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Electric Dreams Volume 13 Issue 11
E.l.e.c.t.r.i.c D.r.e.a.m.s
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E.l.e.c.t.r.i.c D.r.e.a.m.s
Volume #13 Issue #11
November 2006
ISSN# 1089 4284
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Electric Dreams: http://www.dreamgate.com/electric-dreams
Cover: http://dreamgate.hypermart.net/ed-covers/ed13-11cov.jpg
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C O N T E N T S
++ Editor's Notes
Richard Wilkerson
++ Global Dreaming News
Harry Bosma
++ Cover Enlightenment Garden
~and~ article, Dream Time and Art
by J. Myztico Campo
++ Column: An Excerpt from the Lucid Dream Exchange
Lucy Gillis Editor
An Interview with a Lucid Dreamer
By Robert Waggoner
Responses (c) Don Middendorf
++ Column: The View World Dreams Peace Bridge
Joy Creates a Mystery
Jean Campbell
++ Dreams: Schwartzchild Limit
~and~
The Never
Stan Kulikowski II
++ Column: Electing to Dream
DreamRePlay with David Jenkins, PhD
++ Column: A Worlds Dreams
Steven Baughman
++ DREAM SECTION: Kat Peters-Midland
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D E A D L I N E :
Send articles and news in by Nov 15th, 06 for the Dec issue
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Post Dreams and Comments on Dreams to:
http://www.dreamgate.com/dream/temple
Send news, events, workshops, conferences& reviews to
Harry Bosma <ed-news@alquinte.com>
Send Articles, news and other items to:
Richard Wilkerson: <rcwilk@dreamgate.com>
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Editor's Notes
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Welcome to the November 2006 issue of Electric Dreams, your portal to dreams and
dreamwork online.
If you are new to dreams and dreamwork, there are a few e-lists where Electric Dreams
people seems to congregate that might interest you. One is
dreamchatters@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe by going here and registering
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dreamchatters/
.. and another is the IASD bulletin board. Please, no dreams interpreted here, just
discussion of dreaming and dreamwork topics.
http://www.asdreams.org/subidxdiscussionsbboard.htm
In this issue:
Global Dreaming News editor Harry Bosma, brings you dream news and events from
around the world, online and offline. If you have dream news you want to get out, please
send those to Harry for next months publication at ed-news@alquinte.com
From Lucy Gillis an the Lucid Dream Exchange (LDE), we have an interview conducted
by Robert Waggoner. Lucid dreamer Don Middendof is interviewed about his beliefs on
lucid dreaming and how dream and life enhance one another. While not dreaming, he
teaches classes in physics, psychology, and philosophy at a liberal arts college in the
Northwestern part of the U.S.
Jean Campbell returns to the View, an ongoing summary and discussion about events that
take place in the online/offline global World Dreams Peace Bridge. Jean discusses her
presentation of the Bridge in Berkeley in October and gives an example of how the
Bridge members dream together, both with and for other people.
May thanks to a regular contributor to EDreams, Linda Lane Magallón. She is taking
some time off to develop some other dream related projects.
Two unique dream journal entries from Stan Kulikowski II,
Schwartzchild Limit ~and~ The Never. If you have dreams you would like
published, please enter them in the form at
http://dreamgate.com/forms/dream_flow.htm
Regardless of your political views, there is so much media focus on the upcoming
November 7th elections, that it would be close to impossible for your Waking-self not to
notice. But how about your Dream-self? Read Electing to Dream, part of the weekly
DreamRePlay series with David Jenkins, PhD
Every think it would be nice to just be able to pick up a phone in the morning and tell
your dream to your journal, and then have that journal automatically available online?
Well that part of a developing project by Steven Baughman and his group, who are
putting this all together as we sleep. Read more about this in A Worlds Dreams.
Speaking of dreams, what do these things have in common - Getting stuck on a broken
bridge, a falling elevator, and throwing snakes? Only one thing, the Electric Dreams
Dream Section with Kat Peters-Midland!
Get your own dream published on Electric Dreams by submitting at
Dreamgate.com/dream/temple
Janet Garrett archives past issues so you can search out specific articles and authors in an
easy-to-access format. These articles contain a wide range of information for dreamers
and dreamworkers. You can see her work progress and view hundreds of article on
dreams at: http://www.improverse.com/ed-articles/index.htm
Cover by Myztico - Garden of Enlightenment
http://dreamgate.hypermart.net/ed-covers/ed13-11cov.jpg
Which includes an article Dream Time and Art
The Dream Institute of Northern California didnt get their November Schedule in, but if
you are in the Bay Area, please watch for programs this month at
http://dreamtalk.hypermart.net/bb2005/viewtopic.php?t=160
--------------------
For those of you who are new to dreamwork,
be sure to stop by one of the many resources:
http://dreamgate.com/electric-dreams
http://dreamgate.com/dream/library
http://dreamunit.net/news-en/
Electric Dreams in PDF: (thanks to Nick Cumbo)
http://electric.dreamofpeace.net/
--------------------
From Planet Dream,
-Richard Wilkerson
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G L O B A L D R E A M I N G N E W S
November 2006
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Email all dream news to Harry Bosma at his special ed-news@alquinte.com address.
Online:
- Dream Video of the Month
- Bag O' Dreams software
- A Month In Pictures
Physical world:
- Oregon: Dream groups starting!
- California: Early Registration IASD Conference
- California: Workshop with Mary Brill
- Belgium: training and courses
Books, movies, research:
- LaBerge: special book / cd offer
- Harthan: Working the Nightshift
- Mallon: 'In Your Dreams' at Channel 4
- Documentary on Lucid Dreaming (DVD)
Reminders:
- Various calenders
- Strephon Says: Podcasts and blog
- Ritual DaFuMu for Peace
* * * ONLINE * * *
---
- Dream Video of the Month
---
Creating and sharing videos is now easier than ever before. What are dreamers putting
online? Here's a sample:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTyhioAWW6Q
Have you found other dream videos, or created your own, let us know!
---
- Bag O' Dreams software
---
Bag O' Dreams is an application for the exploration of dreams. It allows you to search for
words and phrases in a set of dreams. It also creates a term-document model of a set of
dreams which lets you identify features and themes which can't be found by simple
keyword-type searches. The use of automatic clustering techniques lets you to find
themes without specifying what they are ahead of time. Profiling techniques make
specific predictions about the gender, age, family and marital status of a dreamer.
Traditional forms of dream interpretation are supported by the ability to tag (color
highlight) dream elements from different categories; words describing characters,
emotions, settings, objects and actions. The built in dictionary and optional thesaurus
allow you find possible associations and idiomatic expressions relevant to these elements.
Built in lists of search strings help you quickly identify typical dream themes such as
flying, loosing teeth or being chased. These lists can all be customized to suit your needs.
Statistical measures help identify elements and themes which are over-represented or
under-represented in a cluster of dreams. These can be used to test a theory of dreaming
when it makes specific predictions about dream content for a particular theme.
For the latest changes please see here:
http://kitchen-sync.com/bag/history.html
For some information on the Quick Profile Report:
http://kitchen-sync.com/bag/quickprofile.html
Bag O' Dreams requires the current version of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). A
new build of Bag O' Dreams can be downloaded here:
http://kitchen-sync.com/bag/download.html
---
- A Month In Pictures
---
Now that we all have digital photo camera's, and an abundance of imagery already
available on the internet, what can we do with that?
Inspired by Laura Atkinson's "A Dream - A Day", presented at the last Psiber Dreaming
Conference, and Aad van Ouwerkerk's new book "Droomwerk" (sorry, that's Dutch), I
started "A Month In Pictures". The plan is to pick or create an image a day based on a
dream.
It's a completely personal project, but I imagine that more people are doing projects like
this, or might perhaps be interested in doing something like this with a group. I'd be
interested to hear about that.
http://alquinte.com/en/in_pictures
Harry
ed-news@alquinte.com
* * * PHYSICAL WORLD * * *
---
- Oregon: Dream groups starting!
