Oneironauticum

Mutable Environment, by David W

2010-05-03T03:14:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the night, I had several unsurprising dreams. One had a pleasant erotic component, and then I had a typical Oneironauticum meta-dream in which everyone else at the event had awaken and started bustling around their day while I still laid asleep in the kitchen. In another I lugged around piles of books, immersed in a research project studying Frances Yates.

Later in the night, however, I became aware of the music though I remained and entered into a lucid hypnagogic state. I became aware of a stormy, inchoate, billowy state. I found if I put my hand into it purposefully, my hand entered the unstructured reality. I tried some lucid dream experiments manipulating the stuff, able to manipulate and interact with it, with reality before it takes form.

Throughout the experience, I felt a delicious somatic bliss, aware of my body twitching and of the sound of the music.

Trying to get the dream, by Stacy

2010-05-03T03:13:00.000-07:00

My dream was epic, and happened simultaneously in three different segments, each with different versions of people trying to acquire her dream.

In the first segment, a group of people were playing a football like game with the dream, throwing it around and trying to catch it, trying to get it from each other.

In the second, people were on a Family Feud type game show trying to win the dream. They all stood at a podium that looked like Vibrata’s art on her iPad (that we had all been admiring before we went to sleep).

In the third, ninjas fought, trying to claim the dream in victory.

Auditory Dream, by Vibrata

2010-05-03T03:12:00.000-07:00

I had a very unusual dream; generally, my dreams are very visually vivid and detailed, but this dream was primarily auditory. I stood by a grill filled with hot coals and wood. I could hear the hissing and popping of the wood and coal, and the distinct sounds of very hot metal.

I was selecting pieces of meat for the grill. I went to check to see if it was ready, and heard the hot, sizzling sound that told me it was.

Dreams of Light, by Carter

2010-05-03T03:11:00.000-07:00

I had a flurry of dreams. The key thing was light. I was enveloped by white light, there were lots of snippets of dreams, all with light. One was in tall grass. In another, I looked down and my hands became paws.

At one point in the night, the music woke me up and I went to the bathroom and came back and fell asleep again. I was with the two cats who live in the space where we were sleeping. We all got onto a cosmic train and I became lucid.

Taryn and I were concerned that we’d left our room mate’s car behind. Then the light I’d seen in the other dreams started to approach me. I looked at Taryn, who had this huge, intense clear blue eyes, and Taryn realized I was about to wake up. She looked at me intently and the light came through her eyes, making them huge and vivid, glowing with white light.

Olympic Cherub Dodging, by Dean

2010-05-03T03:10:00.000-07:00

In one dream, I was running. I didn’t know why I needed to run, but knew it was important, and thought that if I kept running, I would figure it out. I didn’t doubt the importance of running, however.

In another dream, I was with another guy in a sort of game show with people watching. We had to get from a pavilion into a house. We were in nineteenth century men’s bathing suits, and were participating in a sport, maybe in the Olympics. A cherub stood on a pedestal, a baby with wings but a strong presence, with a point on its head.

When the judge said go, the guy and I had to get to the house, and the cherub was supposed to prevent us from getting there. We felt fear because we sensed the cherub’s power. We took off but it was like trying to run through honey. The cherub loomed near me, staring at me with this timeless face, very intimidating.

We got to the house and suddenly everything went dark and the house filled with fog. We looked at each other and both realized, oh no, now we’re really in trouble.

Food Dreams, by Lesly

2010-05-03T03:09:00.001-07:00

I had dreams about food. One was in a gym. Lots of people had gathered to learn about food. The leader had to be really loud and enthusiastic because people were talking over him. He was teaching about sorts of food, particularly about nuts and smogs. I was interested in what smogs were; I thought they sounded good. They were nuggets of delicious food.

In another dream, I was in a restaurant with my friend, who ordered a burger with tuna salad on it. At the table, she complained that it was bland because there was no sauce. The owner ran his finger across the burger and showed her that there was a white sauce on it. I told them, “I eat jelly”, and then went on, “but only the good stuff, from Amsterdam.”

Talking Too Loud, remote dream by J.P.

2010-05-03T03:07:00.000-07:00

(Downloaded Somnium)

I was walking in a warehouse, and I decided to steal candy. It was a warehouse of people's belongings. When I couldn't find the candy, I decided to tidy it up a bit. Then I heard footsteps, and figuring I would be viewed suspiciously, I scurried off. In the other corner of the warehouse, my ex-girlfriend was giving some kind of lecture. I felt confident, and sat in the middle of the crowd. She asked the class a question and instead of answering it out loud, I began debating with a group of three other men whom I respected. She asked us to share with the class, and I went first, pulling my hat over my eyes and speaking loudly, cavalierly. The class asked me to speak more quietly and I felt self-conscious.

Next I was walking on a combination of a college quad and the area near the pool at the MAPS conference. There were people doing creative things all around us. I was told by Jon H that I would enjoy a movie a friend of his had, and so I borrowed it and went up to the rooftop garden of some building and my dad was there sunbathing.

Spying & Toys, remote dream by Sylvia

2010-05-03T03:04:00.000-07:00

(downloaded Somnium, went to sleep to it)

[Not having the benefit of the core Oneironauticum group's wisdom about what volume to set the music to, a couple of times, my sleeping partner and I woke up and wondered why we couldn't hear the music more, before we fell back asleep. Next time we will turn the volume up a little at falling-asleep time.]

Went to bed between 11:30pm and midnight. Had decent dream recall around 7am that devolved to really poor dream recall when I actually woke up at 8am. Snippets: With JP, spying on people at night who were driving up to and sneaking recycling into our recycling bins. "Our" being, a hybrid of the house I grew up in and a warehouse-y thing. The driveway figured prominently in the dream. The people we are spying on are: a heavy-set dad-like African-American man right after he's gotten off work, and a shorter Latino man about the same age. (They were serially messing with the recycling, not collaboratively) It appears to me as if they are grabbing the bicycles, too, so I jump out to stop them, but then what is actually happening is ambiguous and I start to question my suspicions, as it is looking as if they are washing the bicycles? (Self-analytical thought in the dream: why am I suspicious of people's motives?) Recalled dreams were all nightscape, mostly single-storey house, semi-suburban, with some light-industrial contexts.

Right at wake-up, after the music had started over at the beginning again, I had two short dreams. In one I was sitting next to a woman on a couch and she was unwrapping things on the coffee table in front of us -- articulated 8" or so toy animals to give as gifts, notably a blue whale and a blue octopus. She had already decided to whom to give the octopus (some older lady who didn't even really know anything about them). Then, a friend whose face I don't recognize is saying she is going down to Brazil to be with her sister "to get know the people, the language," she says, brashly. I ask her "Oh, when are you going?" "In May." "Really?! I am going down in Mar/Apr!" As I wake up I'm confused because it's almost May now and I don't know what year she is talking about.

Maintaining my data, remote dream by lissa ivy

2010-05-03T03:02:00.000-07:00

(went to sleep listening to Brian Eno’s Discreet Music)

Pools of olive oil in my hands from giving someone (a large man) a massage, balancing on balls of my feet around edges of loft bed. Phone rings, so many rings that I can answer after wiping off my hands. It's my chiropractor calling to straighten out some technicality re. my address in his files. He explained that he had to write that I'll be at my temporary address for 10 years, rather than one because otherwise the software would eject me at the end of the year and my data would all be gone.

Arid Landscape and Hypnagogic Heads, by Taryn

2010-05-03T03:00:00.000-07:00

Mostly awareness of a landscape, a desert scape. I’m lying in a very arid environment curled around a giant fig. I stay that way for a long time.

Later in the night, I was in a hypnagogic state. I became lucid and could see a swirl, an imagery noise space, with heads (only the head) emerging, coming in to focus. They were people I knew, talking to me, but saying mostly really mundane things, like my grandmother who reminded me that I needed to answer a letter she wrote me.

Outfits and Art, by Paz

2010-05-03T02:59:00.000-07:00

I remembered two dreams.

1. I was in the nature nature/desert with my mom and maybe somebody else. We are spending a few days. It is like a retreat. I am in the middle of nature, very dry and I observe the native plants (rosemary or thyme). Suddenly it is time to go to dinner. I go to my room to get changed for dinner.

I enter my room, which is like a dorm that five or six people also share with me. Once inside my room, I go to my closet. Two young women are talking and both light cigarettes inside the room. I asked them “you guys are not smoking in the room, right?” “Oh, ok,” they say, “we will smoke in the hallway.” But they light the cigarettes in the room anyway and then leave.

I start putting clothes on: a dreass that is very tight with a belt. I ask an older woman how I look in that dress and if it is appropriate for the night. She said “not so much, you should try something else.” I put on something more casual, like a t-shirt and jeans.

2. I am with my friend Txutuo, who owns a gallery in the Mission district in San Francisco. He is drawing a sign for the gallery with the title of the galley’s show. He is drawing with a black ink roll pen on a large size paper. He is using black paint to attach cuts and other pieces of paper to the design, instead of glue. He hands me the pen and paper and asks me to finish it. I start drawing but realize he is making very thin lines and very precise design with the lines. I am surprised because he is not very clean and precise in his work.

Sex Slave Uprising, Sex Party Celebration, by Jennifer

2010-05-03T02:57:00.000-07:00

I had several dreams throughout the course of the night, two of which were longer, more narrative dreams.

The first took place mostly at night, in dodgy parts of town, a general air of seediness around the whole scene. In dingy, worn apartments, women were kept as sex slaves, maybe foreign women who’d been tricked there though that part wasn’t clear. My position seemed unclear, though I think I had recently arrived as one of the women imprisoned in the circumstance.

My point of view changed rapidly across many different locations, all similar apartments or ramshackle motels, poorly lit, peeling wallpaper, threadbare furniture. Then somehow I arranged an uprising and gathered all the women together to claim our freedom. The man in charge arrived at the apartment and we stood up to him and achieved victory. Oddly, I didn’t have visuals for any of this, only the knowledge that it happened.

In the second long dream, I attended a gathering (maybe a meeting) of several of my high school friends and learned they were all involved in a series of sex parties. I realized I was a veteran of the scene and everyone respected and admired me in this role. I had a third person view of a few of the men all putting sexy boots on me, lacing them up.

Then we were all at a big family picnic sponsored by the sex party people. It was a big barbeque with lots of families and children running around, the adults swinging the kids high up in the air and everyone happy and laughing. One friend told me how his daughter almost died and I looked over and saw how healthy and happy she looked.

Minutes of the April, 2010 Oneironauticum

2010-05-03T02:47:00.000-07:00

Present at the April, 2010 Oneironauticum were dreamers Vibrata, David S., Dean, Lesly, David W., Stacy, Paz, Taryn, Carter, and yours truly, Jennifer.

As usual, between the time we arrived and then bedded down, we discussed our reent dream experiences. Dean told a story of a recent intense dream experience with a (non-sexual) succubus in which the dream woman rushed at him and entered his body. Taryn and Carter said that on the same night, they, along with their other two room mates, had dreamed being choked. That same night both Paz and I had unpleasant toilet dreams.

A conversation about unpleasant toilet dreams ensued, which led us to discuss our most frequently visited dream types. Most of us had had dreams from what I think of as the “popular hits”: the dream where you realize you never finished high school/college and have to go back and take another class, the dream where you have a test and can’t find the location, the one where you’re trying to run and can barely move, the naked in public dream. Then we talked about our own trends, my dreams of whales or being inappropriately barefoot, others’ dreams of cats or snakes or foxes, of being underwater, of driving.

Around midnight, we put on Somnium and bedded down for the night. Over brunch, we discussed our dreams. Many of experienced strong hypnagogia, as we did last time we slept to Somnium. Several people also had dreams of being in nature, with attention to landscape. A few people also noted lucidity in their dreams. Almost everyone reported sleeping well, though we all woke up at some point or another, aware of the music.

The Next Oneironauticum is Thursday, April 29

2010-04-15T11:42:00.001-07:00

The next Oneironauticum will be Thursday, April 29, For this Oneironauticum, we’ll work with an auditory oneirogen, Robert Rich's electronic music score Somnium, a soundscape designed to promote vivid dreams. We worked with this same musical score two years ago in our Oneironauticum explorations and had great experiences with it.

