A funny thing happened on the way to lucidity.

[SoulSail]

While I'd like to be posting success stories here more often, I find I want to get my misfires just right in hope that someone else like me will...well...not feel so odd or unenlightened.

Here's a good one:

The other night I woke about 3 a.m. Perfect for doing wake and back to sleep dreaming stuff.

I'll spare you the prep routine, but I gave this one a lot of attention, intention, etc.

Once back in dreamy land, things were popping. The dreams were wonderfully vivid and rich, the sort you can get lucid in. But soon the dream turned rough on me. I'm in a class, taking a test I've never studied for. In fact, I've never seen the text book, nor do I have any idea what I'm trying to answer. I try hard though. With time running out on me and no progress made, I suddenly get it.

In my dream I realize this is my que to realize I'm dreaming. So my dream self starts laughing and carrying on how nobody takes tests in classes they didn't even enroll in. And nobody takes impossible tests and actually tries to finish once they realize the problem serves another purpose. Oh man, I'm telling myself, this is SUCH on obvious giveaway.

Now readers, you know this is where lucidity is supposed to happen, right? I mean, my dream self is carrying on about how silly the whole setup is and so I should go lucid now. But it never happens. My idiot dream self just gets too caught up in the hilarity of if all. So funny.

In short, I wake and want to kick my dream self in the butt. Only, and I've said this before, I'd only be kicking myself.

But I'm getting better at this. This is progress, right? (please don't bring up failing the test, that would only add to the irony).

Soul

[Sinera]

I'm in a class, taking a test I've never studied for. In fact, I've never seen the text book, nor do I have any idea what I'm trying to answer. I try hard though. With time running out on me and no progress made...

I have these school class dreams very often and exactly in this situation too. However, I came to believe that there is more behind it than just a prop to make you lucid. Assuming that during sleep "our soul" is "going out / focussing elsewhere" and thus doing a lot of different things (probably even when we're awake?), it might well be a 'real' memory of a situation where you tried/try to learn sth essential in the non-physical (maybe with help of teachers), but you still don't master it.

For me, it often has to do with sitting before text books or exam papers in class and trying to decipher what's written there and to find out what it is all about at all. This might be a hint I still run into obstacles as I am not yet so far in my development to be able to 'read' it. Sometimes I catch a glimpse of what it is about (deciphering some words). It might be a helping situation which helps you to get accustomed to it.

I also came to this conclusion following one of my Dream Programming experiments, here with regard to obtaining Akashic information. In this thread you find some thoughts and further analysis by me and others regarding these school class (apparent failure) situations.

[SoulSail]

Hey Volgerie,

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I always appreciate when people take time to read my posts and offer something of value.

And yes, I think the failing school test is almost universal. Whenever the topic of dreams comes up, no matter who I am with, that dream theme usually becomes a central point of discussion--someone is late to class, again. Someone knows they won't graduate unless they go to class all semester, but they don't. The dread is unpleasant.

This one just stood out to me as unique because I was almost at the end of my time, and with no questions answered, felt convinced the test was thrown at me as an impossible puzzle so I would wake in the dream. However, you may be right. The point may be bigger than that and I need to spend time meditating on this and asking my higher self for clarification. I'm not terribly good with arriving at sensible conclusions after running self-analysis, but now you've got my curiosity going as to the bigger purpose of the test within the dream. My dream self laughing about it may have zero to do with the whole point.

I tend to overlay dreams with a large lens, meaning, I often ask why am I confusing the dream state for waking reality in the first place? Not that this has anything to do with this dream in particular, but perhaps I need to get a few smaller lenses and start paying attention to each.

Anyhow, thanks for your insight.

Soul.