---
Former Global Dreaming News editor and webmaster of the much admired Dream Tree
website Peggy Coats is announcing the start of various dream groups, in Portland,
Oregon. The Dream Sharing starts November 1st. The Monthly Dream Book Club will
start in January 2007, and the Dream Method Practice Group will start in February. For
more information, please visit the website.
http://www.dreamtree.com
---
- California: Early Registration IASD Conference
---
24th Annual Conference
International Association for the Study of Dreams
29 June to 3 July 2007
Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California
Early registration has started! Visit the website for more information:
http://asdreams.org/2007
---
- California: Workshop with Mary Brill
---
Transitions and Transformations - Using dreams as your guide
With Mary Brill, LCSW
* Saturday, November 18, 2006
* Fee: $95
* Time: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
* Location: Spirit in the Arts, 650 El Camino Boulevard in North Sacramento (enter
building from the parking lot and go upstairs)
* Contact Jaymee by phone 916-498-9588, or email jaykjell@aol.com for registration
* Bring a bag lunch. Coffee and snacks will be provided.
This one day workshop will focus on the use of dreams for guidance, making life changes
and transformation. Learn to develop an on-going practice of dream recording, mapping,
exploration, high adventure, imagination and self discovery through the use of your
dreams and the dreams of others.
Research indicates that the use of dream interpretation quickens an individuals ability to
make rapid changes, work through resistance and blocks, and access inner resources. It is
perhaps one of our most under-utilized and underdeveloped resources and yet, has the
potential for deep introspection and profound change.
You need no experience in dream work to attend. The only essential ingredient for
participation is an open mind! Bring a notebook, pen, and your dreams.
Mary Brill is an experienced psychotherapist practicing in Northern California. She leads
national and international seminars and tours focused on personal growth, dreams,
feminine wisdom, and spirituality. She is known for her unique ability to tame the inner
critic and foster self acceptance.
---
- Belgium: training and courses
---
The dream center De Gulden Snede considers dreamwork as the original foundation of all
therapy, and would like to see dreamwork become wider known by offering training and
courses. De Gulden Snede has four teachers of its own, as well as two guest teachers.
Much of the work done by De Gulden Snede is inspired by Dr. Maarten Lietaert
Peerbolte, as well as by a variety of other influences.
December 7th, a presentation will be held on Dream Analysis As Incarnation Process.
More information is available at the website:
http://www.guldensnede.be
* * * BOOKS, MOVIES, RESEARCH * * *
---
- LaBerge: special book / cd offer
---
Lucid Dreaming: A Concise Guide To Awakening In Your Dreams And In Your Life
by Stephen LaBerge (Sounds True: Boulder, 2004)
Is this a dream book, a dream offer, or just a dream dream? An introduction and practical
guide highlighting the potentials, applications, and various approaches for lucid dreaming
at will. Book includes a CD with Trance Induction of Lucid Dreaming and other
techniques. Use the link below for a special discount offer direct from the publisher at the
lowest-ever price: US $9.30 (You save $10.65, more than 50% off list price). Note that
the full discount is shown on check-out only. If you are buying more than one copy,
please ask for the full discount in the checkout comments box.
Order here: http://snipurl.com/ldcd2
Lucidity Institute: http://lucidity.com
---
- Harthan: Working the Nightshift
---
Working the Nightshift How To Understand Your Dreams
by Dr. Joan C. Harthan (Paperback - Sept.2005)
As well as giving a comprehensive background to the history of dreams, and how the
modern world views them, this book guides the reader, step by step, through ten effective
dream analysis techniques.
You created your dream, only you can know what it means. But interpreting your dreams
is a challenge. It involves being open to learning things about yourself that you may
prefer not to know. When you investigate your dreaming life, you are examining the real
'you' that hides behind the façade that you present to the world, (and sometimes
yourself!). It takes courage to delve this deeply, but there are rewards at the end.
Conscious interaction with the world of dreams can not only help us to understand
ourselves but can help us to use that knowledge to make profound changes in our life.
The fact is that the blueprint for your life can be found in your dreams. Most dreams are
creative solutions to life's problems and can be used to write a new life story for yourself.
They show you what really makes you happy and suggest ways in which happiness can
be achieved. This knowledge can then be used to bring good things into your life and
eliminate those things that aren't working.
http://www.docdreamuk.com
---
- Mallon: 'In Your Dreams' at Channel 4
---
Contacting you from England. I have just finished filming another five short films 'In
Your Dreams' for Channel 4 TV which will be shown in November. This time I had the
great pleasure of interviewing Robin Gibb of the famous Bee Gees, Jennie Bond, former
Royal Correspondent for the BBc, Gail Porter, TV presenter, Carol Smillie, TV presented
and James Hewitt, who, for five years, was the lover of Diana, Princess of Wales.
As ever their dreams were revealing and fascinating. And for Robin Gibb his dreams
were the source of many melodies which were sold all around the world, including
Massachusetts and Jive Talking.
Kindest regards,
Brenda
www.brendamallon.com
---
- Documentary on Lucid Dreaming (DVD)
---
Explorers of the dream world are called Oneironauts. They use lucid dreams to
consciously enter into a world created by their mind. A lucid dream is a dream in which
the dreamer becomes aware that he or she is dreaming without waking up from the
dream. It is a skill which can be learned and experienced by anyone. This documentary
DVD will cover the scientific, psychological, and spiritual aspects of lucid dreaming.
Interviews include world renowned dream researchers such as Dr. Stephen LaBerge from
Sanford University, Dr. Fariba Bogzaran from the Lucid Art Foundation, Keelin from the
Lucidity Institute, and Dr. Alan Wallace a Tibetan Buddhist Scholar from the Santa
Barbara Institute of Consciousness Studies. These experts share discoveries and wisdom
they have gained from their exploration of lucid dreaming.
http://www.luciddreamexplorers.com/
* * * REMINDERS * * *
---
- Various calenders
---
Nicole Gratton (Canada):
http://www.nicole-gratton.com/calendrier_01.htm
Robert Moss (USA):
http://mossdreams.com/xcalendar.htm
Victoria Rabinowe (California):
http://victoriadreams.blogspot.com
Jeremy Taylor (California):
www.jeremytaylor.com/pages/schedule.html
---
- Strephon Says: Podcasts and blog
---
Strephon Kaplan-Williams is an international expert on dreams and the new dreamwork,
as reflected in his many books over the years. Now in retirement age Strephon gives his
podcasts and continues to write new books.
http://strephonsays.com
---
- Ritual DaFuMu for Peace
---
The World Dreams Peace Bridge, on the 15th of each month, is holding a monthly
DaFuMu - a collective dream of good fortune - to support peace.
For more information go to:
http://www.worlddreamspeacebridge.org/dafumumonthly.htm
To join the World Dreams Peace Bridge discussion group, just send an e-mail to
worlddreams-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .
END NEWS ================================================
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Cover: "Enlightenment Garden"
~and~
Dream Time and Art
by J. Myztico Campo
http://dreamgate.hypermart.net/ed-covers/ed13-11cov.jpg
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To live is to Dream, to die is to Awaken, this thought has always fascinated me for as
long as I can remember. As a child my dreams were very vivid, full of prehistoric
creatures, vivid past life recollections, flying dreams all in vivid colors. These dreams
fuelled most of my waking imagination and my creative process was informed from these
surreal images. I remember as I grew older my dreams became more lucid, things were
happening in my dreams that later appeared in my waking life on a rather consistent
basis. Some may call these Déjà vu, to me it seemed like these dreams were trying to
show me glimpses of the future before it actually happened which I found rather eerie yet
completely mind boggling.
As I got deeper into the creative process that included painting/music/filmmaking and
writing, dreams continued to be a major source of inspiration and influence on my
waking life. At times I preferred the dream state than the waking state of mind. In the
dream world possibilities are endless where as in the waking state there are so many
restrictions placed upon us by questionable governments, societies, organized religions
and expectations as to where we should be within our aging timelines.