Somnium is a seven hour psychoactive electronic music piece arranged to match up with the phases of sleep. Robert Rich, the composer, started giving live, all night concerts for sleeping Bay Area audiences in the early 1980s. During these sessions, Rich would alternate playing more active sound with what he called “slow foggy textures and strange ambient sounds”, timed to accord with the regular cycles of hypnogogic and dream-rich REM sleep. The music was specifically designed to increase the intensity and recall of dreams, in part by keeping dreamers closer to the border to wakefulness during sleep. See Robert Rich's liner notes for his comments on the piece.

The audience for these overnight concerts, in sleeping bags, would doze and coast through the varied dream states we all experience throughout the night. In the morning, Rich served the waking concert goers tea and, as with the Oneironauticum, people discussed their dreams.

As always, anyone is invited to participate remotely, joining our world-wide network of dreamers who go to sleep with the common intention of incubating vivid dreams by using the same oneirogen. If you want to participate remotely, you can purchase an MP3 of Robert Rich’s recording Somnium online, available for download, or buy a CD directly from Robert Rich's website. Remote participants can also try sleeping to a different music recording. Put on your Brian Eno ambient CD or light piano music on repeat, or just leave your iPod running on shuffle. Whatever works. 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.

Falling into Color, by Jennifer

2010-01-28T14:45:00.000-08:00

Initially, it took me a while to fall asleep. The 5-HTP excited my system; I felt my heartbeat elevated and my mind was racing. Eventually, I began to drift off. Then I felt a pull, almost like when a car engine catches, a downward motion into the sleep state. As I felt that pull and moved into sleep, I saw a bright green flash. In the dream I then had, I was in the loft, lying in the bed in which I was actually laying, dreaming myself in my real life position and place.

I woke from that dream quickly, and after a short while lying alert, I felt the pull and again saw the flash of green and sunk into another dream of me in the loft, but this time different colors like swirling clouds filled the space.

I repeated this process several times over the space of maybe an hour and a half, waking up, falling back into dream with the green flash, an increasingly deeper emerald green as the night progressed. Each time I fell back asleep, the loft space became more dream like, the colors brighter, other people in the space up and moving around, not talking but dream drifting among the others who remained asleep.

The final time I returned to this dream, after five or six awakenings, the dream changed into an ocean voyage adventure.

Mermaid Home, remote dream by John

2010-01-28T14:44:00.000-08:00

My girlfriend was helping me settle into her mermaid home. Beautifully vivid colors for all of this, sun-filtering through the kelp from above, and our home made of kelp woven airtight about air bubbles, creating rooms that ranged in size and dryness. She did a morning ritual that involved swimming in fast arcs in tight spirals around the kelp, and that woke up all the fish that weren't nocturnal. She was teaching me which fish were OK to eat; I had to ask their names first, and any named Frank were OK to eat because they were both tasty and predators themselves.

I nearly ate one of her friends, an angelfish named Liza, who facetiously told me her name was Frank, then made hilarious squeaky fish noises when I grabbed her. My girlfriend chided her, saying, he's a big guy and he gets hungry...you don't want to fuck around with that. Liza's eyes got very big and she regarded me solemnly before swimming off with a flourish of her tail.

Dream Images, by lissa ivy

2010-01-28T14:41:00.002-08:00

Watching Nova Dream Special

Teddy Bear Pelt

Supplies for Dreaming

Remembering the Dream, remote dream by Phil

2010-01-28T14:41:00.001-08:00

The dream was about remembering the dream. Inside the dream I was anxious to hold on to what wasn't even there yet. Then the dream itself became a kind of mixture of city and map, so I could simultaneously hold on to what I was doing as I was doing it, but what that was... other than some momentary fumbling with flesh... I can't remember, until the city became bright yellow and bounded, a layer over the city with the consistency of glistening butter, a golden but soft city. I remember seeing a corner of this and that the wall of it was inclined inwards. That's all I have retained.

Mexican Bingo Card, by Christine

2010-01-28T14:39:00.001-08:00

I had lots of short dreams, all very colorful and mostly involving animals.

In one dream, there was an animal film festival. In another, I saw a brightly colored Mexican Bingo card where all the boxes were Mexican cartoon versions of animals. When a square that was on the card was called, a bug would crawl onto that space to mark it.

Insects in my knee, by Vibrata

2010-01-28T14:37:00.000-08:00

In addition to the 50 mg of 5-HTP, I added 12.5 mg of diphenhydramine to help me sleep.

In my first dream, the setting started out as somewhat familiar – the loft, warmly lit, lots of people - mostly this dream group. There was a festive fell to the gathering; very chatty and active. An armoire was delivered. It was very large. I had some large insects living in my knee. They were creating poison which could be collected from the pus in the wounds. I was wiping up the poisonous ooze, not necessarily upset, at first, but it gradually became quite disturbing and at that point I woke up.

After my pee break I went easily back to sleep (thanks to the diph) and in the next dream session I was trying to create these art pieces and was working on logistics. This was a continuation from the previous dream session. I could see finished pieces and felt pretty confident in them, but needed to finish more of them.

In the next bunch there was slightly less familiarity to the dream settings. I was at a bank and had some very complex transactions to do. The man I was dealing with showed me a code word I needed to write down along with my signature to verify authenticity. The word was "Challel", or something like that, with lots of tall looping letters. I did some signing of things but before I was done the "teller" (?) got a phone call from his wife. His children were with him. I was watching them while he spoke on the phone and a very young boy with an innocent face, maybe 3 or 4, was muttering to himself, saying extremely vulgar things about some woman. I grabbed him and asked him, "What did you say?" The situation evolved into a whole inquisition into the boy's dirty language and his exposure to sexual situations. It was too much drama for me so I watched from the sidelines while a whole tribunal was formed around the subject; a dozen or so people sitting at a long table to discuss the boy.

Perhaps at that point I left that scene to go outside. Even less familiarity and logic. I was on a street at night. There were people out and about and it seemed like a friendly atmosphere, though strange. I met a man and his old black dog and the dog and I hit it off. The man was totally fine with me taking his dog's leash and walking off with him. The dog was really happy to have someone walking him and he started to run. I ran, too, and in striking contrast to most dream-running experiences, it felt really fluid and light, effortless and even exhilarating.

I have a snippet of memory of seeing the Cirque du Soleil, and noticing some extraordinary costumes, all of them blue and sparkly. The costumes and set were all matching.

Overall, extremely colorful visions, long and elaborate sessions, very vivid. There was a dark, sort of night-clubby, saturated tone to much of what I was seeing, punctuated with occasional more sunny, crisp, summery scenes. Very pretty for the most part, except for the part about the bugs in my knee. Not terribly surreal - in fact upon reading over this summary, there's a lot in there that corresponds with what's going on in my real life. The overall "prettiness" is what stands out, and the experience of running without the usual ineffectualness.

Asshole Logo, by Nathan

2010-01-28T14:35:00.002-08:00

I had a lot of short dreams, many of a sexual nature, with several recurrent logos that I would see in the different dreams. One of these logos was an A with lots of s’s over top of it, and it indicated that someone was an asshole.

In one dream, I had sex with an ex-girlfriend. Then when I woke up, she had gone but had written the logo on my leg.

Fake Beach, by Phoebe

2010-01-28T14:35:00.001-08:00

I had many short dreams. In one, I was in my home town, though it looked different. I was talking to some people I know and I said something fairly banal, but when I did I woke myself up thinking that I had actually said the thing out loud.

In another dream, I was in the loft space where we were all sleeping. I was wandering around and I looked into a storage space that was off the front of the living room. There, a bunch of people who live in the loft space complex had made a fake beach out of blue and tan blankets, and were lying around on it as if they were at the beach.

Excellent Space, by Dean

2010-01-28T14:34:00.001-08:00

I was being shown a building that I was considering buying. It was a three tiered space, a little like Project Artaud (in San Francisco) but also like a building from France in the 20s. The building had six enormous units in it and was downtown, somewhere near Alamo Square. My friend Pepe Lozan was with me, and kept up a running commentary as I walked through the building, pointing out its many virtues and encouraging me to buy it.

The walls were tinted concrete, an incredibly rich, saturated brown, very beautiful, all sculpted to look like fabric. There was a 300 seat theatre on the ground floor, and a sculpture and art studio on the second floor. Pepe pointed out that the only drawback was that the patio was too small, even though it was actually quite large.

Common Astrological Sign, by Zak

2010-01-28T14:33:00.001-08:00

I had a lot of short dreams, all with very positive emotion. In one, I dreamed that everyone participating in person in Oneironauticum had something in common (this is the first time I’d met most of these people). I thought maybe it was that everyone present was a Cancer, like me. I remember exclaiming how great it was that we all had this thing in common.

Then I dreamed of pulling a guy down a snowy ski slope. He was in a stretcher, but he was OK. The whole thing was really comical, sometimes he’d be further down the hill pulling me, sometimes I’d be further down the hill pulling him. At the end of the dream, he was still at the top of the hill and I was at the bottom and we thought this was really funny.

Minutes of the January, 2010, Oneironauticum, by jennifer

2010-01-28T14:19:00.000-08:00

Present at the January, 2010 Oneironauticum were dreamers Vibrata, David S., lissa ivy, Dean, Erik, Christine, David W., Stacy, Nathan, Phoebe, Zak, and yours truly, Jennifer.

We started the evening with a viewing of the NOVA special on dreaming, followed by a discussion of the contents. Several items interested the crowd particularly. One point involved the dreams of depressed people. According to the special, depressed people go right into REM in the first stages of sleep. This differs from the normal pattern of sleepers. I put together the below chart for the class I taught on dreams at Pacifica Graduate Institute. We’ve discussed these cycles before at Oneironauticum sessions.

We also know, from an interview with Elanor Rosch that we’ve discussed, that depressed people’s sleeping and dreaming brains function differently. Generally, for everyone, dreams in the early part of the night involve images and feelings etc. from the recent past, the day’s residue. During those early in the sleep cycle dreams, the are in the frontal lobes of the brain that are involved in logic and planning remain active (measured by blood flow and PET and fMRI scans). Later in the sleep cycle, the frontal part of the brain becomes inactive, and dreams begin to primarily involve other material, often with stranger, less normal content. But in depressed people, those frontal lobes stay active all night, the logic and planning parts of the brain keep buzzing along.

Oneironauticum participants talked about times in our lives when we’ve felt depressed, and about the higher percentage of unpleasant dreams, particularly anxiety dreams, we’ve experienced during those times.

Around midnight, we all took 50 mg of 5-HTP in tablet form (except for Nathan, who took 100 mg). Most of us chewed our tablets, a recommendation from a couple of the frequent 5-HTP users in the group.

In the morning, over brunch, we shared our dreams. Overall, we found the 5-HTP produced strong dreams, for many of us featuring vivid color. About half of us reported a series of short, intense dreams instead of long narrative ones. A few of us woke from and returned to the same dream several times, a quality that the frequent ingesters of 5-HTP claim is characteristic of the oneirogen. A couple people woke feeling that they had actually spoken out loud during a dream. Three participants reported feeling headachey and not well rested. As often happens, many of us also had dreams involving the actual space where we slept and other present dreamers.

The next Oneironauticum is Sunday, January 24

2010-01-18T14:16:00.000-08:00

The next Oneironauticum is Sunday, January 24. For this session, we’ll be working with 5-HTP (short for 5-Hydroxytryptophan), a supplement derived from West African Griffonia plant seeds, available in most health food stores or vitamin sections of supermarkets.

5-HTP has oneiric properties because it is involved in the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter involved in the regulation of sleep. Serotonin is also involved in the regulation of mood. Many anti-depression drugs (e.g. Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft) function by increasing serotonin levels in the body.

Commercially available 5-HTP usually comes in dosages of either 50 or 100 mg per capsule. Interestingly, given its relationship to serotonin, some people report that the vivid dreams produced by 5-HTP can slip into nightmare at high dosage. Others report intestinal or stomach upset, particularly if taken on an empty stomach. Unless you are already familiar with your preferred dosage of 5-HTP, offset these possibilities by ingesting a single 50 or 100 mg capsule with food in your stomach.

