Who ARE the people in our dreams?

I love to dream and I usually have no problem remembering them. I sometimes meet and interact with people while dreaming. Some are familiar but most I know I have never met or seen before. Who ARE the people we meet in our dreams? Most are female but some are male. They don't always but often times they know me and we are completely comfortable with each other.
Aside from this but still while in a dream state I have learned to fly. When I first started this I would have the hardest time rising as high as a house and even then I could not hold myself there. Over time I learned to go higher and sometimes farther but I still had no control over when I would come down. Now I am able to fly as long and as far and as fast or slow as I wish. I can fly through walls or ceilings if I choose and anywhere I want inside or outside. I meet people and they want to fly. I hold thier hand and they are able to levitate with me. In my dreams I tell them that they only have to believe and they can do it too. I love doing this! I look forward to my flying dreams and recognize that I am dreaming and have control. What is this?

Many times they are different aspects of ourself.

tra la

I don't have flying dreams, but I do understand what you are talking about OP.

For example, last night I had a dream about a creature that I am quite sure that I've seen before. Well, there was a grayish looking veil that he appear from and the only part of him that I could see was his face.

He was talking to me, but I don't remember what he was saying. I also don't know if what I dreamt was a premonition or just a regular dream.

Originally posted by Stormdancer777
Many times they are different aspects of ourself.

tra la

Das right, seen? Sorry. I just got done watching a documentary on google video about Peter Tosh called "Red X". (awesome documentary if you like reggae, by the way.)

I have heard this before. I think that the other people are projections of our subconscious mind. I want to start keeping a dream journal. I heard that it is best to write them down right when you wake up, but alot of the time I will not remember until later in the day. It is strange. I will have a kind of lucid dream, and then get a feeling of Deja'vu and remember aspects of the dream. If I try to concentrate on the dream then, I can remember good chunks, even conversations and how I felt in my dream.

I want to write them down because some of them are just damn cool and fun to relive, and some to see if I ever have any arguments with my subconscious.

I have also heard (I think it was a psych. class I took)that people look for mates that have some similar aspects of themselves. This is kind of weird for me to think of, because if you are the people in your dreams then I like to get randy with myself, because I have never recognized any of the women I have been intimate with in my dreams....

I agree with Stormdancer777 other people are almost always aspects of ourselves. People you know may represent qualities you need to become more aware of in yourself. According to the dream book I use it is suggested that you make a list of the people you want to always be themselves in your dreams. Write the names down to help embed them in your subconscious.

This book also mentions how to tell dreams that are trying to teach you something about yourself from precognitive or esp dreams. The book is “The Mystical Magical Marvelous world of Dreams” by Wilda B. Tanner. I keep it as a reference for all the symbolism that seem to be in so many dreams.

Those are probably the people we actually know in some parallel universe somewhere.
When we dream we get a peek into what we are experiencing at that moment in that parallel universe, and they dream about us.
In yet some other parallel universe we can probably fly.
My flying dreams started off very similar to yours, not able to fly very high at first, but gradually got better and flew higher. Usually with the assistance of some device, I think I first required a pillow as "training wheels". Slightly bent to catch the wind, Eventually flew as high as I could but was never able to progress past the barbed wires and plumbing pipe in the sky.
Weird.

Who ARE the people in our dreams?

Brilliant question. I asked that very question myself many times. The weird thing is that you have such a strong connection to those "strangers". I also 'fell in love' a couple of times in my dreams with Women I never met before.

Another question is, how do we build them in our dreams? I mean those are faces, we've never seen before. Are we just 'inventing' them? Hair color, face etc..

As far as knowing that I'm dreaming, I think is called Lucid dreaming. I had those dreams many times when I was a kid. Now they're very rare...

The funny dreams are when you're sitting let's say in your living room and when you leave the house you're suddenly in another country, which seems just normal, lol

This to me is a sign that you are maturing in your dreaming. Teaching the other dream characters how to fly and so forth. Just about anyone in the real world that I am around somewhat often and have conversations with... they have been in my dreams at least once. Practically everyone I know by now has been in my dreams at some time.

There has even been an ATSer in my dreams, not that I got the way they looked right, but I knew that this person in the dream represented them. And some people I online gamed with, though I didn't get the way they looked correct, I know it was a representation of them cause they said "yes, that's who I am, I can't believe we run into eachother." And so forth. (This really goes against the idea of parrallel universe, because if it's a parrallel universe then how would it be a big deal for me to run into them, the circumstances require the situation that is going on in this universe, unless my dream had a near impossible coincedence in a parrallel universe as well)

It makes more sense in this situation to assume that it is the mind (I also like to call it the self now) at work, though I do not totally go against the idea that some dreams are taking place in a parrallel universe.

