I feel like I go to a different plane of existence when I dream. Is that even possible? A lot of people just tell me it's your subconscious, but they're so vivid. It's really almost like I'm living a second life in my dreams. Is this just a form of unaware astral projection that I'm naturally doing? Or what? I can give examples if needed.
Dreams are a form of Astral Projection. Some are dreams that develop from the subconscious mind, but if they're the type that feel real and you wake up with the feeling it just happened, then that's when you Astral Projected through dream. Completely natural occurence.
Dreams are not a form of astral projection, never confuse the two. Astral projection is a form of astral travel, one of three...
Astral projection is when some portion (there are different names for the process) of your conscious and subconscious split from your physical body. Dreams are completely in your head, you don't go anywhere.
Now then, the original questions let's see...
"I feel like I go to a different plane of existence when I dream. Is that even possible?"
Yes it is possible, the astral planes are consecutive layers of existence.
"A lot of people just tell me it's your subconscious, but they're so vivid."
It's often very difficult for people to tell the difference between conscious and subconscious control, meaning what part of a person's brain is dominant at the moment.
Dreams are typically subconscious control, or rather happen alongside stream of conscious which means your dreams are composed of what you're thinking about instantaneously. This is why it's very difficult for some to grasp lucid dreaming and dream control. Conscious control or conscious dominance is when your dreams take the form of what you intend for them to take form. This is dream control, where you can effectively make decisions before something happens without you really intending for it to happen.
Astral travel works very similarly.
"It's really almost like I'm living a second life in my dreams."
This could be either dreams or astral travel. With dreams you can have recurring or progressive dreams that be almost like living a second life. With astral travel you really can in a sense live a second life, on the astral planes you can take actions and partake in events, etc...
Like leading a second life.
"Is this just a form of unaware astral projection that I'm naturally doing? Or what?"
It can be either, though I do agree it's very natural. It's also very normal for you not to be sure because it is difficult to tell the difference a lot of times.
Now, there will be 4 examples starting from early to current. So, bear with me on how long this is. I'll try to keep it short though.
Okay there are reoccurring dreams like when I was 6 years old I had this dream so often I can literally paint a picture or write a detailed story about it. I'll shorten it: My mom and I are reading a book in my room in the bottom bunk of my room. I hear a knock at the back door where the door is open but the screen is closed. I look out and see several dwarf-like beings with pitch forks, knives, swords. They chase me and I run back to the room telling my mom something to the effect there are men after me. They're already flooding the room through the window so I run up the hall to the only place I can, my parents room, and I scream for them to stay away. I close my eyes really tight and then I would wake up to the real world. I asked my parents if anything bad ever happened to me when I was around 5-6 years old. You know, anything something that might have caused it.
Anyway...I started getting "prophetic dreams" after this. I piqued at 10 where I had a horrible nightmare where I was taking a child away from a dangerous place. The people in it told me a demon was coming after it. I fell through a hole in the earth holding the child and fell in a dim lit place with mud and muck. There were skeletons moaning and crawling on all fours. There was a man raping a woman on a stone slab. The man who was doing it said he was holding an experiment. Then told me to give him the child. I said no and tried to run away. Then a horned man appeared. He took the child from me. I was "transported" to the place where the man who was raping the woman was standing in front of me. He was angry at me for not giving him the child and was trying to kill me. The skeletons were screaming,"It's a demon. It's a demon." I closed my eyes and screamed. I woke up. This time when I woke up the horned man was standing in front of my closet smiling at me. He looked like a stag and walked closer to me. I covered my face with the covers then bolted out of my room. This was the worst, but I don't think it was AP, but it was very real. This was also the time I started to see shadow men. Men with red glowing eyes. They would appear in dreams, real life, tired, awake, even other people's houses.
Alright, this 3rd dream was shared with my sister and I. We had the same exact dream only different perspectives. My sister, mom and I were in my mom's room (that's where the computer was at this point). My sister's 6. I'm 13. My sister leaves the room then comes running back crying about the red faced man in the window. I tell her she's a liar and go back to see what the fuss is all about. Then I see the man. I tell everyone to leave the house. I run to the front door with my sister -- mom thinks we're crazy so doesn't leave the room-- the man is waiting there. So we run to my room trying to leave out of the window. The man is tapping the window with long black nails. "I can see you." So we run to the living room where it's standing in front of my mom's room door and laughs at us. I wake up at this point, but my sister says the man pushes his hand into my stomach and open a hole. She leaves the house before waking up. After this dream we share she starts seeing Noh Masks in the vents and shadow men. I start learning about Shadow men around this time. I also start learning about Wicca (Silver Ravenwolf, E. Cunningham and the like). I don't do any magic until I know for a fact I am fluent in "witch". I've never casted a spell in my life still.
