Dreams and the Moon

logan cale · January 24, 2002 1:18AM

I noticed about four months ago that I had been having more vivid dreams the few nights that the moon was shining outside my window for the longest time. I tested this for the four months until now and it's happened every time. Better dreams when the moon is out without fail.

Is my discovery old, justified, or am I just weird and have better dreams when the moon is out?

Anyone else want to test this with me? It could become the AI experiment or something.

But yeah, it's kinda odd...

<img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />

ghost_user_name · January 24, 2002 5:26AM

It could be that the light from the moon is just bright enough to sorta halfway wake you enough to remember your dreams.

I've actually been reading about memory and lucid dreaming lately and there's some pretty interesting stuff that goes on in your mind when you're asleep.

brussell · January 24, 2002 9:26AM

Good one starfleet. It could also be that the light is hitting your eyes enough while you're sleeping to cause some havoc.

I think the test would be to let some equivalent light in your room when the moon is not shining, and see if it does the same thing. And also block out the light when the moon is full.

I've been having Lord of the Rings dreams most nights since I saw the movie and started reading the books again. Kinda fun.

logan cale · January 24, 2002 9:26AM

That's what I was thinking, some night I'll have to put a light outside my window aiming in and see what that does.

[EDIT: D'oh! <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" /> ]

[ 01-24-2002: Message edited by: MacAgent ]

_ alliance _ · January 24, 2002 11:39AM

freud would say that u want to have sex with your mother.

ryanthegreat · January 24, 2002 4:34PM

[quote]Originally posted by _ alliance _:

freud would say that u want to have sex with your mother.<hr></blockquote>

heh... <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />

sir mac o' the isles · January 25, 2002 10:43AM

Mr Agent...

This has been well documented and I wid refer ye tae the following sources:

The autobiography o' Mr L. Chaney jnr

The US investigative journalism series Big Wolf on Campus

ps... Hae ye ever visited London or Paris?

[ 01-25-2002: Message edited by: Sir Mac o' the Isles ]

pusherman · January 27, 2002 3:56AM

It's funny that's the case with you. When I'm at school and my room is always lit (from huge street lights outside), my dreams tend to be very vague, usually short, and fairly meaningless (the ones I can remember, anyway). When I go home to visit my parents, who live in the country and the room is totally pitch black, i can usually just remember having one extremely vivid dream, when i wake up it's as if i just watched a movie. this happens almost without fail every time i go home.

of course, there could be somekind of psychological connection between going home and my dreams (maybe because i'm always more relaxed at home, no stresses of school, life is generally happier, etc.) than just the light outside my windows. maybe i'll try one of those mask things and report back.

(edit: unless, of course the connection is with the moon or moonlight itself -- not just the amount of general light coming in! a truly spooky idea but much more fun to consider!)

[ 01-27-2002: Message edited by: poor taylor ]

logan cale · January 27, 2002 11:02AM

[quote]Originally posted by Sir Mac o' the Isles:

Mr Agent...

This has been well documented and I wid refer ye tae the following sources:

The autobiography o' Mr L. Chaney jnr<hr></blockquote>

[quote]The US investigative journalism series Big Wolf on Campus<hr></blockquote>

So it's the werewolf outside that's making my vivid dreams?

[quote]ps... Hae ye ever visited London or Paris?<hr></blockquote>

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), no. I am not a world traveller as of yet, though I hope to be at some point in my life.

logan cale · January 27, 2002 11:15AM

[quote]Originally posted by poor taylor:

It's funny that's the case with you. When I'm at school and my room is always lit (from huge street lights outside), my dreams tend to be very vague, usually short, and fairly meaningless (the ones I can remember, anyway). When I go home to visit my parents, who live in the country and the room is totally pitch black, i can usually just remember having one extremely vivid dream, when i wake up it's as if i just watched a movie. this happens almost without fail every time i go home. <hr></blockquote>

Indeed that is odd, I occasionally have a vivid dream when the moon is not around, but more often than not, I can't remember my dreams at all or they slip away as soon as I wake up. Since I live in the middle of nowhere, there are no other lights around outside so I haven't been able to see if it's the light or the presence of the moon.

Next month I'll put something over my windows and see what happens.

[quote]of course, there could be somekind of psychological connection between going home and my dreams (maybe because i'm always more relaxed at home, no stresses of school, life is generally happier, etc.) than just the light outside my windows. maybe i'll try one of those mask things and report back.

<hr></blockquote>

That could be it, because when I go on vacation in the summer, I usually have more vivid dreams, and also after something good happening and when I am in a good mood. I rarely have a nightmare, and it only happens when I'm not in a good mood. Though, most of my nightmares are kinda cool.

[quote]unless, of course the connection is with the moon or moonlight itself -- not just the amount of general light coming in! a truly spooky idea but much more fun to consider!<hr></blockquote>

Maybe the moon's gravitational pull does something to our minds?

nostradamus · January 27, 2002 12:08PM

You think you have better dreams when the moon is full, so you do.

Classic placebo effect.

Here's really how you should do a study?lock yourelf inside your house. Destroy all time peices and celestial calenders. Do not try to count the days. Stay inside for a couple of months?you'll probably forget what day or month it is.

Then, record which days you have vivid dreams. After you're out, we'll see if this really has any meaning.

Oh, and of course, we'll at least need another 50 people to do this or it's statistically useless.

[ 01-27-2002: Message edited by: Nostradamus ]

ferro · January 27, 2002 12:43PM

I have found the best way to have a great deal of vivid dreams is too get a alarm clock that lets you choose your own wake-up sound...

Then put the sound of a bump on it that starts off real low and then sharply climbs to a thud and then nothing...

Its usually best if you are very tired and set the alarm to go off every 7-10min...

So that by the time your brain wakes you up the sound is gone and you probably wont consciously even be aware a noise ever sounded and you'll fall back to sleep...

I found this out when I used to have about 25 to 30 dreams within a hour, I realized that the factory down the street that produced concrete blocks had giant compressed air cylinders that released a load sharp "shhhhh.sh.sh SHHHHHHHHHHHHT" to release pressure every 7-10min... these dreams only happened during the summer when I had my windows open... and only happened on weekends early in the morning when the ambient noise from cars, etc. wasnt yet present...

the "shhhhh.sh.sh SHHHHHHHHHHHHT" was just enough to pull me out of REM sleep... and then I would fall right back in to another REM dream cycle....

E PLURIBUS UNIX

------------------------------------

[ 01-27-2002: Message edited by: FERRO ]

Dreams and the Moon

Comments