Apparently it is a reflection of yourself, yes, but strangely the dream characters have a personality that goes along with themselves in real life.

It really is amazing how accurate dreams can portray the world and the people in it. Now some girl may be in love with you in the dream but in the real world they aren't, anyone may be a friend to you in the dream when they aren't in the real world... But realizing that under different circumstances, the base of who they are and what they represent, they could very easily have a great relationship with you "in another world." Or under different circumstances.

I've had a few where I told the dream characters they could fly. Usually I just tell them they can, and they will, I say "Just try it." The other night I had one where I was walking down the sidewalk and it rang true that I was dreaming. Across the street there were people, but on my side of the road there was nobody. So I crossed the street by jumping over the road, and as I jumped a speeding car flew under me missing my feet by half a foot, lol.

I would just walk by and among these people, they'd say hey how are you? I'd say doing good, it's just a dream, see you can fly. Interestingly, they only floated up for about 3 seconds, hovered for a second, slowly floated back down, and then went back to their normal walking. Walking as if nothing had happened. I did this with about eight people before the dream faded into greenish whiteness and I woke up.

Another thing to try obviously, if you haven't is to tell them it's a dream. I used to do this in an abrasive manner, yelling at them that it's a dream and they will never believe me this way. Instead, respectfully ask them, do you dream? If I ask them in a guarded, careful way, they almost always say, "of course I have!" And then I say, "well you know what, this is a dream to me." "Somewhere right now my body is fully asleep and here I am." And they just sort of nod and take it in.

Our brain is so powerful, it records everything we experience and everyone we see on a daily basis, we just don't recall for there is no need ^.^ these people appear in our dreams as random people but they are the vast amounts of faces and people we've seen throughout our lives. With the exection of those random times when you get some type of prophetic dream with an old white bearded man or something *ahem* (Galzu) For this I know nothing of...(yet!).

reply to F3rm1N:

That's not a bad way to look at it. If the brain does in fact have that much power then it would not be outside it's ability to basically understand and record the universe subconciously. Then you have a situation where it is ALL in the mind/brain. Though many explanations split this up into many things, brain/mind/self/I/reality/perception, etc., there is certainly something that connects them all.

My only for sure OOBE, I came through a door that was closed. I thought upon waking, that door is not usually closed. When I went to look, it was indeed closed. Either my brain knew amazingly that it was closed and I was hallucinating/dreaming, or I was experiencing reality. But once you take it to that level, where the brain can do all of it and create reality, or trump reality itself, well you have to really notice that the lines and the barriers are indescribable, unreal, just projections in themselves. In other words, what mind creates and what is reality are not easily distinguished from eachother. Mind could be reality, reality could be mind. No new idea, but an example.

The people in our dreams are supposed to be people we have met but have no recolection of.

The brain has an amazing capacity and keeps all these images of people stored for future use.
Those faces are then projected in dreams to create crowds or even a detailed dream including a non existent family all of which youve encountered before, amazing huh? :]

T_Smith:

Just the other night I had a dream where I ran into a couple I know (in real life) in a restaurant, in the dream they acted much like they do in real life. How then, are they people that I have no recollection of? It is obvious to me that characters in our dreams can well be people that we do remember quite readily. My best friends are my most common dream characters, overall. I am most familiar with them.

I think there could be more to what you say, just not in the way it comes across.

reply to post by Novise


My fault, sorry
I didnt mean to make it sound like its soley people we do not remember.

Rather that in the absence of someone we know or are familiar with, our brain will take images of people we ay have only walked past in the street and incorporate them rather than trying to invent a new person entirely.

Theres whole books/philosophys about the fact we can never imagine something we havn't already seen, give it a try :]

Reply to T_Smith:

Absolutely, I agree with this point of view. It's one way that I think explains us in dreams being in cities we've never been in. The brain takes part of this city and part of that city, and uses some middle ground between them to illustrate the actual city in our dreams. From one extreme to the other, you could have nearly endless possibilities. Not to mention different sorts of technology or engineering. Same thing applies to people. Interesting.

reply to post by HarryCat


I Know exactly what you mean. I have had dreams in which I was sure that I was deeply involved with someone. In fact, when I woke up I wished I didn't have to and I could keep dreaming, because this person was someone I really wanted to be with.
Sometimes they are so real, that on occasion I have had momentary trouble distinguishing my real life from the one in the dreams. I have to a reality check.
Perhaps is some sort of deep seated need to express a certain type of dormant feeling that lead to this phenomenon.

I sometimes remember names.
I would say past life regresion was at play here. No definitive proof though.

First off, this is a most interesting thread.

Yes, this kind of dreaming is called Lucid Dreaming.

