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Seeing images when going to sleep

Carloloner

Senior Member
Hi everyone :D

For a while now when i'm going into the sleep state i see images of people and places in what i think is my minds eye. Sometimes the images of people are in colour and other times i see them on what looks like an old photo from the 1900's. I remember seeing a guy in nazi uniform and a native american man and a few others. Sometimes there's a feeling of familiarity with these people but other times i think they're random.

Also another time when going to sleep, i had a quick flash where i was in what looked like an ancient egyptian temple.

What do you guys think is the reason for these experiences?

I remember something like this being discussed on another thread but i couldn't find the thread in question so i hope noone minds me starting another thread on this subject :D
 
I have experienced this too..when I am falling asleep.Sometimes its pictures in my mind that are so outside the realm of what I normally think about that I have to wonder if they are from the past.The other day it was hearing something.I yelled in my mind to someone saying ''Private Guthrie!'' I also jumped a little..like it was very important. I had never even heard of the name! It was very surprising for me to think of anything from the military..which I have no experience with now! I also saw a little boy in an early 20th century formal portrait.There has been a lot of them..it fascinates me.
 
Isn't this normal part of brain storming when we are going to sleep? I often get randomised images but I don't think that's strange although if the images you're experiencing are more expressive and not just flashing but staying than there may be more to it.


This morning image of face flashed as I was waking up but I think it was just cortex making clean-up.
 
I always see pictures when going to sleep (unless I am so tired that I fall asleep immediately). In fact, I am not able to fall asleep if I see only black as most people do.


And although I have seen pretty awesome things, I would not say that it is somehow unusual or connected to PL. It may be or may be not (the same is valid for dreams). I personally have very vivid imagination and see pictures randomly during the day as well, even with my eyes open.


About voices and stuff you should know that in the state between being awake and falling asleep, you may see or hear hallucinations. It is just a trick our brain plays with us :D
 
I agree that the brain can play tricks on us when going to sleep and many images i see are imagination but i get a feeling that some of the images like the ones that appear like an early 20th century photo come from somewhere deep in the subconscious.
 
Carloloner, as much as I have read, PL experiences are about feeling. I hope some day you will find out what's the deal with that photo :)
 
And wanted to add : maybe you were archaeologist? Or someone who had close connection to culture & history? It would explain photos as well as seeing some in color and also being in the temple. Just suggestion.


About what triggered it, I can rely only on my dream experience (as I don't have any PL experiences which I can be sure of) : it can be any small detail, maybe even something only your subconscious registered. My dreams are nearly never connected to something obvious, rather quite opposite.


Have you checked any Native American photos or those others? Maybe it would click?
 
I experience these things... past lives I think it must be... early in the morning. When I go to bed, I just konk out. But in the morning before the buzzer goes, I see all kinds of things.
 
I'm pretty sure that some of the people i've seen in my minds eye are past acquaintances as some of them have felt familiar. I remember seeing a native american and thinking that's my brother from my current life. A few other people i've seen look otherworldly.


As well as people, i also see images of nature like forests, rivers and buildings which look like greek temples. It really is a fascinating phenomenon :) .
 
Eevee said:
Here is an older thread about the phenomena.
:)
Thank-you Eevee for posting a link to the 'Images of (unknown) Faces During Regression Exercises' discussion.


The time before waking-up is when I experience the most active imagery. Most of these images are noting more than abstract collage/Abstract art like images unrelated to anything of interest regarding PLs.


On rare occasions, I experience faces not constrained by one-dimensional photograph-like frames; hence I hope that half-asleep/half-wake state before waking-up might just offer images relating to possible past-lives!
 
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I don't see things (I would assume that to be a sort of dream state), but I do "hear" random people talking as I'm drifting off to sleep. The words they say are clear, but random and senseless. It doesn't always happen, just sometimes. I chalk it up to dreaming.


Although, I did mention it to my psychiatrist (who I see for my bipolar) and he said that my antipsychotic drug should keep those experiences at bay.... :|
 
premonition / sincronicity


I also see faces before sleeping. One appears than it transforms itself in other and so on.


I will tell you my amazing premonition when I was 15.


We used to have chicken in our garden. Than suddenly one day they ceased to lay eggs. I had a dream that I went on the spot (everything was alike in my dream) and there were still no eggs but I went to look behind some bushes and there they were. 14 eggs. Next day I went there and I thought pleasantly "Why don't I check on the spot of my dream, that is, behind the bushes. I was totally amazed. There they were THE 14 EGGS of my dream.


Much later, when I was 40 I had to go to the mental hospital in a crisis (because I have bipolar disorder). The shrink that answered me asked if I had had any special kind of dream in my life. I said yes and told her about my dream. Then she asked me if the number 14 had any kind of meaning to me. And I said yes because my son was born on the 14th (August 1997).


