E.l.e.c.t.r.i.c D.r.e.a.m.s
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E.l.e.c.t.r.i.c D.r.e.a.m.s
Volume #10 Issue #7
July 2003
ISSN# 1089 4284
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http://www.dreamgate.com/electric-dreams
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Download a cover for this issue
http://dreamgate.hypermart.net/ed-covers/ed10-5cov.jpg
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C O N T E N T S
++ Editor's Notes
++ The Global Dreaming News
Events - Updates - Reviews - More
From Peggy Coats - www.DreamTree.com
++ Cover Artist's Statement
Laura N. Atkinson
++ Column: An Excerpt From the Lucid Dream Exchange
Jan Hart's Unique Lucid Dreaming
By Lucy Gillis
++ Article: How Real is the Dream?
By Linda Lane Magallón
++ Column: A View from the Bridge
Report on the World Dreams Peace Bridge
Dafumu Dreaming
By Jean Campbell
++ Newsletter: The Waves: 03. Star Trek to Sirius
By Nick Cumbo
++ Article: DreamWork for Everyday Life
Susan Clemons
++ Article: How Will Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
A conversation about androids and dreaming
Richard Wilkerson
and the ASD Online Community
D R E A M S S E C T I O N : Volume #661 - #669
With Editors Elizabeth Westlake and Harry Bosma
D E A D L I N E :
July 16th deadline for August 2003 submissions
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Post Dreams and Comments on Dreams to:
http://www.dreamgate.com/dream/temple
Send Dreaming News and Calendar Events to:
Peggy Coats <
web@...>
Send Articles and Subscription concerns to:
Richard Wilkerson: <
rcwilk@...>
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Editor's Notes
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Welcome to the July 2003 issue of Electric Dreams, your portal to dreams
and dreaming online.
If you are new to dreams and dreaming, please join us on
dreamchatters@yahoogroups.com and we will guide you to the resources you
need. To join send an e to
dreamchatters-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
or if you are interested in sharing dreams for world peace, please join the
World Dreams Peace Bridge
http://www.worlddreamspeacebridge.org
It's Conference Time! If you haven't registered yet for the Twentieth
Annual International Conference of the Association for the Study of Dreams
that will be sailing into Berkeley, California between June 27th and July
1, then stop right now and make your plans and get registered at
http://www.asdreams.org/2003
This is the most fabulous dream event on earth. There will be over a
hundred presentations and workshops, plus special events and the Annual
Dream Ball where you can come as your favorite dream person and dance with
a wide assortment of costumed dreamers.
Lucy Gillis offers Electric Dreams a selection each month from her _Lucid
Dream Exchange_. The current issue of LDE is devoted to the unique lucid
dreamer. The excerpt in this issue is a lucid dream from Jan Hart where she
travels in a unique lucid adventure, meeting a mentor, viewing past and
present lives and visiting friends.
Break out of binary thinking and join the universe! In
Linda Magallón's "How Real is the Dream?" the doors of perception open up
from the limited views of dreams that are just hidden-revealed or
big-small, dream or not-dream. Get your tools honed for entering realities
that aren't given to you by someone else.
Jean Campbell, spokesperson for the international dreaming and outreach
group World Dreams Peace Bridge (WDPB) has a monthly report for us called
the View from the Bridge. This month she explains how the group is
practicing DAFUMU dreaming and how you can participate.
Nick Cumbo newsletter and column reports on the explorations of the Sea
Life community. Sea Life, the main web forum at Dreampeace, aims to bring
together a circle of dreamers from around the globe, collaborating in
dreaming adventures, and 'dreaming with and for the earth itself.' This
month, The Waves 03 looks at dreams of Sirius, and the system's relevance
to life on Earth; From ancient knowledge of the system to key themes that
arose in our adventures. Also included, dreams as a way of a communicating
on a galactic or transdimensional level.
Susan Clemons has been an active dreamer for many years and has recently
noticed that the kinds of interaction that occur in online dream groups are
the kinds of interaction she would like to incorporate into her daily
life. In "DreamWork for Everyday Life" Susan explores what it is that she
likes about these interactions and what kinds of guidelines might promote
such a community.
Tribal assassins, snakes in the yard, man forced to live in glass
cylinders… is this the end of the world? No, its just the Electric Dreams
section on DREAMS! This section is beautifully edited by Elizabeth Westlake
[with the help of Harry Bosma's editor program].
If you have dreams you want published, don't send them to Elizabeth
directly, but rather enter them in the form at
http://www.dreamgate.com/dream/temple
Or you can put them in the dream flow directly by subscribing
to:
dream-flow-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
--------------------
For those of you who are new to dreams and dreaming, be sure to stop by one
of the many resources:
http://www.dreamtree.com
http://www.dreamgate.com/electric-dreams
http://www.dreamgate.com/dream/library
NEW from Nick Cumbo, Electric Dreams in PDF:
http://www.dreamofpeace.net/community/electricdreams/
--------------------
Dream Week declared by San Francisco and Berkeley Mayors.
The 2003 ASD International Dream Conference in Berkeley is July 27- June
1.
http://www.asdreams.org/2003
Cover at:
http://dreamgate.hypermart.net/ed-covers/ed10-7cov.jpg
The cover this month is from Laura Atkinson and Richard Wilkerson
-Richard Wilkerson
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G L O B A L D R E A M I N G N E W S
July 2003
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If you have news you'd like to share, contact Peggy Coats,
web@.... Visit Global Dreaming News online at
http://www.dreamtree.com/
This Month's Features:
NEWS
-- "Dream Week" to Feature Experts on Sleep and Dreams
At International ASD Conference
-- Book: Dream Catcher by Patricia Garfield, Ph.D.
-- Book: Dreams of Healing by Kelly Bulkeley, Ph.D.
