'Fighting Evil 'Testafan' with Lightsabers'
Date: 1 January 2020
Sleep times: 15:00 - 19:00 hours
Dream type:
- Spontaneous lucid dream - no induction attempts made
- DILD (dream-initiated lucid dream)
- Lucidity triggered by questioning bizarre dream events in normal non-lucid dream scene (the appearance of my attacker 'Testafan' who was supposedly in prison)
- No reality check
- No dream stabilisation required/attempted
- Moderate dream control
- Duration: perceived as at least an hour
Additional:
- Dream Incubation Experiment - A Star Wars Adventure (Version 2) (Day 13) - Partially successful
- Afternoon nap following 5 days of heavy alcohol consumption and reduced cannabis intake (possible REM Rebound Effect)
- No dreams recalled over previous 3 nights, despite standard length sleep (6 - 8 hours per night)
Scene 1 (normal/non-lucid)
Location: My flat in Norwich - a composite between my actual flat and the Student Union bar (Red Bar, specifically by entrance)
Time: Day
Time: Day
I was in my flat in Norwich, which was also the Student Union bar on the campus where I live. I knew that I was 'at home' even though there was more clues as to me being in the SU Bar than my actual flat, which is a 1 minute walk away. There were no other dream characters present and I only faced in one direction as far as I can recall, so I am not sure what the rest of the room looked like. I was standing to the right of the entrance, just inside the doorway, where there was also a small round wooden table. I could see through the glass entrance doors/windows, therefore I knew it was daytime. I was talking on my mobile phone to my friend LD1. I am not sure what we talked about. I ended the call, and placed my mobile phone onto the small round table.
- I had mentioned to my uncle GC1 that he should visit me on campus and we could drink in the SU Bar. I had also mentioned the price of drinks in the SU Bar (compared with up North, where everything is cheaper) to someone in a separate conversation.
- Shortly before I took this nap, I had been whatsapp messaging my best friend, LD1.
Scene 2 (normal/non-lucid)
Location: A composite between the ground-level parking area outside my flat and an elevated concrete area (upper walkway) outside the upper level of the Student Union Building and the Student Services Building - in the dream this was located in one place - directly in front of the row of houses my flat is within.
Time: Day - perhaps approaching dusk?
Time: Day - perhaps approaching dusk?
I was then in the elevated concrete area described above. I could look down onto my house from a height which was greater than possible if I was standing on one of the upper walkways of the campus. The location was right where the car park should be.
I was standing at a picnic bench (there are some picnic benches outside the SU and SS buildings). I also had a strong sense of this area reminding me of my Nan's garden in Sheringham, although I do not know why. It felt like the sky was darkening, but it was still daylight. There was a male dream character standing with me at the picnic table, but I cannot recall anything about him. I (we) were joined by LD1. I then became aware that I did not have my mobile phone with me, which caused me to panic. LD1 then said that he had found my mobile phone and thought it was a 'prank' or 'imitation' one, not my real one, and therefore thrown it in a bin. The bin was one of the standard metal communal rubbish bins, with just a long rectangular slit across the top. I knew this bin was also on the upper level, where we were located - just a short distance away 'behind us'. I could now see that instead of the concrete steps which exist between levels on the campus walkways, there was a steep grass slope which led down to the ground level where my house was. I could now see for miles - not university campus buildings, but rather the open air, green hills and fields and trees. I was very angry with LD1 and demanded that he retrieve my phone from the bin. I was telling him that he was stupid for thinking it was an imitation phone and that he should have checked before binning it. LD1 was apologetic and said he would easily be able to retrieve my phone, which he walked off to do. I was stressed and anxious about getting my phone back safely. I said something to the unknown/unrecalled male dream character about how I was hoping my phone wasn't broken as a result of being put in the bin. I cannot recall his response. LD1 returned with my phone. I opened the case and saw there was a tiny chip on the screen. I showed LD1 and expressed the fact I was angry. LD1 did not think the chip in the phone screen was serious. I decided not to stress about it and put my phone away.