A lot of my art work (about 90%) arises from visions I witness during my dreamtimes. I
always pay close attention to my dreams. Some are much more vivid than others as I try
to be as lucid as possible during them. In the particular case of Enlightment Garden that
appears in this months Electric Dreams cover I had this vision during a particularly vivid
dream. I was walking in an incredible garden where the trees were whispering
conversations to each other. As they carried on with their conversations the trunks of the
trees were turning into these stunning stained glass mosaics. Blooming from their
branches were these stunning purple hearts and scattered eternal flames burning
intensely. A further walk through this garden led me to an interdimensional portal that
transcended time, space and the material world. I was greeted by 2 intensely glowing
spirits whom communicated with me telepathically.
They told me that our so-called world leaders were drawing humanity closer to the end
of times unnecessarily. Due mostly to ignorance, greed and the need to control the masses
under a dark cloud of deceptions. If humanity was to evolve over the next 100 years we
the people of this world need to place extra close attention to the way we are being
governed. I remember asking them what would be the best non-violent manner in which
to create these changes to affect positive change for our world. The answer was
surprisingly simple yet rang so true. They said humanity needs to AWAKEN from a
long slumber caused by mass brain washing and historical deceptions. To realize we are
purposely distracted daily by outer influences that keep us away from our true
evolutionary potentials therefore keeping all of us oppressed by a minority few.
With that said these spirits embraced me and then proceeded to walk through the portal
hand in hand until they assimilated and became one with eternal space. The portal
imploded, the garden morphed into a ravaged war torn city with body parts strewn all
over wreckage of what once were homes and businesses. A crying child
with half a torso crawled toward me shedding tears of blood and said, Will we ever have
PEACE?
I woke up in tears, sketched out the garden scene on a pad and proceeded to
paint the dream that very day.
To see more of Myzticos work. Please visit his website at:
http://myztico.mosaicglobe.com
About the Artist; J. Myztico Campo is a Cuban born, NYC raised self taught Visionary
Surrealist whose work has been displayed in various galleries in the U.S. He has a variety
of creative passions besides painting that involves music/filmmaking/murals/poetry &
photography. To see and hear more of Myzticos work visit his website:
http://myztico.mosaicglobe.com
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An Excerpt From The Lucid Dream Exchange
By Lucy Gillis
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An Interview with a Lucid Dreamer
By Robert Waggoner
Responses (c) Don Middendorf
Lucid dreamer, Don Middendorf, believes that lucid dreaming helps enhance lucid living
(and vice versa). He explores the dreaming (and waking) worlds with the goal of
becoming more conscious of the reality-creation process.
His goals for his lucid dream excursions are to become more familiar with his own
psyche as well as other states of consciousness and existence - and perhaps most
importantly, to have fun. While not dreaming, he teaches classes in physics, psychology,
and philosophy at a liberal arts college in the Northwestern part of the U.S.
Robert: Can you recall your first lucid dream experience? Please, tell us about that.
As a child, I would occasionally realize that a fearful dream was "just a dream" and wake
myself up. I can only recall a couple of times when I was able to tell myself that I was
dreaming and continue dreaming. I also remember a number of dreams in which I would
sort of know it was a dream and that I could fly if I could push off a particular spot in the
alley or hold my legs up as I floated down the long hill that I lived on. I think that I
thought of these dreams more as "that reality in which I can fly" rather than as
recognizing them as lucid dreams. I'm hesitant to say much more about my childhood
memories because I can't be sure my recall is accurate.
(The reconstruction of memories of the past based on current beliefs is a hot research
field right now.)
Robert: When did you first learn about conscious dreaming or lucid dreaming?
What about that lucid dreaming experience (or those early experiences) did you find
interesting?
I first learned about manipulating the dream environment from reading Seth Speaks in
1974. Immediately after reading that book, I often awoke remembering that I had been
lucid, but with little or no recall of the actual dream. The first fully lucid dream that I can
remember now occurred about a year later and I became lucid when I found myself
floating above my bed and bumping into the ceiling. I knew my body was asleep and this
was a dream but I wondered if I was also out-of-body so I looked out the window. I saw a
parking lot instead of the field that I knew was there in waking reality. At the time, I
believed that out-of-body experiences would take place in the waking-world setting, so
my dreaming self was puzzled by the clear feeling of being out-of-body, yet the certain
knowledge that this was a dream.
For several years afterwards, I was always trying to come up with some model that
included a clear distinction between lucid dreams and out-of-body experiences. I think
the desire to understand the distinction helped me have many lucid dreams. Whenever I
would read another author's ideas on the subject and start to believe that view, I would
have a lucid dream in which my dreaming self found some reason to reject that model. I
think a good model is a wonderful thing, but a good question leads to more interesting
experiences.
Robert: At that time, what methods did you use to bring conscious awareness into the
dream state? Has that changed over the years?
During the day, I would use a belief-changing exercise about being able to become lucid
in my dreams or have out-of-body experiences. Then I would use similar pre-sleep
suggestions. I was highly motivated so I did this almost every night. I still use and believe
in suggestions, but I tend to just let lucidity come when it does. I've noticed that I usually
have a couple of nights of non-lucid or semi-lucid flying dreams before a series of lucid
dreams, so I often just wait until I have flying dreams and then suggest for lucidity. One
other "method" that I use now is to keep a list of "cool" dreams in the back of my dream
notebook. When I want to induce a lucid dream, I'll re-read a number of previous lucid or
nearly-lucid flying dreams and that seems to spark the awareness of lucidity. At times in
the past, I've also had some success with the approach of asking "Is this a dream?"
frequently throughout the day. Jayne Gackenbach's research suggested that meditation
was highly correlated with lucid dreaming and I've noticed that this seems to be true for
me in those times when I have been able to make it a regular practice.
Robert: As you had more lucid dreams, were there any lucid dreams that made a deep
impression on you? Tell us about them.
For the last decade or so, I've been fascinated by merging my dream body with "matter"
in the dream. I noticed that several people in your survey (LDE #27, June 2003) said
something similar as well as one of your previous interviews. My dreaming self seems to
be the one driving this experience. In one lucid dream, I remembered my waking
suggestion to talk with my inner self about a specific problem and my dreaming self
gently (but firmly) over-rode my waking desires to try experiments moving my hand and
body through walls.
As mentioned by several of those interviewed in previous LDE interviews, some of the
most profound experiences I've had while lucid are when I remember my desire to talk
with my inner self about my purposes in life (or to "seek the highest"). In one, I became
completely sure that everything and everyone in the dream was me. The feeling was so
overwhelming that I was deeply disappointed when I awoke to the seemingly flat waking
reality. In telling this dream, I want to edit the statement and say I was sure everything in
the dream was related to me in some deep way, but the actual feeling in the dream wasn't
about relations between me and the other things or people, it was an experience of
complete subjectivity - united whole.
There was simply no distinction between "other" and "me" even though there was a
spatial location from which the scene was viewed.
Robert: Interesting! What did you take from this lucid dream experience/s?
What did it come to mean to you?
I think such transcendent experiences (whether waking, dreaming, or
meditating) remind us of our basic subjective nature as expressions of All That Is.
Robert: As a professor teaching a class on Dreams, Memory and Consciousness, you
must have discussed the paradoxical nature of lucid dreaming, inasmuch as one develops
conscious awareness in the (apparently unconscious) dream state. What issues did lucid
dreaming bring to a classroom study of consciousness?
Quite a few students who enroll in such a year-long program have already had some
experience with altered states of consciousness. A few have had lucid dreams and I
encourage them to tell the class about their experiences - primarily to encourage the
excitement about the fun activities one can pursue while lucid. My goal is to have them
experience the nature of consciousness rather than just read the theories we have
constructed about it. I think that lucid dreaming is the safest and most easily accessed
"altered" state. For students studying consciousness, I think the most important take-
home point of their first few lucid dreams is that consciousness is much more flexible and
has greater potential than many of our current models allow. While suggesting to have
lucid dreams, one student had several out-of-body experiences. When we got to the part
of the consciousness text discussing the strictly biological models of consciousness, she
could state from her own experience that these models were incorrect or at least quite
incomplete.
