Conference hydra::dejavu

Most of my dreams seem real when I'm dreaming them and I suppose that they are 
in color.  I know that on specific occaisions I've dreamt in brilliant colors
and I have no reason to believe that my other dreams aren't in color.

As far as scientists go, they probably do dream in black and white.  Scientists
seem to like things in black and white. :-)

		Dave

Some people dream strickly in black & white, while a minority dreams in color.
People who dream in color also dream (most of the time) in black & white.
C.S. Hall did a study of dreaming in which he found (in 3,000 dreams studied) 
that 29% were in color. 
     
Other findings from the study -- (10,000 dream reports)

15% Dreamer was alone

In the remaining dreams --

19% had relatives in them
27% had friends
43% had strangers

	Strange, isn't it, that by the results of the survey mentioned in
47.2, so many 'people' in our dreams tend to be strangers. Are these characters
completely new to us, are they composite beings evolved from bits and pieces
of our friends and relatives, or are they NOT strangers to our memory in
the sense that we may have seen them momentarily in the street, and for some
reason we recall their image in our dreams.

	How come I only remember the dreams that were in colour ?  Does colour
enhance the dream to the extent of allowing partial recall whereas black
and white dreams are so 'bland' in visual impact that they are easily
forgotten ?


							Jamie.

You're probably aware that dreaming occurs during REM sleep, and William
Dement (nice name) was entralled with this concept. He researched hundreds
of volunteers, finding that the average person dreams 90 minutes a night.
Dreaming is slight early in the night and the concepts of dreams focuses
on the day's events. Toward morning, as the body prepares to awake, dreams
become longer and the contents more bizarre. These are probably the dreams
you remember, since we tend to only remember those which we are in the midst
of or have just completed (5 min) prior to waking.

Dement also experimented with dream deprivation, waking subjects whenever 
they entered REM sleep. After a few nights of this the subjects were tense 
and irritable, had trouble concentrating, and occasionally reported 
hallucinations.

I used to have a book on dreaming, I'll look for it tonight.
The most interesting course I took while in high school was a psychology
course centered on dreams.
                                                  
Mike

Re .2, .4:

	It's hard not to defer to the expert reports of a researcher, but it's 
hard to see how one can possibly know the chromacity level of a dream the sub-
ject cannot remember.
	I, for one, always seem to dream in color (save one sequence in one
dream when I was in my late teens when I dreamed I was watching an experiment
in three-dimensional television, and the TV picture was in black & white because
in those days there was _no_ color TV).  This occurs whether it's late in the
dream cycle or early (as if some outside agency wakes me up).  I could be all
wet, because of dreams I "can't remember"; but experience seems to suggest
otherwise.
	Logically, if we're surrounded by a polychromatic world, dreaming
in monochrome seems a little odd.  It should be the same brain working in
both cases.

Steve Kallis, Jr.

Re: .4

>> waking subjects whenever they entered REM sleep.
                            
Just out of curiousity, do you know if they also experimented with waking
people up when they weren't in REM sleep? I suspect I'd get rather cranky
either way.
						- Bluejay Adametz, CFII

I agree with you that you'd be cranky after being woke up several nights
in a row whenever you fell into deep sleep. I don't know if the subjects
were also awakened in the other stages of sleep, but if the experiments 
were conducted in an unbiased way I would assume that they were. 

RE. Always dreaming in color..

Prehaps the dreams we remember most vividly are the ones that have the 
greatest detail in them, including color. 

I dream in color in all the dreams I can remember.  I also feel texture, hear
limited voice sounds and fly if I need to.  Lucid dreaming or whatever it is 
called is an important outlet for me.  It is my own little world and I control
my action.  I also have a good idea about where things are at there too.  The
dreamscape as I see it now is a vast playground for humans to do as they will.
Try this on for size.  Try finding your hands in your dreams.  Notice how the
are made or constructed.  Are all the finger there?  Is there a glow around yourhands?  From there you can scan the area directly around your dream body.  If
you stare you will lose the dream.  If you scan you can put togather a compositeof your dreamscape.  Walk up to the first building or object in your field of
vision and feel it.  Briefly look at the color, feel the texture and strength
of the item then move on or you will lose it and go blank.  Dream people seem
to get afraid amd move away almost immediatly.  I promise you one thing, it willtake patience and willpower to find your hands.  It took me two weeks of nightlysuggestions.  Some people take years.  

The hardest part of lucid dreaming is getting the discipline to write them down.Otherwise they will escape you all togather.  Excersing the memory is tough
but required.  When trying to remember the dream I generly get a big blank for
about 5 to 10 minutes.  From there I get tailends of visuals which lead to 
almost full rememberance.  Putting the correct events togather in the right
order is tough but can be done.  Going back over the dreams in about 3 or 4
months will supprise you on a consistant basis.

Here's another item for discussion.  Have you had two dreams at the same time.  I am not talking about two separate dreams but two dreams at the same time.  If
you have every had one you can remember you won't soon forget it. 

I find the usual interpetations of dreams boring and off the mark.  There is
something very theraputic about discovering what's going on in your dream and
doing it by yourself with no outide help.  The human mind is much bigger than
Freud, Jung and whoever else.