The Wikipedia Article on Lucid Dreaming

A Lucid Dreaming Paper

A More Recent Paper

I do somewhat challenge the authors assertion in the last article (which also appears to be a book) that he was able to control his real movements and not just his movement in the dream. This is because the body inhibits conscious movement during sleep. However many can and do move unconsciously, such those that sleepwalk.

This is what I usually do while I am having a lucid dream. I change objects in my surroundings. I know this may sound odd to some, but all people can do this it just takes practice. (Plus you must know you are having a dream.)

Simply cover over an object with your hands by holding them up and blocking your view of the object you wish to change. Then picture a different image being behind where your hands are. (You do not have to cover the object but I find it makes it easier to picture something else in that space when I cannot see the object that is already there.) DO NOT CLOSE YOU EYES. If you close your eyes most of the time you will wake up. When you remove your hands you should see a different object. If it does not work the first time try again it may take a few tries.

The idea of who the people are that "inhabit" our dreams fascinates me. I have not really thought about this idea in depth. It is odd that people who we have never met before can act, seemingly have personalities, and interact with us. Even if it is just a construct of our minds it still is very interesting.

Some friends I know say that have been able to argue with those in their dreams (I have not) and those in the dream adamantly declare that what the dreamer is experiencing is not a dream.

Why do these individuals in the dream believe it is not a dream?

I think it might be that our subconscious mind believes the dream to be real, and that the conscious mind knows it to be a dream. Although the conscious mind knows it to be a dream they are not in control of what the people say in the dream. That is controlled by the subconscious. Therefore I believe the individuals are actually a construct of the subconscious mind arguing with the conscious mind. Of course I have not studied this scientifically and this is all speculative.


Disclaimer
(I have never used this device, described below, and I cannot say whether it works or not. I am not encouraging you to buy this because you can tell naturally when you are Lucid Dreaming. It might be a ripoff, but as I said I do not know. Plus it is expensive. I just thought it is an interesting invention.)

Rem Dreamer

"The REM-Dreamer now features a new method of inducing lucid dreams. Our newest model enables two-way communication between the sleeping person and the REM-Dreamer. Researchers have confirmed that, while sleeping and dreaming, people move their eyes in the same directions that they do in their dreams. This fact helped inspire the creation of the TWC (Two-Way-Communication) technology. The TWC technology enables communication between the REM-Dreamer and the sleeping person during the dreaming state. For instance, when the TWC feature is turned on the REM-Dreamer begins to generate a series of cues of increasing intensity when it senses that dreaming has begun. When the level of these cues has increased sufficiently to reach the dreaming mind the dreamer has the option of signaling back to the REM-Dreamer by moving his or her eyes in a predetermined manner (within the dream state) and, on sensing that movement, the REM-Dreamer will stop generating cues."

[edit on 17-3-2009 by Studious]

[edit on 17-3-2009 by Studious]

Reply to Studious:

"I think it might be that our subconscious mind believes the dream to be real, and that the conscious mind knows it to be a dream. Although the conscious mind knows it to be a dream they are not in control of what the people say in the dream. That is controlled by the subconscious. Therefore I believe the individuals are actually a construct of the subconscious mind arguing with the conscious mind. Of course I have not studied this scientifically and this is all speculative. "

This makes a lot of sense.

And what you said about the characters arguing with your friend in the dream about it being a dream. This has happened with me. I have gotten into yelling arguments in the past. This should stop happening so badly if you treat the dream characters with respect, they may not agree, but hey wont adamantly deny it either. So I think it also comes down to the way he is "arguing with his subconcious." A lot can be said for that sort of thing when you apply it to dreams and real world, a relationship between concious and sub-concious, glad you brought that up.

I had my usual people dream last night - went lucid, in a grocery store actually, and asked the person at the cash register if they ever dream. They said "Of course" and so I told the person at the cash register politely that it was a dream, and somewhere my body was sound asleep in my bed. They didn't believe me, so I flew up. They still didn't believe so I told them to try to fly. There were other people around and I know some of them could not, but maybe a few could (they did later, at least).

Creating objects is something I am not very good at. I have certainly tried to look away, and look back, but this sort of purely intentional conjuration I like to call it is something I usually fail at.

But along those lines, in last nights dream I was trying to get away from all the people at the grocery store, I wanted to explore and they were just distracting and sort of trying to grab me and come after me. I started to fly off but was having difficulty flying high and fast, and one of them flew up after me. It was a friend from high school, who sorta gave me trouble back then, some friend right. I turned around in the air and put one hand on his head and one hand about his hip and just pushed inwards. I sort of looked away and patienty pushed until he turned into what is best described as a large blob of playdoh. Problem solved... lol

But maybe if I have the material in my hands, the playdoh (maybe I can make it out of dirt or out of anything, any object) then maybe I can use that to make things, and that would be easier for me.

[edit on 17-3-2009 by Novise]