Here's the 4th, last and most current dream. I haven't had a dream for a full year and I started having them again. This dream is a full on progression dream. This is the start of it. I awake to some people telling me there's going to be a gathering with the King. Everyone is astonished I am even there. A few people ask me,"Do you remember me? Do you remember who you are?" I'm wearing a black robe and I'm getting ushered to the king's palace. People all around me are asking me lots of questions. They're all very happy to see that I'm finally "awake" and "here". I meet a young woman who says that I'm part of some sort of Unicorn guild type thing. We're supposed to make sure that the unicorns are safe. I get separated from this woman on the way to the King when a fairy tells me that the woman is not what she seems and that I have to follow him to the waterfall. I go through the waterfall and I see the unicorn. She tells me that she is Mother and the first. She says that I'm psychically linked to her. Anything I think and do she will know and vice versa. She tells me that the woman who I was following was trying to kill me as well as Mother. Mother says that as long as I'm alive I have a part of her soul and therefore I can keep her alive even if her body's gone. She tells me that she's going to take the others into hiding and when I know everything's safe for them I can find them just by calling her to the place under the waterfall which is a long stretching cave with another end. Soon a lot of the others appear there were lots of them everywhere young, old, male, female, pregnant etc... Mother led them through the cave where there were maybe 100 people waiting for them just before the forest. The people were led by the woman. The woman said that she was tired of the Unicorns dictating what the race of man should do. So they 100 people or so were also like me who were corrupt and tore a lot of the unicorns apart and started to eat them. Mother cried because she can feel the pain of her people. They all have a psychic link with each other. Mother gave herself up for her people allowing time for the remaining to leave. She told me,"Find the dragons. They know what to do. They live in the eastern mountains." Then I wake up after running and stowing myself away on a ship to keep out of plain sight. This dream progresses and the last time I had a related dream was 1 week ago.
I'm not saying every dream is like this. I'm saying I have these dreams frequently. Every other dream is "prophetic" where I know what's going to happen either a week out or the next day. My dad admitted to me 2 years ago that he "has a certain intuition" when he dreams things they generally happen. My sisters both have this. My grandmother admits to having them as well. I haven't asked anyone else. My mom does not, however, her brother was possessed by demons. The whole guteral voices, talking in tongue, slashing people and himself. They had to have a priest bless him and the house. He says there was a very short man in his room talking to him when he was a kid (before this happened). This is definitely passed down. I still don't know what to make of it.
Thanks for reading. I know it's long. These are all realistic dreams and I feel pain if I'm hit or step on something sharp. These are just some of the dreams. The "main" ones at least. :)
"Okay there are reoccurring dreams like when I was 6 years old...happened to me when I was around 5-6 years old. You know, anything something that might have caused it."
This most definitely sounds like just a dream, but every dream has something to say about your mind. These dwarves and their aggressive nature most likely doesn't mean you were attacked by gnomes but I would look into what significance they might have. Perhaps you could try some symbolic interpretation of what happens in the dream or think about what the different aspects of the dream might mean to you.
"Anyway...I started getting "prophetic dreams" after this. I piqued at 10..."
Some people more commonly children may develop a time in their lives when premonitions or precognitive dreams become more frequent. I believe this is due to sudden changes in their body and mind (like puberty for instance) and this time becomes a doorway almost for insight to certain things.
When I was about that age I would dream of random happenings about a month before they took place.
"where I had a horrible nightmare where I was taking a child away from a dangerous...would appear in dreams, real life, tired, awake, even other people's houses."
This also sounds like just a dream. I would imagine some paranoia developing from loss of sleep. It is common that sleep deprivation may bring nightmares "to life" for a person and they'll live their fears while still awake.
I suggest you try to regulate your dietary and sleeping habits, it might help you some.
"Alright, this 3rd dream was shared with my sister...I've never casted a spell in my life still."
This one is a bit more complex, and it very well could have been projection. What makes it iffy is that your mother was there and was interacting with you both. What's confusing about this is, if you and your sister were projecting together your mother most likely would not have seen either of you as well as the "red faced man". This being said, if it were just a dream that you both were sharing, your imaginations were free to do whatever they pleased. You'll have to decide on this one yourself.
Here's some help:
If it was a dream, you most likely would have been watching yourself in third person OR as you thought of something it would immediately happen (stream of consciousness).
If it was projection you would have been viewing everything in first person (throw your own eyes and not from a distance) and you would have had less subconscious control over what happened.
Ask your sister if she herself experienced any either of these.
As for the noh masks and shadow men, this could be a manifestation of your sister's fear. Young children have very powerful imaginations and sometimes when scared enough their own paranoia can get the best of them.
The idea is, hypothetically speaking if you yourself could see the "red faced man" then if these noh masks and shadow men were indeed not a figment of her imagination you would see them too (not necessarily your mother).
"Here's the 4th, last and most current dream...This dream progresses and the last time I had a related dream was 1 week ago."
I assure you this is a dream. lol
But again it most likely has some subconscious significance and I feel you should of course look into it.
Also, everyone dreams on a regular basis about 5-7 times a night. However the majority of the time when someone thinks they didn't dream they either forgot, or the most of the night they were in a type of sleep called NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) which is when the body and mind are physically tired and you don't dream as much.
"I'm not saying every dream is like this...This is definitely passed down. I still don't know what to make of it."
It's nothing to worry about in my opinion unless you just desire to nolonger have prophetic dreams. If you don't like them ignore them, don't think about them, don't use them, and the frequency of prophetic dreams will dissipate over time.
I don't think it has much to do with these very interesting dreams you have described for me.
"Thanks for reading. I know it's long. These are all realistic dreams and I feel pain if I'm hit or step on something sharp. These are just some of the dreams. The "main" ones at least. :)"
The pain and feeling you have could very well just be your own brain being tricked into sending these signals of pain or tension into your nerves. When you dream and it's convincing, your brain can actually imagine the way something feels.
You are very welcome and it's fine, I didn't mind helping. :)
