Lions and spiders

When I was a kid, about 10 years old, I went to a zoo in the Czech Republic. Since I live in an island where there are no zoo’s, it was my first time in one.
I saw the monkeys, bears, snakes and owls, but I always waited for one species, the lions. So as my family and me were approaching, I ran before them because I was so anxious to see them.
At the lion cage, there was a small cave which you could go inside of, and watch the tigers on one side and the lions on the other side. I positioned myself in front of the glass window in the lion cage and saw the first lion i’ve ever seen. A big old male lion, sleeping comfortably, with no worries in the world, except when his next meal is due to arrive. I watched it with great admiration, as I had never seen such a beast.

Suddenly it opened it’s eyes, and began to stare at me. I stared back and thought nothing of it, until the lion stood up and began walking directly at me. I was a little afraid because I was alone there but I knew it couldn’t harm me. The lion began picking up the pace, and finally it was on full speed, coming towards me, and there was nothing I could do but stand there. When the lion had a few meters to go before it reached the glass window, it leaped up, his claws forward, aimed at my head. I didn’t blink an eye, not because I was so tough, but because I almost pissed my pants.
That big animal, probably weighing about half a ton, came crashing down on the window with it’s paws a few centimeters from my head. I looked up and saw the lions mouth, it’s teeth covered in drool and it’s tongue curled up inside. It started to roar and almost blew my eardrums, but still I couldn’t move. Has a lion ever roared at you at a close range? It doesn’t have a good effect on a 10 year old, let me tell you that.
As soon as I started moving again, the lion walked back to it’s original position, yet again, without a care in the world, and most likely doesn’t remember me today. I on the other hand, never forgot that lion. It still haunts me today, only in the form of nightmares.

That’s one of the reasons why I started lucid dreaming, to get rid of those nightmares, but unfortunately it has had no effect yet. The nightmares still come, even stronger then before and don’t seem to be going anywhere.
I tried to make this my dream indicator, my dream sign, but it has never worked, and I’ve tried it for six months. I’ve thought about it constantly but nothing happens. Maybe I’m doing it wrong but it almost seem’s impossible for me. The lions still come frequantly and tear my arms off and rip my legs off, but the scariest part is, I don’t wake up.
If I will become a talented lucid dreamer, I could possibly eliminate this nightmare, but I have a long way to go. So I tried other methods.
I thought that if I would be able to induce a stronger nightmare, this one would disappear and the new one would replace it. I did that because I’ve been having the same nightmare for ten years and I’m a little annoyed by it, it’s like watching the same movie over and over again, but with different actors. So it was becoming a little to routine for my likings.
So what did I do? What could possibly produce a nightmare so strong it would overcome a lion? My greatest obsession, yet my worst enemy, I’ve been fascinated by these creatures since I was a baby. Spiders.
But I knew that a regular spider would do nothing for me, since I’m always inspecting spiders. No, it had to be something good, something horrible, something lethal.
I was so lucky to discover one of them in a delivery which came from Mexico that arrived to my workplace. I thought it was dead, because I’d found one before and it was dead, but it turned out it wasn’t, and it almost bit me, just missed a few centimeters. So lucky! The Black Widow Spider. I caught it and made a small cage out of a soda bottle, and brought it back home with me. I put it in a cupboard and now I make sure every night that it’s closed.
I caught it about 3 months ago, and it’s effect started immediately. But it didn’t get rid of the lions entirely, they still appear in my dreams, usually along with the spiders but not quite as often.
Although the spiders are a lot creepier, they’re not as painful as lions and they do not take any limbs off of me. So I guess it’s an improvement.

What I was thinking about, is that if someone is having trouble having ld’s and doesn’t have reaccurring dreams, which he/she can use as a dream sign, they can make them happen with something like this, but it doesn’t seem to work for me. I’ll keep on trying though.

Sorry about the dramatic story…

I used to have a lot of repeated dreams from when I was a child but learning about lucid dreaming and getting older got rid of them I guess. Though I did once have a very long conversation with a spider in one of my dreams about why it bit me.