And then she made the connection between the number of eggs, the day of birth of my son and the symbol of the egg itself as an embryo of life!!! It was beautiful.
 
Carloloner said:
Also another time when going to sleep, i had a quick flash where i was in what looked like an ancient egyptian temple.


What do you guys think is the reason for these experiences?
I had a strange dream a few years ago where everything was black, and then, as though I had just opened my eyes, I saw a large lioness bearing down on me where I lay on the ground between what looked like two stone pillars. Then it went black again, and it was over. My impression was that I was a slave in a Roman collesium, but there was absolutely no emtion attached to the experience.


I think the reason for these experiences has to do with the fact that while you're asleep your brain is only half engaged - the parts that do all the logical thinking are shut down and the imagination has full reign. During the times when you're just waking up, when the logical faculties are just barely working, you have better access to your intuitive or psychic faculties than you normally would. But whatever information you get needs to be tested before you give too much credit to it.
 
The half awake/half asleep state is similar to a meditative state. Your mind is winding down, but you are not yet asleep. Those fleeting images that people see are sometimes the beginnings of a dream, of course. But when they are very vivid and memorable, like Anthony's lion experience, they may well be something more than that.


One time I had a very quick flash of being a slave in Egypt, but on a special day I spent a rough copper coin to get my eyes painted up with make up like the 'rich people'. It was very quick, but packed with information. To my mind, this is too complicated for my imagination to come up with on its own. And of course, why would it? That flash did not relate to anything I had been thinking or experiencing recently. It seemed completely 'random'. I feel these things are more likely to be past life memories. It certainly felt crystal clear and real - unlike most of my regular dreams.


Little children are far more likely to talk about past life memories when they are feeling a bit sleepy, like in the back of the car, or getting ready for bed. This is the time when these kinds of things can get through the other 'noise' going on in the mind.


Past life memories are actually a lot easier to access than most people think. They're a bit like the stars - they are always there, but when the sun is out, we can't see them.
 
larali said:
I don't see things (I would assume that to be a sort of dream state), but I do "hear" random people talking as I'm drifting off to sleep. The words they say are clear, but random and senseless. It doesn't always happen, just sometimes. I chalk it up to dreaming.
Although, I did mention it to my psychiatrist (who I see for my bipolar) and he said that my antipsychotic drug should keep those experiences at bay.... :|
Some people are more 'aural' than visual. These random voices or words could be some kind of memory coming through. It's possible. Unless they are in any way frightening, I certainly wouldn't be worried about them.


Maybe try to note them down and see if anything makes sense. Perhaps they are in another language?
 
I remember a while ago seeing a portrait like image of a woman in a walking dress which were commonly worn by women in the regency era in the early 1800's. I assumed this to be a past life image as this is something outside the realms of what i think.


Does anyone else also see images of buildings and scenery? I get a lot of images of what looks like Monument Valley and desert scenes.
 
tanguerra said:
The half awake/half asleep state is similar to a meditative state. Your mind is winding down, but you are not yet asleep. Those fleeting images that people see are sometimes the beginnings of a dream, of course. But when they are very vivid and memorable, like Anthony's lion experience, they may well be something more than that.
The mornings are better for this than when going to sleep at night, because the brain isn't filled with recent thoughts and memories that can interfere with the intuitive impressions that rise up from the subconscious.

tanguerra said:
To my mind, this is too complicated for my imagination to come up with on its own. And of course, why would it? That flash did not relate to anything I had been thinking or experiencing recently. It seemed completely 'random'.
The imagination is far more creative than you give it credit.
 
Anthony Forwood said:
The imagination is far more creative than you give it credit.
From my impressions, the imagination is one of the key mental tools with which the subconscious communicates with the conscious mind. I can clearly tell the difference between the images I consciously create (wish fulfillment, anyone?) and those given to me from deeper than where my conscious mind can reach.


If the conscious mind takes hold of the imagination, the result is fantasy. Usually predictable imagery and scenarios related to present desires. They tend to fit within established patterns. Even if they are of past, future, or exotic alien lands they will fit within the general scope of what the conscious mind understands, and will always be flavored by present desires and fears.


There is a point between the conscious mind and the subconscious where imagination bridges the communication gap between the two. The more control the subconscious has of the bridge, the more surprised the conscious mind will be at what arises.


And this is why the surprising images have a greater tendency to be relevant to past life research.


Technically, it's the subconscious that has direct access to such memories. The conscious mind can only grapple with them after the subconscious brings them up and pushes through the bridge of the imagination. The images have a different quality to them because of their source.