-- Jung Seminars via E-mail
-- Alexandria Project: Preservation of Dream Resources
-- Bosma Online Lucidity Training
RESEARCH & REQUESTS
-- How Will Machines Dream?
-- Computer Dreams Survey
-- Dream Survey by Kelly Bulkeley
WEBSITE & ONLINE UPDATES
-- Dream Cartoon Online
-- YourGuidetoDreams.com
-- Ancient Dream Book online
-- ASD O.n.l.i.n.e
-- SacredDreams.net now online!
DREAM CALENDAR
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N E W S
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>>>> "Dream Week" to Feature Experts on Sleep and Dreams
At International ASD Conference
June 27 - July 1, 2003
Berkeley, California
BERKELEY, CA - The week of June 27-July 3 has been declared Dream Week by
the mayors of both San Francisco and Berkeley to honor the international
Association for the Study of Dreams which is holding its 20th annual
conference at the new Doubletree Hotel at the Berkeley Marina that
week. The proclamations also recognize the 50th anniversary of the
discovery of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, a breakthrough that proved
that the phenomenon of dreaming is universal. William Dement, M.D., part
of the University of Chicago team who identified this sleep cycle, will
give a keynote presentation on the progress in sleep and dream research
over the past 50 years. Dement was also a founder of the pioneering
Stanford Sleep Disorder clinic.
INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED EXPERTS TO PRESENT
The ASD conference, entitled Dreaming by the Bay, includes over 100 diverse
presentations by the world's foremost dream researchers, authors, and
clinicians. Included are workshops and seminars that feature
psychological, medical, artistic, anthropological, spiritual, and cinematic
perspectives on dreaming. New findings on the psychology and meaning of
dreams by European, Australian, Asian, and North American researchers will
be presented. Conference Program Chair and past-President of ASD, Alan
Siegel, Ph.D., will conduct a series of Continuing Education presentations
with psychotherapists and researchers on the meaning of dreams and their
use in psychotherapy. This will include a session on cultural and ethical
issues in working with trauma survivors' dreams and nightmares, featuring
vignettes of nightmares of survivors of natural disasters, war, terrorism,
and accidents.
DREAMS, SPIRIT AND RELIGION
The link between dreams, spirit, and religion will be explored in a keynote
address and panel discussions by world renowned comparative religion
scholar, Huston Smith, Ph.D., with Peter Kingsley, Ph.D. and Kelly
Bulkeley, Ph.D. Acclaimed psychologist and parapsychologist, Stanley
Krippner, Ph.D. will participate on a panel about dreams and shamanism, and
present research on paranormal dreaming. Pioneering researcher Stephen
LaBerge, Ph.D., founder of the Lucidity Institute, will talk about current
research on dreaming and consciousness.
DREAMS, CREATIVITY AND THE ARTS
The interface between the world of dreams and visual imagery will be
explored through cinema and art. Two symposia will show the impact and
portrayal of dream in classical and contemporary cinema. There will also
be a juried exhibit of dream-inspired art where artists will be available
to discuss their work, and a slide show of dream-related art. Even Harry
Potter will attend the conference when San Francisco psychotherapist, Gail
Grynbaum, Ph.D., discusses the nightmares of Harry Potter. A series of
expressive arts workshops are also on the program.
ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF DREAMS
The Association for the Study of Dreams is the only organization of its
kind in the world. This non-profit, international, multidisciplinary
organization has a diverse membership representing a variety of
dream-related activities, including academic research, clinical practice,
and individual study.
CONFERENCE AND CONTACT INFORMATION
Members of the public may register for conference activities on a
space-available basis. Reporters are welcome to cover
presentations. Please go to the registration desk and request a press
pass. Media access to workshops is strictly limited; reporters must
receive approval to attend from workshop leaders. For additional
information on ASD and the conference program visit our website,
www.ASDreams.org or call toll-free at 1-866-DREAM12.
MEDIA CONTACTS ARE:
Alan Siegel at (510) 527-7929 or
dreamsdr@...
Wendy Pannier at (610) 995-1507 or
wpannier@...
>>>> Book: Dream Catcher by Patricia Garfield, Ph.D.
Coming October 2003
Dream Catcher: A Young Person's Journal for Exploring Dreams.
Full of fascinating information for ensuring safe sleep and bright dreams
drawn from lore around the world, Dream Catcher also invites readers to
begin their own dream quest.
This is also the companion book for The Dream Book: A Young Person's Guide
to Understanding Dreams
by Patricia Garfield, Ph.D.
Winner of a Parent's Guide Children's Media Award
The Young Hoosiers Award Nomination
The 2002 Children's Media Awards are sponsored by Parent's Guide to
Children's Media, Inc., a non-profit corporation that locates, reviews, and
honors outstanding materials for children and teens.
http://www.patriciagarfield.com
>>> Book: Dreams of Healing by Kelly Bulkeley
Dreams of Healing: Transforming Nightmares into Visions of Hope
(Paulist Press, 2003)
This book shows the value of dreams in helping people who have suffered a
personal and/or community crisis to work through their losses and develop a
new capacity for creative living. The focus is on the tremendous healing
potential of dreaming in times of crisis-even the most terrifying
post-traumatic nightmares are part of a healing process that ultimately
leads to a deepening of spiritual wisdom and self-understanding. Dozens of
examples are given of people who are trying to deal with a horrible
collective disaster (like the terrorist attack of September 11) as well as
people who have suffered personal catastrophes like sexual abuse, auto
accidents, house fires, etc. The book's goal is to provide readers with a
basic set of skills to use in working with dreams and nightmares during
times of crisis and disaster.
http://www.kellybulkeley.com
>>> Jung Seminars via E-mail
For approximately 6 years, the C.G. Jung Page has sponsored the
"Jung-Seminars," moderated e-mail discussions that were led by Jungian
analysts and scholars and focused on a recently published book by the
seminar leader.