Scene 3 (normal/non-lucid)
- My parents had dropped me off in the car parking area opposite my flat at around 13:30 hours.
I was standing at a picnic bench (there are some picnic benches outside the SU and SS buildings). I also had a strong sense of this area reminding me of my Nan's garden in Sheringham, although I do not know why. It felt like the sky was darkening, but it was still daylight. There was a male dream character standing with me at the picnic table, but I cannot recall anything about him. I (we) were joined by LD1. I then became aware that I did not have my mobile phone with me, which caused me to panic. LD1 then said that he had found my mobile phone and thought it was a 'prank' or 'imitation' one, not my real one, and therefore thrown it in a bin. The bin was one of the standard metal communal rubbish bins, with just a long rectangular slit across the top. I knew this bin was also on the upper level, where we were located - just a short distance away 'behind us'. I could now see that instead of the concrete steps which exist between levels on the campus walkways, there was a steep grass slope which led down to the ground level where my house was. I could now see for miles - not university campus buildings, but rather the open air, green hills and fields and trees. I was very angry with LD1 and demanded that he retrieve my phone from the bin. I was telling him that he was stupid for thinking it was an imitation phone and that he should have checked before binning it. LD1 was apologetic and said he would easily be able to retrieve my phone, which he walked off to do. I was stressed and anxious about getting my phone back safely. I said something to the unknown/unrecalled male dream character about how I was hoping my phone wasn't broken as a result of being put in the bin. I cannot recall his response. LD1 returned with my phone. I opened the case and saw there was a tiny chip on the screen. I showed LD1 and expressed the fact I was angry. LD1 did not think the chip in the phone screen was serious. I decided not to stress about it and put my phone away.
- My uncle GC and I had a number of conversations about crime over the past few days - I referred to 'imitation weapons' during one
- I noticed one of my front teeth was chipped in real life
- On the drive home from Hull, Yorkshire, my stepdad noticed a new chip in the windscreen of his car (from a stone/piece of gravel etc most likely)
- I had returned to campus (known as 'the concrete jungle' due to its architectural style) after a journey through the countryside.
Scene 3 (normal/non-lucid)
Location: A coastal town - in a car
Time: Day
I was then a passenger in a car driver by the unrecalled/unknown male dream character. LD1 was in the back of the car. We were driving through a picturesque coastal town. I could see cottages and the sea, with sail boats on it. It seemed as if it was sunny now, but I knew it was the same day. While driving down the winding roads, I also had the contemporaneous experience of viewing the scenery as a series of open picture books, which were illustrated in a way which gave me a strong impression of remembering books from my childhood.
Scene 5 (fully lucid)
Time: Day
I was then a passenger in a car driver by the unrecalled/unknown male dream character. LD1 was in the back of the car. We were driving through a picturesque coastal town. I could see cottages and the sea, with sail boats on it. It seemed as if it was sunny now, but I knew it was the same day. While driving down the winding roads, I also had the contemporaneous experience of viewing the scenery as a series of open picture books, which were illustrated in a way which gave me a strong impression of remembering books from my childhood.
- Hull is a port. I had also discussed coastal towns (my home county is on the coast)
- My family had been discussing clearing out my Nan's house in Sheringham - my cousin HM and I had talked about how all our childhood toys are still stored there.
Scene 4 (normal/non-lucid)
Location: My flat in Norwich
Time: Day
I was then back in my flat in Norwich - it felt like I had just got back from the trip to the coastal town where I had been in the previous dream scene. I was alone in my house, standing beside the kitchen counter, where my landline phone is. I was expecting a call from my boyfriend AJ(R) who is in prison. The phone rang. I answered it. It was not AJ, but I could tell that the person was a man in prison. I did not know his identity. I was aware this was a malicious prank call and I wondered how the unknown prisoner had got my number. I was shouting at him, asking him who it was and why he was calling me. I felt threatened and intimidated. The man on the other end of the phone would only make a high-pitched whistling sound, which was perceived as a threat of danger to me. I was in terror. I hung up the phone. It rang again. It was the prisoner man whistling at me. I was shouting at him to leave me alone, or I would get someone to sort him out (the implication being with violence). I also said that the prison would be monitoring or recording the phone call and the man would be in trouble for harassing and threatening me. I was confused as to why this man was targeting me. The phone call ended.
