Everybody dreams, but only a rare few can exercise control over the events happening in their Dream. Dreams are the virtual manifestations of our psychological and emotional state by our unconscious during our sleep when the brain is stimulated by REM (Rapid Eye Movements).
Lucid dreaming is different from regular dreaming, where individuals are conscious of their dreams and can freely steer the events happening in their dreams.
Lucid dreams can occur in two forms: Spontaneous lucid dreams and induced lucid dreams. Spontaneous lucid dreams occur naturally and involuntarily, where an individual suddenly becomes conscious of the Dream.
Whereas induced lucid dreaming is voluntarily induced, followed by certain practices that promote lucid dreaming.
Induced lucid dreaming allows the individuals to take full control of the events happening in their dreams as a consequence of which they can fully express their creativity and desires.
Many famous personalities and celebrities are lucid dreamers, where they have also shared their unique and exciting dreams that have encouraged and enticed many individuals to learn lucid dreaming and venture their personal desires and dreams.
Below is the list of some famous lucid dreamers who have conquered the realm of lucid dreaming and have achieved wonders in their lives.
1) Nikola Tesla
This nineteenth-century Serbian genius is known to be a famous lucid dreamer followed by his unmatched creative and intellectual potential.
It is interesting to notice that one of his famous innovations in the field of electromagnetism that paved the way for the modern-day supply of electricity was inspired by his lucid dreaming.
Utilizing the power of lucid dreaming while employing his amplified visual senses, he was able to conduct an array of virtual experiments without having to actually perform them, which enabled him to identify the loopholes in his ideas and conduct successful experimentation afterward.
Tesla not only channeled the medium of lucid dreaming into suiting his purpose, but he upgraded it by molding and intensifying it to achieve wonders.
In 1892, Tesla experienced a lucid dream where he saw his mother dying. He rushed to his hometown from Paris after his Dream, only to find out that she indeed was at her deathbed.
Nikola Tesla’s conveys a powerful message that the human mind is capable of achieving wonders. It is all a matter of one’s personal limitation and creativity as to what extent he can unlock his or her hidden potential.
2) Leonardo DiCaprio
Probably every one of us knows this guy for his ever-lasting role in Titanic. DiCaprio is one of the most cherished actors in Hollywood, who once again found his prominence in the industry with his exceptional performance in Inception, a scientific thriller diving deep into the world and possibilities of lucid dreaming.
DiCaprio’s character in the movie is not only a lead lucid dreamer, but the actor himself has been lucid dreaming for some time now.
3) James Cameron
It is often said that the great masterpiece comes from the highroads of imagination and creativity that can only be accessed by some.
The director of the famous Avatar movie released in 2009, James Cameron, is one such example who found his inspiration for lucid dreaming from the movie.
The imaginary exotic world that is highlighted in Avatar prompted the director to delve into his personal depth of creativity and access his imagination by means where he could control the limits and vividness of his visions.
In an interview, Cameron explains his idea of lucid dreaming as achieving a state of ecstasy for achieving the unachievable that you always desire from your childhood.
He stated that like watching a movie, you get sucked into the scenes, finding yourselves situated in the action that is taking place in the movie; lucid dreaming also allows you access into a world where you can live your dreams, without any realistic bounds or limitations holding you down.
4) James Cameron
You must all be familiar with Stephen King for the famous movie adaption of his book, IT. Stephen King, who is known as the master horror writer of contemporary times, is also a known lucid dreamer.
Stephen King unlocked the link between transcribing his dreams into unmatchable work of creative arts. He is an open endorser of the “creative sleep,” a concept where the writer goes into a liminal state where his conscious mind goes to sleep, but the creative power remains active and aware, allowing the writer to explore his boundless imagination to produce master fiction works.
Even Stephen King himself acknowledged his famous works being the product of his lucid dreams.
5) Chris Nolan
We have already mentioned the lead actor of the famous Inception, Leonardo DiCaprio being a famous lucid dreamer, but it also interesting to know that the screenwriter and director of the movie, Inception, Chris Nolan, himself found his inspiration for this masterpiece as a consequence of his lucid dreams.
In his interview with Los Angeles Times, he expressed the inspiration behind the movie Inception, stating that he always wanted to “explore dream and dream life as another state of reality,” an idea which he fully explored in his works.
6)Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein, a master physician and probably the most renowned scientist in the world, is also not separated from the world of lucid dreaming.
Einstein is famous for presenting his theory of relativity that draws a connection between time and motion. Apparently, this prophetic understanding of universal laws came to Einstein in a dream.
There is no visible evidence of him being a lucid dreamer, but his long phases of contemplation can be interpreted as his lucid dreams, as it was a known practise of the time.
7) Richard D James
Richard D James, also known by his stage name Aphex Twin, is a known musician from the 1990s.
He may not be famous as the Beatles during the time, but his music found distinctiveness in the music industry for his intelligent techno beats and catchy lyrics.
He is often thought to be ahead of his time in terms of the musical beats. He found his inspiration for his produced music through lucid dreaming.
He recorded the inspirations found in his dreams and consequently produced lengthy compositions that take a music genius to truly understand and appreciate their essence.
8) Salvador Dali
Salvador Dali, a Spanish surrealist painter from the twentieth century, was also known to be a famous lucid dreamer before even the term was coined or recognized in scientific academia.
He trained his mind to pre-plan the dreams he was going to have, which allowed him to exercise full control over what he was dreaming. His famous artistic works, including the sleep (1937) and Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening (1944), were inspired by his lucid dreams.
With the interpretation and redefining of dreams by the famous philosopher and psychologist of the time, Sigmund Freud, in his works, The interpretation of Dreams (1920), Salvador Dali started expressing dreams through his artwork.
He blended dreams with reality through his artistic expression producing artworks that became an aesthetic treat for the viewers.
9) Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison, one of the greatest inventors that history has ever witnessed, laid the foundation of electronic and telecommunication for the coming world.
But where did he drive his inspiration for his outstanding inventions? The answer is correct: Dreams. Everything is possible if you can dream of it; if the imagination can access something, there is a possibility of making it real.
This was the motto for Edison that allowed him to translate his dreams into reality. He was an active lucid dreamer of his time where he used lucid dreaming as a technique to hold his state of ‘thinking’ and ‘creativity.’
The dominant technique he employed was the “waking back to bed technique” that allowed him easy access to the world of lucid dreaming through which he conquered wonders.
10) Richard Feynman
Richard Feynman, a known American psychist, openly declared himself as a lucid dreamer in one of his famous works, Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman.
Dedicating a whole chapter to the world of lucid dreaming, he discussed the experiments he conducted with lucid dreaming and the impact it created on his life.
He not only presented the accounts of his personal experiences but also laid down the techniques for the individuals to access the world of lucid dreams.
11)Richard Linklater
Another prominent American screenwriter and director, Richard Linklater, is also not a stranger to the world of lucid dreaming.
His affiliation and inspiration from the world of lucid dreaming can be seen in his famous works, Waking Life (2001).
The movie explores the paradox between Dream and reality and revolves around the question of which realm we are living in; are we living reality, or is it just a reflection of a perpetual dream from which we are eventually gone wake up?
Conclusion
To conclude, the world of lucid dreaming is not alien to famous celebrities and prominent personalities. The idea may have found its name in the past few centuries, but the world of lucid dreaming has been accessible to individuals from the beginning of times.
Revisiting the record of these prominent lucid dreamers, one can conclude that Lucid dreaming not only allows individuals to explore a world of new possibilities, but it also allows individuals to utilize the medium of lucid dreaming to achieve wonders.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article !