As always, anyone is invited to participate remotely, joining our world-wide network of dreamers who go to sleep with the common intention of incubating vivid dreams by using the same oneirogen. To participate remotely, take a capsule of 5-HTP on the night of January 24 before bed, 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 blog.

Possessed by the Devil, by Stacey

2010-01-17T23:13:00.001-08:00

In the middle of the night, I got up to go to the bathroom. When I got back into bed and fell asleep again, I had a dream that started with me getting up to go to the bathroom, then coming back and getting into bed, only it was the wrong bed. Jennifer came over to talk to me about it and I realized that hours had gone by that I didn’t remember.

Then suddenly I realized that in that time I had been possessed by the devil. At that moment, I relived the experience, felt the devil pass through me and the sensation of not being myself any more. The energy of the devil ran throughout my body, my veins. It was a terrible feeling. At the end of the dream, somebody posted on Facebook that I had been possessed by the devil.

Annoying Visitor, by Juliana

2010-01-17T14:33:00.001-08:00

The dream took place in the space where we were all actually sleeping, and in the dream we were all there asleep in the midst of Oneironauticum. This guy came in and was walking around the apartment.

He started hovering over me, getting really close and in my face. Jennifer yelled at him, told him that it was totally inappropriate for him to be there. Then his friend started trying to make excuses for him, saying he was on something, not in his right mind. I wasn’t sure if he was real or an astral projection.

chase dream, by deam

2010-01-17T14:21:00.001-08:00

I dreamed that I was being chased by a giant floating brain. I was with a friend from my childhood. We used to play that we were on Mars. The brain chased us through that real/pretend Mars setting. I wasn’t sure whether the brain was real or was my friend’s delusion, but still it chased us and we ran. This went on for a very long time.

Heartbreak Dreams, by jennifer

2010-01-17T14:06:00.000-08:00

All night long I had heart rending dreams involving my spouse. In one dream, He admitted to me that he and his girlfriend had actually be together for a very long time, that they had several children and an old Victorian mansion together. We stood on a cliff overlooking the ocean as he told me this. Then he walked away in one direction, toward his girlfriend who I saw standing in the distance, and I got into my VW and drove away in the other direction. I knew I would never see him again and felt a tremendous sadness.

In another dream, I was searching for my spouse in a crowded carnival setting that was sort of Burning Man but not. I had a sense of great urgency, as if something bad would happen to him if I didn’t find him. Finally, I spotted him in the midst of a posh cocktail party, everybody dressed in very fancy clothing, speaking in very refined manner. He was with a good friend of mine, and I realized that they had gotten married some time ago but nobody had ever told me. He was very angry at me for coming to the party and insisted I leave.

I had several other short dreams, more like vignettes, following the same theme.

minutes of the October, 2009 Oneironauticum

2010-01-17T13:06:00.000-08:00

In attendance at the October, 2009, Oneironauticum were dreamers lissa ivy, Erik, Vibrata, David, Dean, Nathan, Juliana, Stacey, Katherine, and yours truly, Jennifer.

We gathered between 10:00 and 11:00. Before going to sleep, we discussed dreams we’d had in which we’d died. Many of us had heard the same myth in our childhoods, that if you ever dreamed you died, you would actually died, but most of us had at some point died in a dream. Personally, I have died many times in dreams. I vividly remember the first time, around age 10, when I was thrown from a car crash into a pool of warm water. The sensation of death felt considerably more peaceful than I expected, though I woke extremely frightened. View a film by Naropa Sabine that depicts a recent death dream that I had in 2007.

Around midnight, we all took B-6 and Melatonin before bedding down. Though dosage varied among dreamers, we all took between 1 – 3 mg of Melatonin and 100 or 200 mg of B-6.

Over brunch the next morning, we discussed our dreams. Many of us agreed that we had had unpleasant dreams, filled with urgency, anxiety, or simply disagreeable goings on. We decided to eliminate Melatonin from future Oneironauticum sessions.

The next Oneironauticum is Thursday, October 29

2009-10-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-04T10:56:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-04T10:52:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-02T22:45:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-02T14:44:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-02T13:48:00.000-07:00

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.

The Next Oneironauticum is Saturday, September 19

2009-09-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

The next Oneironauticum is Saturday, September 19. I’ll be conducting this Oneironauticum at the presentation/workshop I’m giving at the Symbiosis Gathering.

My talk, “Dream Work as Visionary Practice”, will address the visionary nature of dreaming and discuss how to cultivate experiences and practices based around dream. At the end of the workshop, participants will choose an oneirogen to work with that night. 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 one of the oneirogens and use it on the night of the 17th, 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.

For oneirogens, we’ll have a few options:

Mugwort: is a plant (sometimes called a weed) that contains thujone, the active ingredient in absinthe, and is known to promote powerful, visionary dreams and often also lucid dreaming. You can get dried mugwort at many health food stores that sell bulk herbs. We’ll be working with mugwort as a scent in dream pillows. To make a dream pillow, start with a sachet, or sew together two pieces of cloth to create a small pillowcase, or even use the end of a sock. If you want a stronger experience, you can add a couple drops of mugwort essential oil to your dream pillow mix, but this isn't necessary. Stuff the herb into the pillow (you can use the cut off top of a small water bottle as a funnel) and place near your head at night.

Calea Zacatechichi: is an herb used by the Chontal natives indigenous to the Mexican state of Oaxaca for the purposes of oneiromancy, a form of divination based on dreams. In some Mesoamerican cultures, people believe that dreams happen in realms beyond those we consciously perceive and that the contents of dreams can convey meaningful messages or prophecy. The herb also induces lucid dreaming. Calea can be brewed into a very, very bitter tea by steeping two to three grams (a really heaping tablespoon) of dried and crushed leaves in a cup of simmering (not boiling) water for 15 minutes. The taste is nasty, but it’s effective. You can also make an extract by soaking the same proportion of dried leaves to liquid in vodka or some other alcohol for a few days, shaking frequently, then straining out the leaves. Finally, the dried calea can be smoked. We’ll use all three methods. Calea can be ordered online or purchased in some stores that sell herbs. We buy ours from the Botanical Preservation Corps.

Galantamine: or, in its organic form, red spider lily, is used to treat Alzheimer’s and other memory impairments. An alkaloid, Galantamine is believed to increase the concentration of acetylcholine—a neurotransmitter that plays a very active role in dreaming—in the brain. Used to promote lucid or vivid dreaming, Galantamine is taken five hours after you go to sleep, right when the longer periods of REM sleep begin. Set an alarm just before bed. Galantamine can be purchased at some supplement stores, or online.

Mugwort Dream Notes, by Estelle

2009-09-14T10:06:00.000-07:00

Lights out about 930; woke 11 pm; 1215 am; 130; 4; 6; 7

A. At school a course with animated stick figure – very active and hyper

B. Self ?? images – island and other?

C. In a hot air balloon in a house – waiting for my partner who is still on the floor of the house to get organized to be with me; in Hawaii with DH and PK; DH Is driving, and I see a snorkel site in a contained pond that I want to visit and wonder how to access it. Next we three are on the Big Island looking at a house. I approach the pool area (curved pool separated from the ocean by a L-shaped house) and think “Mom is going to love this.” She comes into the area on the opposite side of pool and expresses “This is what I’ve been looking for” and/or “I could do this.”

D. At the airport and run into the entire Rolles Branch – we greet, hug, etc. – and I wish Kiki a happy 50th birthday

E. In a very large restaurant – and sitting in a very large booth – both in size and height. A large group – 30 people come and sit in the other part of the booth and extend out into the restaurant on a long, long table (made up of many tables together). This is not enough room for the group, and two people come to sit in my area – a father and child. I get up to leave because of the child.

F. I arrive at a restaurant with two men – one is my lover, the other not. The restaurant is in a house and just opening – and it is still daylight out. Are we there for early dinner or brunch? I immediately start to undress, taking off my slacks and shirt (or is it a jumpsuit?), and place these clothes on the back of chair to hold the table. I realize that I am in my bra and panties – and that they are from the same collection, but don’t match in color – the bra is nude and the panties black. I feel I need to put back on my clothes – at least the slacks – in part because the black panties seem to create a face image – a bit menacing. I go to find the restroom, and ask a young waitress pushing a cart where the restroom is. No answer as she continues on her way I gently hold her arm to stall her and ask again. She gets upset. I explain my position – that I needed the restroom and that I found it a lack of service not to respond. She tells me she doesn’t like that I held her back. I explain that I could have done it more harshly. I learn that the restaurant is on the second floor. Up there is a mirror and I dance in front on of it.

Making a Patter, by Eugene

2009-08-25T19:00:00.001-07:00

Our class is back in the film class we just finished. On the table are papers or plates with moving images on them that can be moved around. I shift and rearrange them trying to get the story, with Suzanne helping me and the teacher making comments. I hear what sounds like an argument from the next room, or maybe the way people talk after there's been an accident. I realize it's Marija Gimbutas talking about the Goddess.

I have an awareness that the narrative I'm trying to form with the moving images is a patter (on our schedule, there was a typo in the title of the film class, so it read "Archetypal Patters in Cinema"), somehow a precursor to a pattern. As I awake, I have the sense that I understand the concept of qualia that we discussed in class the night before.

Three Distinct Dreams, by Bridget

2009-08-25T18:55:00.000-07:00

Since I don't normally remember dreams, I used both the sachet and the anointing oil, and I had three distinct dreams.

In the first, I was outside on campus. A dog came running over, and then suddenly a bunch of dogs came. Then I realized that I was dreaming. I've never had that happen before.

The second dream was tied into the fact that we'd all commented earlier that night on how beautiful the night sky was. The dream was that the universe was a huge blackboard and I had white chalk and felt pressured to hurry and begin creating the universe once again, beginning with the stars, I remember feeling overwhelmed by the task.

In the third, A gold and white fish came swimming over to me and made eye contact and then flipped over to expose his wiry, black pubic hair. He wanted me to focus on it.

Mugwort Mascots

2009-08-25T18:53:00.001-07:00

Mascots for two of the cohorts (class groups) at Pacifica--Digger the wombat and Mugwort the monkey--with mugwort scent sachets tied around their necks.

Truck Driving, remote dream report by Michael

2009-08-25T18:49:00.000-07:00

I was a terrible driver, and in all sorts of vehicular predicaments, in a big rig, dune buggy, motorcycle, pickup truck. I kept obliterating other people's property and I was getting very frustrated because try as I might to concentrate, I couldn't because my girlfriend was wiggling and naked most of the time in the passenger seat, so I would wind up plowing into someone's house, or knocking over a tree, and the formalities afterwards seemed to drag on forever, so I was perpetually late.

Then my girlfriend reminded me that it was a dream. I still couldn't focus on driving and kept bashing into things, but I treated it like bumper cars, and as soon as the vehicle I was driving was wrecked, I'd grab her and toss her into the next available car, and off we went, careening away.

overpowering oil, remote dream report by Sylvia

2009-08-23T23:36:00.000-07:00

I bought essential oil of mugwort and dried mugwort, either organic or wildcrafted, as is the standard for the local witch store where I get my herbs. I had decided to not take any tea internally tonight ( recently had oral surgery and am on an antibiotic as well as antibiotic mouthwash and wasn't supposed to have anything in my mouth at bedtime, even water).

In preparing the anointing oil, I got mugwort on the kitchen counter, and mopped it up with a paper towel and my hair. You were not kidding this stuff is strong.

I also made a small sachet but more for ceremonial purposes than practical purposes; I put in it mugwort, rose petals (for heart) and rosemary (for memory), with no oil. The oil in my hair was so strong I didn't want to augment it. The smell "me montait à la tête": giving me a slightly spinny "woo" feeling.

I dotted on some anointing oil, turned out the light, and I listened to the binoaural beat CD Dreamcatcher (Metamusic®) by Don Peyote and Naasko through earphones until I drifted off, rousing only to take off the earphones when the CD ended. I felt the CD made me relaxed and receptive to magic in dreamspace.