We are grateful to have had the participation and support of analysts and
Jungian scholars such as Murray Stein (Chicago, current IAAP President),
Susan Rowland (London, IAJS Convenor), John Beebe (San Francisco, current
President of the San Francisco Institute), Ann Casement (London; member,
IAAP Executive Committee), Michael Vannoy Adams (New York), Thomas Singer
(San Francisco), Thomas Kirsch (San Francisco, former IAAP President),
Andrew Samuels (London), Sue Austin (Sydney, Australia), Wolfgang Giegerich
(Wörthsee, Germany), Daryl Sharp (Toronto; publisher of Inner City Books),
and Katherine Benziger (Silverthorne, Colorado; creator of the Benziger
Thinking Styles Assessment).
The Jung-Seminars were held over 3-4 day periods and always enjoyed very
active and stimulating discussion during those brief but intense days of
correspondence. There were usually 140 or more subscribers to each seminar;
most subscribers "listened in" while perhaps 30 to 50 people would
participate in the dialogue.
Don Roper, an Economics Professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder,
created "Communications for a Sustainable Future" (CSF) and generously
hosted the Jung-Seminars from its inception. Don will be retiring from the
University in August, however, and CSF will no longer be hosting e-mail
discussion lists. There are many more resources on the internet for such
discussions, and I will be looking for new ways to offer an online resource
comparable to the Jung-Seminars.
For the remaining time I turned over the use of the Jung-Seminars
exclusively to the newly formed International Association for Jungian
Studies (IAJS)--an organization for the collaboration of Jungian analysts,
psychotherapists, professors, students, and independent scholars. The
Jung-Seminars discussion list is available to anyone who becomes a member
of IAJS. You can learn more about IAJS by visiting the web site at:
www.cgjungpage.org/iajs.html.
Membership of IAJS is open to those from any discipline, artistic or
cultural practice with an interest in Jungian and Post-Jungian Studies at a
scholarly level including analysts and psychotherapists. Masters and
doctoral students and candidates undertaking clinical trainings pay dues at
a reduced rate. All members shall have equal voting rights.
Dues: These have been kept as low as possible and there are two fee bands.
For members from the United States and Canada, W.Europe, Japan and
Australia the annual fee is $42.00. Those from the rest of the world will
pay $21.00. Students and candidates in training will pay half the
appropriate rate.
I hope that many of you will join and participate in the growth of IAJS.
Any new developments with the Jung-Seminars will be mailed to you via the
Friends-of-CGJung mailing list.
Donald Williams <
dwilliam@...>
>>> Alexandria Project: Preservation of Dream Resources
The Alexandria Project
For The Donation & Preservation Of Dream Resources
The Alexandria Project is named after the famous library in Egypt
(founded ca. 300 B.C.) which stored the collective wisdom of the
Hellanistic world. At this point in history, there has been a resurgence of
dream materials from a broad spectrum of sources. Today we can gather a
wide variety of information and knowledge on the subject of dreams. Due to
modern technology, we have an unparalleled opportunity and responsibility
to keep these materials available for the present and safe for the future.
The long-term goal for this collection is to use electronic means to scan,
duplicate and access these materials.
The fact is that the dream resources of our age are vanishing due to the
lack of a central collection point.
Dreamers and dreamworkers are producing and collecting dream materials
which have no place to go where people who care about dreams can access
them now and in the future. The Alexandria Project is the remedy to that
situation.
Specifically what is needed now? Dream-related Materials:
Books, hardcover and soft, dream inspired fiction and nonfiction, adult and
children, which have at least one chapter on dreams. Rare books, welcome
for the archive. Unpublished manuscripts including bachelor, master and
doctoral theses. Conference papers, term papers, published and unpublished
articles. Pamphlets and bookets. Newspaper clippings, dream cartoons and
notecards. Short stories, poetry and sheet music. Periodicals, both current
and past. Teaching materials, resum‚s, business cards or a personal
statement of how you work or play with dreams. Flyers, past and present,
including xerox copies. Audio tapes, video tapes and cds of dream-related
music. Photos, colored xerox and slides of dreamworkers, events and art.
Dream-inspired art and incubation materials. Dream-related products and
devices.
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Money to acquire precious materials available only through purchase.
Funding to assure non-profit status.
Materials donated to the Alexandria Project go to the Dream Library and
Archive located at the Dream Library and Archive in Novato, California.
Both the Project and the Dream Library and Archive have been in existence
since 1990. The Dream Library and Archive (previously the Novato Center For
Dreams) was founded in 1987. The Dream Library includes an on-site
reference library available by appointment and a lending library. The
Archive houses on-site rare or fragile materials which receive special care
and handling. Once the library holdings reached 1000 titles, momentum and
interest from the dreaming community increased dramatically.
How have people become involved in this project so far? Donated used
books from their own collections, especially at time of moving and spring
cleaning. Offered complimentary autographied copies of their works. Sent
copies of past and current flyers or brochures. Given complimentary dream
products. Donated subscriptions to a dream periodical or a set of back
issues. Scouted for unaquired titles in their own area or while traveling.
Contributed a piece of dream art for wall display. Recommended materials
for inclusion in collection. Posted project requests and placed Center on
their mailing list. Visited the Center and took advantage of the
opportunity to informally document themselves and their work via
photograph, audio and video tape. Duplicated slides for the slide registry.
Separated their dream books etc from other books and sent a list of dream
materials owned to the Center. Volunteered time at the Center; do data
entry. Sorted out dream materials for donation at a later date. Made
bequests and included the Dream Library and Archive during estate planning.
