The next Oneironauticum is Saturday, August 16

For the August Oneironauticum on Saturday, August 16, we'll enjoy some leftovers.

We still have a supply of various oneirogens from previous Oneironauticum sessions. This month, session participants will choose from a number of dream inducing substances that we've found effective during past sessions. Available oneirogens for Saturday include:

• Galantamine, or Red Spider Lily extract. For the first Oneironauticum in January, 2008, we experimented with this powerfully dream-inducing alkaloid. Galantamine produced some of the most powerful group dream experiences we've had yet.
• Valerian Root, Melatonin, and vitamin B-6. These three supplements combine to enhance dream recall and vividness. We worked with this combination for the May Oneironauticum.
• Calea zacatechichi. This plant used by indigenous peoples in the Mexican state of Oaxaca for the purposes of oneiromancy--a form of divination based on dreams--produces intense dream states. In June I was a presenter for a workshop at the Ojai Foundation, along with Erik Davis, Dale and Laura Pendell, and David Presti, about Visionary Practice. My part of the workshop, unsurprisingly, involved dream as daily visionary practice. Workshop participants tried a tea (infused by Dale) of Calea zacatechichi the first night of the workshop, and a liqueur distilled by Dale the second night. For the August Oneironauticum, I'll bring along the rest of the bottle of Dale's excellent Calea distillate, the delicious liqueur.

As always, we encourage remote participation in the Oneironauticum. Remote participants can join us in exploring one of the oneirogens listed above. Also, as always, dreamers can participate remotely simply by setting the intention to join us before going to sleep. All dream participants, those who attend the Oneironauticum and those who join remotely, are welcome to post to this blog. Contact us if you’re interested.

Sweet dreams!

dreaming and preparing to dream

It seems that I am already preparing for our next dream night. My house mate and I have started a new ritual in our home. When it begins to get dark, we light candles, rather than keep the lights on. This has been tremendously helpful in preparing me to go to bed and I find that I am fast asleep by 11:30. Prior to beginning this ritual, I would be up until 12 or 1:00. Not being bombarded by artificial light is allowing my mind to wind down naturally and is preventing me from getting caught up with the numerous tasks which can keep me up. Besides getting to bed earlier and getting a good night sleep, my dream world has been flourishing. I would not have attributed my sporadic dreaming to my inconsistent bed-time, but now that I am going to bed earlier, it makes sense that my dreams are more regular and active. The other night, perhaps as a way to prepare for our next dream night, I had a dream that I was with a colleague of mine and invited him to join our dream group. We were talking about a dream ritual and we spoke about drinking Spider Venom as a way to induce dreaming...

The night of our last Oneironauticum I had a long dream which stand out to me. As I mentioned above, my dream world tends to be sporadic, so to have what felt like a long novel of a dream seemed remarkable. I dreamed that I was dreaming that I was with a group of people who were lucid dreaming. I was trying to make things happen, as I've heard people do in lucid dreams. Earlier, when I was awake, a fellow dreamer told me about lucid dreaming and having fire come out of her hand. I tried to do this, unsuccessfully, in my dream. Then, we walked over to a large, round building which was over a large body of water. Coincidentally, it turned out that most people who attended the July Oneironauticam had dreams about water. I saw colleagues from my current job in my dreamscape. One woman, who is a PhD psychologist, is commonly regarded as a Shaman by those who work with her. The other woman, is someone who is not at all interested in the unconscious. An old colleague of mine is also there, someone I used to have a big crush on. We have a flirtation and romance, but it turns out he is in a relationship with his spiritual sister. I remarked that it was better than being in a relationship with his biological sister. We then have a long and detailed esoteric conversation about the planets and the energetic nature of human consciousness which is a cross between being somewhat daunting and highly flirtatious. The dream ends with me walking up the road towards another man, and then I wake up.

I was quite amazed by the weaving of the group dream and my individual dream. The detail and length of this dream was also significant and our group feels like a true booster shot to activate my unconscious. Almost a month later, I am struck that this group has found it's way into my psyche and I look forward to our next meeting.