Conclusion: take mugwort internally for next attempt.

making sachets and anointing oil, image by Mikita

2009-08-23T23:28:00.000-07:00

Students make scent sachets and anointing oil

full night full of dreams, by Jennifer

2009-08-23T23:10:00.000-07:00

For my Oneironauticum experience, I slept with a sachet, working with the scent of mugwort. Over the course of the night, I woke several times throughout the night, either because the smell was too strong—in which case I moved it away from my face—or because it had grown too weak—so I pulled it closer again. Interestingly, I found that bringing the scent closer to my face caused me to remember dreams I’d had earlier in the evening, in much the same way that moving into the same sleeping position I’d held (on the right side, on the left side, on my back) sometimes helps me remember a dream from an earlier period of sleep.

When I woke, I felt like I’d been immersed in a carnival of dreams all night long. In addition to my normal recall of three longer narrative dreams, I remembered a couple great short snippets. In the interests of brevity, I’ll only pull out a few central images from the night.

My first dream, early in the night, featured swooping architecture and me dressed as a jellyfish. My second long dream involved me driving with my family through my dream version of Toronto. I go there often enough in my dreams that I have a mental map of the place. We were driving in a VW van but it was my father’s, not mine. We were on a track like a rollercoaster, swooping steeply down incredibly fast. I could see the tracks through the bottom of the floor, and I remember thinking it was vertiginous, and wondering if other people felt this much intensity when they drove with me in my van. In the third long dream, several people and I became alarmed that our friend had gone missing. We set out to search for her, and at one point were all running down a dusty, rock-strewn path. I was barefoot and therefore couldn’t run as fast as I wanted. I find myself inappropriately barefoot often in my dreams.

In the first of the two snippets of dream, I looked up at a star-filled night sky, the sort you only see in the countryside. White flame began to lick up among the stars. Then I stood on a hillside over San Francisco at night watching the fog roll in very quickly. It was all incredibly beautiful.

The final snippet, from which I woke a mere ten minutes before the alarm would have woken me, occurred as I surfaced close to consciousness, half wanting to go back to sleep, half thinking I should wake up and write down my dreams. Three psychiatrists stood at a bar with their backs to me, discussing me as if they didn’t know I was in the room.

“What do you think, should she wake up and write down her dream or not?”, one asked.

“I think she should probably keep sleeping. She needs to be fresh for her class.”

“I think she should wake up. She might forget her dreams if she doesn’t write them down.”

They went on in this vein for a while. Then one of them spun around as if he’d just noticed me and somewhat embarrassedly stuck out his hand as if to shake mine, saying “Oh, hello there! I’m Dr…” at which point I woke

Minutes of the August 09 Oneironauticum

2009-08-23T23:06:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, August 20, the students in my dream work class at Pacifica Graduate Institute (Brook, Casey, Christina, Corinne, Estelle, Eugene, and Suzanne) as well as five faculty members (including Mikita, Erik, and me), and about a dozen other students from other classes gathered to prepare for Oneironauticum. The oneirogen of the month was mugwort, taken one of three ways. Some of us stuffed sachets with dried mugwort, sprinkled with mugwort essential oil, to work primarily with the scent. Others made an anointing oil to absorb the mugwort through the skin. Still others made a tea from the dried leaves and stems. Some people tried a couple different methods simultaneously.

The next day, several of the Pacifica students, who were just finishing a nine day intensive of 12 hours of class time a day (with breaks), said they’d had the first really good night of sleep in a long time. Many other participants—both those from Pacifica and remote participants—reported remembering more snippets of dreams than full dream narratives. Interestingly, some of the people who had this experience normally remember greater numbers of long, narrative dreams, and others normally don’t remember dreams. Personally, I usually remember 2 – 3 long narrative dreams a night. With the mugwort, I remembered 3 such dreams, but also a few separate short snippets of dream.

The next Oneironauticum is Thursday, August 20th

2009-08-13T16:38:00.000-07:00

The next Oneironauticum is Thursday, August 20th. This special session will take place in Santa Barbara, on the campus of Pacifica Graduate Institute, during the two-day session that marks the beginning of a class I'll be teaching on dreams. Students and faculty will participate in person and, as always, we welcome remote participants.

For this session, we’ll be working with mugwort as our oneirogen. Mugwort contains thujone, the active ingredient in absinthe, and is known to promote powerful, visionary dreams and often also lucid dreaming. Oneironauticum participants have worked with mugwort blends several times. For this session, we’ll concentrate specifically on mugwort as an oneirogen (anything that promotes vivid dreams).

Mugwort can be used in many forms. We’ll be working with three different methods of enjoying this herb, either in dried form, as essential oil, or both combined. For this session, participants will choose one of the methods, or may try a couple or even all together. Both dried mugwort and mugwort essential oil can be purchased at most well stocked health food stores.

Dried mugwort tea: A bitter tea can be made from dried stems and leaves. For each serving, pour a cup of boiling water onto l-2 teaspoonfuls of the dried herb and leave to infuse for l0-l5 minutes in a covered container. The covered part is important; you don’t want to lose the oils. Some herbalists claim mugwort is a healthy daily tonic, while others feel that mugwort contains some toxicity and should not be consumed frequently.

Mugwort anointing oil: In ancient medical practices, oils infused with herbal remedies were smeared on the skin, allowing the recipient to absorb healing properties. This is an excellent method for taking in the oneironic properties of mugwort. To make your own oil, create a blend that’s 10 to 15 percent essential oil and 85 to 90 percent high quality olive oil. As a guideline, 20 drops of essential oil in a third of an ounce of olive oil will achieve a proportion of 10% essential oil. Just before bed, rub a small amount of the oil into your temples and on your chest or throat.

Dream pillows: Recent studies have discovered what avid dreamers and herbalists have known for a very long time: scent affects dreams. To make a dream pillow, start with a sachet, or sew together two pieces of cloth to create a small pillowcase, or even use the end of a sock. Take a small plastic water bottle and cut off the top quarter. Put the dried herbs into the bottom part of the bottle (make sure it’s dry!), then add in several drops of the essential oil. The scent is strong, so try adding a few drops at a time then stopping to see how it smells. Once you have a blend you like, use the top of the bottle as a funnel to move the mixture into the pillow. Place near your head at night.

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 all using the same oneirogen. Simply use one of these methods to work with the mugwort. You may also, as always, participate by simply going 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. Contact us if you're interested.

optical illusion, remote dream by sylvia

2009-08-13T12:24:00.000-07:00

I’m with some friends, and observing a landscape that has an approximately 20” embankment to a higher plateau. Apparently I’ve only been existing on the “lower” one, and my friends tease me about not having been on the “higher” one. The plateau is a beautiful Arizona-type desert. I walk on this plateau and the immediate landscape changes to a tennis court with impressively giant (as in narrow, long, not wide or deep) cracks in the court. The cracks match the angles of the tree branches above, so that the patterns merge together when I look ahead (earth and sky appear to merge together in a sense). I point out the illusion to a companion I’ve caught up with on the walk. We are set to walk back now, and I suggest to some other people on this walk (a mother, father and daughter perhaps?) to walk backwards in order to observe this phenomenon of the big jagged trees matching the cracks in the court.

Same night different scenario: A bunch of us are in a type of cul de sac and on vacation. It’s time to cut it short, and those with rental cars abandon them there, but first they pose under signs that materialize over the cars, signs that display the balance they owe on the rental cars. Some kind of other shift in the scenario: I walk up to a friend, past a little girl (about 7 years old) whom I’ve found annoying but I say hi to, since it’s so unusual to see her here.

Charles Manson the barber, remote dream by Bill

2009-08-12T12:28:00.002-07:00

I dreamt that Charles Manson had been released from jail and that during his 40 years in captivity he had gotten his barber certification.

I worked for a large corporation (much like I really do) and the corporation was really into a new feel-good program for prisoner rehabilitation, and we had hired Charles Manson as an on-site barber.

Everyone was all freaked out about having the guy so close to their head with scissors, so I made a big speech in front of the whole company about how safe it would be, and I offered myself up as the first haircut.

The cutting was to take place in a large auditorium, with a guard on the stage and with an audience watching.

working at a federal facility, remote dream by Sandy

2009-08-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

I am working in an office in an older building at a federal facility. Several guys also work in offices along the same hallway. I am reviewing a report about groundwater contamination. I am ready to send my comments to the author and mention it to my coworker. He states that he has already sent the response for our office. I say something like "When were you going to tell me?" I am irritated because I feel that I have wasted my time, so I ask him about about the status of reviewing another document. He says something like "Don't worry about it - the cleanup is going to happen." I respond with irritation saying, "Don't tell me what to worry about. I have been doing this job for 20 years."

Then simultaneously almost over this dream sequence, I am looking at a brightly colored (red, blue and gold) pin. It is circular - about the size of a nickel - and within the circle is a chevron composed of 3 lines. Somehow I know that it belongs to a former coworker who has been promoted within the military to a special commission that conducts senior reviews. I am somewhat surprised by this because he wasn't in the military when we worked together. However, he has been in the past, so it seems plausible, although unlikely. Then I am opening 2 packages that contain wooden tinker-toy like objects. The long wooden pieces are dark brown and the smaller circular and triangular parts are bright blue, red, and green. Each object is about 1 foot in length, and the 3 long wooden pieces in each one form a long 3-dimensional triangle. I suppose they were shaped somewhat like rockets.

The dream ended abruptly when I was awakened.

feathered dogs, by Jennifer

2009-08-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

I follow a woman into the front door of my building. I’m concerned because I think she’s barging into my apartment, but then it turns out to be someone else’s apartment. There’s a dinner party going on. My friends and I (some of the people at the Oneironauticum and some other people) sit at the table and start eating the food. There’s fried potatoes and greens. We’re not exactly welcome, since we’re consuming their meal, but then the hosts forget about us and it’s OK.

I’m in the bedroom of one of the hosts. He’s in the adjoining bathroom talking to me through the door. His two small, feathered dogs frolic on the bed, getting up on hind legs to do little tricks. They’re incredibly soft.

Minutes from the July 09 Oneironauticum

2009-08-11T18:45:00.000-07:00

On Monday, July 27, Dreamers Polly, Elizabeth, Kat, Emily, Amanda, Coco, and yours truly, Jennifer, gathered at Elizabeth’s beautiful house perched high on a hill with sweeping views of Marin.

We spent some time talking about the phases of sleep and the kinds of dreaming that happens in different dream states. People sleep in cycles of approximately 90 minutes (it varies individually), usually five or six cycles a night. The phase of slipping into sleep, when alpha waves (the steady mental idling of the mind that signals awake awareness) slow down to theta waves is called hynagogia. That’s when you get those weird hallucinogenic visions and when your body involuntarily kicks or starts (those are called myoclonic jerks). Then stage two sleep sets in. This is the baseline of sleep, accounting for 45 – 55% of a normal night’s sleep. Body functions slow down and muscular activity (measured by EMG) decreases greatly. Stages three and four usually get grouped together and called slow wave sleep. In those stages, brain waves slow down even more, all the way down to delta waves. Parasomnias like sleep walking, bed wetting, or night terrors happen most often in this stage. Then there’s stage five, or REM sleep. Researchers used to think that dreaming only happened in REM, but now they realize that’s not exactly true. However, people in sleep labs remember REM dreams considerably more often and reliably than they do any other dreams. Finally, there’s the state of passing from dream into a state of wakefulness. That’s called hypnopompia. Actually, it doesn’t usually get called a sleep state, but I have the best dreams there, so I tend to add it in. The time we spend in each stage changes throughout the night. The longer you sleep, the more time you spend in REM. That makes for a simple equation: sleep more and you’ll remember more dreams.

After talking about sleep stages, we prepared our kava kava. First I soaked the powdered kava in cold water for half an hour. I made a strong brew, two parts water to one part kava. A weaker brew might have a tablespoon of kava to a cup of water. Vary amount depending on desired strength. Then I put water and kava both into a blender and blended on high for a couple minutes. Finally, I strained the mix to get the powder out. It took several strainings and still our brew tasted powdery. I like the taste of kava and the slight numbing on the tongue, but people sometimes add other liquid to the blending stage (try coconut water) to improve the flavor.