Robert: Had many of the college students experienced lucid dreams? What questions did
they bring forward about lucid dreaming and the nature of consciousness? What did
consciously being aware in the dream state suggest to them?
I think about 30 out of 75 students had lucid dreams during this past year.
Some had lucid dreams prior to the class, but for many it was their first. I started talking
about lucid dreams early in the year and encouraged students to tell the class when they
had a "cool" dream. It also helped that they read about the scientific experiments
"proving" that lucid dreams do exist and it really helped having visitors who discussed
their own exciting experiences with lucid dreams. (Thanks to Robert for sharing his
enthusiasm this year!) From my perspective, it changed the nature of the question, "What
is consciousness?" for everyone in the class because even those who didn't have a lucid
dream heard many experiences from their friends. I think this "loosened" the beliefs of
the class as a whole about other "paranormal" experiences. I used lucid dreams as an
example of experiences that were considered "fringe" or "paranormal" but are now
included as part of "legitimate" science (of course, even non-lucid dreams could fall in
this category). Of course, most of the students had pure-fun type of lucid dreams such as
flying that we just enjoy. I think these kinds of experiences hint at the possibilities and
encourage students to try experimenting with what may be possible in the dream state -
such as problem solving, or out-of-body experiences or interactions with departed
relatives or probable selves. I can recall several students over the years who had a lucid
dream that helped change their beliefs in the nature of reality, but I think and hope that I
only see the beginning of such a change. It probably takes more than a year or a summer
(and more than a single dream) to do so. I hope the experience of lucid dreaming helps
them to realize that they can use a subjective approach to studying their own
consciousness without relying exclusively on the studies done by experts. It makes me
happy when a student tells me that he or she no longer feels a need to use drugs to reach
altered states because the lucid dreaming state is better in some way. It also pleases me
when a student expresses a self-discovered conclusion about some of the nonsense
spouted by researchers in consciousness studies who have clearly denied themselves from
having any real experiences with consciousness from the inside.
Robert: Did your students have any experiences with lucid dreams that surprised you?
Tell us about that?
A number of years ago, the students arranged to have a class meeting in the dream state
without telling me. The organizers told their peers to focus on a candle before sleep and
then come to a dream bonfire on campus bringing a particular secret object to show any
others who managed to show up. Three or four students were able to induce lucidity that
night and remember to go to the dream bonfire and had many tantalizing near-misses
with other students.
For example, Joe saw Mary who was asking about Steve while Mary dreamt of hanging
out with Joe and Steve. (I made that last sentence up just to show the kinds of interactions
they had. I never collect students' dreams.) I was completely surprised at their success in
a single trial at mutual dreaming. In a similar trial this past year, only one student was
fully lucid on the night, but she actively sought out specific students in the class and one
or two of these other students had non-lucid dreams with her. Over the years, several
students have had transcendent experiences and a few have life-changing or belief-
changing lucid dreams or out-of-body experiences.
Robert: For some of us, lucid dreaming provides experiences that make us question the
nature of reality, and look to theoretical physics for possible answers. Do you find this in
your own lucid dreaming experience? Are there aspects of lucid dreaming which might
touch on principles of consciousness or theoretical physics?
Oh my Robert, it would take several books and maybe several lifetimes to answer that
question fully! I use the models and observations of modern physics to show students that
some of the concepts that they think of as absolute facts about bedrock reality might be
less clear-cut than they think. I particularly like to bring up the nature of time in relativity
and to discuss the use of multiple universe models in current cosmology and quantum
theory. I also like to shake up the standard view that objects have observer-independent
properties by discussing the predictions and observations of wave-particle duality. I
decided to do graduate work in physics rather than biology because I wanted to
understand the profound discussion of consciousness in Jane Roberts' books which relied
heavily on physics. However, I cringe when students or people at conferences tell me that
my discussion of some of the theories of modern physics have proved to them that their
unconventional beliefs about the nature of reality are correct. It's not that I object to their
unconventional beliefs, but to their reliance on the evidence of others - in this case the
experiments and theories of modern physics. Ken Wilber has pointed out that almost all
of the founders of modern physics were mystics, but none wanted their mystical views
based on their physics - partly because they all knew that whatever models we use in
physics will change over the next hundred years. However, they hoped that their mystical
views would remain "true" even if the strange new views of physical reality evolved into
something even stranger in the future. Despite that caveat, I have to enthusiastically agree
with your suggestion that lucid dreaming will help us understand the nature of reality
- including consciousness and theoretical physics. Advances in theoretical physics often
go hand in hand with advances in mathematics and both are highly dependent on using
the conscious mind to reason and intuit productive new ideas. That is, we're already using
consciousness to explore the nature of physical reality and the recognition of this is
becoming more explicit. I believe that the next generation of physicists will be trained in
both meditation and lucid dreaming - because it will be more efficient (as well as more
acceptable).
I think the most interesting thing I've ever done in a lucid dream that helps in
understanding the nature of consciousness (or at least of self) was to ask myself what I
thought of my waking life while in the dream state. I can't say that I had some great
insight about my waking life, but there was quite a feeling of compassion and some
humor for the current challenges that I faced in my waking life from my dreaming self.
I've had a couple of lucid dreams in which I got a little better understanding of some
aspects of relativity or quantum theory, but I haven't had any deep insights into the nature
of physical reality. However, I think each time we become lucid, we are gaining some
experience with using our consciousness in a more facile way and that's more important
than understanding how it works. I'm still quite interested in how it works, but for now,
I'm satisfied with just increasing, lengthening, and deepening my experiences with
lucidity in both dreaming and waking life.
Robert: Things like multiple false awakenings have always interested me. I remember
one morning in which I had seven successive false awakenings, one after the other --
bam, bam, bam - by the time, I wakened in "this" reality, I literally hugged the wall and
hoped I didn't suddenly pop into a new copy of reality. Now, some people have suggested
that false awakenings simply show the "mental model" nature of consciousness, but I've
wondered, what about parallel realities? If physicists need anecdotal evidence of possible
visits to parallel realms, perhaps they should talk to experienced lucid dreamers. What do
you think about false awakenings?
Yes, I think some extremely experienced lucid dreamers could choose to repeatedly
return to particular parallel realities and explore their nature.
I don't have that level of skill, but I think some of those you've interviewed over the last
few years might. On the other hand, I think we all experience parallel (or not-so-parallel)
realities in our dreams whether lucid or not. I think the role of lucidity is then to bring
some degree of reason into the experience so that we can reflect on the experience as it
occurs while dreaming rather than simply as dream recall later. A friend told me of a
moving (non-lucid) dream in which she dreamed she was the number 8. I think that's far
enough from our waking reality as to be labeled a non-parallel reality, but still interesting.
I really don't know about false awakenings. On the one hand, my waking self always
feels that I simply missed some subtle (or not-so-subtle) cue that I wasn't back in this
reality. That is, I simply feel like I wasn't fully lucid in any of the states of dreaming or
waking. Once I'm "really" awake, it feels like I should have known I was still dreaming.
On the other hand, if a series of false awakenings indicates actual awakenings in closely
parallel realities as you suggest, it could be very hard to tell one reality from the other.
For example, if the series of parallel realities in your false awakenings differ by having
speeds of light that are tiny fractions of a percent different from each other, it might be
hard to tell when you had reached the right home reality. If the false awakenings are
actually parallel realities, a lucid dreamer might be able to consciously be aware of some
sort of internal signal that identifies this reality as home. It will take some fairly advanced
mutual lucid dreamers to figure this one out, I think.
Robert: Lately I've been working on a piece called, "Why Does an Apple Fall in a Lucid
Dream: The Physics of Lucid Dreaming." So, Don, why does the apple fall in a lucid
dream? The dreamer's expectation? The dreamer's control? Belief? Intent? The dreamer's
will?
