Cultural Induction Techniques

[Wędajihs]

I think one of the most well known cultural lucid dreaming induction methods is dream yoga. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I couldn't help but wonder if there are other culturally based dreaming or lucid dreaming techniques out there. I know there are other methods, like vision questing, where participants might be secluded and also fast in order to induce extraordinary dreams. Not likely a technique to be used on a regular basis but an interesting way to go about it none the less. Are there any other culturally based induction techniques you heard of or experienced?

[Caradon]

I'd try fasting more but I need to keep up my energy to work, and bike now that it's summer. Last winter I went for three days without eating. Didn't realize how much it affects your mental faculties too. Being hungry doesn't bother me much but don't care for the fuzzy mental clarity that comes with it.

But as it is most of the time now I'm just eating enough to keep up my energy. Surprising how little a person actually needs.

[Wędajihs]

I can't fast often due to low iron in my blood. Miss a meal and my body systems go haywire. I did discover that you actually don't need a lot of food, just small portions of 'real' food. That makes me wonder if there are dreaming enhancement rituals that involve eating a particular food instead fasting. Non hallucinogenic foods I am referring to of course. 

[Caradon]

I can't fast often due to low iron in my blood. Miss a meal and my body systems go haywire. I did discover that you actually don't need a lot of food, just small portions of 'real' food. That makes me wonder if there are dreaming enhancement rituals that involve eating a particular food instead fasting. Non hallucinogenic foods I am referring to of course.

Maybe, I'm not sure. 

I remember watching an episode of Survivor Man and he was having a rough time of it, starving. He had woke up once and talked about the hunger causing crazy vivid dreams.

I saw Johnb's post about the Reishi mushrooms. I never of heard of that before. It might be something I'd be willing to give a try if it's something they have on shelves at the store. But I probably wouldn't go out of my way to get it, or order it online.

I've not had much to eat today. A bite here and there.

[vividdreamer]

Hi

This sounds interesting. What are you thinking when you say cultural induction technique? I'm familiar with dream yoga, but do you mean other experiences like shamanism that induce as well? Curious because I hadn't thought about it in those terms before.

[Wędajihs]

Maybe, Caradon, I will find a fasting technique that I feel is workable and give it a shot soon. And I know mushrooms can affect the mind in interesting ways but I'm not brave enough to try fungi induced dreaming.

Yes, vivid dreamer, I was wondering about other techniques along the shamanic lines, or maybe even ages old techniques we haven't even heard of before. There are so many cultures in the world yet we know so little about them. I was just wondering if there was some obscure group of people out there who had some culturally based dreaming techniques that involved methods we here, in the americas, haven't ever heard of.

[Wędajihs]

Stashing this here:

Here's What These Ancient Cultures Believes About Dreams from Dream Tending.
https://dreamtending.com/blog/what-do-dreams-mean-ancient-cultures/

Summarized:

Dreams in Ancient Egypt
Dreams were a world between the living and dead.
Had dream temples.
Had professional dream interpreters.
Used dream incubation rituals.
Had Dream Oracles that would study a persons dream, then dream about the dream.
Kept meticulous dream journals with interpretations.

Ancient World
Many old texts refer to inviting the other world to send prophetic dreams.
Would go to a temple or other holy place and offer a payment to the keepers of the temple.
Rituals that might include offering a sacrifice, eating certain foods or drinks and/or fasting.
Would sleep in the “presence of the gods” in the temple.

Old Testament
God speaks to leaders, seers and prophets through dreams.
Sleep thinned the veil between the living world and the world of demons and angels.
Viewed dreams as a “recognized means of access to divine wisdom."

Native American Cultures
Dreamspace is a sacred place.
Can connect to a universal consciousness.
Different nations used different techniques to access the dreamspace.
Learned techniques from ancestral spirits in animals.
Dream space attainment through ritual activities.
Messages are from the world ecology itself.

Aboriginal Australian Cultures
Ancestral spirits dreamed the world, even themselves, into form.
This creation is called Dreamtime, and is a continuing state of creation.
In special dreams one can meet with ancestral spirits.
Dreaming a way to keep in contact with the land, learning about the world, keeping The Dreaming alive.

Science has trouble explaining exactly how these connections happen, the latest research into genetics, trauma and shared cultural history seems to suggest that there may just be something to it. If the memories of trauma can be carried from generation to generation in genes, who’s to say that people don’t also share a cultural connection to each other through the dream space, where healing and understanding can take place?

Also need to remember that strength and cultural memories might be carried from generation to generation through genes... not just trauma.

[Contratonics]

The effect of cultural memory on dreams is a large part of that Performing Dreams book I mentioned in the intro thread. The Xavante people discussed in it will treat dreams as messages from / conversations with ancestors and creators, and by organizing public performances of those dreams they blur the lines between themselves and the characters they are acting out.

The performance and interpretation of dreams is part of the induction of them, whereby reaffirming those cultural and spiritual connections then invites more dreams not only for the person whose dream is being re-enacted, but for everyone who participates in that re-enactment.

[Contratonics]

Following up with a different subject, Curt Hoffman wrote an interesting - if brief - account of his experiences with visiting different countries and significant archaeological sites in them, then looking out for dreams that featured those countries or sites. Specifically how long it took him from going to a place to dreaming about that place and then tracking how often / how long those places featured in his dreams. He invokes the concept of a "genius loci" in describing the influence of these places on his dreams, and highlights places of cultural or spiritual significance for his examples. Article here https://www.asdreams.org/psi2007/papers/curthoffman.htm

I know in my dreams, features of local climate and geography tend to influence my dreams, so the idea of using where you dream as a method of influencing how you dream and what about is an interesting angle, especially places that carry a lot of history in them.

[Wędajihs]

Cool. There is a site near me that I want to spend a weekend at, just bathing in nature and dreaming. I'll have to remember to take some science-y notes on my experiences.

Maybe I'll change this thread into a collection of books and articles.

[johnb]

I can't fast often due to low iron in my blood. Miss a meal and my body systems go haywire. I did discover that you actually don't need a lot of food, just small portions of 'real' food. That makes me wonder if there are dreaming enhancement rituals that involve eating a particular food instead fasting. Non hallucinogenic foods I am referring to of course.

Maybe, I'm not sure.

I remember watching an episode of Survivor Man and he was having a rough time of it, starving. He had woke up once and talked about the hunger causing crazy vivid dreams.

I haven't tried it, but I think fasting could work to enhance dreaming. I read somewhere that Tibetan Buddhists try to go to sleep a bit hungry to make themselves more aware during their dreams. Don't know if they're into actual fasting, but I'm guessing they probably are.

I saw Johnb's post about the Reishi mushrooms. I never of heard of that before. It might be something I'd be willing to give a try if it's something they have on shelves at the store. But I probably wouldn't go out of my way to get it, or order it online.

You should be able to find reishi mushroom capsules in most supplement shops. Probably also in the supplement aisles of natural-food-oriented grocery stores (e.g., Whole Foods).

[Caradon]

Sorry John I didn't notice your post here earlier...

Thanks I did notice where there is a supplement shop near me. If they are still open when this pandemic thing clears up I'll probably go in there and check. I wouldn't mind giving it a try, I don't think.

Dreams do start to get very vivid when you're starving. Trying going 24 hours or more without a single bite of food and go to sleep and see what happens. I know I had some really intense dreams anyways.