The majority of us piled into several beds pushed together. Both Polly and I had difficulty falling asleep, perhaps due to the potency of the brew. However, in the morning we were also the two who best remembered any dreams. Reports from remote participants have varied quite broadly about the efficacy of the kava.

The Next Oneironauticum is Monday, July 27

2009-07-22T12:36:00.000-07:00

For the July Oneironauticum, we'll be working with Kava kava, a root traditionally used among Pacific Ocean island cultures. Also known as Piper Methysticum (Piper is Latin for "pepper"; methysticum, Greek for "intoxicating"), kava is known as a sleep aid that relaxes the mind without dulling mental clarity. Kava displays both euphoric and narcotic qualities, and is often used to socially cohere groups of people.

General reports on the efficacy of kava as an oneirogen vary. Some say it promotes lucid dreaming, others that it brings on short, particularly vivid dreams, and others still that its primary effect includes mild sedation and mental relaxation. Several long-time remote Oneironauticum participants claim powerful oneirogenic effects from kava.

To participate remotely in the Oneironauticum, acquire kava kava from your local health food store. Although kava is available in pill form, you will get stronger effects if you buy it powered and then prepare it yourself (see wikipedia for preparation instructions) or else purchase a kava tincture. You may also, as always, participate by simply going 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. Contact us if you're interested.

Grandma subdues pirates, by Paul

2009-06-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

Big swashbuckling scene, three musketeer looking guys with long hair and mustaches jumping around fighting pirates with swords. The pirates were real bad guys, gristled and dirty with bad teeth, but they were really good with the swords and it looked like maybe they would win. I knew that if they won then everyone else on the ship would be killed.

Then my grandmother came out of the cabin and started bustling around and every body sort of stopped, as if it had been me and my cousins as kids play fighting. We all sat down and ate sandwiches.

Lego City, by Bill

2009-06-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

In my dream, I visited a landscape version of Hollywood that I've been building and visiting for the past 4 or 5 months. I much prefer the dreamscape to the real hollywood now. I discovered that certain, if not all, buildings are lego-based, meaning they can be picked up by some god-sized hand and set down and snapped in place in a different part of the city, thus rendering useless the dependence on such structures as bearing-providing landmarks.

There was also a really neat thing where all the citizens of the town had to return their garbage to a store-type place. Once you were done with a bag of potato chips, or a six-pack of soda or what have you, you had to take it to a place and put the trash back on the shelves in order, just like a supermarket in reverse. it was really fun and everyone did it.

May minutes, Detailed Dreams, by Jennifer

2009-06-09T13:01:00.000-07:00

Because yours truly, Jennifer, was in Tokyo, the May, 2009 Oneironauticum consisted of remote participation only. After an evening of wandering amazed through Shinjuku, I returned to my cute little apartment in Yoyogi Hachiman, unrolled my futon, and applied my patch. Because I’m sensitive to nicotine, I used a 7mg transdermal patch (the weakest strength) cut in half.

The patch produced vivid dreams all night long. In addition to three distinct, very linear, clear dreams, I also had several shorter dreams. The three longer dreams featured several of the same people. The first of these involved a discussion with my teacher/guru/friend Danny about the nature of discourse and the most clear way to convey a thought. When I coasted toward consciousness after this dream, I remembered what we said about those things, but by the time I woke up, I had forgotten. In fact, I completely forgot about this dream, which I had early in the night, until the third of the long dreams, which I had later the following morning.

In the second dream, I made miso soup for Danny, his lady Merrie, and my friends Katherine and Trout. The process got slightly awkward; I put a pot of water on a burner then forgot about it while I gathered up bowls and materials so that most of it boiled off, and when I added more in ended up not quite enough. When I served the soup, I gave everyone very detailed instructions about how to prepare and then eat the meal.

In the final long dream, Danny and I told Merrie, Katherine, and Trout the history of Rajneesh, from his establishment of an ashram in Pune through his transformation to Osho, his arrival in the U.S., tales of sex and violence practices, the poisoning of the local Oregon populace to win an election, the the Rolls Royces, and finally his deportation and return to India. The history had great detail and took a long time to tell.

The shorter dreams included one in which I was a man in conflict with a former friend who had been blackmailing me. When I refused to continue paying him, he became violent and chased me on horse. After politely greeting a group of older men on a ghetto stoop, I hid in their yard. The blackmailer rode up and addressed them rudely, so they pretended not to have seen me. In another short dream, someone had put flowers in pots and statues of Jesus all over the top of my van. I looked up in a window and saw Katherine in a window looking sad. I realized she had put them there. In yet another dream, I forged large metal nails with Polly and several of her friends.

The Next Oneironauticum is Saturday, May 30

2009-05-25T16:03:00.000-07:00

The next Oneironauticum is on Saturday, May 30th. For this session, we’ll be working with nicotine patches. Advanced oneironauts swear by the effectiveness of patches to promote vivid and sometimes also lucid dreams. In fact, the packaging of the patches I bought lists vivid dreams as a side effect, and instructs the user to remove the patch at night and apply a new one in the morning if vivid dreaming becomes overwhelming.

Patches come in varying strength and should be applied according to your tolerance for nicotine. Stronger patches produce stronger effects, but may also interfere with your ability to sleep or cause nausea. If you’re very sensitive to nicotine, as I am, you may want to get a weaker patch and cut it into halves or quarters.

Because I’ll be in Japan, all participation in this Oneironauticum will be remote. To participate remotely, apply your patch on the night of Saturday the 30th and join us in the dream world. You may also participate by simply going to sleep with the intentionto share in our group dreaming experience. Anyone who participates is welcome to post their dream experiences on this blog. If you’re interested, contact us.

Conversation, Memory, Land. Remote dream by Michael Rynne

2009-05-06T10:03:00.000-07:00

I am staying at my family house. Johnny Rotten is there wearing some quite conservative clothing. I am delighted to see him and have a lot of experiences to relate to him. He listens though I have a feeling that I am talking too much. I tell him that it is interesting that he is there because earlier in the day John Lydon (his real name ) was here also. He tells me that the name is pronounced Lay-den not Lie-don.

Later I am staying with friends in a different area. I have an old Citroen 2Cv which is parked among trees. I leave the house and walk out into the neighborhood. I suddenly recognize that I am in a neighborhood I spent time in in another dream. I am shocked because where the beautiful wooden Victorian houses that were in the previous dream are now burnt and blackened patches of yellowed grass in the dry summery fields. I am saddened because in a previous dream I had lived happily in an ornate wooden Victorian that was on the corner there. There was a long grass covered lane behind the house lined with mature Beech trees, now gone. A railway track with a freight locomotive is there now. I ask someone what happened but the can only say that they think that there was a fire. In the previous dream I had a difficult time getting used to the other people in the house but eventually overcame whatever problem I was having and felt very secure and comfortable there.

I am seeing a topographical model of the coast of West Africa. It is constructed out of plaster on a very large scale. My eye moves in an arial view along the coast. the sea is blue and the land is various browns and yellow for the sand at the shore. As my eye moves along I am looking for somewhere to 'hide' and soon am relieved to see that the inland mountains begin to rise up and I can see the dark green of forests in between the peaks. Then the topographical model changes into a real landscape which I am now seeing from the perspective of a helicopter. I turn to the left and swoop down into the shade and safety of the forest.

Dream Images, by lissa ivy

2009-05-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

Deep Sea Sponge

anointing oil

meta dreams, by David

2009-05-03T15:27:00.000-07:00

I didn’t remember dreams until morning, when I began to get vivid fragments separated by time, mostly meta dreams about Oneironauticum.

One set of fragments involved a gallery where we’d gathered for our dream group. The first gallery contained carvings made into dark, baked clay. The second contained portraiture as done by a seven year old—not a younger child—enameled against a white back drop occasionally framed by round bits of chrome or mirror. The third gallery had nothing in it except varying gradations of white throughout, similar to Jay DeFeo’s “The Rose”.

In another dream, the group of us sat talking before going to bed. The conversation revolved around dreams and about the group. People discussed the effect of heavy meals on dreams. One person talked about the time he was turned away when he showed up for Oneironauticum drunk.

In the last dream, after departing from the group in the morning I was travelling east in my car on Ashby in Berkeley, and I had to take a right onto “International Blvd”, which was a somewhat poorer, very ethnically diverse street lined with various markets and restaurants. I was behind a long slow queue of cars also making the turn-off. A moment passed, and suddenly I was now coasting unimpeded down the street on a bicycle, my arms outstretched and the wind in my face.

Racoon Professor, remote dream by Michael Matthews

2009-05-03T15:13:00.000-07:00

I was a PhD student in mathematics and I got a paper back that had ridiculous comments on it (I was writing a proof that related the Fibonacci series to the differences in successive squares, and in the dream, I saw the connection), written in pidgin English with lots of misspellings. One of them said "these stupid thought, stupid, stupid", and another said "vury confusing, ow" and at the bottom of every page was a percentage, usually 0% or 4%, and at the top of the first page was written 64%, which made no sense whatsoever, because it was neither the total of the individual percentages, nor the inverse, and that's what set me off.

I looked up from reviewing my paper and the professor was a raccoon, standing upright on a desk with little black rimmed glasses that accentuated his mask and a tiny labcoat. He was lecturing the class on the poor work they'd done and told one woman "you stupid face, small brain", and he had a really annoying, raccoony voice (i.e. a little more bass than a chipmunk, and with a bit of a drawl). I started mocking the way he was talking, and he threw a pinecone at me, so I started throwing everything around me back at him, and several of my classmates (who had just previously been cheering me on), started saying "aw, he's so cute! don't hurt him" and things like that, so I began pelting them with debris too. Finally, I worked my way to the front of the classroom under a withering hail of pinecones, grabbed him and tied the sleeves of his labcoat like a straitjacket and hung him by the collar on the coat rack. While he gibbered and chirruped angrily, I wrote out a proof that I actually used in 10th grade to make fun of Don Ricklefs (my supposed teacher) after he'd had to copy out of a book the proof that 1 does not equal 1. This made the raccoon furious and I started rubbing the chalky eraser on his little black nose, but then my girlfriend came in and gave me a "really, now" look and I grabbed her by the hand and we ran out of the building.

Physical Sensations and Dream Fragments, by Jennifer

2009-05-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

Immediately after getting into bed, I slipped into hypnagogia, that half dream state that comes on at the onset of sleep. Because I usually fall asleep easily and quickly, I rarely spend time in hypnagogic states (as opposed to hypnagogia’s twin on the other side of sleep hypopompnia, the half dream state that occurs as we wake up, perhaps my favorite realm of being). I really enjoy the weirdness of hypnagogia, however, so spending the half hour or so in that half sleep drift was really a treat for me. Most of the imagery involved people, crowds passing in front of me, individual faces coming into focus, shifting viewpoints so I saw feet and legs passing by, hazy views of many people standing clustered together.

Not long after falling fully asleep, I woke to find myself overheated, sweating enough that the sheets were damp. I also felt and heard an unpleasant, almost sickening buzz that flooded my entire nervous system. I threw the blankets off and lay feeling sick until I managed to drift off again, only to awaken again shivering, teeth chattering cold, still awash in the nervous buzz. This pattern repeated several times for the first hour or two of sleep, then subsided.

Throughout the rest of the night, I dreamed many short, vivid fragments of story, also unusual for me, who generally remembers two or three clear narratives every night. In one fragment, I walked through a New York City East Village tenement hallway through a crowd of shady looking characters. As I went by, I realized I had interrupted one guy selling hashish to another. At first everyone tensed up and I feared what might happen, but then the dealer said that since I’d realized what was going on and had tried (albeit too late) not to notice, it was OK. In another dream fragment, I drove my VW van, Baby, to a remote cabin. There, Erik and I talked on the phone and agreed to break up. He drove away in my van. Another fragment involved several young kids running from the police on abandoned urban streets at night. In another, the Oneironauticum group gave a performance from the attic eaves of a house through a missing wall to crowds gathered in the street below. In yet another fragment, several us walked down a country road. We came to a fence we needed to jump, and I placed my hand on top of it, pushing myself across and over it with one fluid, graceful motion. The sensation was very vivid.