You could also ask why the apple falls in a non-lucid dream. In fact, it may surprise you
to hear that there are still some aspects about the nature of motion and gravity in waking
reality that we (physicists) know that we do not understand. The current cosmological
models require multiple universes with many different "fundamental constants" such as
the speed of light or the strength of gravity. Only those with nearly identical constants
would resemble our waking reality even a little. So maybe the apple falls in some dreams
because we are in a reality with a similar underlying make up. I think the dreamer's
expectation and belief enter at the level of the choice for experiencing that particular
reality. However, I have never made that choice at the level of the dreamer, but I believe
it's made at the level of some inner portion of my being which I could call the Dreamer.
The Dreamer may be the part of us that allows the consensual Core Beliefs of a particular
reality (such as whether things fall) to be consistent across all observers in that reality.
This is analogous to Jung's conception of the self as being part of a grander Self that has
connections with a collective (as well as a personal) unconscious. This may seem fairly
speculative, but I think that the reader's of LDE could do an experiment in which they
choose to experience realities in which the attractive nature of mass is gone and objects
attract on the basis of color. Then, red apples would move toward other red objects, but
not necessarily downward. So, my musings on your interesting question is that it's all
about beliefs, but at a deep level, so as long as we're not over-riding the agreed-upon
setup of that reality, we don't need intent or control for an apple to fall. In waking reality,
there are good reasons not to violate the laws of the game such as gravity - it's an
ordering principle which makes it easier for our fledgling consciousness to learn and play
here. That's not to say that the anecdotal accounts of levitation will be always be false -
but my guess is that it takes a more focused will than most of us incarnates have to over-
ride the mass beliefs.
If was really adept at consciously creating my dream reality, I could violate gravity by
flying whenever I wanted. I think the same may be true in physical reality, but I believe
that becoming adept at reality creation is one of the main reasons we're here and if I was
so good at it that I could fly, I probably wouldn't have much of a reason to be here.
Robert: Have you ever thought that the psychological space called "dreaming"
deserves its own "physics"? Obviously, dreaming involves a type of psychological
physics which may not have a direct connection with the physics of the material world.
Yet lucid dreamers experience certain commonalities in "psychological space" which
suggest that the psychological space of dreaming functions on certain (yet-to-be-
enunciated) principles.
What do you think? Is the world ready to consider the physics of psychological space?
It seems I anticipated this question in my previous answer. I certainly do think the
"space" of dreams (lucid or not) is going to function on some "yet-to-be-enunciated
principles", but I think the physics will have to be based on consciousness or love as
fundamental (rather than energy) and may resemble psychology or pure mathematics
more than it resembles current physics. Well, I don't know that everyone in the world is
ready to consider what you call the physics of psychological space, but I think some are
considering it now and some have done so in the past. In fact, Carl Jung attributes his
ideas for his theory of personality to his discussions with his colleague and patient,
Wolfgang Pauli, about the new ideas in quantum theory which Pauli was helping to
develop. Jung attributes his views on introvert/extravert and feeling/sensing as
complementary aspects of a personality to the quantum notion of complementarity and
the lack of observer-independent properties in quantum objects. I've already mentioned
the Seth books twice, but I have to do so again because I think they have the best
description I've seen of the physics of this reality and others including dreaming realities.
Another part of the answer to whether dreaming deserves its own physics might be that
the scope of "dreaming reality" is far greater than waking reality. I think of dreaming as
one method of entering an infinite number of other realities - each with their own physics.
I doubt we can remember much of our experiences from any reality that is too far
removed from this one.
How would we record or even remember an experience in a reality which differed from
waking reality by even a relatively minor change like having two time dimensions?
(Although it's possible that the simultaneous dreams discussed by Lucy at the LDE
website and in LDE #35 are a reflection of that kind of reality.) I've had a few dreams
which were so ecstatic that even though I was lucid and felt that they lasted for some
"time", when I awoke, I could only write a few words about it - that failed to capture any
of the essence of the experience.
Robert: Have you had (or heard about) lucid dream experiences that shed light on the
discussion of the nature of consciousness? Tell us about those.
What kind of lucid dream experiments could move forward the understanding of the
nature of consciousness? What would you like to see?
Well, the pages of LDE are full of such experiences. I think some of the most
enlightening were the experiments on mutual lucid dreaming that you (Robert), Ed
Kellogg, and Linda Lane Magallón reported at the Association for the Study of Dreams
conference in Santa Cruz in about 1999 (and I suggest you give a summary of those
experiments at some point in a future LDE). I think mutual lucid dreaming is our best bet
at some understanding of consciousness that we can begin to call scientific. Of course, I
think our personal lucid dream experiences shed light on the characteristics and the
mobility of consciousness, and some of its potentials such as telepathy and precognition
that are not currently accepted by the majority of professionals studying consciousness in
the west.
The ecstatic "oneness" experiences that I mentioned above, the reflection on the waking
state from the dreaming state that I mentioned, and the certainty I've had in some out-of-
body experiences about the independence of consciousness from the body (and the
existence of life after death) all give me insights into the nature of consciousness that I
have personal experience with.
Robert: Thanks Don for your observations into lucid dreaming. Any parting thoughts?
It has been a real joy to watch the evolution of the LDE over the last decade. I thank you
(Robert) and Lucy for putting so much time into this (and Ruth for starting it). I can't tell
you how many flying or lucid or otherwise "cool" dreams I've had after reading the
dreams that people have shared in the LDE.
**************************************
The Lucid Dream Exchange is a quarterly newsletter featuring lucid dreams and lucid
dream related articles and interviews. To subscribe to The Lucid Dream Exchange send a
blank email to:
TheLucidDreamExchange-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
You can also check us out at www.dreaminglucid.com
********************************
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THE VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE
Joy Creates a Mystery
November 2006
Jean Campbell
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I've been suffering some role confusion lately. One of the reasons is because members of
The World Dreams Peace Bridge neglect no opportunity to gather in physical reality,
since most of our communication is done online.
On Wednesday, October 25, I kicked off the IASD Bay Area Lecture Series with a
lecture on "Group Dreaming/Dream Activism." I was happy to see an audience of
twenty-five people in the beautiful Dream Institute building in Berkeley--but there among
the IASD members (most of them being IASD members) were members of The World
Dreams Peace Bridge, a most welcome addition to the evening.
There was Jody Grundy, all the way from Cincinnati, and seated beside her, May Tung's
good friend, photographer Roxanne Worthington. Lana Nassar was there and, most
remarkably, Joy Fatooh, who had driven over the mountains from the eastern part of the
state, to meet us for the first time in waking physical reality.
All of us Peace Bridge members have a tendency to meet in dream reality, something that
has inspired me to say that the Peace Bridge discussion group is the world's longest-
lasting online dream journal and also the longest-lasting group dream experiment. In
fact, Joy became a member of the Peace Bridge due to sharing dreams with Ilkin in
Istanbul, although the two of them have yet to meet while awake.
There was much joking and laughing and hugging going on among the Peace Bridge
members in Berkeley that night, particularly when the Peace Bridge ladies discovered
that they had all been suffering similar pains in the same knee, shoulder and hip (We
hope this is not a result of dreaming together.).
Then, in the aftermath of the evening in Berkeley, in a fun-filled conversation online, Joy
proposed a mystery to the members of the Peace Bridge, and a unique use of group
dreaming.
"Just for fun," Joy wrote, "Do any of my talented and curious friends out there want to
dream up 'What happens to Joy in Albuquerque?"'
"When I was 17 years old," she went on to say, "I dreamed I experienced something very
mysterious in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I'd never been there (except for passing
through once at night on Route 66). The dream was so vivid and strange that it stayed
with me... and over the course of 20 years I gradually found out what it was that I
experienced... and thus verified that it was psi-something, but what? If it was
precognitive and it's going to happen to ME, it's taking at least 33 years to happen -
because next week I'm going to be in Albuquerque for the first time since the dream!"
This was a request to group dream about the results of a dream! No Peace Bridge
member is going to pass up this kind of a challenge, so the dreams began to come in.
