THE DREAM-CONSCIOUS STATE: A PERSONAL JOURNAL OF INNER EXPLORATION
Bruce G. MarcotJOURNALS -- PART TWO (1986-present)
Dreams Within Dreams
Is all what we see or seem, but a dream within a dream?
- Edgar Allan Poe
I'm sure I'm not the only one to have dreams within dreams ... such as experiencing a nightmare and waking up in bed, only to discover that it's still a dream because something unearthly happens and then I finally, really wake up from that.Maybe... What may be different with my dreams within dreams -- what I might term "recursive dreams" -- is that sometimes they are lucid, and that the depth of the recursion can be startling.
In some of my recursively stacked dreams, like the Russian toy of dolls-within-dolls, I am entirely aware that I am dreaming. This lucid sense is often induced because what I experience in the dream is contrary to my sense of the laws of physics or reality, or in some cases because I am being mortally threatened by an evil figure and this stirs conscious realization. I then consciously force myself to wake up. Sometimes I "awaken" only into another dream in which initially I am not lucid or aware that I'm still dreaming. Then something oddball happens, triggering another lucid state in which I suddenly realize I am dreaming -- again -- after all. And then that pattern might repeat yet again.
When I finally question myself in these dreams if I am truly dreaming, I seldom if ever fool myself into thinking I'm not dreaming when I really am -- otherwise, call this a "Type I error of dreaming." Conversely, when I am finally truly awake, I seldom if ever believe I am really sleeping when I am awake -- otherwise, call this a "Type II error of wakefulness."
In several instances, my recursive dreams have been 3, even 4 (or more?) levels deep. These can be initially very disturbing, as if I keep trying to "surface" but find myself constantly submerged. Actually, perhaps this might explain their occurrence, as if I am experiencing submersion in some personal difficulty at the time, and these recursive dreams are a metaphor for my difficulty in finding my way out.
I may have a recursive dream perhaps once every other year or so, and only sporadically. But after the 3rd recursion of false awakening, and especially if I can re-induce lucidity with each "emergence," it strikes me as an amazing experience. I can't help but think afterwards, what exactly is "awakening" or "emergence" anyhow? How do I really know when it has finally occurred? Can I truly be sure I'm not committing a "Type II error of wakefulness" even now?