Mike Morgan, Colorado Springs.

Sorry guys, Nexus totaly butchered my message to you.  I'll get it off again
when the system is up to it.

Mike Morgan, Colorado Springs.

Ok maybe I have learned how to use this here newfangled contraption.

I always dream in color.  I feel texture, hear limited voice communication 
and fly whenever I need to.  It's great fun to control the elements (ie events
and not people) of my dreams.  I sometimes review them a second and thrid time
in the late morning.  

Here is a great item to enjoy if you can manage it.  Find your hands.  Just
lift them up to eye level and gaze at them.  How do they look?  Are all the
fingers there?  Is there a glow around them?  Are they disfigured in any way?
It took me two weeks to get this to happen but it was exciting.  

After you get a good look at your hands then _gaze_ at the rest of your dream-
scape.  Don't stare or it will fade away.  Feel the texture of things.  See if
you can smell anything.  I can't.  My dream nose may be plugged up.  

Flying is great fun but takes lots of energy.  I usualy use the "runway" method
of take off and the "fly till I tire out" method of landing. Most of the time I 
land in an area that is unknown to me and not always on my feet.  

I view the dreamscape as a vast playground for humans.  I am not sure that I
have the same type of dreams in the deep sleep state.  I think I may be in a
sort of school in deep sleep.  Not sure though. 

The people that I meet are mostly familiar to me.  They may resemble people
that I know or love but obvious things or charactoristics or missing or 
different.

The usual dream interpetations are boring and off the mark to me.  I find it
great therapy to discover for myself and by myself what is going on in my
dreams.

The hardest part is remembering the dream.  It takes me about 5 to 10 minutes
to remember what went on.  Usualy I get the tail ends of visual events then it
moves into my memory as if I were secretly writing it into a scratchpad area
for use. 

I was also wondering if anyone has had two dreams at once?  Not just two 
separate dreams but two dreams at the same time.

Mikie, Colorado Springs.

re .-1

I have had two dreams at the same time, where I am dreaming that I go to
sleep and have a dream, wake up from the second dream, continue dreaming,
wake up and remember BOTH dreams.  Anyone else experience this phenomenon?

I always dream in color.  I was amazed when I found out that most people
don't dream in color.  Incidentally, in a personally run servey on this subject,
I have discovered that most women dream in color and most men say they usually
dream in black and white.  Sorry if this sounds sexist.

/Kathleen

I almost always dream in color. I am very oriented toward noticing clothing
(I do a lot of design and costuming as a hobby) and very frequently will
get good ideas from dreams, which are always in color in those cases.

I don't think I ever dreamed 2 dreams at once, although they will sometimes
be layered, i.e. I think I wake up but it is still a dream.

Tamzen

The report of more women dreaming in color than men is not necessarily 
sexist, and is supported by various survey research that I've read 
about.  It is just _one_ of the ways in which men differ from women.

While I'm usually not particularly concious of whether I dream in color 
or "black and white" (shades of grey), I _think_ I usually dream in 
color.

I used to have the ability to get very spacially disoriented while in a 
dream state; it seemed to be related to the way my head was turned, and 
my "direction sensing" parts of the inner ear seemed to have all of the 
signals cancel out.  It left me with a sense of floating, which seemed 
very pleasant.  I haven't had that sensation in many years now, at least 
not that I've been aware of.  (It usually happened on the edge between 
sleep and wakefulness.)

Tom

    I rarely remember specifically dreaming in color.  When I remember
    color, it is a strong dream usually with a colored object.  All the
    other replies are very interesting about how people dream.  Like some
    others, I someitmes have very visually stunning dreams about flying.
    Very often, I have dreams about being in plane crashs, riding a train
    and body surfing (not at the same time).  
    
    Lately I have been writing down my dreams and trying to analzye some
    of them.  Usually I remember four a night; it gets easier with
    practice. 
             
                                               John H.

Re: .14 --

>    Very often, I have dreams about being in plane crashs, riding a train
>    and body surfing (not at the same time).

Now if you had vivid dreams about doing these all at the same time, that 
WOULD be very interesting :^)

Tom

	    As far as I can tell, I always dream in color.  If the
	division by sex is true, it's not because of anything innate
	to the sexes.
			<_Jym_>

    I really can't remember whether my dreams are in color or not. 
    Most probably I would have remembered if they were black and white.
    
    Dream in dream, that is something which has happened to me many
    times.
    
    I remember one really disturbing.  It seems that I was having a
    real nightmare and I was probably screaming.  My father shook me
    up and I woke up from the nightmare.  I don't know how long it took
    me to realize that I was still dreaming but suddenly I remembered
    that my parents live on the other side of the globe, at least 10K miles
    from here.
    
    Almost in all of my nightmares, I become aware that I am dreaming
    at the end of the sequence.  Then I try my best to wake up.  Few
    times I end up in another dream.
    
    Often times I get the feeling that I had the same dream before. That
    is, the dream seems to be awfully familiar.  May be that's what is
    called 'dejavu'! 
    