How can I donate?
Send materials to Jill Gregory, Director of the Dream Library & Archive,
Novato Center For Dreams, 29 Truman Drive, Novato, CA 94947 / (415) 897-7955
To volunteer for the project, please contact Jill Gregory. Available for
volunteers are further information on this project, a wish list of
materials desired and a current list of holdings. Join us in collecting and
preserving our dream gifts and wisdom for all of us ... now and for the
future!
>>> Bosma Online Lucidity Training
Bosma Online lucidity training
"I'm planning to bring together a group of lucid and aspiring lucid
dreamers. The group would have two objectives. First, get more lucid dreams
within a few weeks. Second, evaluate success factors at the end. The whole
project will run on a website, with a secured discussion board as the main
center of activity. Every week will have a theme, including exercises, and
online polls or surveys. I will ask everyone to post as many dreams as
possible, especially those dreams that are lucid or prelucid."
"The duration of the whole project is five weeks, which should be long
enough for everyone to get at least two lucid dreams. Five is also a
fitting symbol, as it stands for transformation. Through this project
everyone will be transformed into a lucid dreamer! The group starts on July
26th, and will have a minimum of 20 participants and a maximum of around
25. The project is designed to be fun, perhaps even a bit magical. The
admission fee consists of USA $20 and one incubated dream."
For more information, please email Harry Bosma,
hbosma@.... Harry
Bosma is the creator of the Alchera dream software and the Lucille reminder
tool, website www.mythwell.com.
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R E S E A R C H & R E Q U E S T S
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>> How will machines dream?
Electric Dreams Research Survey
In the January 97 issue of 21-C: Scanning the Future, Darren Tofts asks a
variety of people if androids will dream. "Trapped within the enigma of
Philip K. Dick's query [Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?] is the
conundrum of being. For within his machine's struggle for humanity is our
own philosophical quest for the nature of existence and the acknowledgement
of the self."
However, the answers received from the digiteratti were banal and dull,
hopelessly stuck on the question of whether or not machines can be
conscious or not. Clearly the respondents knew very little about dreaming
as a process, subjectively or objectively.
So, let's fast forward through this question and just assume the
positive, that some machines in the future will be dreaming, either by
design, necessity or mutated nature. Now he question becomes "How will
androids dream of electric sheep?"
Give it your best shot, be bizarre, mutant, radical. (if you like,
you can include why you think machines must dream, but what I most
essentially would like to see is HOW you feel machines might dream.)
Please add the following to your answer if you are willing:
"I give permission to Electric Dreams to reproduce and publish my answer
to 'How will androids dream of electric sheep?'" Name or
Penname: _______________ and Name or Penname to be used on
EDreams: _______________
Send to
rcwilk@...
>>> Computer Dreams Survey
Are you having computer dreams?
Includes dreams of computers, programming, peripherals, Internet venues,
and anything digital. Androids, robots and SciFi themes OK.
Questionnaire Online:
http://www.dreamgate.com/dream/computers/computerdreams.htm
Also, you can :
o e-mail them to me, Richard Wilkerson, at
rcwilk@...
o drop them off anonymously at
http://www.dreamgate.com/dream/temple
o fill out the ascii plain text version
http://www.dreamgate.com/dream/computers/computerdreams_survey.txt
and e-mail or snail to
Computer Survey
%DreamGate
4644 Geary Blvd PMB 171
San Francisco, CA 94118
------------------------------------
DETAILS:
Are you dreaming of problems with your hard disk, getting connected, the
wrong programs coming up, not being able to find the file you want? Does
your computer turn you on, and have you found yourself mating with a
digital partner or cyborg sex? Has god spoken to you through your computer
in a dream? Has the computer in a dream assisted you in becoming lucid?
Just as during the last turn of the century, we shifted from horse and
carriage dreams to cars, trucks and jets, now too we are entering a new
cyber-symbolic era of networking and global interface. What dream content
will remain, what will change?
This is a joint study by Electric Dreams and DreamGate:
http://www.dreamgate.com/electric-dreams
Note: All dreams will be published anonymously unless you would like
credit. Be *Very* clear about the personal information you would like
included, otherwise your personal info will be removed and a pen-name
assigned to the dream.
Feel free to send in articles and comments as well. Electric Dreams is a
public service network and can not offer you money for your articles or
dreams, but we can get your ideas and dreams out to the public.
++++++++
Feel free to distribute this document on any channels or Net venues you
wish. and comments as well. Electric Dreams is a public service network
and can not offer you money for your articles or dreams, but we can get
your ideas and dreams out to the public.
Thanks for your cooperation, look for your dreams in the upcoming issues
of Electric Dreams.
-Richard Wilkerson
editor, Electric Dreams
rcwilk@...
+++++++++
>>> Dream Survey from Kelly Bulkeley, Ph.D.
http://www.kellybulkeley.com
KB Dream Survey
The answers you provide will contribute to the process of better
understanding how dreams are formed and what functions they serve. You can
also get a response via email of a summary of KB current research using
this questionnaire, and if you like KB will offer comments on the dreams
you describe.
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W E B S I T E & O N L I N E U P D A T E S
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Do you know of interesting new websites you'd like to share with others? Or
do you have updates to existing pages? Help spread the word by using the
Electric Dreams DREAM-LINK page
www.dreamgate.com/dream/resources/online97.htm. This is really a public
projects board and requires that everyone keep up his or her own link URLs
and information. Make a point to send changes to the links page to us
>>> Dream Cartoon Online
Website:
http://www.cartoonmonkey.com
http://www.wired.com/animation/collection/chad_essley/dreaming/
Chad Essley's Woke Up Dreaming 4 Dec 2001
Chad uses Flash animation to tell his dream of false awakenings and dream
flights. [3.7 MB, Flash]
>>> YourGuidetoDreams.com
YourGuidingDreams offers two options to learn how to interpret your own
dreams with the Personalized Method for Interpreting Dreams (PMID) dream
interpretation method: (1) non-academic self-facilitated public version, or
(2) academic course for graduate students and counseling professionals,
accredited by UW-Whitewater's Counselor Education Department, CEU available.
