The next Oneironauticum is Thursday, October 29

The next Oneironauticum is Thursday, October 29. For this session, we’ll be working with a combination of Melatonin and Vitamin B-6.

Melatonin is naturally produced in the human pineal gland (the sort sold in stores is grown on fungi), and helps regulate circadian rhythms by causing drowsiness and lowering the body temperature. Studies have shown than melatonin increases REM sleep time and dream activity. The oneirogenic properties of B-6 are thought to arise because it aids in the conversion of tryptophan to serotonin, and thus increases serotonin levels. Some studies also suggest that B-6 improves memory. At a past Oneironauticum, we worked with this combination, along with Valerian root. While the majority of us felt we had dreamed actively all night, many of us failed to remember dreams. For this session, we’ll experiment with elminating Valerian (used as a night time aid to enhance deep sleep) from the mix.

Both these supplements are available at any well stocked health food store. Melatonin is usually sold at either 1 mg or 3 mg per capsule dosage. B-6 generally comes in capsules of either 100 or 200 mg per capsule (it’ll say on the front of the bottle). I recommend that people who are unfamiliar with these supplements take the least strong of both supplements. If you know that you usually take higher strength capsules, or if you’re feeling adventurous, then try the higher strength. Simply take both capsules right before getting into bed.

As always, dreamers are invited to participate remotely, joining our world-wide network of dreamers who go to sleep with the common intention of percolating vivid dreams by using the same oneirogen. To participate remotely, acquire the oneirogens and use them on the night of October 29, or simply go to sleep with the intention to join us in our group dreaming experience. Anyone who participates, either in person or remotely, is welcome to post their dream experiences to this site.

Porous Walls, remote dream by Sandy

I am in the living room of my parents' former house. It is raining outside. My maternal uncle and I walk into the room. All over the walls water is seeping through the plaster in spots - there is no wallpaper, just plain plaster. I say something about repairing the plaster, and he says it would be easier and less expensive to dry wall over it. I wonder if my dad would do this, and I think that it will make the room a little smaller, but it seems like a good way to solidify the porous walls.

Super vivid dreams, remote dream by David

I drank the Calea tea before bed. Wow, it doesn't taste good at all.

I had a pretty normal amount of dreams and they were the sort of dreams I usually have, no contact with any gods or anything like that even though I did ask a question before I went to sleep. The thing that was different was that my dreams were super vivid, full of color and sound and even taste.

I was at a party with lots of people dancing and playing music, fun pop music except there were also all these African drums. There was this one really beautiful girl with a long blue dress on. The dress was the most amazing color, like a glowing, electric blue. I kept watching her dancing in the middle of all these really hippie looking people. I decided to bring the girl a glass of punch and so I went to the punchbowl but there wasn't any left but there was a bottle of something. I tried it to see if it was good. It was, but it tasted like Indian food spices, which even in the dream seemed weird to me.

There was more to the dream but that was the most vivid part.

Drunken Dreaming, by lissa ivy

i was at john's suburban home. gorgeous there, dark and fancy and more rural than i imagine it. gorgeous woods directly out to left. no other people around. he and his spouse were there, and their two younger blondish children. what a delightful scene. he was super supportive of spouse, who was packing up to go off on a date. got time alone w her. she had insanely fantastic tall boots, kinda goth, kinda "dune", chunky strappy/buttony up the back. she was throwing stuff into her suitcase. [all this took place in second half of giant front room, which also functioned as site of her armoire. this is also where the bed was i believe, that i was later in with ebx.]

anyway, john was super sweet and rad w the kids—showing them how to do bad ass practical stuff, and explaining why. they, in turn, were very sweet and open. noone hid anything from anyone, including the processing conversations, and the smoking.

then i was alone there, and joined by ebx. it wasn't very sexy, but we were on a date. i was fucking her on the couch in the front room, but she was talking about unsexy stuff. i lost steam—one really must engage my mind, even in dream space. we moved over to bed in adjoining half of gargantuan room. i was looking towards foot of bed, at something on big tv screen—i suggested watching some porn or something to get me back in the mood, and stop moping—so i didn't realize the sensation. i lay back, wondering what had just happened, and saw ebx w 5 needles coming out of her arms and chest. i looked at my inner left elbow and saw she had poked me with an acupuncture needle. a novel solution i thought.

Brothers and sisters, a room between two doors, by Eugene

My oneirogen for the September Oneironauticum was Calea zacatechichi.

The dream was:

My biological brother appears in my dream. I am helping him with something. I don't recall any details, but it feels rather routine.

I find myself alone in a small room. It is an austere living quarters. The walls are bare and light in color, like eggshell. There are two doors on either side which appear to lead to other rooms in the building. A large simple bed fills half the room. A shower/tub with a curtain takes up half of the other half of the room. The remaining open space faces a small window. I contemplate what to do in this open space. I imagine moving in a video game rocking chair or some books. Everything appears clean, but very basic.

My soul sister appears and states she wants to meet with me. She suggests this or next Sunday, between two to five in the afternoon. She seems to have given careful thought to these two possible windows.

Tour of my dreaming mind, by jennifer

On the night of Oneironauticum, I woke five hours after going to sleep to take a capsule of Red Spider Lily root, or Galantamine. I didn’t remember any dreams before then, which is unusual for me. Having been at the Symbiosis Gathering for a few nights previous, however, I’d gotten much less sleep than usual. As I say in all my talks and at Oneironauticum gatherings, the primary factor in dreaming more is sleeping more. If you don’t get enough sleep, you will spend considerably less time dreaming.

After taking the Galantamine, however, I had a very vivid, complex dream. In this dream, several other people and I were being given a tour of the parts of my brain that were dreaming and what was happening in each. First we were shown a network of fibers that looked like plaster netting and told that they were ganglia carrying the acetylcholine for REM. Then I had a view of a brain from the top down with a path through to the middle. We were told we were seeing the amygdala, which was controlling the dream. Finally, we were led into two dark, cavernous chambers and told that these were the frontal lobes of my brain, currently quiet and dark because everyone who usually lives there had vacated due to the dream.

Amusingly, I discussed all these physical brain effects in my talk. While this is a very interesting dream, it’s also about the day’s residue.

minutes from the September 09 Oneironauticum

I held the most recent Oneironauticum on Saturday, September 19, at the Symbiosis Gathering, following a talk I gave entitled “Dream Work as Visionary Practice”. To watch the talk (approximately 45 minutes), click here or go to the Home page tab of this site, click Lectures: Video Clips in the top right box, The Dreamer, and Select Symbiosis Gathering from the bottom of the list.

People in the audience later reported between 45 and 60 attendees. I didn’t count. The talk concentrated on ways of using dream work to connect with the visionary and to formulate visionary practices. At the end of the talk, I described our three oneirogens: Mugwort, Calea Zacatechichi, and Galantamine.

Participants gathered around the table and prepared their oneirogen of choice: Some poured calea, available in tea form—brewed with water—or alcohol infusion—which I made by steeping dried leaves and stems in vodka for a week, shaking frequently, into baby food jars. Some stuffed sachets with mugwort to create dream pillows, and some gathered up a capsule of Galantamine (Red Spider Lily) to be taken five hours after going to sleep.

Because many attendees at a Saturday night at an art and music festival that goes all night may not sleep much, several participants decided to save their oneirogens for a future date. Many people took their oneirogens in the early morning, however, once they finally went to sleep.