    - Vikas
    
    

I also dream in colour (or rather, in the dreams I remember, things are in
colour). I have also had serial dreams in which I will pick up things from
a previous dream and continue on. I have also had "repeat" dreams (summer
reruns?).

As best as I recall some of the dream experiments, they woke people during
REM sleep and they were ALWAYS dreaming, whereas they woke people during
other sleep stages and they either weren't dreaming or the dreams were
less "real" (black and white, fuzzy shapes, etc).

Yes, you would get cranky if you were woken several times a night. However,
the subjects who were denied REM sleep (and dreams) went on to experience
hallucinations and inability to concentrate, as well as other sleep
deprivation symptoms, whereas the subjects who were denied non-REM sleep
(but did get REM) didn't suffer the same sorts or severity of problems.
In short, we *need* to dream, although the "why" hasn't been worked out.

There are some sleep-drugs that end up blocking REM sleep and they prove
dangerous after awhile because you aren't getting the important REM-type
sleep, even though you may be "rested".

As for remembering dreams, I believe that the dream is ONLY stored in
short-term memory (about 20 minutes). If you write it down, the action
of writing requires you to think about things enough that it gets written
into long-term memory and is saved. Thus the importance of keeping the
pencil and paper handy.

DDA

    I almost always have colored dreams.  I can also smell and feel.
    In one memorable dream, I attended a banquet and tasted an array
    of wonderful foods!  I woke up and felt full way past my usual
    breakfast time, even though I'd gone to bed hungry.
    
    The dreams most frustrating to me are the ones in which I compose
    music and poetry.  Even though I can recall the events of the
    dream, I can't recall the tunes or the words.
    
    Marcia

    re: .19
    sorry about this, but that lack of hunger sounds just like that
    old joke about dreaming that you ate a big marshmallow and waking
    up to note the pillow missing.
    
    I dream both in black and white, and in color.  The difference is
    subtle for me, but interesting.  The B&W dreams seem to occur in
    what feels like a deeper state, and in "storylines" that have nothing
    to do with color - if color isn't important to what's happening,
    I don't dream color.  In a lighter sleep, I often dream in color,
    sometimes just dreaming colors, like an abstract painting.  While
    in such a dream, I can try to look at the colors closely, and intensify
    them at will (that's usually what I try to do - makes for something
    I can't normally see).
    
    As for the comments like "I never noticed black and white, so I
    think the dreams must be in color," I find just the opposite.  If
    I wake and remember a dream, and ask myself the question "Was it
    in color?", I find the answer is usually "No."  Going back over
    the dream reveals a B&W TV type image, though in 3D.
    
    If at any time during a B&W dream I wonder "Is this in color?" it
    immediately becomes color, because I want it to.  I guess if I didn't
    want it to be color, it would stay in B&W.
    
    	ed

    re. .18
    
    I have also had a dejavu type experience about a dream, however
    the dejavu feeling happened "while I was dreaming".  I was going
    somewhere with someone to meet a few people and in the dream I
    recalled having this same experience, knew the person when we met,
    and knew exactly what was going to happen.
    
    re. .19
    
    I have had dreams where I have been given information, such as names,
    dates, numbers and have woken up and remembered the dream but not
    the details of the information given.  I have also gone to school
    in my dreams, usually astrology classes.
    
    There was a dream I had a long time ago, but what made it so unique
    was that I went to a place - something like a zoo - and someone
    was pointing out all the different animals and giving me the name
    of each species.  They were not the same animals that live on this
    planet - the two I remember were a giraffe-type animal with zebra-
    like stripes and the other looked somewhat like a bear, and it was
    called a gengi.
    
    Most of the time, I really love my dreams!
    
    Carole
    

   I'm pretty sure I don't dream in color.  In fact, I don't think there
are any visual aspects to my dreams at all.  There are other people in them,
relatives, friends & strangers, some of whom have died long before the
dream.  We move about and I always know where I am, and we have conversa-
tions, but I never "see" my surroundings clearly.  Often when I am talking
with someone in a dream the locale changes during the conversation, and it
seems perfectly natural at the time.

   The conversations, though, may be fairly elaborate.  About six or eight
years after completing a two-year college Russian course I had a dream
conversation with someone in Russian, in which I had by no means become
truly fluent during my studies.  I awakened suddenly, with the last sentence
I had "spoken" still clear in my mind, and marveled that it was not only
gramatically perfect but also contained words I could never have recalled
through conscious effort but which were exactly correct in the dream conver-
sation context.

   My dream memories, like most people's, seem to fade very rapidly after
awakening.  For a few moments I have a vague memory of the dream, but it
vanishes quickly.  Unless the dream experience was "emotionally vivid" I
am unable to remember subject, participants and locations a half hour later.
I have tried several times during those first few conscious minutes after
awakening from a dream to recall visual images from the dream but have
always failed.  So I guess mine are neither in color nor in B&W !

  Anyone else in this situation?

                                                 Herb

  Sometimes I don't remember what I dream til' later in the day,
  when something happens to spark my memory.
  
  I know I dream in color though.  Like the other night, when my
  SO was dancing with a blonde...  
  
