The Next Oneironauticum is Saturday, January 31

Greetings Dreamers,

After a long seasonal hiatus, we'll be holding the next Oneironauticum on Saturday, January 31st. We'll be working with a Xhosa Dream Plant Alchymical Initiatic, a gift to the Oneironauticum from our pals at Al-Kemi, makers of fine alchemical & spagyric Products. The Xhosa people of Southeast South Africa use Silene for oneiromancy, a form of divination based on dreams. It is said to facilitate communication with the ancestors, who provide guidance or prophecy.

Visit the al-kemi site to buy the Dreamtime Somalixir or learn more about it. Make sure you order it right now so you can get it in time for Oneironauticum!

While you’re there, you can also obtain the Oneirogens for our next Oneironauticum sessions. On February 28, we’ll be working with Dreamtime Somalixir. On March 28, our oneirogen will be a Waterlilies Somalixir. Look around the al-kemi site to groove a little more on Al-Kemi, learn about Spagyrics, or check out their other cool stuff.

As always, remote participation is welcomed. To participate remotely in the Oneironauticum, simply enjoy your oneirogen wherever you’re sleeping on Saturday night and join us in the dream world. You may also, as always, participate by simply going to sleep with the intention to share in our group dreaming experience. Anyone who participates, either in person or remotely, is welcome to post their dream experiences to this site. Contact us if you're interested.

Sweet Dreams!

Dream Images, by lissa ivy

Garlicky Caesar Salad

Garlic Bread

Yarn Cats, by Michael Matthews

I landed a big contract to landscape the whole city, except I didn't really do anything with plants, but more with buildings and streets and sidewalks. I turned my street into this wildly banked trough of concrete, so that it was like one long, undulating half-pipe. Everyone that lived there had adapted by selling their cars and getting really good at skateboarding.

Outside my building, there was a car tipped into the trough of the half pipe where there was still a road that met it. The car had apparently been there for a while, because people had festooned the inside of it with yarn - some of it functionally woven into mats and hanging platforms, and some of it just decorative - and all of the cats in the neighborhood had moved into the car, and some of them had been trying to figure out how to make the yarn into clothes, but it wasn't turning out well at all for them and mostly just looked like they'd been rolling around in it.

My girlfriend was quite taken with one of them, a boy cat who kept shoving all the others aside, and who'd arranged a bit of yarn atop his head in what he seemed to imagine looked like a hat. We had a disagreement about cats trying to act like humans (I was opposed and was stroking a yarn-free cat while we discussed, the main thrust of my argument that cats were already superior to humans and debased themselves by aping us), and the bossy cat interrupted by doing a little four-footed tap dance in between us while my girlfriend sat on the car's hood. I just didn't like the looks of him, and it worried me that she seemed not to perceive that he was clearly a shady character, and probably behind the whole business of hanging yarn in the abandoned car.

Charlatan Healer in a Dog Suit, by Jennifer

Though I fell asleep quickly, I slept somewhat fitfully for the first part of the night. I usually recall about three dreams a night, but I only remembered one. The setting was murky, like a faded sepia photograph. A man in a dog suit moved through the room with a battered leather traveling case.

Some unclear subset of us sleeping in the loft stood around in this room, perhaps at a party. The dog suit dude announced himself as a healer. He approached lissa ivy and began rubbing and patting various parts of her body to both assess and improve her general spiritual and physical health. After he’d finished, he gave her instruction about something to do on a regular basis. Unfortunately, upon waking I no longer remembered his directives.

After tending to ivy, the dog suit dude approached me. He patted around me as well to determine what I needed for my healing. Then he pulled several small glass vials out of his valise to display to me. He told me they were all rare, pricey tobaccos and that I would need to purchase some to remedy my malaise. I asked what that was and he refused to tell me what ailed me unless I committed to purchase some tobacco. When I made it clear that I wasn’t necessarily going to buy anything until I knew what I needed it for, he became angry and stormed away.

Minutes of the November Oneironauticum, by Jennifer

I realize the November posts are woefully late. Sigh. Life.

Present at the January Oneironauticum were dreamers Vibrata, David, lissa ivy, Geneva, Juliana, Stacey, the other David, and yours truly, Jennifer. Since the dream ingredient of the night was garlic, we began the evening with discussion about the oneirogenic qualities of certain foods. Some people report that spicy food gives them bad dreams, or at least unpleasantly intense dreams. Others claim eating fish high in Omega 3 fatty acids just before bed promotes lucid dreams. Though opinions differ about the effects of chocolate, many believe it does something.

At 11:00, we prepared our oneirogen, a very garlic heavy Caesar salad and toasted garlic bread. The aroma quickly filled the room and within 15 minutes we all sat down to a light but powerfully garlicky meal. I brought mints and parsley to minimize the aftertaste and smell, but David and Vibrata—who spearheaded garlic as oneirogen because it strongly affects their dreams—suggested we refrain. They believe that the lingering of garlic in the mouth and nose contribute to its effects.

We bedded down at midnight, as we usually do. Bodhi, one of the cats in residence where we slept, serenaded us for a while with what is apparently a typical post people to bed yowling session. Afterwards, everyone fell asleep easily.

Deep in the night, several of us were awakened by Geneva talking in her sleep. After a few indistinct mumbles, she yelled clearly and in a bawdy tone “the wild ladies!” Giggles could be heard throughout the loft.

Over brunch the next morning, we discussed our dreams. David and Vibrata agreed that Geneva had what they would most characterize as a garlic-inspired dream. In the dream, she took an expedition on a ship. In an old style deep sea diving suit, she excated the deep sear floor. She particularly examined the layer between plants and insects, engrossed in her discovery before she realized that insects had gotten into her suit. She peeled it off and discovered that the insects had become woven into the fabric. Though it had a slight creepy crawly feeling, mostly she was impressed by how cool the fabric now looked.

Among the other dreamers, a few phenomena arose that echoed past Oneironautica. David dreamed us all collectively in the loft space where we physically slept; he often dreams the group of us together in dream space, in the same place where we’re sleeping. I also had other people present in the loft in my dreamspace. Lissa ivy dreamed of a family vacation, spaces with lots of bathtubs, an annoying encounter with her father. She woke up a few times and went back into the same dream again when she fell back asleep. Juliana dreamed the same soundtrack (a song called The F Word, by Sound Tribe Sector 9) throughout the night, in various dreams, that she’s heard in every Oneironauticum she’s attended.