “No promises”.

Good to see you again Tal :content:.

Yeah, I’ve actually been using my conversations with him as a way of clearing my mind before bed. I usually take a very long time falling asleep, butwith him around keeping my mind free, it’s been much easier.

Also, I had another LD the other day with The Doctor ^^ . He was having a hard time with his voice (he kept getting an American accent for some reason), but I know for a fact that he is the Doctor I created. It was really neat as we actually had a chance to do things this time before I woke up. It was like being with a close friend in RL.
And another thing, I have had [short] LD’s nightly since the last one with The Doctor. He won’t take credit for it, but I’m sure it is partly due to CALD. I still haven’t induced an LD directly through CALD, but it really has given my LD’s a purpose!

sentis: Ah ^^; not sure how to resolve that one! Why not involve her in more active lucidity involving techniques, such as reality check reminders and remaining conscious during WILDs?

Rhewin: That’s cool C: . Useful, I suppose you don’t sleep well from too many thoughts keeping you up? Ah, it’s great to hear your good news C: . Whether your dreams have been CALD related or not, what matters is that you got some time to hang out with The Doctor, and that you have achieved lucid dreams recently C: . It sounds like you’re having fun with CALD, and it’s great to hear! ^^ It’s all that really matters, in the end C: having something fufilling to do C:

I’m glad you still remember me, it’s just been a long time hehe. I have made a new start on more or less everything lately, so it would be apt if I also made a new start on this project too.

Awesome! that made my day! :content:

EDIT: holy crap! I just noticed this part of the thread is less than 2 months old and already reached 10 pages!! Well done CALD’ers! XD

Hmm I don’t know if I understand well when you say “my chara have never been DC”. You mean DC is someone you just encounter in a dream right ? I make a difference between random characters, characters who exist IRL, characters who are from RL but how are not real.

So far when I called out loud for the character, he appeared. Last time I managed to stay calm to observe him and he noticed and smiled, so I was happy :smile:

Thanks for all the advices ! I will train with those ideas to talk with this character when I go to sleep :smile:

Luke Strife: Cool. Productive period in life? That’s awesome, I’m in one of those right now too C: . Well, we’re here to work on any thing you come up against, and to hear your progress any time C:

mattias: C: Wow, really? Geez, that’s wicked XD !

Colors: Well, I created my characters while I was awake, I never got them out of a dream. I never encountered my characters in dreams unless I summoned them. C: They were all developed while I was awake. Good for you! I’m glad you were able see him C:

ha ok I got it !

I also want to summon DCs who only appeared once in a LD, because they were very peculiar and I woke up when I felt the dream was fading and told them “wait, which one of you is my SC?” and in the dream they lived in a fine house and I felt like they were my team, so I want to see if I can summon them again and try to ask what they are precisely and see what funny responses I will get ^^ I’ll report here of course !

Great! C: I look forward to you report! Best of luck, and remember to recall their essence, it’ll be easiest that way.

Just to note - I’m a him, not a her :wink: I had the same problem earlier too lol.

A character catching the object? Sounds a nice idea, might consider it when I’m distracted by the object again. I haven’t communicated with my characters for a week, but now I know what to do. Hopefully I should reach Utopia this time, and I have some decent ideas for my city.

Talon, I have another question. When you visualise, do you get to a hypnagogic state where you can hear/see your characters and can see the scene around you, or do you simply imagine the scene and can’t see the scene with your ‘mindscape?’

I took a break from lucid dreaming for a week, but I’m back and ready to try and achieve my goals.

Ah! ^^; I’m so sorry. I’ll remember that!

Sometimes it’s necessary to take a break, so it’s good you’re back. C: I’ve been much more passive with LDs myself lately, but Naknus and I wanted an LD (there are some LD goals that include him and his wants) and we set intention last night. It was a fun long LD C: I’m sure you’ll have fun adventure yourself once you get to it, if you haven’t already.

Actually, when I interact with my characters I don’t visualize them. I used to when I was younger, but for the last year or two I’ve just had plain thought-conversations. However, because of the level of familiarity between Naknus and I, we don’t even do that anymore, it’s more just… knowing each others intentions.

So to answer your question, when I did visualize my characters, I didn’t go into a hypnagogic state. I just visualized them in a scene with me, as if someone asked me to imagine a scenario.
Also, Mindscape isn’t usually used in this context for me, it’s… different ^^; .

As a note, a majority of character interaction for me happens well before bed time. I mostly do character development and interaction in waking time, but as one of the ways to induce lucidity, I interact with a character before bed C: .

Best of luck with your lucidity! It’s March Break over here, so hopefully you’re having fun wherever you are as well C:

This is a split topic, the next part is Character Assisted Lucid Dreaming…CALD part VII