------
From Evelyn Duesbury
"Site name: www.YourGuidingDreams.com The site came about from my son
Steven, the marketing persons comment while we were discussing my thesis on
interpreting dreams: You know, this could work pretty well on the Web. He
had just begun exploring Web development. By 2000, the first version of
YourGuidingDreams.com was launched to test the PMID process and its
effectiveness on the Internet with select ACA members. That was followed a
year later by a second test site that was put through its paces by
UW-Whitewater graduate students. Based on input and refinements from this
testing and feedback from other dream experts, a third version of the site,
accredited by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater's Counselor Education
Department and offered through the University's Distance Education
Department, was launched in the summer of 2002. I began teaching my first
class of graduate students online that fall, with E. Bruce Bynum as
research partner and consultant to me. During the process of offering the
website to students, we received requests from people who wanted to learn
the PMID dream interpretation method, but were either unqualified to take
the graduate level course, or wanted an inexpensive way to learn the
Method. Encouraged from positive research results and enthusiastic support
from my students, we developed this third version of YourGuidingDreams.com,
which offers a self-facilitated version in addition to the University course. "
>>> Ancient Dream Book online
Astrampsychos: The Dream Book
[Byzantium, 9th century e.v. - Translated by Monty Cantsin]
http://textz.gnutenberg.net/textz/astrampsychos_the_dream_book.txt
>>> ASD O.n.l.i.n.e
http://asdreams.org
I thought some of you might not get to the ASD site every month and yet are
interested in the new additions to the site. If you want an update on all
ASD activities, you can subscribe to the ASD E-News by sending an e-mail to
asd-enews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
June Additions to the ASD site:
An article by Bert O. States. "Dreams, Art and Virtual Worldmaking"
http://www.asdreams.org/journal/articles/13-1_states.htm
Long time dream author and dream theorist Bert O. States looks at the
possible role of dreams in virtual worldmaking via fictional formation, and
how these maintain our adaptive systems. This isn't about an exclusive
function for the dream but rather how fiction's preoccupation with daily
concerns help to widen our perceptual and response systems. The focus is
not so much on the moral aspects as the increase in mental organization
skills. States finds a certain harmony in the dream despite all the
bizarreness of many dreams. The general idea is that the inner
story-telling is one of the ways we accumulate "sums" of knowledge and
expectation. Inner narratives also help in the maintenance of our notions
of human experience. From fictional types to universal dreams, these grand
narratives, States unfolds the plots of our systems of probability and
adaptation.
From the ASD journal _Dreaming_, Vol. 13 No. 1, March 2003.
Upcoming:
Watch for the ASD Online Art Gallery to show the 2003 Art Exhibit
http://www.asdreams.org/2003
Hey, do you have trouble with nightmares?
Free Nightmare Hotline from ASD & Friends : 1-866-DRMS911
- RCW
>>> SacredDreams.net Dreamwork from Steve Smith
"The intent of Sacred Dreams is to allow individuals, couples, and groups
to tap into the creative energy of the dream, to cultivate the dream's
healing potential, and to focus on the dream's meanings, insights, and
potential for self-knowledge and self-growth. Scared Dreams values
dreamwork as a sacred and spiritual tool toward awakening."
The site can be reached at www.SacredDreams.net.
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D R E A M C A L E N D A R
May-June 2003
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Jun 27-Jul 1 in Berkeley, CA
20th Annual International Conference of the Association for the Study of
Dreams. For more information, visit www.asdreams.org
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Cover Artist Statement
Laura Atkinson
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Laura N. Atkinson
sunstarz2001@...
http://www.arthatglows.com/
As a former photojournalist, Ms. Atkinson has explored the links between
art, visual therapy, and the realities of the dream state for many years.
Her work, while being a deeply personal exploration of her own dreams, jars
the viewer with its beauty of light interplay, form, and design. Ms.
Atkinson's work has a tactile beauty that brings viewers into her private
world while simultaneously giving one the permission to touch, feel, and
experience each piece, while making it part of his/her own world, language,
and life.
The organic nature of Ms. Atkinson's abstract shapes fuse together to
create recognizable images that strike a resonate cord. These images are
further enhanced by her use of natural and eco-friendly tools such as
water-soluble paint combinations on silk fabric. Ms. Atkinson's use of silk
is a hidden metaphor for the fluidity of our dreams and frailty of beauty.
The medium serves as a haunting reminder of how both shimmer before us, but
can disappear in the blink of an eye. An eternal aide memoire that
everything is not always as it appears to be.
Her intuitive use of bold color and the confidence of her brushstroke show
the full force of her formidable talent. Recently, she has begun taking
commission work to interpret the dreams of others through the brush and canvas.
In addition to exploring work through the medium of paint, Ms. Atkinson has
begun studying and photographing energy fields. A powerful series of images
from this new endeavor were recently displayed at Rhode Island School of
Design.
Dream Journaling
Ms. Atkinson maintains two dream journals; one is a written log of her
dreams. The second is a collection of visual images, without words. She
uses the two records to draw inspiration for her work.
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An Excerpt From the Lucid Dream Exchange
By Lucy Gillis
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The current issue of LDE is devoted to the unique lucid dreamer, honoring
his and/or her unique experiences, beliefs, and goals. Below is a wonderful
dream journey from Jan Hart where she meets a mentor, views lives both past
and present, and makes a quick visit to an old friend.
