Could you explain further? Are there phases of dream where one can or cannot read?

I heard an old tale (pre-internet days) where dreaming happens in a different part of the brain than reading, so supposedly it isnt possible to read in a dream and thus being able to read is a litmus test of whether you're dreaming or not....but i often read during dreams so I couldnt figure it out.

Searching the internet (present day) reveals a spectrum of opinions on whether one can or cannot read during dreams (and thus whether it can be used as a litmus test for reality.) Do you know if there is a definitive opinion on this?

I suppose I can always use a totem.

IME, often the text is gibberish, or at least nonsense semantically, and/or changes as you move your eyes, especially if you look away for a moment. The same applies to eg. clocks. Details never seem to be very stable in the dream world.

i've found that to be the case for anything (not just text) in normal dreams; but one of the most surprising characteristics of lucid dreaming ive experienced is the stability -- for example in one dream i looked at a persian rug up close and could see the different colored fibres of the fabric. that said, things can certainly change dramatically and rapidly (...and now im flying!)

If you close your eyes and visualize reading a random magazine, what is in it? What do the words say? What is in the article? Can you actually read it? Is it different if it is a magazine you wouldn't usually read, like you might in a doctor's office waiting room? How about a new book?

Yes, this seems a difficult exercise, but it is exactly what your mind is against in a dream. And while a few people can read things in dreams, many cannot. Some folks can read simple signs. For me, most times, letters move around - if they are even latin letters at all. That said, sometimes I know what they say regardless. I get the illusion of reading, but not the actual experience.

Reading is sometimes a trigger for lucid dreams for me. It was unsettling at first :)

i'll also add that just "attempting" a litmus test can be a sufficient trigger for a lucid state. i'd heard about "flipping the light switch" from the film waking life. i tried it in a dream and the switch worked fine, but it was the fact that i was questioning whether i was in a dream in the first place that lead me to realize i was dreaming nevertheless (i think thats what the top comment is getting at -- strengthening these habits so that you do things like check light switches not because if they fail you know you're in a dream, but to put your mind into a state where you're always questioning whether you are awake. then you can spot the clues

I usually realize I'm dreaming when I can 'breathe underwater'

yes i'd heard the same thing -- that's actually what went through my head (in my lucid state) and convinced my dreaming brain that i was not dreaming (even though i was)! its interesting, the experience itself seemed utterly normal and convincing.

I also had a time with lots of lucid dreams and becoming conscious during sleep paralysis.

For me those things were very new and out of curiosity I often tried to verify if dream reality is some kind of "real" reality or connected to it. Among my curious quest, I also tried to read newspapers in my dreams and was also able to read pars of it, e.g headline/date. I even wrote the information down afterwards at that time (dream journal). The headline was not interesting btw and the date was in the future.

Had some dreams which I think were really interesting, maybe they are also interesting to read for you:

* becoming lucid in dream, all dark, a noise, flying towards me like a fly, emitting a sound which terrifies me to the bones. The entity comes from far distance, swiftly flying closer and closer whirling like mad around me. Had this dream multiple times - till I decided in real life that I should stop being afraid of imaginary noises in dreams. Next time the dream came up I remembered my decision and I tried to not panic with all my courage and it worked. First few times this dreams occurred, when the noise approached, I woke/sprung up from sleep which so much sheer panic, I did not believe I was able to feel so much fear/panic (sweaty + heart beats like crazy). * flying through a purple tunnel (like near death experience), while flying through (I could influence speed), my body was shaking as if in roller-coaster (but not my real body was shaking, since I was aware of it), it felt like something within my body was shaking, which was not muscles/bones, also feeling like my body was charging up with some kind of electricity. I could control the speed, finally reached end of tunnel, saw sky, mountains, nice landscape: since I was lucid, I thought: "Wait, am I going to die now?" -> I then hesitated to go further, the tunnel dissolved in a million threads and I woke up. * becoming lucid in a dream, with a new kind of peaceful mind-state, I felt like void, but was still aware of existing/being (everything was dark, I did not identify as something, but still was aware). A desire to "wish" something came up and with it my nice mind-state was broken and the wished scenery appeared. At the same time I felt, that my control/awareness of the dream diminished, till it was completely gone. In hindsight, I came up with the theory, that a dreaming-mind without desire (Scale: longing <---> fearing) is complete and aware (but nothing is there, no self, but still awareness). It splits up as desire arises and creates two halves: the desired (observed) scenery and the observer. I wonder if spiritual/religions people learned their theories from lucid dreams: at least for me this would make sense to me. * lucid dreams where I felt my body in bed and small orbs flying through my body, as the flew through, voices appeared in my head and some of the orbs tried to take my body resp. pushed me awareness out. I resisted and woke up. (After this dreams I thought I might have some schizophrenic disorder) * same dream as above, this time a wasp tried to enter my head, as it was trying to enter my head, I heard millions of voices talking at the same time. (Waking up -> schizophrenic disorder barometer rises) * waking up and for about 5 sec. had no memory of who I am, where I am, what this is all about what I am seeing. Very strange experience, like being completely out of this world. Had this 2 times (After each time, slight concerns that something might not be ok with my brain/circulation). * Impressing art dream: looking at ancient stone bridge, which was made of thousands of horses emerging out of each other like a wave (sculptured horses), similar to the painting from "The Great Wave" from Kanagawa. The bridge was broken in the middle. * Many dreams with fake awakening, also some with >5 times in a row and aware in paralysis. It often happened to me that I fell back to sleep with increased body awareness. Most of the time I then dreams to rob through a desert with numb limbs trying to move on and fighting to open my heavy eyelids. In such meta-state, heavy eyelids resp. problems opening my eyes seeing something was dominant. Often I could really see, what was around me, but my eyes were not focused and I misinterpreted the image I was perceiving. * Some dreams where I saw things from the future, e.g. I once dreamed about a scenery where I saw people with some kin of liquid space suite. They turned it on and I was impressed to see such superb sci-fi suits with such cool effects when activating them. Turns out, weeks later, I went to the cinema and saw the scenery in some superman movie. Critic: does brain gave me false memories about it? Did I unconsciously see some trailer and then had a dream about it?

Things I assume could have triggered my lucid dreams: * bad nutrition (fast food, almost just microwave food) * noisy room (under my room was a street) - it was like a bridge, below street, low traffic * snoring / maybe apnea in sleep? * very dark room (closed roller blinds) * to much sleeping * to less outdoor action/interaction * meditation (focusing on a point e.g corner of wall, not letting it go, not allowing yourself to blink or to look shortly away (surely its not good for your eyes!) - after a short period of time, if you keep your eyes on a point, vision blanks out and you become blind)