Hi!
I'm new to this forum, but a long time lucid dreamer and shared dreamer. So I thought I would make a post about something I've had quite a bit of practice in (although still very much a novice) and I would also love to hear about anyone else's experience with shared dreaming on here!
I will write about my direct experiences and conclusions based on that
My first encounter with a shared dream, was when I was very young, I was aware a lady that felt out of place, just in the background, watching me (it was a robin hood type of dream) and then another dream rolled in, I was in a city center with my mom, and the same lady was there, watching. I knew she was real, and she was somehow invading my dream space. It was then that I became fascinated with this phenomenon.
Since then I have been part of quite a few shared dreaming groups and have had dedicated shared dreaming partners which we have experimented doing all sorts of things, discovering the fabric of how dreams work by using others to verify experiences.
Dreams seem to work outside of time, or outside of this reality at least. (so it is possible to dream share with a future or past version of someone (which has happened to me a couple of times before) The potential to share a dream, with not just one but many, and create the change from within, altering reality - is huge, and has always been my end goal.
Simple experiments can be easily reproduced, such as using the hypnagogic state to broadcast telepathic information to one another, using the visualizations that occur while in this state, and gently pushing the direction toward receiving from a specific source, you can view what is being sent (as long as you are careful to observe what is coming directly from within you (for example, you just watched a horror movie, and you see horror movie type things coming at you, then you need to push this aside and look further)
Shared dreaming within a lucid dream state (or sometimes nonlucid, if your initial intent was there) is a very different kettle of fish. Your experience of what is occurring is very much defined by your own library of symbolic ideas which you have formed through living this life. So a perfect example of this would be if two people were to view something of a teacher/guru within a dream state, one may view this teacher as an old wise man, while the other may view it as more of an angel - the source (the energy) is still the same, but what is experienced is different. This viewpoint theme comes up a lot within shared dreaming, there are key elements that have to be considered, which 'sync up' but even conversations can be slightly different.
The opposite sex was always easier to make contact with, sometimes entrance into another's dream was simple, but often times it took quite a few attempts in order to 'break through' the dreaming barrier. It seems we all have a personal little bubble that go into each night, our own little universe which on the most part automatically filters out any foreign objects, but with enough determination can be broken into or (though helps with the permission of the dreamer you are trying to visit) Also how well two people recounted the dream would differ, oftentimes the dream would start the same, and then the accounts of what happened would split into two different directions - the only way I could make sense of this is that contact with another was a little like trying to tune with an old analog radio, and when static occurred our own imagination would fill in the gaps.
The more we experimented the more we found out. It seemed that we dreamt in many different layers, simultaneously, and the deeper we went the closer we got to our real 'double' /true self. Learning how to differentiate between finding the real person in my dream rather than my own self-created thoughtform became increasingly easier, not only through interaction but with a 'feeling'. So visiting the dead, or other unknown dreamers or even alien life form became simple, where once before I found it difficult to see where my own imagination/thoughtforms ended now it was clearer.
Once contact is made with a dreamer (in the dream space) that connection stays. I was once 'attacked' in the dreamspace , my mind pried open and fed a dump of images , memories and emotions. I contacted an old dreamer friend the next day to ask for advice (I had not spoken to him in a few months) and told him about the experience, he told me a little sheepishly that it was him that had done it - but not intentionally - he chose a dreamer at random, and for him it was the closest mind he found - though he did not know it was me.
Please comment on your own experiences with shared dreaming!