  Theresa

    Usually alot of color, quite vivid, and for the most part 
    accurate, ocean is blue or variations of blue/grey/green, sand is
    whitish grey, etc.
    
    Often the flavor of a dream will stay with me for sometime,
    days, occasionally weeks, drifting by or settling over me at
    odd moments...
    
    Rarely do I remember sounds in my dreams, unless it comes from outside
    sources such as a radio or tv, and is incorporated into the dream,
    but, sometimes while sleeping I will  "hear"  someone calling or
    talking to me, I can ususally recognize the voice and will awaken.
    The sound is vivid, true to life, and usually just calls my name.
    
    
    
    AAB
    

    No one seems to have written here for a while,  but....
    
    I dream in both black & white and in color.  Sometimes interesting
    color....totally unrelated to 'reality',  so that I remark on it
    in my dream, which seems to intensify the color.  
    
    I have also solved quite complex math problems in my dreams,  to
    the point that in school I would always leave a paper beside my
    bed when I was in the midst of a 'take home exam'.  I found that
    over 50% of the time, the solution I dreamed was correct, and most
    of the other time it was accurate enough to get me started on the
    right approach.  This was a very handy talent to have.  I've always
    assumed that it was my subconcious continuing to work on the problem
    after I'd given up.
    
    The question I have, is has anyone ever dreamed in a 'book' format?
    Recently I can see the words as if they were on pages in a book,
    i even have to turn the pages!!  It's never been any book I remember
    reading, or any I've seen in a store.   Comments?
                                                    
    

    Re .26
    
    I've never dreamed in textual format, but I once had a brief stretch
    of dream in comic-book format.  (It was a rather silly dream, too,
    so the format suited it.)
    
    Earl Wajenberg

    re .26, .28:
    
    The only time I dream in textual format is when I fall asleep reading
    a book.  Sometimes when that happens, I "keep on reading."  Naturally,
    the text of my dreams diverges from what's actually printed (but
    I usually turn the real pages as I do the "dream" pages).  This
    once consumed most of a chapter, and when I awakened, still "reading,"
    the shift from what I _thought_ I was reading and what I actually
    was supposed to have read was rather confusing.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
    
    P.S.: I once had a comic-book-format dream myself.  The drawings
    and colors were far better than what one can buy, even with Baxter
    paper.
    
    

    I've never actually dreamed in text format myself, but have had
    dreams where the action takes place in the style I use reading fiction.
    When I first pick up a book, I tend to turn to the last few pages.
    _Then_ I read it from front to back, enjoying the process of getting
    to the last page.  If the book is disturbing or looks particularly
    troubling, I often skip through it, trying to find pieces of action
    that will either explain the ending to me or reassure me.
    
    The impact this style has on my distrubing dreams is that I often
    find myself dreaming of a conclusion event, then flashing back, in 
    a disordered fashion, to various events that led up to the conclusion
    event, trying to piece them together.  The _real_ nightmares I have
    I experience from start to finish; I think that the former style
    of dreaming represents my way of trying to scope out and control
    the outcome of potentiall disturbing situations and feelings.
    
    Marcia

    I must admit I usually read  right before I fall asleep, so maybe
    that's why I dream in "text" format.  Thankfully it doesn't happen
    all the time since it always seems that I'm "reading" word by word
    as opposed to the speed reading I normally do, so the dream action
    is real slow.
    
    re .30....And I thought I was the only one to check an ending to
    see if the book was worth reading or not....fiction, anyways..for
    the same reasons you do,  if it's non-fiction....
    
    As far as writing a book,  that's always been on my "to do" list,
     maybe I'm just in a practice mode?
    
    
    Mary

    re:problem solving in dreams
    
    	I used to do this a lot when I was in Field Service. If I had
    to leave a problem that I worked on during the day and couldn't
    fix, I would usually awaken the next day with 1 or more possible 
    fixes. I incidentely had a pretty good hit rate with this method.
    It was not something that I consciously thought about. It is just
    something that happened. When troubleshooting equipment, I would
    at times become so emersed in a problem so as to lose track of time.
    When leaving a problem, I usually just resolved myself to the fact
    tommorow was another day. These seem to be two key features of
    resolving problems in your sleep (at least for me).
    	I don't think that I could just pick an arbitrary problem and
    expect to find an answer using this method. I just don't see myself 
    being able to emerse myself that completely in an arbitrary problem.
    Maybe with practice, who knows ?
    
    RAYJ
    

    I also dream in color.  I sometimes have some very strange dreams
    and wonder where they came from.  One recurring dream I have is
    that I am in school (High School I think) and I am late for class
    and can't find my classroom.  Wierd huh?
    
    I am in the middle of reading "The Seth Material" right now and
    some of the ideas in this book are fascinating.  He states that
    the dream world is where we work out our problems and if we did
    not dream we would have a difficult time dealing with day to day
    life.  Maybe this is what happened to the people in the experiments
    who were awoken during REM.
    
    Also, Seth states that when you see people or places that you do
    not recognize, you may be remembering something from a past existence
    or seeing something or someone in your future.  Any comments on
    this?
    