Minutes of the April Oneironauticum, by Jennifer

2009-05-03T13:55:00.000-07:00

Participating in person for the March Oneironauticum were dreamers Erik, lissa ivy, Geneva, Christine, David, and yours truly, Jennifer.

We gathered at my and Erik’s home, also known as the habitat, between 10:00 and 11:00 where we discussed some of our recent dream trends. Then we sat down around the living room table and each measured out a third of an ounce of olive oil into the small bowls I had prepared for mixing our anointing oils. We then each mixed 20 – 25 drops of a mix of essential oils: Myrrh, Sandalwood, Sage, Mugwort, Roman Chamomille, Lavender, and Rose, mixed according to the qualities we wanted our anointing oil to possess. Once we’d made our oils we, rotated around the table smelling everybody else’s blends.

Around midnight we anointed ourselves. Some of us anointed at temples, shoulders and chest. Others went for glands: pineal (third eye), thyroid (throat), and Apocrine (under the arms). Amidst the fragrance of the oils, we went to bed. That night, the majority of us set an Oneironauticum record by sleeping more than ten hours. In the morning, we discussed our dreams over brunch.

Most of us reported numerous but fragmented dreams. Half of us recalled several of these fragments quite well, while the other half reported that the images scattered as soon as they woke up. A couple of us (Geneva and me) got the sense of having “overdosed” somewhat with the anointing oils. We both felt somewhat dizzy and sick in the earlier part of the night, experiencing sweaty, hot discomfort and cold, shivering spells. These feelings faded later in the night.

The Next Oneironauticum is Saturday, April 25

2009-04-16T14:47:00.000-07:00

The next Oneironauticum is on Saturday, April 25th. For this session, we’ll be working with anointing oil. In ancient medical practices, oils infused with herbal remedies were smeared on the skin, allowing the recipient to absorb healing properties. Later, anointing became a form of consecration. Today, anointing oils are often used to promote dreams.

Those of us sleeping in the same space will each craft our own individual anointing oil from olive oil combined with essential oils. We will choose which oils we use in varying proportions to suit our specific dream intentions. Remote participants can also mix their own oils. Create a blend that’s 10 to 15 percent essential oil and 85 to 90 percent olive oil. As a guideline, 20 drops of essential oil in a third of an ounce of olive oil will achieve a proportion of 10% essential oil. Just before bed, rub a small amount of the oil into your temples and on your chest or throat.

We’ll craft our anointing oil from high quality olive oil and essential oils with oneirogenic properties or traditionally used for anointing:

Myrrh: The principal ingredient in Biblical holy anointing oil, acts as a sedative, believed by some to promote astral travel.
Sandalwood: A traditional anointing oil ingredient, induces calm, alert, meditative states. Promotes heightened sensuality.
Sage: Good for treating insomnia, increases self awareness.
Mugwort: Promotes visionary, psychedelic dreams. Used to induce lucid dreams.
Roman Chamomille: Calms sleep, acts as a sedative. Counteracts nightmares.
Lavender: Increases alpha waves and promotes tranquil, calm dreams.
Rose: Works as an antidepressant, promotes happy, pleasant dreams.

You can also purchase dream anointing oils from well stocked vendors of herbal products or online. Check out Alchemy Works’ dream oil or Mountain Spirit’s dream oil.

As always, remote participation in Oneironauticum is welcomed. To participate remotely, anoint yourself with your dream oil wherever you’re sleeping on the night of Saturday the 25th and join us in the dream world. You may also 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 on this blog. If you’re interested, contact us.

Blue Face Tattoo and Handwriting Trickiness, by Lena

2009-04-09T09:57:00.001-07:00

I dreamed of being at a party in our actual physical location, with the same group of us who were sleeping at Dean's for Oneironauticum. A huge, bulky guy with an incredibly vivid blue face tattoo, where his entire face was the blue color, was there in addition to all of the rest of us. Everybody seemed to know him; he was quite a happy, friendly guy. Juliana had painted her face the same vibrant blue in some sort of solidarity with him, since she was his good friend.

I kept waking up and writing down my dreams. I could see the handwriting clearly, not like my usual attempts to read in dreams which rarely succeed, due to the letters moving around or morphing. Here it was all clearly readable, but each successive dream was written down in a different handwriting --one dream in small, precise print, the next dream in curly cursive, the next in a sloppy expansive hand -- none of which were my own handwriting in waking life.

When I actually woke up in the morning, I sincerely thought I would have a bunch of dreams written down, but when I opened my notebook, it was blank.

Vivid, Beautiful Perceptions, by Dean

2009-04-08T10:06:00.000-07:00

I walked at night down a boardwalk or pier that stood only a few inches above the water line. Candles along the sides of the pier reflected in the water, shimmering and vivid. The sounds of the waves slapping against the wood echoed gently, and a golden light suffused the entire scene. I could see and hear everything totally clearly. Everything felt totally peaceful.

In slow motion, I walked along the pier looking for a house boat, but I was so engrossed in the beauty of the situation that the goal didn't really matter.

Images from the Oneironauticum, by lissa ivy

2009-04-08T09:46:00.001-07:00

Dean's Disassembled Piano
Hands and Tea
Stalking Brunch Fruit

Vehicles, remote dream by Nat

2009-04-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

In Seattle, visiting my posse, a Hasidic Jew plays chess with a giant man on a lawn covered in moss up a side street. We are meeting in a hotel/office building. I'm dropping off t-shirts for the bar I work at. People talk of the new Chinese restaurant in the mall. We go by, it’s very bad but friendly and open looking.

My boss from the Hideout picks me up at the airport in the driving rain in a tiny convertible chitty chitty bang bang looking car towing a giant flatbed. Cabs don't pick me up. But the airport is in the middle of nowhere, dark, and tiny. The plane/rocket starts with a cough of a rocket engine and fire. Dawn arrives.

I'm riding my motorcycle, but by the end of the trip I'm in my car. I'm obsessed about cleaning my very dirty glasses but they are a bit broken so I use little onions to fix them. I miss the turn in my car while falling asleep and end up in Cleveland, an hour away, and have to drive home again. A 15 minute trip turned into three hours I think sadly. And me falling asleep...

Dream Body/Physical Body, by Jennifer

2009-04-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

The Waterlilies somalixir produced physically tangible effects on my dreams.

During the earlier part of the night, I dreamed a tall, thin man with dark curly hair in a pony tail and a pink seersucker shirt. He complained to me that the Somalixir didn’t actually do anything. I showed him that if I loosened my jaw a little, it would vibrate rapidly back and forth, clearly an effect of the somalixir.

In a later dream, Erik and I rode in the back of a bicycle rickshaw driven by an old Hispanic man, our guide in a foreign country. He carried a bird feeder made from a hollowed out piece of bamboo that hung from a rod meant to be stuck in the ground. I said I wanted to buy one and he directed me to a very run down, third world-looking supermarket. That part of the dream was in Spanish; he called the bird house an ave casa, the literal translation, though I don’t know if that’s what it’s actually called.

In the market, I went to use the bathroom. When I finished and tried to stand up, I could only rise slightly, not enough to pull my pants back up. I realized that my physical body was lying in bed spooned against Erik, my knees bent in against his, and that I wouldn’t be able to stand up straight in the dream without also straightening out my physical body and waking him up.

Since I knew it was a dream and I didn’t want to disturb Erik, I stayed half standing, dream and physical bodies both bent into the same shape, and started to read a magazine I saw lying there. In it, Micah—one of the alchemists who created our Somalixir—had placed an ad for her and my going away party.

Through a small window, I saw one of the store employees peering at me standing awkwardly with my pants around my knees. Then, though I knew it would wake Erik up, I stood up to pull my pants back on. As I did that, I correspondingly stretched out my physical body, waking up both Erik and me in the process.

crocodiles and butterflies, remote dream by Michael

2009-04-07T18:28:00.000-07:00

My girlfriend and I were living in London in a ramshackle place with the bathtub down a ravine where a highly variable creek flowed through. Aside from the inconvenience, a very large crocodile occasionally appeared down there and would lay across our tub (being many times too large to lay in it) and make bellowing noises. I built a door that kept him out when we wanted to bathe, but we couldn't keep it closed too long or the pressure from the creek would push it in.

The four kittens we had were more problematic, as they liked to go down by the creek and play (suspicious, as they were so tiny as to be barely able to walk). My girlfriend solved that by dumping a bunch of litter in a closet and almost burying them in it. No idea why that worked, other than that it seemed to put them in an immobilized stupor. Any time we pulled the kittens out of the litter to play with them, dozens of tiny Monarch butterflies would burst up out of the mess and the kittens, once de-stupored, would race around trying to catch them, but not even coming close.

Minutes of the March Oneironauticum, by Jennifer

2009-04-02T09:15:00.000-07:00

Participating in person for the March Oneironauticum were dreamers Erik, lissa ivy, Dean, Juliana, Stacy, Lena, Chreos, David, Yvette, and yours truly, Jennifer.

We gathered at Dean’s house in Bernal Heights between 10:00 and 11:00 where we spent the first hours discussing trends we see in our dreams. Both Lena and I described some of the places we revisit in dreams though we’ve never seen those places in waking reality. Chreos talked about a period of spontaneous lucid dreaming he’d experienced in his youth. Juliana mentioned her prophetic dreams. David questioned whether he actually dreamed in color. Several of us had shared the experience of being able to jump long distances, not quite flying but close, as well a repeated anxiety dream of learning we hadn’t actually finished high school. We also shared our most frightening dreams: Erik’s gray alien, Dean’s pure dread, my lunging creature in the closet.

Around midnight, we took the Waterlilies Somalixir and went to bed. Over the last months, as we’ve been working with the spagyrics sent to us by our pals at Al Kemi, several of us have found we have better results with 5 – 6 drops instead of the 1 – 3 recommended dosage. In the morning, we shared our dream experiences over brunch.

The strongest common effect involved powerful physical sensations. In one of my dreams, I became acutely aware of the actual position of my body in the bed where I slept. The movement of my dream body became inhibited by the posture of my physical body. Dean walked down a pier in slow motion with firelight beautifully reflected on the water and the sound of waves lapping against the wood. Erik listened to excellent music, including some reggae. Juliana had music too, the same soundtrack that often accompanies her Oneironauticum experiences, “The F Word”, by Sound Tribe Sector 9. Lena dreamed colors, vivid blues. David also dreamed blue, thinking to himself in the dream “Oh, I guess I do dream in color!”

The Next Oneironauticum is Saturday, March 28

2009-03-20T10:17:00.000-07:00

The next Oneironauticum is on Saturday, March 28th. We'll be working with a Waterlilies Somalixir created by our pals at Al-Kemi. The formula combines several sorts of Waterlilies: Blue Nymphaea caerulea of Egypt, Mayan Nymphaea ampla, and Eurpoean Nymphaea alba.

Water lilies are thought to contain very pleasant psychotropic qualities (Some theories name Blue Nymphaea caerulea as the "lotus" eaten by the lotus eaters in Homer's Odyssey), and to promote vivid dreams.

Visit Al Kemi to purchase the Waterlilies Somalixir or learn more about it.

As always, remote participation is welcomed. To participate remotely in the Oneironauticum, simply enjoy your oneirogen wherever you’re sleeping on the night of Saturday the 28th 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 blog. Contact us if you're interested.

Sweet Dreams!

Alien Visitor, by Vibrata

2009-03-13T17:32:00.000-07:00

The alien visitor dream is what I remember most vividly. It was kind of frightening at first, then turned out much differently.

An alien was being hunted. It (or maybe “he”?) had tremendous powers to defend himself. The people chasing him were people I knew, though I’m not recalling who exactly. They were in a large warehouse and the alien could hide practically in plain site. His persecutors were trying to use guns and explosives to kill him, but in the end, he was more powerful. I don’t recall if he killed anyone. I do remember being very afraid to look directly at him. (at times in the dream, I was the alien. At other times, I was his ally, and an observer.)

The dream took a turn when the alien prepared to make his exit from our world. He had come to the conclusion that this was a hostile place, and was appalled by the way women are treated here. He gave a farewell statement, and it won him several friends, me being one of them. He prepared to leave.