This doesn't mean that everything that comes up is past life, but usually the level of practical detail, interest, and focus we would expect to experience in daily life (just in another era) isn't the domain of the subconscious. It tends toward atmosphere and symbolism.


So when the subconscious brings up something socially practical, researchable, and very "conscious mind" in nature (even if the focus is on the atmosphere and symbolism) I'd call that indicative of past life.


The fact that the conscious mind can grasp those images clearly is because that part steps over into its strong point, even when we are consciously surprised by how out of context that familiar sense of real memory can be. Rationally, those moments stand out because of the conscious element entangled with the emotion and imagery, and the striking way they contrast to the usual, less conscious, structure of subconscious expression.


So, yes. The imagination is a very useful creative tool to both the conscious and subconscious (or spirit) at all times, and I don't think that fact excludes suggesting that those unexpected glimpses are indicative of past life events.


Creativity is at its best when the subconscious uses truth and reality (even past life memory) as the core of its communication.


I know that the subconscious adds its own atmosphere, because that's how it functions. This doesn't change the fact that it digs in my past life storage box when it wants to communicate a concept in which the experiences and knowledge of previous avatars are a more useful tool than those of the present life.
 
Anthony Forwood said:
The mornings are better for this than when going to sleep at night, because the brain isn't filled with recent thoughts and memories that can interfere with the intuitive impressions that rise up from the subconscious.
The imagination is far more creative than you give it credit.
There has been a lot of discussion on the forum about the difference between 'fantasy' 'imagination' and memories over the years. Here are a couple of good ones:


Reincarnation: fact or fantasy


Imagination v Fantasy


Many people, who don't know a lot about past life memories, often assume that it is all just people's imaginations and dismiss the entire topic without much further thought. However, the more you look into it, the more you hear other peoples' stories and read up on it, the more you learn about the difference between imagination and memory.


Many people, from early childhood, are taught by their well-meaning parents, that a lot of what they try to talk about is 'just their imagination'. It certainly was so in my case. Whenever I tried to broach something with my mother for instance I was either shooshed and told not to make things up, or simply, completely misunderstood and met with bafflement. I began to doubt my own experiences and I certainly learned to keep quiet about them.


So, by the time we are adults, most people in our culture have been taught that anything that is not directly related to the present life, day-to-day conscious 'normal' life, is imagination or daydreaming, or fantasy or, worse still, 'lies'. Sure, sometimes this might be the case, but more often, in my view, people tend to be truthful when describing their experiences if they are given an opportunity to do so.


As to the morning or the evening being better times, it probably depends on the individual. Past life memories can occur at any time when the mind is at rest. In my case I have often had 'flashbacks' when doing some mundane task like sitting around doing 'nothing', or gardening or brushing my teeth. When I am not thinking of anything in particular and my conscious mind is in 'neutral', this is often when such thoughts 'sneak in' or perhaps when I am more likely to notice them.
 
Recently when going into the state between awake and sleep, an image came into my mind of an temple that looks Egyptian with a pool in the centre surrounded by pillars. I've posted a link to an image off google of what it looked like. Has anyone with past life memories of Ancient Egypt seen images like this?


https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gyJj9qIYa3Q/maxresdefault.jpg


The image is from a game called Goldeneye which is why the gun is in the pic.
 
I work until 11pm some nights, and I find that when I'm tired, driving home on empty, dark roads I often get close to my past life memories. I have gotten some amazing insights at these times, and my past self seems very close to the surface. I also interact at that job with some people who I believe may have been part of my most recent past life, so I think this helps me to process my interactions and integrate the past and present.


I also feel like I have a lot of flashbacks, and find it easier to get into a meditative state, when I am experiencing PMS. I had been aware of vivid dreams and troubling flashbacks at that time of the month for the past several years, along with feeling less self-confident and more emotionally vulnerable. When I started considering past lives as the reason behind the flashbacks, and listened to what my PMS was telling me, I got amazing insights into the roots of some of my present life anxieties and insecurities. I would be curious to know if any other women also have experienced this.
 
https://egyptsites.files.wordpress.c...s-81.jpg?w=497


This is a view from ground level. The smaller square "pools" in the center would have been two tall structures. Perhaps, not a pillar, but built up high enough to stay out of the Nile inundation. The roof is, of course, now missing, but they say it would have been open to the sky, like in the game.


What is the main difference that you see? The pillars? The base of the pillars in the game are octagonal, not an Egyptian shape. The square ones in the Osirion are also unusual, and are used by some to give this part of the temple a much older date.
 
Same here, I've seen many significant images right before going to sleep. One was the key to later identifying the area I was looking for, related to my past life. I had no internet at the time so I had to write down what I saw and sometimes draw it on paper, which came in very handy later. It's great to see that it's actually a common phenomenon.
 
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