    Debbie

RE: .33
    
    Your high-school dream (with variants) is one of the most common
    dreams that come up in surveys of dreams.  Most have a bit higher
    level of anxiety associated (e.g., it is finals and you've missed
    every class the semester and you *know* that if you take the test
    you have one chance in 1000 of not flunking, but you can't find
    the class room so even that single chance is quickly disappearing).
    
    There are some questions about whether the REM deprivation experiments
    were valid.
    
    					Topher
    

    I remember reading somewhere a few years back that it was 
    believed that people with psychic abilities or sensitivities
    tended to dream in color while others dream in black and white.
    Any comments?
    
    I dream in color. I have also found that when there is something
    in my dream which I need to read, the "I" in the dream has no
    problem until I start to concentrate on what I am reading (lucid
    dream style). Then it seems that the words and letters are all
    garbled and make no sense. Has anyone else noticed anything 
    like this?
    

    RE 35:
    
    I too dream in color, but I am about the least psychic person I
    know.
    
    About "reading in dreams"...
    
    I am an editor, and reading is my life.  I often dream that I am
    reading documents, magazines, even the comics.  I can read a word
    or two, but the sentances don't make any sense.  For instance,
    I remember a dream where I was reading a comic strip.  After reading
    it, I thought "That wasn't even funny!  It didn't make sense..."
    Not being able to read/make sense of what I am reading in dreams
    is very frustrating....
    
    woody

    There is a demonstrated correlation between people who believe that
    they have had psychic experiences and various measures of vivid
    mental imagery (of which color dreaming is one).  There is a less
    well established relationship between success under controlled test
    conditions and vivid mental imagery.
    
    Dream dyslexia (as having trouble reading within dreams is called)
    is very common according to what I remember of surveys.
    
    					Topher

	I, too, dream in color.  I'll remember my dreams up until the
	point that I'm fully awake... then the details blend in and I
	can only remember the general theme, not the details.  I use
	a small tape recorder to keep a log of dreams that I want to
	remember.

	I have noticed a tendency to read a document in my dreams, and
	then, when I try to read it again, see something different on
	the page.  Has anyone else had this experience?


						-- Mike

Re: Last few

I have tried the "Can you read" (a la Lucid dreaming) trick to determine if 
I was dreaming, I was able to read so I decided I must not be dreaming, 
then I woke up, sigh.

I had not tried to read in dreams before that. In fact the only other
experience with langue in dreams that I can remember involved a reoccurring
dream that I had as a child. I would shift into a parallel world where
the written langue was close to English, but not close enough for me to 
make any sense out of it. (For instance I couldn't read street signs) I 
had no trouble with the spoken word however.

-vicki

RE: .39
    
    The lucid dream test is not "Can you read?", since many people can
    read during dreams, but "If you can read something, when you look
    away then look back and read it again, does it still say the same
    thing?"  Steven LaBerge (sp?) claims to have no reports of this
    test ever failing.  If you *have* had *this* test fail for you,
    I'm sure (because he's said so) that he would like to hear about
    it.
    
    					Topher

    Re .last_few:
    
    My "reading while dreaming" is silly and exasperating, and comes
    when I'm reading while sleepy.  As I read, my eyes close, but I
    keep on reading, "seeing" the pages as before.  Usually, I "read"
    three or four pages before I become dimly aware that my elelids
    are shut tight.  Then I open them and note (with some initial surprise)
    that the words on the page have changed _drastically_ from what
    I'd just been "reading."  Usually, I have to go back several pages
    to pick up where I really left off....
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    Another very important lucid dreaming experiment that provides much
    information to the dreamer is listed below.
    
    A couple years ago I had a very bad image of myself and didn't know it.
    Fortunately during this time I was reading Castenada. One of the early
    things he was taught was to look at his hand during dreaming. The
    dreaming that he was refering to at that time is the same as lucid
    dreaming to us.
    
    It took me about a week of suggestion to get to the point of having
    enough control to look at my hand during late morning lucid dreaming.
    What a horrible hand! It had six or seven twisted fingers and deformed
    nails. I looked several times. I was so excited tho that I ran around
    telling other people that I could see my hand. (So?) In fact I got
    rather loud telling people to look at their hands. Such is life
    for the child.
    
    Around my hand was a field of light. I was only able to look at my hand
    during those weeks and I did much work on affirmations. Eventually my
    hand returned to beautiful and normal hand.   
    
    This morning around 9 am or so I was involved in a series of short
    lucid dreams. I was amused to find formulas written on the back of my
    window shades. I saw them twice and they appeared to be the same thing.
    I can't remember what the formulas were though. (For the secret sauce??
    B^) 
    
    Also I got into shape changing. I made myself 7 feet tall and looked
    around on top of everything to see what was up there. Just dust.
    Deciding that I was too skinny I reduced my upper torso to skeleton
    and replace the muscle with more buldging muscles. Anyway this went
    on for a while as I extended and rebuilt different parts of my body,
    usually in front of a mirror. I can't wait to see the finised product!
    Michael Angelo, ya' ain't got nothin' over me!

Re: 40

Thanks, I'll give that a try next time.