I don’t have a clear picture of what he looked like, just that he was lizard-like, with very bizarre eyes. At one point I do remember embracing him and feeling a deep love. I was among several people wishing goodbye to him, knowing we’d never see each other again. In spite of the prosecution and hatred he experienced, he felt a great love in return, and compassion.

This was a comparatively vivid dreamspace than I’ve been used to of late and what stood out for me was the depth of emotions and the clarity with which I was perceiving them, as well as the distinctly “philosophical” flavor to the content of the dreams.

Adventure in a City with Canals, remote dream by Gnat

2009-03-06T15:05:00.000-08:00

In a giant cavern, fed by rivers, or maybe an underground city with canals. The action is primarily in one small section of a turning basin in a canal (widened to allow ships to pass/turn etc). There are docks sticking out into the water, lots of cranes for raising things, and people around but not crazy busy. And there is no sky above, just darkness, but not night.

There is a navy ship of some type with little other navy ships, the captain is addressing a gathering of people/navy crew in smaller boats and two navy sailors pretend to be dolphins and leap up out of the water to salute him.

To get away I, floating in the water, grab the end of a very fast kayak like boat with a motor, a bit worried about the engine and once he gets going my finger gets caught in an opening and I can't let go, we roar past my destination and finally I worm free and let go, but don't stop very well and have to swim against my momentum.

At some point I am on sort of a street corner, as if in NYC where they do construction and have a canopy of scaffolding, but this is over water, and the "sidewalk" is some type of floating carpet on the water.

I have to cross one section that is missing carpet so I clamber up onto the scaffolding (nervous for some reason? something in the water, animals?). While up on the platform I realize there is an image on the carpet.

Sort of a cartoon of a pumpkin creature/sprite, a flame/ice creature/ sprite and some other cutesy character/thing, and they're all in a box.

Someone says "Hey, look at those other symbols", it is some friend of mine and we have been trying to figure something out about the city, and the symbols next to the characters at the bottom right are three ladders with bulges in them at various points and....I can't see them now but there were more.

Then suddenly in the vacant lot to our right (really more of an alley of trash, not water this time), suddenly the three creatures appear in a box, alive now, but sort of sitting in a broken tv case or something.

Dying then Fading Away, remote dream by Bill

2009-03-06T15:03:00.000-08:00

Along with one other man, I was a war hero who was assassinated and it was being covered up. We were shot during a presentation of some medal of bravery, in front of an audience. I spent the majority of the dream as a fading, clumsy ghost.

There were some uncomfortable details, like I visited (as a ghost) the guy who was writing my obituary for the newspaper and it was all wrong, it was just boilerplate stuff, and I was screaming at him that my middle name was not Donald, I did not have any brothers, etc but it didn’t matter, my obit was going to press completely wrong.

Worst was the fact that it was a political assassination and a cover up. No way that they were about to look for the guy who killed me, everyone who witnessed the shooting was in on it. I was merely being made to go away, but as a war hero. One upside was that I got to be buried in some fancy military cemetery in a really good-looking uniform and there was all this pomp around it, but as the dream went on, I was fading from existence and it was very, very sad and confusing.

Another interesting detail is that there are indeed all these “ghost enablers” among us here and now. Much like Buddhists with their pet hungry ghosts, the enablers do things like spill food and perform other types of general littering in order to feed the ghosts, because we cannot open containers, boxes, doors, jars, etc. We can only eat off the ground and without using our hands. The enablers see ghosts in places like supermarkets or restaurants and then deliberately spill food so we can eat. Seems like ghosts are sort of like clumsy pigeons.

It seems comic now, but it was really really uncomfortable, largely because I was fading away. I figured that the fade is in relation to how present you are in folks’ thoughts. The less people that are thinking about you, the more you fade therefore you become less visible to the enablers and get less food, in short the rest of eternity is spent becoming more confused and befuddled, aggravated, hungry, opaque, etc. unless you are like Princess Diana or Adolf Hitler or John Lennon or someone big like that, who gets fed well because they are being thought of all the time by at least someone.

Swashbuckling, by Dean

2009-03-06T14:54:00.000-08:00

The night we took the Somalixir, at around 2am, I got a call from Russia that woke me up, but what's weird about that is that the phone was turned off upstairs and I could barely hear the downstairs phone.

At the time, I was dreaming that I was some kind of swashbuckler (dressed in, I think, 16th century blue ruffles and tights) and leaping huge distances around a castle with my rapier while fighting the enemies of the king. I felt like I was in a late 1950's MGM production, laughing and thrusting away merrily with my sword. It was the nearest thing to a flying dream I'd had in years, and I think I would have gotten into flying if the call didn't come.

I heard the far away phone in my dream and thought, oh, that's probably Lesley, I should probably get it, and surfaced through SO MUCH LAYERED DREAMSTUFF. I could barely hold the conversation when I got to the phone. Then I easily slipped back into sleeping/dreaming again, for more nuanced and detailed adventures. For me the Somalixir is also a sleep aid. Kind of like melatonin but it feels much nicer to me. I'm generally such a light sleeper, and I find it hard to get back to sleep once I wake up in the night, but last night I woke from dreams a few times with very detailed memory and went back under again in what seems to me to have been only a matter of minutes. I woke up feeling better rested than I had in a while.

Finding Light Again, by Erik

2009-03-06T14:49:00.000-08:00

I generally do not remember my dreams, but with the Dreamtime Somalixir I recalled many fragments of many dreams, a few accompanied by quite vivid images. There was a fair amount of emotional turmoil in the dreams, with other people being upset and myself being a bit torn in different directions, but it was not a typical anxiety dream, more like a deeply emotional one where I was really seeing and feeling peoples pain, the wounded animals inside our human challenges

At one point I kept going to suck more nitrous oxide, even though my balloon kept breaking, and though I don't remember getting particularly high, drugs in dreams are often signs of multiple dimensions and forms of consciousness.

The most vivid and charming part of my dreams was a scene where I was stumbling down a forest path in dusk’s deepening shade. I was shod only in white sweat socks, and as the light dwindled and the damp chill grew I felt an urgent call to return to the safety of the well-lit town above. But I continued plunging into the gloom, until I made a turn to the side and stumbled down into a radiant meadow. The sun was shining, full and warm, and I realized I still had some glorious moments to savor in the late light of day.

animate, inanimate, and rice pudding, by Jennifer

2009-03-06T14:47:00.000-08:00

The entire night after I took the Dreamtime Somalixir felt like a dreamtime carnival. I woke rested, but with the sense that I’d traveled far and had days of adventure.

Early in the night, I received a lesson on the basic nature of the world. Everything can be divided into two categories, I was instructed: inanimate things (like rocks) and animate things, divided into three sub categories, the first of which was black birds. The dream gave me no information about the other categories.

Throughout the rest of the night, I kept dreaming further details about how to understand the inanimate things. The details appeared as lessons but without a teacher. I was simply made to understand things, with the assistance of illustrations and facts. The way to measure inanimate things, I learned, was to displace them in water. There was also a diagram of a mountain that kept reappearing in subsequent dreams, each time with different sections in detail or dotted line with information that told me some new thing: its age, varying degrees of slope, kinds of rock in each strata.

I must have had at least a dozen dreams that night. The weirdest thing, though, was that I kept thinking I was awake then I would start to think about something and the thought would expand out into a dream. Early in the morning, I had woken up, or so I thought, and as I laid in bed I remembered the rice pudding we’d seen on a menu that day but hadn’t ordered. Then there was a spoonful of rice pudding and it began to glow and vibrate, and, finally, to emanate the nature of rice pudding-ness out into the universe. Several other times throughout the night, I remembered that first dream and wondered about the birds, then the waking thought became a dream. One time, birds filled the bedroom, squawking loudly so I feared they’d wake Erik up. Another time, my mind followed a bird from my mind out the window and into the sky.

The Dreamtime Somalixir is supposed to be useful for promoting lucid dreams. Its effect on me was similar but slightly different: instead of causing me to become conscious in my dreams, it brought my conscious mind to fore such that I thought I was awake until some strange occurrence made me realize I was dreaming.

Minutes of the February Oneironauticum, by Jennifer

2009-03-06T14:44:00.000-08:00

After some complex logistical issues were conquered, the February Oneironauticum included dreamers Erik Davis, Vibrata Chromodoris, David Shamanik, lissa ivy tiegel, Dean Mermell, Jacob Nasim, Juliana Meowth, and yours truly, Jennifer Dumpert.

Most of us found the Dreamtime Somalixir very powerful. Several of us had dreams that included birds or flying. When I reported this to our pals at Al Kemi, who created the Somalixir, they told me that one of the ingredients, Wild Red Asparagus, is used by Siberian and Chinese shamans to fly & have flying dreams. A few of us also looped through conscious states and dream more readily than we normally do, with a sense of continuity from one dream to the next. We generally agreed that in addition to promoting vivid dreams, the Somalixir worked as a sleep aid; mostly we all woke feeling particularly refreshed.

Interestingly, some remote participants who joined us by holding the intention to dream together but who did not take the oneirogen also had very intense dreams.

The Next Oneironauticum is Saturday, February 28

2009-02-21T08:21:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, February 28th. We'll be working with a Dreamtime Somalixir created by our pals at Al-Kemi, made of spagyrics of Calea Zacatechichi, Silene Capensis, and Mugwort, all oneirogens we’ve worked with in past Oneironauticum sessions. This specific combination is designed to promote the ability to maintain consciousness in dream states, either to promote lucid dreaming or merely enhance dream awareness.

Visit Al Kemi to purchase the Dreamtime Somalixir or learn more about it. If you’re interested in learning more about Spagyrics (the production of tinctures using alchemical processes), take a look at the Spagyric Wikipedia entry.

If you do visit the Al-Kemi site, you can also obtain the Oneirogen for our March 28 session, a Waterlilies Somalixir.

Sweet Dreams!

medicine woman, by Christy

2009-02-04T15:31:00.000-08:00

A magic woman appeared in my dream blowing smoke over me and my sister. It was a ritual of some sort, and the woman was native American, or had some resonance with native Americans.

I was on the floor with my head to the ground. The woman kept blowing smoke onto me and I went up into dolphin asana, the yoga pose where you’re on your feet and your elbows. The woman continued blowing smoke and I went up into headstand, then into one armed headstand, then I levitated off of the ground.

It was a very powerful dream. I’ve had a dream like this once before.

Family Picnic, by Jacob

2009-02-04T15:30:00.000-08:00

Picnic on a beautiful grassy hill with all of my Israeli relatives, eating food, flying kites. Some of us go hiking onto a 26 thousand high frozen mountain pass in the Himalayas where we visit some Tibetan Lamaseries.

When we get back to the picnic, one of the kites which has been fashioned from a plastic shopping bag flies away and I chase after it. A younger member of my extended family sees the escaped kites and I say, “hey, could you please throw the kite away when you’re finished with it? We don’t want it to become garbage”. She says sure.

At point throughout this, I realize that I am wearing a green bunny suit, much like the white one Erik wore in his recent performance, How to Survive the Apocalypse.

White Receipts, by Vibrata

2009-02-04T15:27:00.000-08:00

I don’t know if I can say anything to ancestral communication or lucidity, but it is nice to be able to remember something about my dreams since that’s been lacking in my life lately.

The overall theme seemed to be “busy-ness”; going places and doing things with people; getting stuff done. At first I was dreaming about our gathering and some sort of preparation we were doing. There were stickers we needed to make, and I was organizing designs on sheets of paper, trying to make them fit well, conserving space. There was some traveling involved, and finding the right route.