Mary Pat, having joined the Bridge shortly after the recent PsiberDreaming Conference,
dreamed about Joy meeting with gnomes in Albuquerque, something that seemed very
puzzling until Joy reminded her that the Dream Telepathy conference at the
PsiberDreaming Conference where they first met involved a piece of art including
gnomes. Rita dreamed of being in Albuquerque. Jeremy, who reminded Joy that the
deadline for dreaming had already passed by his house in Seoul, Korea, sent an article
he'd found on the Internet which claimed that joyous thinking created joyous people. It
was also interesting to note that several people in the group had connections with
Albuquerque, although these connections had never come up before.
The mystery is not solved. Joy is only now on her way to Albuquerque, on her business-
related trip. But before she drove away, she left a message on the Peace Bridge list,
telling us the dream she'd had at seventeen that has stayed with her so long:
"When I was 17, I dreamed it was a calm dark night and I was rising straight up into the
open air over Albuquerque, New Mexico. Id never been to Albuquerque, other than
passing through once on Route 66. But I knew it was the lights of Albuquerque receding
below me. The visceral feeling of rising straight up, with the cool night air all around me,
was absolutely vivid and real. Looking down, far below me but high above the city lights
I saw a huge white globe glowing softly as if lit from within."
Even learning years later that Albuquerque is the Hot Air Balloon Capitol of the World
has not taken the mystery away from her dream, Joy said. "It was an unforgettable dream
from the moment I woke. So vivid! Such a gently thrilling feeling. Why Albuquerque?
Why rising straight up? How? What was the incandescent globe and how did it get to be
so high?"
What are these dreams (sometimes called high dreams, yes, or peak experiences) that so
capture our attention, and what if anything does this type of dream have teach us about
group dreaming? Tune in next month, when Joy herself has agreed to write The View
From The Bridge. Maybe she will give us some answers.
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Dream: Schwartzchild Limit
Stan Kulikowski II
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DATE : 15 oct 2006 09:52
=( yesterday was a saturday. i did not have much to do since the new scanner has not
arrived and i am waiting to scan in the pictures from my high school yearbook to
complete the dvd project i have been working on. i did ride over to visit with julius for
an hour or so and drink a couple beers. the evening was uneventful with some mediochre
videos from blockbuster. i got to sleep around 01:00 without trouble. it has finally
gotten cool enough this year for the window fan to suffice for sleeping. )=
i wake up in the office at the research lab. it is dark and i have fallen asleep with my
head upon my desk as i often do. i do not want to turn on the lights which will disturb the
few others who also often sleep here rather than go home nights when the research
requires us to put in long hours.
i have just figured out what is going on with the latest data sets from the experimental
facilities. we are getting wildly variant results from the quantum measurements of the
tomak fusion generator.
i think that we have discovered another singularity in the einstein equations. the
schwartzchild limit is the smallest radius which matter can be compressed into a neutron
star before it collapses into a black hole. at this point the equations no longer yield a
single solution but start producing infinite sets of solutions. that seems to be what has
happened to our experiments, but we have not been increasing the mass or velocity of the
object. we have been decreasing the time scale of the measurements. this should not
have changed any of the fundamental elements of the physics involved, yet the measured
results on the microscale fluctuate enormously.
it was not my job to check these calculations, but my colleague who did this job has not
reported any discrepancies from the data. i believe he must be selling results to rival
research firms. that is the only reason i can think of that he would not have told us that
there is another limit in the basic physics which results in quantum gravitational collapse.
surely he has already estimated the value of this limit, but i can do that by writing a
program loop to systematically approach the equation values where the data starts to
fluctuate. if einstein's equations do not show this singularity there, then we have found
data which requires a different form of mathmatics to represent the structure of the
universe.
i sit up straight in my desk chair and switch on my computer terminal. the usual startup
screen does not come on, but instead the monitor stays dark with just a small command
prompt at the top. what is this?
i discover that my usual keyboard has been changed for a small crappy cheap keyboard
made of black plastic. following its umbilical cord off the desktop i see that it leads to an
inexpensive dell computer sitting on the floor. someone has removed the computer i
normally use and left this one in its place. i try to see if i can launch an editor to enter my
program to do the calculations, but nothing operates as it should.
well, i must turn on the lights to see what has happened. when i do, i hear a few moans
from the others in the room who are trying to sleep here. while i slept, the room has been
stripped of most all of the equipment we normally use. we have suspected that our
project was going to be closed down for lack of funding, but it should not happen so
suddenly especially with the unexpected data coming in from the physical plant. this all
seems like industrial espionage from the top level, trying to shift the benefits of a world
shaking discovery to more profitable management.
=( awake at 09:30. i think that the term 'schwartzchild' is the right name for the limit
where the gravitational singularity is found in einstein's equations. if not, it is a name
very close to that but i have no way to look it up just now and in the dream i was
remembering 'schwartzchild' at any rate. i did read through a manuscript facsimilie of
einstein's theory of special relativity a few months ago. it was a complete handwritten
manuscript from 1912 published for the centential of his annum mirabulous of 1905. this
was before the schwartzchild singularity was recognized i believe. i have a feeling that
this research facility was at umass in amherst but the office and the people i saw here
were not any that encountered back then. i was expecting a gui interface to come up on
the computer monitor but we still had only text command prompts which i could no
longer operate for some reason. there was a bit more to this dream which did not seem
very important compared to the discovery of the new singularity, but i have lost recall of
it before i could enter it. it would not surprise me if the grand unification needed for
quantum gravitation required a reformulation of our physics but i somehow doubt that the
granularity of time is involved.
)=
--
stankuli@etherways.com
. the juvenille sea squirt wanders through the sea searching for
=== a suitable rock or hunk of coral to cling to and make its home
| | for life. for this task it has a rudimentary nervous system.
--- when it finds its spot and takes root, it doesn't need its brain
anymore so it eats it. it's rather like getting tenure.
-- Young Scientist Network, University of Washington
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DreamRePlay
David Jenkins, PhD
Electing to Dream
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Regardless of your political views, there is so much media focus on the upcoming
November 7th elections, that it would be close to impossible for your Waking-self not to
notice. But how about your Dream-self?
We don't usually dream about current events. By and large, we dream about the people
and relationships in our immediate life. Sometimes we dream about larger-than-life
characters such as movie stars, but it is rare that we go beyond that personal sphere.
Nevertheless, there are times when the dreams of entire populations share some common
themes.
After September 11, many people had dreams that referred to the World Trade Center. A
Brooklyn woman dreamed she was searching through the rubble for her childhood
security blanket. That's a very direct and, for her, painful reference. A California man
dreamed he was lost in New York on Bombay Street. Since he knew of no such street, the
pun in "Bomb Bay" indirectly suggested a fear that the San Francisco Bay might also be
bombed.
Many people responded to the Hurricane Katrina disaster with related dreams, which
ranged from being swept away by floods to cleaning up the mess.
Elections are not quite the same as disasters, but their importance can bring them into our
dreams.
Because our dreams tend to resonate with the emotions we are experiencing, you may
dream you are talking to the elected leaders you prefer and everyone is listening to you.
You might dream your side has lost the election by one vote
Don't be surprised if your dreams tell you what you want to hear. One Democrat, in 2004,
jumped the gun and dreamed:
I was napping on the sofa while my daughter watched TV to see who was winning the
election. Suddenly I awoke [in the dream] to lots of cheering and triumphant sounding
music. I asked, "Who won? Did someone win?" My daughter just sat and smiled at me.
Again I asked her, "Who won, who won? Did Kerry win?" Finally she answered me with,
"YES!!!!" We were overjoyed and started calling friends to make sure everyone knew.
John Kerry, of course, lost that election.
Summary
If you are actively involved in election campaigning, you may well be too exhausted to
dream.
If you are unsure who to vote for, maybe youll have a dream that tips the balance.
As with all dreams, consider the Dream-self as a separate person and have a conversation.
That other part of you may well have a very different slant on politics than you do.