I can relate to how you must feel by just the way you described it! I can only suggest, if you haven’t already, Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen LaBerge. He goes into great detail in overcoming nightmares, and he gives good examples of real people who overcome nightmares similar to what you describe very successfully. Then again, there probably are many people on here who had the same problems and overcame them.

Hi
Interesting concept (the one with the spider).I somehow would like to have more nightmares, but I am not sure if I really want it, and wether it could do me any bad.
I can´t remember one single nightmare that was really bad in the last few years.Perhaps that has something to do with LDing?

Anyway, I also don´t want to make my RL fears stronger by doing things that frighten me.
Something strange I noticed, although perhaps a bit OT:
You probably all know those moments when irrational fears can come up (walking alone at night etc).When I was younger I always thought of monster and stuff.
Today I sometimes fear that I might be dreaming!
That is really weird, cause I know that I am awake, even if I remind myself that I shouldn´t be too sure.Second, I know that if it was a dream nothing could harm me.And in lucid dreams I usually don´t feel fear, perhaps I am sometimes a bit shocked, but not frightend.
So, why do I fear I might be dreaming?

Traumgänger

Traumgänger: Maybe you are fearing that the world you experience as real, just is a fabric of your mind?

"I also don´t want to make my RL fears stronger by doing things that frighten me. "- from what i was taught and read (mostly in eastern spirituality books) facing the objest of your fear is one of the ways to overcome it.Avoiding it makes them stronger and stronger.Thats one thing.
Another is-some of the dream theories are that we dream to practice challenging/scary situations that we might meet in RL.
I know your post wasnt all about it,but i just wanted to share this thought in case someones else interested:)

ps.Im similar-cant get any nighmares,and dont remember having one for past few years.I wouldnt mind one-two a week.

Gov its said before…go start writing a novel your good at it!

Greetings from the talent detective

Jack… I know that to overcome your fear you must confront it, but if you would be afraid, and could use it to induce ld’s, why confront it?
Why don’t you get a spider or something alike and sleep next to it… see what happens

Thanks again Jeff…

Gov, I had a similar experience as a young child but it hadn’t terrified me as much. When I went to the zoo with a group of people when I was about eleven, I received special treatment and got to tour parts of the zoo that weren’t open yet and I got to see the lions cage backstage. The cage was partially underground and partially above-ground. The above-ground part was closed. As we entered the room inwhich the cage was in, there were two male lions and one female lion sleeping. They were seperated from us by two layers of cyclone fencing. As one of the zoo keepers explained to us about the lions and how they were fed, the people around me were acting very noisy. This started one of the male lions who came charging at the fence and extended its paws out against it standing on its hind legs. It softly roared but still caused everyone in the room to jump in terror.

I was lucky I didn’t get nightmares from it like you. Nor am I that scared of it today. Perhaps if you learn to face your fears, you will not have nightmares. How? I don’t know, but this is the best advice I can give you.

Try the same logic that you used with the spider.

Run out into the wilderness, and catch a lion. Then build a cage for it, and keep it in your room. Just be sure to keep the cage locked when you go to sleep.

Of course, I’m not being serious here. Things like your zoo experience tend to scar childred for a pretty long time. Perhaps you could keep a picture of a lion somewhere, and do a RC each time you look at it? There are probably other ways to associate lions with Lucid Dreaming that you could try.

People always talk about facing your fear in order to overcome it. I suggest taking a visit to another zoo and having another look at a lion. Scine the only memory you have of a lion is when it tried to kill you, maybe just by seeing another one you can overwrite this memory, or at least add to it with something a little less terrifying.

I’s hardly an option for me to visit another zoo. The only zoo there is where I live only contains animals, such as cows and pigs. It’s ment for small children.
In order to visit another zoo and confront my fears, I would have to fly overseas, and that could be a bit expensive.

I could dress a cow as a lion though…

Yea visiting a zoo with lions is a great idea. Try watching some animal documentaries with lions instead.