#oneironautics

[behoimimogai]

Oneironautic Flag

Oneironautics (/əneɪroʊˈnɔːtɪks/) refers to the ability to travel within a dream on a conscious basis. Such a traveler in a dream may be called an oneironaut.

[ylespar]

"Most accounts of solving problems or producing creative products during sleep are of REM-like dreams or hypnogogic imagery. In the most famous and controversial example, the chemist Kekulé reported that his Nobel-prize winning realization of the structure of the benzene molecule as hexagonal rather than straight came after dreaming of a snake grasping its tail in its mouth (Ramsay and Rocke, 1984). Mendeleev described dreaming the periodic table of the elements in its completed form (Kedrov, 1957, pp. 91-113). The Nobel-prize winning experiment demonstrating the chemical transmission of nerve impulses to a frog's heart was conceived by Otto Loewi in a dream (Dement, 1974, p. 98)."

Barrett, D. (1993). The "committee of sleep": A study of dream incubation for problem solving. Dreaming, 3(2), 115–122. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0094375

[ylespar]

"Inventions as varied as Elias Howe's sewing machine needle—with the hole at the pointed end (Kaempffert, 1924, p. 385) and J. B. Parkinson's computer-controlled anti-aircraft gun (Fagen, 1978, p. 135) have reportedly been conceived in dreams. William Blake described being told by his dead brother in a dream about a new way to engrave his illustrated songs which he found worked well (Diamond, 1963, p. 17). Coleridge (1895) states in the preface to 'Kubla Khan' that the poem appeared complete in an opium-induced dream, and Robert Lewis Stevenson (1925) dreamed the two key scenes of his novel, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Music pieces which were heard by their composers in dreams include Tartini's 'Devil's Trill' (Ellis, 1911, p. 286), and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Scholar Herman Hilprecht reported that he dreamed an Assyrian priest came to him and revealed the accurate translation of the stone of Nebuchadnezzar (Van de Castle, 1971, p. 1). In modern times, Jack Nicklaus credited a crucial improvement in his golf game to dreaming of a new way to grasp his club (Dement, 1974, p. 101)."

Barrett, D. (1993). The "committee of sleep": A study of dream incubation for problem solving. Dreaming, 3(2), 115–122. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0094375

[ylespar]

"William Dement, an American sleep researcher, described a technique of inducing dreams by thinking about a problem for fifteen minutes prior to sleep. This has been tested experimentally by Deirdre Barrett using students as subjects. The participants were asked to choose a problem ‘of personal relevance with recognizable solution(s)’. After recording their dreams for a week they evaluated the degree to which these addressed ‘any aspect of the problem or attempted any solution of it’ and which contained ‘a satisfactory solution.’ Ratings were also carried out by two outside judges. The participants rated 49% of the dreams as relevant, 34% as containing a solution, results similar to those of both judges (51% and 25%). The finding that thinking about a problem before sleep has an effect on the dream content has been replicated in at least one other laboratory."

Puhle, A. (2020). ‘Dream Incubation’. Psi Encyclopedia. London: The Society for Psychical Research. <https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/dream-incubation>. Retrieved 25 November 2025.

[ylespar]

The New Science of Controlling Lucid Dreams

“Engineering” sleeping consciousness could reduce nightmares, treat insomnia—and even induce specific dreams just for fun

[desomorpheus]

Lucid Hustle 001: The Core Method

I have been trying to learn lucid dreaming for several years but always failed due to a lack of motivation while also feeling like the methods used to learn lucid dreaming are not "wide" in range enough, leading to me very easily losing patience.

Therefore, I have decided to salvage what those methods have to offer and tinker them based on my observations of how my mind works.

This "Lucid Hustle" diary serves as a way of observing my progress as well as the mind itself from yet another angle - and in this very first part I will draft the core of the method I will be using.

Pretty sure that I am just reinventing the wheel and I am not the very first one to come up with those.

Note: I have been writing down my dreams (with pauses) for more than ten years now.