Time: Day
I was then back in my flat in Norwich - it felt like I had just got back from the trip to the coastal town where I had been in the previous dream scene. I was alone in my house, standing beside the kitchen counter, where my landline phone is. I was expecting a call from my boyfriend AJ(R) who is in prison. The phone rang. I answered it. It was not AJ, but I could tell that the person was a man in prison. I did not know his identity. I was aware this was a malicious prank call and I wondered how the unknown prisoner had got my number. I was shouting at him, asking him who it was and why he was calling me. I felt threatened and intimidated. The man on the other end of the phone would only make a high-pitched whistling sound, which was perceived as a threat of danger to me. I was in terror. I hung up the phone. It rang again. It was the prisoner man whistling at me. I was shouting at him to leave me alone, or I would get someone to sort him out (the implication being with violence). I also said that the prison would be monitoring or recording the phone call and the man would be in trouble for harassing and threatening me. I was confused as to why this man was targeting me. The phone call ended.
- Various aspects of day residue from recent conversations involving phone calls from prison, threatening behaviour and crime.
- I was waiting to see if AJ would call me, as we had ended a phone call on bad terms the night before.
- My stepdad had been whistling on the way home.
- When I returned home from my family wedding I saw I had a missed call on my landline from AJ, despite him knowing I was away and only available on my mobile phone.
Scene 5 (fully lucid)
Location: My flat in Norwich
Time: Day
I walked through to my bedroom, which was still the living/room, kitchen, but with my bedroom door and cupboards there (so a composite of the location I had just been in and my bedroom). There was a male dream character there - who I knew was the threatening/whistling prisoner. I knew his name was 'Testafan' at this stage, although I am not sure how I knew this information, as he did not say his name to me. He was tall and thin and very pale skinned with greasy black hair slicked back, around collar-length. He had pointy facial features and was approximately 40 years old. He looked a bit like a vampire, or definitely a gothic type and was quite weak and decrepit-looking, although I knew he was not as frail as he looked. He was dressed in black clothing. The fear at seeing Testafan and wondering how he had instantaneously escaped prison and entered my flat in search of me made me spontaneously lucid.
As soon as I became lucid, I calmed down, as the threat was lessened by the fact I knew I was in a dream. I still felt some threat however, although it was more about knowing I had to deal with Testafan. My first thought was to summons another dream character to come and help me fight Testafan. I looked at my bedroom door, and shouted: 'Someone come and help me!' Nothing happened. I kept shouting this, willing for someone to materialise. I did not try to visualise anyone in particular as I thought it might be easier to just let any dream character appear rather than someone specific. I then saw my friend GG's face partially pop round the door, which was open. His face seemed to materialise slowly, as if it was a computer loading glitchy graphics. I thought this was because my dream control was poor and I concentrated hard on making GG appear as a solid form. I am not aware of what Testafan was doing while I tried to bring GG into my dream properly, as my attention was focused on this task. As soon as GG appeared in the dream, I became aware LD1 was also now present in the room with us. I also knew that neither GG nor LD1 would help me fight Testafan, as hey were both passive and seemed to want to observe the fight rather than actively participate in it. I can recall now from this scene tha GG was wearing a white football shirt and grey tracksuit bottoms and LD1 was wearing a thick navy knitted jumper. This is all the detail I took in. The room then seemed too change, so that it lost a lot of it's detail and just looked like an empty, yet well-lit space with walls on either side boxing us in. It had the feel of being 'modern' or 'space age' to me, without there being anything in particular to give me this impression. It was like all the extraneous detail was stripped away.