Re. 42

Mikie have you by any chance been reading alot of Jack Chalker
lately? :-)

-vicki

    I saw the Donahue show Monday (Labor Day) and would you believe
    it featured Dream studies!  (I didn't know I'd be looking at this
    file, so I neglected to remember the titles of the books recommended...
    sorry.)
    
    Anyhow, the "experts" said we ALL dream in color All the time! 
    They said color memory fades fastest when we wake up, so many people
    forget that their dreams were colorful.  If you want to prove it
    to yourself (or just to remember dreams better) the recommendation
    was to tell yourself that you will remember your dreams before you
    go to sleep, and keep your eyes closed when you wake up (to avoid
    distractions) while thinking through everything you remember about
    your dreams.  Writing them down just after the mental review, or
    using a tape recorder was suggested as well.  These steps supposedly
    move the memory from short-term storage into long-term storage in
    your "Very-Personal-Computer"!  FYI
    
    Your friendly neighborhood sceptic!
    
    Sherry
    
    PS  PLEASE use critical judgement with Seth, Ramtha, and other
    "channels".  Some (maybe all) are know con artists looking for the
    credulous.  Believe what you believe, but Be Wise!

    re: .44
       Nice note on color dreaming.
      
       I fail to understand whatever "possessed you" to enter your last
    three lines, however.  It may be okay to have an opinion and admonish
    others within that scope, but your completely unfounded statement
    goes beyond that range...in a totally irrelevant topic, I will add.
    Offer some support or back off, please!
      
    Frederick
    

    I don't know if this is the right topic (I think it is) and I am too
    lazy to check, but I tried something I read in this conference and it
    worked! 

    My dreams can be so realistic (complete with color, 3-D, and ambient
    temperature) that I often can't tell if they are reality or not until I
    awake (that is, when I have dreams of the "lucid" variety).  Someone in
    DEJAVU mentioned that if you were reading in the dream and went back
    and re-read a paragraph you just read and it was *different,* then you
    were dreaming.  Well, it so happens that I was reading in this dream
    and decided to apply the test.  Sure 'nuff, the paragraph was not the
    same (though close) and I immediately knew I was dreaming.
    Fascinating! 

    Thanks to whomever for this test.  Although this conference is 2% stuff
    and 98% fluff, there is an occasional gem to be had. 



    John M. 

    re: -.1
      
       Congratulations!
      
       (I think that 2% for you is "better than" 0%....hope the percentages
    get better yet!)
      
    Frederick
    

.46 

I read ur reply twice and it read the same both times.
I must not be dreaming. 8')

Jay

    Re .48:
    
    ... Or maybe you're dreaming that it was the same both times. ;-)
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

Just joined this (very interesting) notesfile and while perusing the
topics, an old question came into my mind that can clearify a lot.
Does anyone have firm answer on the following: "do people, that were
blind from the day they were born, dream in colors?"
If so, then colors belong to our collective subconsious. If not, then
what?

BTW, I dream in colors.						Hans.

RE: .50
    
    The answer that I have been told is that "No they do not dream in
    color, or in images at all," but I do not have any direct knowledge.
    Even if they did dream with colors, though, it wouldn't imply anything
    profound -- it would just indicate that the neural circuitry for
    representing color was intact.
    
    What would be profound was if a person blind from birth dreamed
    about color images of objects and, when there sight was restored
    later in life, that they got the colors "right" in their dreams.
    Although it would be a profound statement about what is "hard wired"
    into us, it would not necessary prove anything mystical or paranormal.
    That would depend on the details.
    
    					Topher

    
    
     RE: .50
    
    I once read an article somewhere that addressed the very same question.
    The answer was that they dream in "sensation."  The effect is the same
    as a sighted person dreaming in images, since a blind person's images
    are formed by touch.  That is, a  chair is still a chair (what a cue
    for a song!) for a blind or a sighted person. 

    BTW: the same article had a story about a man who had been blind from
    infancy and had his sight restored.  When he saw a flame for the first
    time, his reaction was, "Oh, *that's* not a flame!" 

    It's all in the perception. 


    John M. 

    I had a number of blind friends in college (there was a blind rehab
    program on campus) and they (the ones who were blind from birth)
    that they dreamed in the same perceptions they experienced waking
    life with...with the same weird "surreal" experiences that sighted
    dreamers have.  Those who lost sight dreamed just as they did when
    they were sighted, and I think that made losing their sight harder
    for some of them.
    
    BTW, Frederick...re your response in .45 to me in .44, I was reacting
    to an earlier note, having read straight through, and offering what
    I DO consider support.  I think the evidence that some (if not all)
    channels are -- let me say "questionable" -- is at least as good
    as any evidence that they are not.  I did say be wise, not something
    nastier.  And if you think it's ok for those who ARE frauds to convince
    their more trusting followers to give them millions of dollars in
    donations or to leave home and families because of some predicted
    "natural disaster that never happens, well, I guess I can't agree.
     The fundamentalists have Jim and Tammy Baker, and the (for lack
    of a better word) New Agers have Ramtha.  And if opposing viewpoints
    aren't welcome here, I can just read, I guess.  I always enjoyed
    a little spirited interchange, though...      Sherry (I worry) B.