Jan Hart
A LUCID DREAM/KEEPING AN APPOINTMENT
April 2003
There is a certain concept that has given me much satisfaction. Namaste. My
Soul Greets Your Soul. I feel fairly confidant in my dreaming. I can
recognize various types of awareness in different types of dreams and/or
dream settings. I say this because everybody has guides in their dreams.
Everyone has a Soul. My dreaming has exemplified the multidimensionality of
my self. I recognize my "people" or my "self" while dreaming. But I also
recognize other people, or "strangers" in my dreams. I guess I am saying
this because the dream that follows was about as personally intense for me,
as say, my 16 year old going on a date with Jennifer Lopez!
My awareness is jolted awake and I find myself before a door. I am very
excited about an appointment I am about to attend. I know that this meeting
has been scheduled for a long time. I know that Jane Roberts is in the room
on the other side of the door: I know that I have been trying to have a
volitional projection to speak with her for years: I know that this is an
appointment that I have waited for, for a very long time.
I know that I am Jan, that I have a family and a home...I know that I am
dreaming and I know that I am completely awake. Suddenly, filled with a bit
of anxiety and excitement, I find myself face to face with Jane Roberts.
She is a little leary of me and I feel her weariness with "seekers". I
assure her that I am not seeking her in terms of a guru or messiah or
anything, but that I have been trying to give myself the suggestion to
visit with her with a volitional projection. I tell her how amazed I am to
actually be here talking with her. I wanted to tell her about my dreaming,
how she, Rob and Seth have influenced my life and that I am a big-time cat
lover.
She moves nimbly and is quite petite (a size 5....not a too-skinny person
wearing baggy 5's, and not a 7 squeezing into a 5....she is a true 5). She
is wearing a mumu (sic) of the most hideous fluorescent orange and pink
flowers I have ever seen! I smile and she laughs about it. She tells me
that it is a guise that she often takes to facilitate communication. I am a
little bummed at first because I don't want her to patronize me, I want to
speak to her as a friend and peer with similar ideas. I didn't come to
worship her or idolize her.....to which she immediately sparks up and knows
that it's the truth and we agree about feeling each others personality
feeling tones (Namaste) and she relaxed.
I told her that I had just finished Sue's [Sue Watkins] last two books (to
me, I think she did a book on plants, but I haven't read that) and she was
genuinely interested, so I conjured up my conceptual feeling tones
concerning the books and my love, respect and admiration for their works
(Jane, Rob, Seth, and Sue).
Jane really related and became quite animated and we bullshitted for what
seemed like hours about everything. I told her of my life, my kids, my man,
my dreams, and she told me about other areas of awareness that she was
working in. She told me about many of the people that try to contact her
for "things" and how frustrating it all can be. To her the magic is in
applying the material in your daily life and she is amused by all of the
people trying to contact her.
Suddenly, as we are talking, we begin to share a conscious place together.
We both are our individual selves, but we are sharing the same
area/space/wave (whatever you want to call it) of consciousness. We are
suddenly about 40-45ft. in the air above a golden bog. It is late summer,
early fall. I know that we are near the Roanoke Colonies, Virginia. We
watch a door to a building (a fort-ish type structure) open and we see a
young girl dart out with a skin of some sort (a cow's stomach with the
esophagus open, the rest sealed). She needs to get water from the hole in
the bog and she is angry and scared.
Her feelings are racing something like this: "I know we need the water. I
realize I am expendable, but this hurts, this is frightening, why is it
like this? Why do we need to live this way? I know that the men are needed
to protect us, but this isn't right". She knows that the reason they stayed
inside is to increase the chance for survival of the rest of the colony.
"If a man went out to get water and got killed, it would be one less man to
protect the colony, but if I got killed it would only be one less mouth to
feed".....and in part, because of this attitude, she wasn't going to get
caught. She ran with her skin to a patch of clear water about 150 feet from
the "door" to fill her skin. When she was about 12 feet from the water hole
she remembered the natives and how they would kill her if they caught her
outside the compound....
Now all of this time Jane and I are watching the scene unfold....at the
same exact time the girl becomes frightened remembering her predicament,
Jane and I see two natives standing on a bank that overlooks the bog.
Instantly there was "Namaste" between us and the natives, us and the girl,
the girl and the natives, the girl and us, the natives and the girl and the
natives and us. We all knew that she wouldn't die from the natives. The
girl ducked down and scooped up as much water as quickly as she could,
flung the skin over her right shoulder and took off running as gracefully
as a deer, with her feet deftly going hummock to hummock.
At this point I lost some of my lucidity. It was as if my awareness was
tethered to this girl; like a balloon on a string, so that as she ran I was
pulled along behind her about 12 feet in the air. I watched her steps
carefully, almost as if I was helping her intentions, and I watched her
land on each hummock perfectly.
She got to the door and ran inside. While my awareness was being pulled
like a balloon because I was attached to the girl, Jane's awareness was
attached to mine like a balloon. As soon as we were inside the building,
the building changed times. Where before we were in the late 1600's early
1700's, I knew that although we were in basically the same location, that
we were in the years between 1950 and 1970. I could tell by tendrils of my
awareness that we were still at the same "bog" location, but that
structural fill had made the ground sturdy enough to erect a "modern" building.
Jane and I queried each other about our location and we both "knew" the
above was true. Suddenly there was a woman in the doorway holding a 2ft. x
2ft. x 2ft. metal box. We knew that it had a dead child in it. We could
feel the turmoil of somebody in the building concerning the body in the
box. Suddenly, there was a stainless steel autopsy type table to our left
with a young girl child on it. She was supine and appeared to be a "bog
mummy". As soon as I saw her I recognized the mummy as the young girl we
had just seen gathering water.