Testafan then lunged at me and began grappling/wrestling with me, but it was more like we were holding hands and just pushing and pulling each other. Neither of us could get the better of one another, and I knew Testafan was the physically stronger of us both. I felt pretty much as physically powerful as I would in real life - I was exerting a lot of energy and felt overwhelmed in defending myself. GG and LD1 were still not participating in any way. I decided I needed a weapon, so given my current Dream Incubation Experiment - A Star Wars Adventure (Version 2), I decided to get a lightsaber. I imagined having a lightsaber in my hand - visualised it, and I got one - but it was a plastic toy, with an extendable blade (blue). It was no use. I tried again to visualise a real lightsaber, imagining the weight in my hand, using my imagination. I imagined the heavy, cold metal of the hilt. I then got a lightsaber - Anakin Skywalker's blue lightsaber. However, it only worked if I imitated lightsaber sound effects with my mouth. Just as in real life, I was useless at imitating a realistic lightsaber sound, so my lightsaber was really weak, and almost impossible to keep ignited, which was frustrating. There was a sense of dread. I knew Testafan had Luke Skywalker's green lightsaber. I knew I could never duel with my enemy with the rubbish lightsaber I had, so I used The Force to imagine I had the red sith lightsaber of Darth Vader. I was successful in controlling this aspect of the lucid dream, which made me feel exhilarated and pleased. It seemed to take a while for the lightsaber blade to fade from blue through to white, yellow, then red. The blade was not stable either - it was crackly and sparky. When I began duelling with Testafan, it was as hard to fight with a lightsaber (without skills,training or experience) as if I was expected to do it in real life. It was really heavy and hard to swing or connect blows. It was physically exerting and tiring. I spent most of my time deflecting Testafan's blows as trying to make my own unsuccessful ones. I thought the best thing to do would be to use The Dark Side of the Force (channelling my anger, fear, hate etc) into more physical power. This was not as successful as it should have been. The lightsaber duel was still awful and chaotic and also slower than it would be if either I or Testafan were competent lightsaber users. Neither of us were winning or losing, but it was a constant battle which was taking it's toll.
We had moved into my living room/kitchen area, which again, appeared to be a composite of that and the SU bar - I could see the toilets and the red (it may no longer be red, but it used to be, hence the name 'the Red Bar') velvet sofas and tables in front of the pool tables. GG and LD1 were still not helping me fight Testafan, but I knew they supported me. I was only ever aware of their presence if I focused on them, or they attracted my attention. The rest of the time I was so engaged in the lightsaber fight with Testafan, that my surroundings were not clear to me. I forgot they existed. Everything felt as if it was in real time, with little time dilation (as is common in lucid dreams). The fight was so physically draining that it seemed to last for far too long. During the lucid dream, I actually thought to myself that it was weird how my lucid dream was so stable and clear - I felt so grounded within the dream, it was ironic. My perception of this experience was that it was not enjoyable like I would have imagined it to be. I was in fight or flight mode and I did not like the feeling. I also hated the fact I was bound by a lot of my own physical limitations.
I saw Leon because he stood on one of the red sofas in front of me while I was fighting Testafan. I noticed there were wooden shelves above his head, but I did not see what was on them. Any dialogue was not obvious to me - again, my focus was on defending myself frantically while trying to attack Testafan, to little effect. We kept locking lightsaber blades in a very awkward and amateur way. The Force was not seeming to help as much as I hoped it would. I wondered if it was because I wasn't actually Force-sensitive. This seemed like the likely solution as to why I wasn't as powerful as Darth Vader.
Leon then pulled Testafan backwards through my open front door (which was wear the SU toilets had just been - now it appeared to be much more like my flat looks in real life). We entered out onto a typical city street, with tall commercial-looking buildings on either side of the road (shops, offices etc) - everything looked grey and almost old-fashioned. It also looked grey in terms of sky - as if it had been, or might, rain. Leon was nearby, encouraging me. I heard him telling me to beat Testafan. I could see GG a short distance away, behind Testfan, and also felt his encouragement and support. I continued to lightsaber dual with Testafan and imagine using The Force to help me. It was really hard to keep my lightsaber constantly ignited. The dream ended when Testafan turned into a bat and flew off - this is probably because I perceived him to look vampiric earlier in the dream.