A later dream involved Erik (was he the ancestral influence?). We were expensing an event of some sort, going through receipts and invoices. I showed him one receipt that was yellow, and he let me know that it would be better to have white ones.

elephant dreaming, by Christine

2009-02-03T22:06:00.000-08:00

My ability to connect with my dreams symbolically was much stronger than usual over the past two nights of dreaming. This expanded seeing happened at the Oneironauticum, and then the night after, when we had our homeopathic dose in the morning. I didn't find there to be too much of a difference between my dreams the first and second night, only the first night, I had more time to enjoy hynopompia. My second night dream was like this:

A photographer had a elephant on it's belly, then put it's arms and legs behind it's back and tied them all together with thick white rope so that he could photograph her. The elephant was anesthesized so she wasn't aware of what was being done. They were in what was once a stadium, but was now a ruin, near a pond. The earth beneath them was dry and solid. She started to wake up and realized she was tied. The huge, grey elephant began to shake. The shaking became so much that a dirt cloud began to form and make a mushroom shape over the elephant, who began to stand on all fours. The photographer ran, knowing the elephant was going to chase him. He was afraid and hid behind the stadium wall, on the side near the pond. The elephant didn't go chasing after the photographer, who was surprised, having expected that he would be chased. The elephant went on her own way.

Obtuse Messages, by Jennifer

2009-02-02T21:53:00.000-08:00

Several of us slept in the same space, a slumber party, sort of Oneironauticum, but also not. Several Buddhist monks were there, scattered in beds and wandering about. A couple of them kept turning on the television, though our hostess specifically said she didn’t want it on. I kept telling them to turn it off again. The Zen Buddhist master who founded one of the main lineages in the states and with whom I had the honor to study, Hakuin Taizan Maezumi Roshi, kept trying to talk me out of my last three dollars. I finally gave it to him. The monks kept repeating a word or phrase, using it in different ways and contexts. I knew the phrase was really important, but I didn’t understand it, couldn’t quite make it out.

In a later dream, I walked through a wintry street lined with big snow banks, piles of ice and snow everywhere. I was loaded down with luggage, a rolly bag pulled behind me and several purses and duffel bags slung over my shoulders. Everything was awkward, bags slipping off and falling as I stumbled in the snow. Then the rolly bag got stuck on something I couldn’t see and I yanked it hard. It feel over in the snow and all my other bags tumbled to the ground as well. A homeless man approached me and told me that clearly the salt rock he’d placed there had caught my bag. Then he wandered off snickering.

If the silene capensis was supposed to provide messages from one’s ancestors, I’m really not sure what mine wanted to say. A few of the oneironauts suggested that the latter dream might involve my ancestors urging me to lose my baggage.

Minutes of the January Oneironauticum, by Jennifer

2009-02-02T21:51:00.000-08:00

In attendance at the January 31 Oneironauticum were dreamers Erik Davis, Vibrata Chromodoris, David Shamanik, lissa ivy tiegel, Dean Mermell, Christine Benvenuto, Katherine Rochlin, Geneva Bumb Shanti, Jacob Nasim, Spiros Antonopolus, Erin Flynn, Christy Silness, Rebecca Devi Leanord, and yours truly, Jennifer Dumpert.

We began the evening by gathering around and checking out the proto type I just received in the mail, a multi-part device designed to increase dream recall and intensify dreams. A technological oneirogen in the tradition of the Nova Dreamer, this device includes auditory components timed to launch when the sleeper enters REM sleep, a sensory vibratory element keyed to the music, a mask that flashes LED lights behind closed eyelids also along with the music, an olfactory component that uses heat to release a scent during REM, and the sadly exclusive penis awareness component. Apparently, men reliably become erect at the onset of REM. When this happens, this component sets everything else in motion, the sound, the light, the scent, whatever you’ve set. We ladies will just have to use the timer. More on this device in future posts.

We took the Silene Capensis around 11:00 and stayed up a while before sleep. Over brunch the next morning, we discussed our dreams. Many of us dreamed of white—either snow or walls or even receipts. Several of us dreamed of figures who clearly held wisdom, Tibetan Lamas, Buddhist Monks, a woman with magical powers. Rebecca, a circus performer and workshop leader, received a clear message that she was to learn anatomy. Christine received a dream in response to a question she asked about her personal life. Spiros received a nightmare, a three chested, multi armed dude with lots of weapons (knives, swords, unidentifiable scary things) chasing him. Later, in a subsequent dream, several birds asked him if the dude was Spiros’ ancestor.

The Next Oneironauticum is Saturday, January 31

2009-01-22T18:59:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-21T14:33:00.001-08:00

Garlicky Caesar Salad

Garlic Bread

Yarn Cats, by Michael Matthews

2009-01-21T14:28:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-21T14:27:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-21T14:12:00.000-08:00

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.

The Next Oneironauticum is Saturday, November 15

2008-11-14T12:50:00.000-08:00

Our oneirogen for the November Oneironauticum will be garlic. Very little literature exists about the effects of garlic on dreams, and what there is sometimes connects garlic with nightmares. Two original core Oneironauticum members (visionary artist Vibrata Chromdoris and permaculture landscaper David Shamanik) report consistent strong, positive dream experiences brought about by ingestion of garlic.

A couple hours before bed, we'll eat a light but very garlic heavy meal of Caesar salad and garlic bread. Afterward, we'll chew parsley or eat mints (both counteractive to garlic breath). As always, remote participation is welcomed. To participate remotely in the Oneironauticum, enjoy a pre-bed snack that makes ample use of garlic. Try not to eat heavily, as large meals before bed often impede sleep. You may also, as always, participate by simply going 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. Contact us if you're interested.

Sweet Dreams

Satisfying Dream, remote dream by Bill

2008-10-27T22:59:00.000-07:00

I lived in an apartment building with about 20 units. A good mix of seniors, families with kids, interesting single folks, etc.

Everyone else in the building was wonderful and friendly to talk to, and there was a playground out back full of kids and all the kids were hanging out back there, playing hopscotch or basketball, etc.

I remember that I was deeply aware that this was my day This was my life. I felt very centered and at peace with how I was spending my time with these foks. There was nothing else to do that day but interact with my neighbors and sort of visit and hang out for a bit and then perhaps help one of the elderly ladies with her groceries, that sort of thing. It was really pleasant. There was even a busybody neighbor, very much like Mrs Kravits on Bewitched, she came to my door to discuss a tenant’s pet cat that keeps getting thru the gate. It seemed that she was basically trying to get me to fix the gate, but I countered her with pointing out that even if the holes in the gate were fixed, the cat would be able to just jump over the gate or something and then the busybody lady sort of hemmed and hawed with no further strategy to sway me to her side and get me to fix the gate. Odd detail but it was a really nice, pleasant place to be.

Also pleasant because (I’ve read that) dreams of a structure or a building are said to represent the self. Therefore to have such a dream where the basic theme is relaxed harmony tells me that something cool is happening in me.

visions and possession: dream experience by Jennifer

2008-10-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

The Women’s Visionary Congress Oneironauticum is perhaps the strongest experience I’ve had yet with Calea zacatechichi. That’s saying a lot. The night was extremely cold. Curled shivering in the pullout bed of my beloved VW Westfalia Baby, I drifted into a particularly clear state of hynagogia and had a beautiful dream vision.

I saw a tree growing very slowly. It started out small and spindly, and then began to widen and extend out. The trunk thickened and branches spread out, and up, slowly but steadily until it had become a huge, great, venerable tree. Then a series of images passed before me, a bird’s eye view of different grand old trees. I saw an enormous chestnut tree, the image so clear I could discern the shadows of fluttering leaves against the sun dappled trunk. A giant redwood followed, towering and majestic, then a dense, ancient pine. Each of these trees, and several others, stood powerful and time worn.

Later in the night, I thought I had woken. I looked down at the foot of the bed where two gorgeous Asian women sat talking to each other. Though I could see them clearly, noting the fine curves of slender faces and their delicate features, I couldn’t hear what they were saying.

Still later, I moved suddenly from what felt like a deep sleep, starting upright from where I lay on my side, hissing with my hands held like claws. I had been possessed by the spirit of a cat. It passed through me in a moment, gone before I could even consider it. Rather surprising.

Finally, some time around dawn, cuddled down into what had become a deliciously toasty cocoon of blankets and sound asleep, again, I felt a chill wind pass through me. Now, I’m from Buffalo, and I know the feeling of a gust so cold you can feel it in your bones. It was so frigid it woke me straight up, where I discovered myself warm and cozy.

Dreams from the Women's Visionary Congress Oneironauticum

2008-10-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

Though we did not undertake a group dream sharing the morning after Oneironauticum, several people related their experiences to me the next morning. One of the speakers, a caniosacral therapist who works with an activist network of recently returned Iraqi war veterans, experienced a deep encounter with her son. A junky who she fears may end up in prison, he came to her in her dream and told her that he was doing what needed to be doing and that she needed to let go of it. She found this very healing.

An impressively bearded man named Pasha experienced strange sensory phenomena, not entirely out of keeping with the findings from past Oneironautica, although his occurred while awake. Before sleeping, a glowing light hovered around his head. Upon waking, he experienced ringing in his ears.

Marcela, who had been dreaming of birds during the stay at Wilbur, had a precognitive dream in which one of the Congress attendees had fallen quite ill. In the morning, we discovered that this person had indeed been very ill the night before. Marcela’s partner Seabrook, who rarely dreams, pursued the Chontal tradition of using the Calea for oneiromancy, divination through dreams. He asked for guidance with the land they recently purchased. In his dream, he saw a house made in the shape of a molecule. He examined a model of the house closely, explained how it would work, took it apart and put it back together.

A woman from the Bay Area had a rare flash of lucidity that freed her from an unpleasant dream. In the midst of an anxious situation, she realized that what was happening was too unlikely and must therefore be a dream.

Minutes of the October Oneironauticum, by Jennifer

2008-10-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

An inspiring, marvelous group of women and men gathered for the Women's Visionary Congress at Wilbur Hot Springs. For Sunday night Oneironauticum, approximately forty people gathered to hear about the Calea zacatechichi, our oneirogen for the evening. Being the sort of people who like to have in depth information, several attendees asked questions about potential interactions between Calea and other substances. In the experience of Oneironauticum participants, any substances that noticeably inhibit dreaming will overpower the Calea. Large amounts of alcohol, THC containing substances (marijuana, hashish), or medication that aids sleep (Benzodiazepines, such as valium, xanax, and klonopin, or Zolpidem, also known as ambien) all generally suppress the effects of the Calea, probably because they inhibit dreaming. Nobody who has participated in Oneironauticum has reported any adverse reactions from combining Calea with other substances. I also recommended not driving after consuming the Calea. Many people begin experiencing dreamlike states within half an hour of drinking the tea. Operating this world heavy machinery is not advised in dream states.

After the introduction of the Calea, we discussed dream states. Rick Doblin, founder of MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) shared that he and his wife had kept dream journals (among other journaling) during her two pregnancies with their children, to present to each later in life. Marcela, who led the group in yoga during the Congress, told me stories of her rich dream life. Like me, she remembers on average three dreams per night. These dreams are so vivid that she often wakes up laughing, crying, or exclaiming. Another young woman reliably receives guidance in her dreams when she’s faced with important decisions.

Of those gathered, about half partook of the Calea zacatechichi tea. A few also smoked the Calea just before sleep, also a traditional way the Chontal people of Oaxaca ingest the herb.

October Oneironauticum Roadshow

2008-10-10T12:31:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, October 12, I'll be leading a special session of the Oneironauticum as part of the Women's Visionary Congress at Wilbur Hot Springs.

Participants in the event will be invited to partake of a tea made with the herb Calea zacatechichi, a plant used by indigenous peoples in the Mexican state of Oaxaca for the purposes of oneiromancy, a form of divination based on dreams. In some Mesoamerican cultures, people believe that dreams happen in realms beyond those we consciously perceive and that the contents of dreams can convey meaningful messages or prophecy. The herb also induces lucid dreaming.

Calea zacatechichi, a member of the sunflower family, grows from central Mexico south to Costa Rica. The leaves are dried and made into a very bitter infusion. Sunday night, Visionary Congress participants who choose to will explore the realm of dreams as visionary experience, using Calea zacatechichi as an ally.

As always, remote participation in the Oneironauticum is encouraged. Unlike most of the oneirogens we usually select, however, Calea zacatechichi may be difficult to find. You can order it online from a large number of herb vending websites, and more exotic health food stores may stock it on their shelves. If you don't acquire the herb, however, feel free to join the group simply by setting your intention to participate in the Oneironauticum on Sunday night. 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.

Dream Images, by lissa ivy

2008-10-10T12:17:00.001-07:00

Crafting Dream Pillows

Making morning tea