A doctor walked in, and as soon as I saw him I knew that it was my son,
D'Artagnon. He was there to work on the mummy by giving it a full autopsy,
but for some reason, upon seeing this girl his heart was broken......I
mean, he felt mentally, emotionally, and physically ill. He seemed confused
about his reaction because he'd worked on many mummies before and had never
felt any real remorse for his actions....but this was different.
Jane nudged me (figuratively speaking) and I suddenly knew that he was one
of the two natives that we had seen in the previous scene. Namaste all over
again. Going contrary to the type of procedure he (the doc) was expected to
do on this girl, he instead sliced a few "thin-sections" from the front of
her mummified legs. I knew in that instant that she died from "natural"
causes in the bog, not because of some heinous murder. I knew that shortly
after having retrieved the water from the bog that she'd made a decision to
leave this life. I knew that she had realized that that life didn't offer
the type of value fulfillment she'd desired. It was like if a different
probability had been experienced, one where the natives and the colonists
were cooperative neighbors, she would have stayed. But when that didn't pan
out, she wanted out of the experiment.
I knew that the autopsy, should it ever be performed, would reveal some
sort of paralysis that was derived from an infection starting somewhere in
the girls lower back. I knew she was a speaker in this locale, young as she
was, and she was a part of an experiment that would be better understood by
my higher self/super self.
Then I was coming home [on my way back to my body] and had another
startling jolt awake. (This was a conscious projection to a man I used to
drill with. His name is Reggie and I haven't seen him since I was laid off.
We always enjoyed our work, whether we were on a mountain-top or in a
quarry. He in his self-contained unit, me in my carharts with about 3
additional layers beneath them. We would literally drill in the snow for
8-10 hours a day during big jobs.)
The thing is, is that I woke myself up, I intended to speak with Reggie,
and suddenly I saw a self-contained drill on the street. I conjured up my
feelings for Reggie and I felt my awareness travel through an intricate
network of divine messaging. When I had the rig in view and could see
Reggie's face I literally pulled him to me because of my intentions/will.
At first he was asleep, but after I grabbed him, he jolted awake and
instantly recognized me. We very quickly went through a synopsis of our
lives since we last spoke. I told him I had to go now. I was sorry to cut
it short, but I had another lucid dream that I had to wake up and record.
Namaste.
********************************
The Lucid Dream Exchange is a quarterly newsletter featuring lucid dreams
and lucid dream related articles and interviews. To subscribe to The Lucid
Dream Exchange send a blank email to:
TheLucidDreamExchange-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
You can also check us out as we build our website at www.dreaminglucid.com
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How Real is the Dream?
© 2003 Linda Lane Magallón
(Excerpted from "How To Fly")
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Down through history, the most common classification of dreams is twofold.
There's true dreams and false dreams, big dreams and little dreams,
profound dreams and mundane dreams, dreams from the gate of ivory and
dreams from the gate of horn. Among those on the extraordinary side of the
twosome are dreams that seem real enough to be a world unto themselves.
Such a dream world might be a place that looks the same as physical
reality, in which the dreamer is immersed and through which he can travel.
Especially if the world looks and feels vividly real, the dreamer might
assume he does voyage in physical reality. He usually travels embodied, but
can discover that his dream body is not visible to anyone who is awake.
This type of world-encounter can be classified as an "out-of-body"
experience. Most out-of-body experiences are assumed to occur in real time,
concurrent with the time period of sleep or altered state.
On the other hand, the world might be a place where events that happen
there are later played out in the waking state. This characteristic also
requires that world to appear like physical reality, although, because of
the time-slip, it's usually considered to be a dream. A prophetic or
precognitive dream.
Some worlds do not appear as physical reality but are assumed to be as real
as the material world. That's because they look and feel so real. In fact,
they may look and feel even *more* real than the waking state. The scenery
might glow or transmute into abstract patterns or light. The characters can
seem to be independent entities. The intensity of sensations and emotions,
ranging from terror to bliss, increase beyond normal levels of physical
existence. Again, it's an experience usually considered to occur in linear
time, same time as slumber. This is the spiritual journey.
Out-of-body experience, prophecies, or spiritual journey, these are some
versions of dream vivid enough to be considered real or true. Thus they are
taken literally: you exist in a physical or spiritual reality; the people
are real and who they seem to be. And the events have real consequences,
albeit you are not roaming the physical world in your physical body when
you experience them.
Then there are the dreams in which the dreamer seems not to leave the bed
at all. Because he does not relocate to another time or space, the dreamer
might not even be aware he dreams. Reality comes to him, in the form of
people alive or dead, or in non-human forms like angels or fairy folk. This
is the world of the succubus attack and the alien abduction; sleep
paralysis and the false awakening.
Whether the dreamer is aware of being in an altered state of consciousness
or not, it's the vivid reality of these sorts of experiences that is
paramount. In terms of realness, they are phenomena at least on a par with
the waking state. Sometimes much more so.
The Assumptions of Waking Reality
We spend a long time in the waking state, physical world, consensus
reality, and over time we've developed a bucketful of assumptions about how
"reality" is supposed to be and how it's supposed to act. Some of these we
experience first-hand; even more we inherit from our culture. Most of the
ideas are oblivious to us, because we have nothing with which we can
contrast them. Until we go to sleep. Most folks have plenty of "little"
dreams and they know that territory very well. It's pretty easy to
distinguish between physical reality and the normative dream. When you wake
up, that is! Thus, the "real" and "unreal" labels are simple to attach.