The core of the method to achieve lucid dreaming (semi-regularly):

Goal: The goal of this method is to essentially force my mind into constantly working with the possibility of me being in a dream at any given moment, so I can subconsciously observe dream signs to check for it.

For the main problem I have noticed is that I simply do not even consider that I might be in a dream, essentially preventing me from checking - but sometimes I did, and from those instances I am crafting the method below.

Step 01: I will note all the repeating locations where I am moving during my waking day - the locations will be separated from each other (aka where one ends and another starts) arbitrarily (as things naturally are) how I feel like it (unless I discover a superior pattern of separation relevant to this purpose).

The reason for this step is that I have noticed that I am often somewhere in these locations during my dreams (but they are warped).

Step 02: For some time, I will have to consciously train my mind to trigger an awareness of me entering a new location and in reaction to that awareness, I will check whether the location looks normal or whether it is somehow changed (I can also check how I feel about the location, it is different in dreams).

Very often the sky has a different color, there are extra roads or objects - but most importantly, everything looks just like an imperfect replication of the supposed location once I start checking the details.

Step 03: When noticing anything strange, my mind will again tell me that this is not a dream (it always does), which I have to take with a grain of salt and perform a reality check or more to be sure.

My to-go reality check is to simply look at my hand and count the fingers for in most of my dreams, the hand is extremely crooked but the mind gets better at its replication therefore I will have to probably add some other check soon.

I also usually try pushing a finger through my palm but that works only when I am relaxed enough, if not then the dream's simulation is strangely stable and won't let me do it.

Step 04: Once I have confirmed that I am in a dream, I will try visiting the Chamber to my Subconsciousness yet again (more in my next posts, it's one of the main reasons why I want to learn lucid dreaming) for each time I entered a lucid dream and had no clear goal in it, I woke up.

Note: The method above is just a core for a more developed work with my dreams and by extension mind iself but just enough to quickly learn it without getting overwhelmed and losing motivation (which happened to me often, not just regarding Lucid Dreaming).

I will expans the method in future posts and with more experience or theory.

[ylespar]

"In lucid dreams (LDs), people maintain consciousness and can make predetermined actions while asleep. Since the 1970s, electrooculography and other sensors have been used to send signals from LDs into reality. In this study, we test whether electromyography (EMG) can help transfer melodies from LDs, which can expand our abilities to transfer information from LDs into reality. Software was developed to translate EMG impulses into sounds. Four LD practitioners were trained to play musical rhythms by straining their arm muscles, which had EMG sensors on them. Then, these volunteers were asked to induce LDs and repeat the task under polysomnographic observation in a laboratory. Each volunteer induced from one to three confirmed LDs. Three of them were able to transfer musical rhythms into reality, as the EMG sensors detected electrical spikes in the arm muscles despite sleep paralysis. The researchers heard the sounds from the dreams in real time and in recordings. The results prove the concept that people can transfer rhythmical EMG impulses from LD, which could be potentially useful for transferring sounds or music from LD into reality. As one practitioner failed to transfer proper EMG signals, the method needs further investigation. Since LD practitioners sometimes create original music in LDs, it could be possible to transfer these insights into reality. These melodies can be broadcasted via the Internet, TV, or radio in real time."

Raduga, M., Shashkov, A., Gordienko, N., Vanin, A., & Maltsev, E. (2023). Real-time transferring of music from lucid dreams into reality by electromyography sensors. Dreaming. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000244

[ylespar]

"The hypnagogic state is considered to be "unusually receptive" (Schacter, 1976, p. 468) and shares features of the psi-conducive state such as physical relaxation, reduction in sensory distraction, and increased internal attention (Braud & Braud, 1975; Honorton, 1977; Mavromatis, 1987). According to Mavromatis (1983), support for a relationship between psi and hypnagogia (his generic term for hypnagogic and hypnopompic imagery) comes from the practices and literature on occultism and spiritualism, the literature on controlled psi experiments, and spontaneous cases of psi during hypnagogic practices."

Simon J. Sherwood, “Relationship between the hypnagogic/hypnopompic states and reports of anomalous experiences,” Journal of Parapsychology 66, no. 2 (2002): 136.