    re: -.1
       I think all of us welcome *useful* information.  Certainly we
    all use the first amendment as a "spear" in putting out our stuff.
    I don't see any reason for you to cast your head and "just read."
    This conference is set up with certain "rules" apparently, however.
    So we all make an effort to abide by them to preserve the freedom
    and fun that we are able to share.
       You should be aware that there are separate topics here.  This
    particular one has to do with color dreams. Personally, I get irritated
    when I see someone start a new topic that is really an extension
    of an already existing topic.  I also find it inappropriate to talk
    about something in a topic that has nothing to do with that topic.
    (Such as this note.)  Your comment (in .44) fits in that category.
    It had nothing to do with color dreams.  In addition, contrary to
    what you wrote in -.1, you made a statement infering fraud on the
    part of channels;  this was not a supported statement by anything
    that you wrote either in .44 or in -.1.  You identified yourself
    (in the note that does that) as someone who really doesn't believe
    in much of mysticism or metaphysics.  Clearly, then, for me at least,
    I would "talk" with you with that in mind and I would "listen"
    to you believing you to be a "pessimist" (from this perspective.)
    I would also probably prefer to spend more of my time with the
    "optimists" than with those who for me are negative.  It would
    be by my choice entirely.  I found your statement inflammatory
    even if you didn't intend that.  It was almost as if you were trying
    to find support (and therefore justification) for your beliefs.
    It is recognized that positive support is much harder to come by
    than negative support.  Most of us have grown up in that type of
    world.  I, and many like me, have discovered that we need to spurn
    our "old ways" and be more positive and open.  Negativity,
    especially unfounded negativity, destroys that potential.  Creativity
    is inversely related to perfection.  I am not suggesting that we
    blind ourselves to negative happenings, etc., but that instead we
    focus on a positive and hopeful future.  You create your own reality
    as I create mine.  Your admonition is tantamount to a manipulation
    and control over others.  Again, though this all has probably
    "sounded" more harsh than I intended, for future reference for my
    sake, at least, please express your opinions as your own and if
    you choose to make blanket statements of "fact" then offer supporting
    statements to substantiate the beliefs you hold in your own reality.
    (But by all means, express yourself if that's really what you want
    to do.)
       Thanks.
      
    Frederick
    

                                                                          
    Re.-2
    
    Jeepers, I'm a 'New Ager'....but who is this 'Ramtha' person anyway????
        
    Am I missing something??  
    
    Cindy
    
    ....now back to the originally scheduled program....

    RE: .54
    
    But aren't you straying from the topic here?
    You could have ignored the whole thing, thereby stopping
    the progress of this tangent.
    
    gb
    
    A firm believer in the ways of Ghandi.
    
    

    I rarely remember dreams but had a strange coincidence today while
    reading this note.  My wife and I don't follow the same sleep 
    schedule.  I have to be at work 8-ish and go to bed by midnight.  
    My wife reads or does crosswords or watches tv into the early a.m. 
    while I am asleep next to her.  Of late she has been getting a kick 
    out of "messing with my mind".  Usually I am either coming out of 
    a dream or in a semiconscious state prior to sleep, and I mumble 
    something (apparently I talk in my sleep quite a bit).  My wife 
    will start talking to me, I respond and we have a conversation 
    that makes perfect sense to (a dreamy) me at the time.  In the 
    morning when she relates the conversation to me (I usually am able
    to recall it when prompted) it is usually nonsensical or totally 
    hilarious.
    
    Back to the coincidence.  While reading this note my wife called,
    we were talking and she asked me if I remembered the dream.  I said
    no, but that I was reading the dream note.  Once she jogged my mind
    by saying that I said I would remember the dream, I remembered the
    dream.  Apparently, last night, I had a dream that I had a dream I
    was in a dark area and was looking at a pair of malevolent glowing
    red "cat's eyes" glaring at me out of the dark.  My wife awoke to
    my muffled shout and asked me what I was dreaming about.  I related
    to her my dream of a dream.  She asked me if I would remember it.
    I told her I certainly would!  But I didn't.  I know I dream and
    I know some of them are real dandies but I rarely remember them.
    Maybe the reason I didn't remember this one was, I was still dreaming
    but my wife had interjected herself in the dream by speaking to
    me.  
    
    The dreams I remember the best are those which are the good ones in 
    which I take an active role.  By that I mean I seize control. Some 
    examples are 1) the dream comes to an end or I start to lose it and 
    it is too good to lose so I will it to continue 2) I "dream myself 
    into a corner" or I am killed and as the protagonist this is somewhat
    *unacceptable* so I backspace a few scenes to give myself an escape or 
    alter the current scene to allow the dream to continue without my
    being killed or something detrimental happening 3) it is a dandy so 
    I ask for an instant replay 4) it was a dandy (last night) so I 
    request a replay (while dreaming tonight).  The funny thing is I don't 
    remember much of the plot line to these dreams.  What I remember is 
    that the dream was pleasureable or need "correcting" and I had to
    seize control.  The seizing control probably occurs at a lesser depth 
    of unconsciousness than the dream itself and then I will myself back
    into the dream.  Sometimes I wake up after having "lost" a good
    one.  It is a real disappointment not to be able to get it back.
    