Time: Day
I walked through to my bedroom, which was still the living/room, kitchen, but with my bedroom door and cupboards there (so a composite of the location I had just been in and my bedroom). There was a male dream character there - who I knew was the threatening/whistling prisoner. I knew his name was 'Testafan' at this stage, although I am not sure how I knew this information, as he did not say his name to me. He was tall and thin and very pale skinned with greasy black hair slicked back, around collar-length. He had pointy facial features and was approximately 40 years old. He looked a bit like a vampire, or definitely a gothic type and was quite weak and decrepit-looking, although I knew he was not as frail as he looked. He was dressed in black clothing. The fear at seeing Testafan and wondering how he had instantaneously escaped prison and entered my flat in search of me made me spontaneously lucid.
- The appearance of Testafan was the same as a local man my parents had described who was nice, but would suddenly turn nasty and aggressive. This was during a conversation about the 'most dangerous' types of people often being someone who you would not physically expect to be powerful and violent. He is a chef. I had been watching clips from Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares series before I took this nap.
- There had been a violent, aggressive drunken female guest at my aunt's wedding (she was forced to leave early due to her behaviour).
- 'Testafan' may relate to 'Tesla cars' - as I had seen references to them online earlier.
- I had been driving in a car with my parents - I always remember in the 1990s they would play Gloria Estefan tapes in the car. During the contemporaneous car journey they had discussed what CDs to play in the car - they played The Beach Boys (and I listened to the song 'Barbara Ann' (1965). We then discussed their connection to notorious cult leader and 'murderer' Charles Manson (1934 - 2017).
- My Mum's first name is Stephanie.
As soon as I became lucid, I calmed down, as the threat was lessened by the fact I knew I was in a dream. I still felt some threat however, although it was more about knowing I had to deal with Testafan. My first thought was to summons another dream character to come and help me fight Testafan. I looked at my bedroom door, and shouted: 'Someone come and help me!' Nothing happened. I kept shouting this, willing for someone to materialise. I did not try to visualise anyone in particular as I thought it might be easier to just let any dream character appear rather than someone specific. I then saw my friend GG's face partially pop round the door, which was open. His face seemed to materialise slowly, as if it was a computer loading glitchy graphics. I thought this was because my dream control was poor and I concentrated hard on making GG appear as a solid form. I am not aware of what Testafan was doing while I tried to bring GG into my dream properly, as my attention was focused on this task. As soon as GG appeared in the dream, I became aware LD1 was also now present in the room with us. I also knew that neither GG nor LD1 would help me fight Testafan, as hey were both passive and seemed to want to observe the fight rather than actively participate in it. I can recall now from this scene tha GG was wearing a white football shirt and grey tracksuit bottoms and LD1 was wearing a thick navy knitted jumper. This is all the detail I took in. The room then seemed too change, so that it lost a lot of it's detail and just looked like an empty, yet well-lit space with walls on either side boxing us in. It had the feel of being 'modern' or 'space age' to me, without there being anything in particular to give me this impression. It was like all the extraneous detail was stripped away.
- I had messaged GG shortly before my nap, asking if he was free that afternoon and we had a short whatsapp conversation - I was expecting to meet him later that evening.