"FOUR EXPERTS TRY TO GET INSIDE READERS' HEADS"
That's the title of a piece in last Sunday's Washington Post in which I was a featured
expert. Readers sent in dreams and several dream experts made comments on them.
I didn't think I was trying to get "into readers' heads" but I did ask the same kinds of
questions I discuss in these columns. Regular readers of my column will recognize the
"Movie method" and "Continue the dream" techniques.
DIAL-IN DREAM GROUPS
On Monday and Tuesday I will again be holding more 1-hour dream groups on a
telephone conference call.
Whether you live far away or close by, a phone group allows you to get a sense of dream
work in a very convenient way. With this new work, I hope to communicate the pleasure
and the excitement of dream work to many people.
Day: Monday November 6th
Time: 5pm-6pm Pacific Daylight Time
Dial-in Number: 620-782-2200 (Kansas)
Access Code: 707172#
And
Day: Tuesday November 7th
Time: 7pm-8pm Pacific Daylight Time
Dial-in Number: 620-782-2200 (Kansas)
Access Code: 707172#
DREAM GROUPS
The Saturday drop-in group ($20) is from 10 am to noon at 2315 Prince Street in
Berkeley. The nearest major cross street is Ashby and Telegraph. Please let me know if
you are coming.
SHARE DREAM OF THE WEEK
If you enjoy reading Dream of the Week, please tell your friends about it. They can read
back issues and subscribe (free) at DreamOfTheWeek.com.
Best wishes
David Jenkins
Dream RePlay
email: davidj@dreamreplay.com
phone: (510) 644 2369
web: http://dreamreplay.com
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A Worlds Dreams
Steven Baughman
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Hi, my name is Steven Baughman. I am a Master of Fine Arts student at Parsons School
of Design. Working with fellow student Michael Tabtabai, our thesis is exploring the
possibilities of social media in humanizing the digital experience. One approach we are
taking is trying to find the best way to represent dreams in a digital environment.
We struggled with how to actually enter the dreams into the online space. Typing in front
of a computer seemed too cold, and besides, I forget my dream literally minutes after
waking up. After exploring some other alternatives (image entry, computer generated
dreams, to name a few) we came to the obvious conclusion: voice recordings.
Last month we set up a phone number that anyone can call as they were waking up, and
record their dreams. Many people use their phone as an alarm clock, and almost everyone
has a phone on a bedside table. After the call, the dreams are then automatically
uploaded online and saved for that person, and potentially anyone, to hear. In the future
we hope to expand this site to allow users to login, save and sort their recordings, control
who can listen to their dreams, and connect to people
through their dreams. We're hoping
soon to expand the project internationally by setting up some numbers in the UK, France,
and Germany.
Truthfully, we don't know much about the specifics of dream theory. We only recently
started getting into the subject, and have now been recording our dreams for a couple
months. I love listening to my dreams later in the day, and often find myself amazed at
the things I said just a few hours prior. Yet, I really enjoy listening to people talk about
their dreams. They are so intimate. There is such a lack of *voice* in a digital
environment, I find it refreshing to listen to someone speaking to me as if I was a good
friend sharing a moment (and morning voices are sometimes really funny too!).
For the next few months I will do my best to keep you updated on new developments,
and highlight some of my favorite dream recordings. I hope you'll take some time to
listen to a few, leave some comments, and give us feedback about how to expand upon
this idea.
Steven Baughman
steve@iworkinprogress.com
For more info, please visit: http://a.parsons.edu/~famouser/dreamers
To record a dream, call: 347-404-5094.
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** DREAMS ** DREAMS ** DREAMS ** DREAMS ** DREAMS ** DREAMS
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Getting stuck on a broken bridge, a falling elevator, and throwing snakes; must be the
Electric Dreams Dream Section with Kat Peters-Midland!
Get your own dream published on Electric Dreams by submitting at
Dreamgate.com/dream/temple
Dream title: One Strange Day!
Dream date: 9/21/06
Dreamer name: Sleeping4dreams
Dream text: I was driving down a mountain freeway, in a small white car, with my kids
& my dogs. My husband was following us in our truck. The freeway was a one way road.
There was a yellow Ferrari behind us, and this person was driving crazy. This person
was weaving in & out of traffic at a high speed. The yellow Ferrari passed my husband,
and was now behind me, right on my tail. I was frightened due to the fact the roads were
very narrow, and the car was right on my tail. Just then, the car made a pass around me,
I could then see that it was only one person in the car - a young man. As he passed me he
side swiped the tail end of my car, spinning me into the guard rail on the freeway. His car
however went over the mountains edge.
My husband came rushing to my car, and I was pinned in, I could not move. I remember
asking if everyone was alright, and they were. I passed out at that moment. When I
opened my eyes, I could see lights rushing by me. I was in a hospital being rushed to
surgery, I heard the Dr. "get her into surgery stat!"
The next time I opened my eyes, I was in a room all by myself. I heard a heart machine,
and I was connected to IV's. I was all alone. I looked around the room, and discovered a
bathroom. I went into the bathroom, still attached to IV's, and looked into the mirror.
My face was covered in gauze and bandages. I started to take off the wrapping, and
discovered that my nose looked funny. I touched it, and it the whole top layer of skin and
bone fell off into the sink. I freaked out.
I immediately left the hospital still attached to my IV's, and I had wrapped towels from
the hospital around my face. To my surprise, there was a Walmart next door to the
hospital.
I went inside the store, and went to the bandage aisle so I could rewrap my nose. I
couldn't believe it but my oldest son was there. I asked him what he was doing, but he
asked me why wasn't I in the hospital? I in return asked why I was by myself in there. He
told me that, my family had just left from visiting me and that I had been in a coma for 2
weeks!!!
He then saw my face, and said oh no it fell off. I said what did, of course he said "your
nose mom." I had him take me home. When I walked in my husbands eyes got huge. He
said "how did you get out?" I told him I left. To my surprise, he told me I had to go
back and that I was being charged for the murder of the young man in the yellow Ferrari.
Dream comments: I was very shaken up by this dream.
Dream title: Religious
Dream date: 15/05/06
Dreamer name: anonymous
Dream text: I was pregnant with a holy baby the baby must be born in holy water. It was
also very important that I look after this baby well because its holy and gods child. I
gave birth to the baby and it was a boy and it was born in a church. The church had
mostly green and blue as colors. I was walking down the stairs to have the baby and there
were also newspapers about me and my baby. I was reading the news paper in my
dream.
Dream comments: The dream felt so real. I can still feel the water around me and the
coldness of the steps.
Dream title: Stuck on breaking bridge over ocean
Dream date: 10/15/06
Dreamer name: ML
Dream text: I am on a one-way bridge. The bridge is very long and narrow, and stretches
out into a dark ocean. The end of the bridge has broken off, and traffic becomes stuck on
the bridge. I can not move forward or backward because of cars. There is no land insight.
Then the bridge begins to shake towards the end of the dream because its breaking.
Dream comments: I keep having a reoccurring dream that I am stuck on a one-way bridge
with the same details.
Dream title: Elevator Terror
Dream date: 10-01-06
Dreamer name: Dreamer
Dream text: I was getting in an elevator that was quite narrow on the inside and 2 other
people besides me were getting on. We all pushed our buttons for the floor that we
wanted to get to. I noticed mine was the highest floor of all of us. After the last person
got off, I began my journey to my floor, which seemed like forever to get to. I noticed the
higher the elevator traveled, the faster it went. It finally stopped at my floor and just when
I was about to get off; it started to fall all the way down the way it came. I could feel
myself really falling in my dream. All I could do was pray.
Dream comments: I have dreams that I'm falling often. Maybe three times in a month. I
never seem to hit bottom though or at least I don't remember that part of it.
Dream title: my dad enters my dreams
Dream date: 10/ 07 /06
Dreamer name: FN
Dream text: My dad enters in the room. My dad reminds me of past event when he
attacked me and made me cry, when I was 10 years old. He said Im a hopeless child.
He hit me in the chest and repeated that Im hopeless and not very smart.
Dream comments: I dont like having dreams about my dead father.