    Stan (daydreaming about dreaming)
    

This has nothing to do with dreaming in color (the correct spelling, you
Brits!).

I suffer form insomnia.  Last night (this morning, really) I didn't drift
off until after 6:30 AM.  While asleep, I dreamed that I was trying to go
to sleep, but was afraid to for a half dozen reasons.  Finally, I convinced
myself to just do it, at which point I REALLY woke up.  When I awoke, I
thought about how stupid it was to fret about sleeping (in my dream) because
I was asleep all that time and there was no difficulty.  Then I heard this
voice say "So it is with life.  From our perspective, things get out of
control, but from God's perspective, everything makes sense.  Be at peace."

Did anybody follow that?  Is that bizarre or what?  Should I take up
channeling? :-)


John M. 

    re: .58
    
    It is so good to have you back.  :^)  :^)
    
    ...dale
    
    

    re .58
    
    I've gotten messages that way too John_:-)
    Bizarre? perhaps, Truth? sound like it to me.
    
    Also glad to see your voice again_:-)
    Mary

    Another newcomer to the conference.  on the subject of color dreams.
     I always dream in color, at least from my memory.  I also always
    remember my dreams.  I can honestly say that they are extremely
    vivid and weird, but somehow can correlate them to concious thought.
     I am a night person and for that reason can be the worst person
    to wake in the morning, when I experience and remember my strangest
    dreams.  I don't like to be woken beacuse I am having too much fun
    dreaming and often finish a dream first befor I finally get out
    of bed.  Maybe it's beacuse I watch TV late at night before I go
    to bed.  I never was one to watch alot of TV but do feel I have
    to make time to watch even a 1/2 of something to unwind before bed.
     Maybe I watch TV because I like to dream, (having the mental images
    flash before me to prepare me for sleep, just a guess).  Another
    thing I have ben known to do, and also know people who do this too,
    is if perchance I wake up during the night or early morning to go
    to the bathroom and am in the midst of a dream I am enjoying, these
    can also be dreams of bad things as well as good, (I tend to view
    tham as informational, or maybe TV and am not involved really in
    the dream, just watching ) I will be kind of sleep walking
    concentrating on the dream, actually continuing it and then proceed
    to finish the dream when back in bed.  The funny thing is I am not
    sure if I am awake just keeping the dream fresh in mind to continue,
    or am asleep thinking I am awake and able to continue the dream.
     Most of my dreams are like the former, just there to amuse or
    entertain me.  However, I do have terribly real dreams of bad things,
    car accidents, etc. that occurr within a matter of seconds and wake
    me thinking I wasn't dreaming them to find myself looking out the
    window to see if it happened.  Does anyone ave any insight as to
    what alot of this may mean.  I am facinated by dreams because of
    these incidents, but tend to shrug them off as only dreams, possibly
    ones that just keep me in touch with the concious mind.
    
    Sal
    

Here's something that has puzzled me for some time.  Namely, what
does jewelry, especially the antique variety, signify in dreams?
Am forever dreaming about antique shops, and if it isn't old
books I'm looking at, its boxes of jewelry.  Necklaces, pins,
earrings, you name it!  Many with brightly-colored stones, but 
all ornate or distinctive. 

Remember a while back having a dream about being on Cape Cod,
near the canal, and digging alongside a park-bench to find
countless vividly-colored crystals.  Last night I had a dream in
which I was in the country, but found a sandy area.  Each time I
dug my fingers through the sand, I pulled out handfulls of
valuable old jewelry.

FWIW, I do like to buy antique pins, but by no means is my col-
lection extensive, nor am I fanatic about it.
    
MLG 

RE: .62 (MLG)
    
    I'm afraid your the only one who can answer that.  Dream symbols
    are very individual things, which are a product of the individuals
    experiences and associations.  In addition to semantic connections
    dream symbols may also represent verbal or visual "puns" (the
    latter, in a simple form, is what "Freudian symbolism" is all
    about).
    
    Look for comonalities in the dreams in which the jewelery appears:
    in the dream context, in your feelings about the jewelery, in
    what was occuring in your (non-dream) life when you had the dream.
    
    					Topher

    I,too dream in color and B&W.  Sometimes my dreams go from
    color to B&W.  For instance, one recurring dream starts in
    color (swimming through a swimming pool that looks like the
    ocean with brightly colored fish, etc.)  I swim through
    a dark tunnel and when I come out on the other side the
    dream has switched to B&W.
    
    Re: .19
    Marcia, I compose music in my sleep, too.  Most of the time
    I'm performing a song in front of an audience but I have been
    known to conduct my own symphonies and direct complete musicals
    all in my dreams.  Do you remember any of these afterwards?
    I seem to be able to remember for a short time but have very
    little background in music theory so I lose most of it soon
    after waking.
    
    Does anyone know of any studies done on primitive tribes and
    their dreaming in color or B&W.  For years I've wondered if
    we (the human race) dreamt in color ONLY before the advent of
    B&W T.V.  Does anybody know?
    
    Nanci

    I definitely dream in color...and always have.
    
    I also can smell and taste in my dreams as well.