Testafan then lunged at me and began grappling/wrestling with me, but it was more like we were holding hands and just pushing and pulling each other. Neither of us could get the better of one another, and I knew Testafan was the physically stronger of us both. I felt pretty much as physically powerful as I would in real life - I was exerting a lot of energy and felt overwhelmed in defending myself. GG and LD1 were still not participating in any way. I decided I needed a weapon, so given my current Dream Incubation Experiment - A Star Wars Adventure (Version 2), I decided to get a lightsaber. I imagined having a lightsaber in my hand - visualised it, and I got one - but it was a plastic toy, with an extendable blade (blue). It was no use. I tried again to visualise a real lightsaber, imagining the weight in my hand, using my imagination. I imagined the heavy, cold metal of the hilt. I then got a lightsaber - Anakin Skywalker's blue lightsaber. However, it only worked if I imitated lightsaber sound effects with my mouth. Just as in real life, I was useless at imitating a realistic lightsaber sound, so my lightsaber was really weak, and almost impossible to keep ignited, which was frustrating. There was a sense of dread. I knew Testafan had Luke Skywalker's green lightsaber. I knew I could never duel with my enemy with the rubbish lightsaber I had, so I used The Force to imagine I had the red sith lightsaber of Darth Vader. I was successful in controlling this aspect of the lucid dream, which made me feel exhilarated and pleased. It seemed to take a while for the lightsaber blade to fade from blue through to white, yellow, then red. The blade was not stable either - it was crackly and sparky. When I began duelling with Testafan, it was as hard to fight with a lightsaber (without skills,training or experience) as if I was expected to do it in real life. It was really heavy and hard to swing or connect blows. It was physically exerting and tiring. I spent most of my time deflecting Testafan's blows as trying to make my own unsuccessful ones. I thought the best thing to do would be to use The Dark Side of the Force (channelling my anger, fear, hate etc) into more physical power. This was not as successful as it should have been. The lightsaber duel was still awful and chaotic and also slower than it would be if either I or Testafan were competent lightsaber users. Neither of us were winning or losing, but it was a constant battle which was taking it's toll.
We had moved into my living room/kitchen area, which again, appeared to be a composite of that and the SU bar - I could see the toilets and the red (it may no longer be red, but it used to be, hence the name 'the Red Bar') velvet sofas and tables in front of the pool tables. GG and LD1 were still not helping me fight Testafan, but I knew they supported me. I was only ever aware of their presence if I focused on them, or they attracted my attention. The rest of the time I was so engaged in the lightsaber fight with Testafan, that my surroundings were not clear to me. I forgot they existed. Everything felt as if it was in real time, with little time dilation (as is common in lucid dreams). The fight was so physically draining that it seemed to last for far too long. During the lucid dream, I actually thought to myself that it was weird how my lucid dream was so stable and clear - I felt so grounded within the dream, it was ironic. My perception of this experience was that it was not enjoyable like I would have imagined it to be. I was in fight or flight mode and I did not like the feeling. I also hated the fact I was bound by a lot of my own physical limitations.
I saw Leon because he stood on one of the red sofas in front of me while I was fighting Testafan. I noticed there were wooden shelves above his head, but I did not see what was on them. Any dialogue was not obvious to me - again, my focus was on defending myself frantically while trying to attack Testafan, to little effect. We kept locking lightsaber blades in a very awkward and amateur way. The Force was not seeming to help as much as I hoped it would. I wondered if it was because I wasn't actually Force-sensitive. This seemed like the likely solution as to why I wasn't as powerful as Darth Vader.
Leon then pulled Testafan backwards through my open front door (which was wear the SU toilets had just been - now it appeared to be much more like my flat looks in real life). We entered out onto a typical city street, with tall commercial-looking buildings on either side of the road (shops, offices etc) - everything looked grey and almost old-fashioned. It also looked grey in terms of sky - as if it had been, or might, rain. Leon was nearby, encouraging me. I heard him telling me to beat Testafan. I could see GG a short distance away, behind Testfan, and also felt his encouragement and support. I continued to lightsaber dual with Testafan and imagine using The Force to help me. It was really hard to keep my lightsaber constantly ignited. The dream ended when Testafan turned into a bat and flew off - this is probably because I perceived him to look vampiric earlier in the dream.
Wilfrido Limvalencia, Swan's Cove
Serena, Bus Ride Through Fowey
J.L. Munro, Nantucket Harbor
Josephine Grundy, High Tide
Josephine Grundy, Spring is in the Air
Police Artist sketch of 'Testafan'
Star Wars lightsaber designs
Anakin Skywalker
Darth Vader
Luke Skywalker
A bat
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