Dream title: Death of a friend
Dream date: 10/10/06
Dreamer name: anonymous
Dream text: I came into my friends house, and there were many people there. I asked her
sister whats wrong and she said my friend passed away. I started screaming that it cant
be. All of a sudden some women run into the room and say shes breathing, shes alive.
Dream comments: I almost never have dreams, and tonight I had a very unusual and
scary dream. I woke up very sweaty from it.
Dream title: Snakes
Dream date: 10/ 07/ 2006
Dreamer name: Mem
Dream text: There was a party. Someone gave a gift to the celebrant and it was a snake.
Then after a few speeches, a man threw the snakes to me. Then he left with me and the
snakes in the same room.
Dream comments: is it a big deal about the snakes?
Dream title: Keyhole
Dream date: September, 28, 2006
Dreamer name: Zeasus
Dream text: I was riding on a bike down a hill, totally enjoying myself, feeling free. The
person in front of me fell. When I got to them they were falling into water that was
coming up on the stone (like a stone beach). This person was small, weak looking, and
naked. I thought he looked like a boy I knew in kindergarten named Jeremy. I put him
onto a rock and turned to an older man (father from 28 Days later, the movie). I asked
him if he would be alright and he said there was something wrong with his heart, like a
hole. But he had it too and he was still alive. I was worried about the boy on the rock and
when I looked back it was my boyfriend brushing himself off and clothed now. (He is
also named Jeremy).
Later in the dream I was walking up a square spiral staircase. When I got to the top, there
were many men were holding one of my friends in a room (I don't know him that well
and he is an old friend). I walked over and one of the other men told him a joke. For the
punch line, he punched him. My friend pretended to be knocked out and opened his left
eye (my left). When he stood back up I put a key in his right eye, turned it to the left,
back again and took it out. I then looked down these dark stairs through a door and knew
he had to go down them. As I walked away I felt bad that I was making him go down the
stairs, but as long as I didn't have to, it was alright with me.
Dream comments: I think I am scared of exploring my own unconscious.
Dream title: Torn and confused
Dream date: 9/14/06
Dreamer name: anonymous
Dream text: I was in this house, and in one room there was an ex of mine. My ex kissed
me and I told him I didn't want to do anything with him. In another room, there was
another ex of mine who I had slept with. Afterwards, I looked out of the window of the
room to see the ocean. There was a whale that had beached itself with a baby whale on
the beach, who was also dead. I then leave the room to go down stairs only to run into the
man I'm currently dating. He tries to hug and kiss me and I push him away.
Dream comments: I was told that fish in a dream mean pregnancy. I don't understand
why my exs were in my dream and why I pushed my current boyfriend away.
Stan Kulikowski II
DATE : 28 oct 2006 08:50
DREAM : the never
=( yesterday was a friday. it was rainy and cold in the afternoon so i did not go
swimming for my usual daily exercise. i do not often skip this, but i stayed home and
worked on burning my dvd project. i quickly ran out of blank disks and ordered some on
the internet. i will need to run the mailing labels and prepare the disk graphics while i
wait for delivery of 200 disks in the next few days. the project did not come out nearly as
good as i had hoped, but i would have to purchase really expensive software and just
hope that it allowed more flexible menu construction, so i will just have to accept what
the crappy templates provided with the cheapo idvd.
during the evening i smoked some tobacco in my pipe which has been unused for about a
year, but i have been feeling somewhat down lately and have wanted more stimulation
than usual. i got to bed around 01:00 but could not get to sleep until around 04:30. )=
several people and myself have entered the rundown carnival lot at the edge of town. it is
midwinter in england, a bleak and barren time of year. there are only a few traces of hard
frozen snow collected in the shadows where the sun can never melt them. a small merry
go round with no horses and part of a minature ferris wheel are among the few
mechanical devices that are left exposed on the empty lot with an empty table or two. the
place has an abandoned feeling a little beyond desolation.
at the far end of the lot there is a small ramshackled building where we can stay. there is
a wire fence that is broken in several places but tall weeds and shrubs growing up through
it give the feeling of boundaries that are as much imaginary as real.
before we can move into the small cottage, we are required to catch and confine the never
which lives there. this is not difficult as the never turns out to be a young english girl
with some features like a cheetah. she has pointed ears and prominent whiskers with a
wide swatch of spotted fur on her back. she wears just enough tattered clothing for
modesty and little else. the never does not run nor resist us when we take her to the cage
in the back of the cottage.
her cage is a small rectangular area several meters wide made of thin iron bars. it is just
tall enough for her to stand up right, but the entrance is a long thin passage barely large
enough for her to crawl through. at first she does resist entering through the crawl space,
but i and one other man have to force her head and shoulders into the opening. once
begun, the never wiggles and squirms her way inside, the metal bars making deep
grooves in her pelt until she emerges in the larger area.
once the never is in her cage, her appearance changes so she just looks like a normal girl,
losing all the cat like features. she paces back and forth inside, having nothing else to do.
there is no furniture of any kind, not even a blanket to lie upon. she just walks to one end
of her cage then turns to walk back the three strides it takes to get there. we have been
instructed not to feed her nor give her water and never ever to let her out. no one has said
anything about speaking to her, so i sometimes will stand next to the bars and tell her
things, mostly about the weather or events in the world, but she does not reply or give
any indication of interest in my efforts.
after a couple weeks, a small child comes to stand with me near the cage. he is a small
boy and i get the feeling that he is her son, but no one ever questions him. ocassionally
he will make a short comment about some news item i am explaining to the never, but he
does not talk to her directly and she gives him no notice whatever.
at last springtime arrives outside with some reluctance to push away the winter. a few
green buds appear on the weedy hedge row. i have the job of repairing a wicker topiary
shaped like a rhinocerous that has fallen into disrepair during the foul weather. there is
no lack of dead vines for me to weave into the gaps, but i am not a skilled sculptor so the
rhino has some uneven spots when i am finished.
i have decided that we have no reason to continue the captivity of the never. she is
obviously some supernatural creature, able to pace her cage constantly without any rest or
sustainance at all. other than the pacing she has never indicated any desire to escape or
frustration with her circumstances, but i have begun to feel a growing reluctance to have
her confined without reason.
when i open the door to her cage, she is at first unwilling to crawl back through the short
crawlway. only when the small boy comes over to encourage her does she finally submit
to squeezing her way out.
the fur and cat like features return when she emerges from her captivity. she does not
bolt away but just stands there looking at me with her large brown eyes. i want to touch
her and take her in my arms to hold her, but i know she would be uncomfortable with
this.
i open the door to the cottage and have to gesture that she can leave. the never does not
want to be touched if she can avoid it so she steps outside when i indicate it is time for
her to leave. once out she takes a few tentative steps then dashes quickly over the fence
and away toward the horizon. it is a joy to see her stretch her legs out and bound in ever
larger strides. i can not imagine that i will ever see her like again.
=( awake at 08:35. this dream has a placid somewhat empty feeling to it. there are other
people staying with me in this cottage but other than the small boy they just seem supply
a feeling of consensus without interaction. there was a bit of dialog with a woman,
probably a landlady who managed the property, at the start when we moved into the
cottage, and i remember telling her that she would have to repeat this for to me to recall
it. she said she would but never did and i have forgotten it before i could write it into this
journal. i think she said there were five things we had to do while staying there, and they
all seemed important at the time but keeping the never confined was the only one i can
recall now. i suppose that using the term 'never' as a noun to describe this miraculous
being is related to our injunction to never release her. i am a little surprised that there
seemed to be no consequences when i did finally free her. perhaps the dream ended too
soon to discover what happens with the never running free. she was just in the house
when we found her so i wonder what risk or reason there was for her long confinement.
perhaps i seem to be waiting for this release that never seems to come and has little or no
consequence when it does. )=
--
stankuli@etherways.com
. i swear it happened just like this:
=== a sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss,
| | and the gates of love, they budged an inch,
--- but nothing much has happened since.
-- l cohen (1992) closing time
--
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