Meaning of a Dream

Members of our lucid dream forum have recently been asking how to create dream characters while lucid. It's a common issue to call out for or seek a new character only to find they don't show up. And when they do finally appear, they look nothing like the person you were seeking in the first place. So, how to combat this?

Here are a number of techniques from my own research and experience that you can use to summon new lucid dream characters into existence. I'll also show you how to adapt their appearance once they're standing in front of you.

Beyond this, it's important to realize that dream characters (or dream figures) are not merely made-up drones that exist solely for our amusement. They may be purely symbolic, but they may also represent one element of your psyche, or even have greater consciousness than you, dear dreamer.

Dream characters can be a great learning opportunity. So treat them with respect and consider allowing them to portray themselves as they wish, instead of always trying to mold them into the perfect object of affection.

Before attempting to summon a new figure, make sure you increase your lucidity by doing a tactile reality check, reminding yourself that you're dreaming, and making some firm observations about your current environment.

1. Round The Bend
Visualize or expect the character you want to see standing behind you or just around a corner, out of sight. When your expectation is fully ingrained and you can truly sense their presence, turn around or go look around the corner. Bingo!

2. Ask The Dream
Try Robert Waggoner's method of asking the "awareness behind the dream" to do the work for you. This simply means calling out to the dream with your wish. Try "show me my dream guide", "show me myself in 10 years" or even "show me my ultimate fantasy". That way, you're allowing the dreaming subconscious to present what it wants and you wont risk violating dream figures that exist for a whole other purpose.

3. Dream Door
Open a dream door and reach inside, expecting to grab the hand of your intended dream figure and pull them through. This also works using mirrors as liquid portals. Just reach in and expect to find the person you seek. As with most of these methods, your underlying expectation is absolutely key to your successful conjuring.

4. Paint a Picture
Remember Penny Crayon? This one's quite surreal but, then again, that's the nature of the subconscious dreaming mind. Get creative and paint a picture (your hand in the air works fine) of the person you want to meet, however crudely. It's not the motion of your finger-brush but the image you create in your mind that will pop into life!

5. Get Morphing
This is another highly creative way of summoning a dream character into existence. Choose an object, like a wall or a lamp post, or even another person, and sincerely will them to morph into a specific dream figure. I once watched my lucid dream guide peel himself out of a tree this way. It was A-W-E-S-O-M-E to watch.

6. Shaping Up
Finally, if the summoned character looks somehow different from reality, you can ask them to do better. Say "I'm going to look away and when I look back you will look like the closest representation of X my imagination can create." Be warned, the effect may be short lasting if your dream has no interest in humoring you...

Many consciously-created dream characters can be rather fickle. They can unexpectedly become ugly or turn into someone else altogether. It's not their will to look like the person you've molded them into. And it's not the will of the dream either. So they may degrade into perfect strangers pretty fast if you don't invest a lot of conscious effort into their ongoing appearance.

I believe this is the battle that occurs between the conscious mind (let's say, you seeking a gratuitous sexual partner) and the subconscious mind (the awareness behind the dream that is quite separate from your own awareness and agenda).

This is one reason why it's wise to heed experts like Robert Waggoner and allow your dream figures to choose what they want to do and how they interact with you. Because this is the dream world, and when it comes to conscious vs subconscious, the latter always wins in the end.

So, if you really want to put your dream characters to good use, instead of demanding they look different and fulfil your superficial needs, you might want to try asking: "How's things?" "Why are you here?" "Can I help you?" or "Tell me something cool!" When you delve deeper with lucidity you're more likely to be impressed with the result.

For step-by-step tutorials in lucidity, check out The Lucid Dreaming Fast Track, my digital course that shows beginners the fastest way to lucid dreams.