Up until recently, the explanations of the "big" dream category has been
the providence of people "special" enough to experience these things
several times in a lifetime. That's a much smaller group, and as in any
small group, there's a tendency towards introversion. And especially
because these dreams have often been associated with the occult, there's a
long established habit of having to keep quiet about them. Many different
local traditions have developed as a result, but there's not been a lot of
sharing and comparing among them. Rather, such experiences and ideas have
been kept out of the popular limelight.
Then, at the beginning of the '80's, the dream field turned a corner and a
certain segment now know as the "dream community" became much more open and
tolerant. The hidden traditions had a chance to come out of the shadows,
and, indeed, they did. As a result, there was an explosion of information,
much of it classified as "New Age," although this is a misnomer: a
traditional idea may be new to us, but it can have a very long history.
This growing conglomeration of ideas became available to the average
person. Nowadays there's an awful lot of information out there, often
contradictory. But there seem to be few ways of knowing what's accurate or
applies to you. It's a case of "let the buyer beware."
Why should you care if dreams are real or not? Or if any information about
dreams is true? What's at stake? Well, how about your creative abilities,
your physical and psychic health, your immortal soul or your sanity? How
about your ability to live through a night without awakening soaked in
terror? Or a day without wallowing in angst or sunk in depression? What
about your ability to coexist in a world with people of different religious
beliefs, beliefs whose genesis is a vision or dream?
Beyond The Little Mermaid
I once read an article wherein the author was matching astrological signs
with popular folk tales. By extension, those very folk tales could be
linked with astrological ages, so I paid special attention to the
water-sign of Pisces (whose age we are leaving) and the air-sign of
Aquarius (whose age we are entering). The folk tale selected for Pisces was
The Little Mermaid. It's a story in which the little mermaid wishes she
could become human, marry her Prince Charming and live happily ever after.
All her energy is spent towards achieving this end. Now, I happen to think
the mermaid is a metaphor for the dreamer. She already *is* human; she just
forgot when she entered the sea of unconscious and had to reclaim that
awareness to live on dry land. It's like entering into the dream state and
forgetting there is another world in which we also dwell.
In the folk tale for the Age of Aquarius, Prince Charming is all grown up.
Or so he thinks. But as Emperor he's just as oblivious to reality, capable
of being deceived. Along comes the Trickster who takes advantage of his
inability to discriminate, and weaves a wild fantasy. And the Emperor is
full of such charisma (he'd have to be, to lure the Little Mermaid out of
her seabed), that whatever he believes, is what the populace believes. And
what does he believe? That he's wearing clothes. He believes in the
covering of reality. And he can't see beneath that layer.
For a long time we all believed in the surface of physical reality. Then
microscopes and telescopes were invented and our communal perspective was
changed forever. We discovered there was another world beneath the surface:
a world of bacteria, pollen and ultraviolet light. It's now comparatively
easy to convince the Emperor that he contains a naked skeleton, a mass of
muscles...and a conglomeration of atomic particles.
But the world of dream lags, big time. We still going around blithely
assuming that we have 20/20 inner vision and what we "see" in altered
states is all there is to see. In fact, some dreamwork techniques depend on
it. To interpret a symbol, we must first label it, turn it into a word. But
nobody's asking: are we perceiving clearly enough to make the correct
identification? Is it the right word to take to the dream dictionary or put
through the mill of free association? Nope, it's hey, we're in the world of
the unconscious, the real deal, and what you see is what you get.
Manipulating our surface perceptions of this world is supposed to take us
to the "depths" of ourselves.
The Emperor may be wearing new clothes, but he's clothed in the same old
assumptions. What if Freud and Jung were wrong? What if their presumptions
about dreams stop us from further exploration? What if there's something
underneath their underworld? I think there is. But I hope you don't agree
with me just because I say so. I hope you don't agree with Freud and Jung
just because they said so. I'd rather you go skinny dipping with the
Emperor yourselves.
It may not be possible to know directly if we travel to the seventh astral
plane or the after-death state. But we can do reality checks on experiences
that *seem* to be in physical reality and with dream characters that *seem*
to be people still alive, because we can wake and compare them with their
physical equivalents. We can also put our reporting capabilities to the
test. How accurate is our memory of detail, judgment or psychic sensing
abilities? By attempting to figure that out, we can develop a yardstick to
use on the next person who comes along with a theory or method of dreams.
Yep, reality checks. But not just on whether we dream. Not just on whether
a dream is real or not. On whether any of the information about dreams is
worth our while.
http://members.aol.com/caseyflyer/flying/dreams.html
(Dream Flights)
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Dafumu Dreaming
A View from the Bridge, June 2003
Jean Campbell
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http://www.worlddreamspeacebridge.org/monthyupdates.htm
Dreaming of peace and the interesting projects created as dreams come true
happen daily on the Bridge. Join us. To learn more about The World Dreams
Peace Bridge, go to our web site at
http://www.worlddreamspeacebridge.org ,
or join the Peace Bridge discussion group by sending a post to
worlddreams-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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What do the wolves sing as they race to the Reservoir?
Dafumuuuuu!
Years ago, the entity known as Seth told the members of psychic Jane
Roberts' Monday night class that, when they dreamed together, they should
dream "the city." This dream location, he told them, would become a
beacon, a dream location for dreamers in the future.
Quiet spontaneously, the members of The World Dreams Peace Bridge have
begun to expand on this idea: first with dreams of the Bridge itself, then
with the Reservoir suggested by May as a place for dropping in healing
energy and taking some out when needed, and finally with the "dream answer
animals" that have begun to populate our dreams.
During the month of June, there have been several DaFuMu dreamings held,
both for individuals and for Peace in the larger world. Many people have
been invited to the healing place at the Reservoir. What is DaFuMu
dreaming? In brief, the word is a combination of Japanese and Chinese
characters meaning "big dream of good fortune." More information about
DaFuMu can be found on the World Dreams web site at
http://worlddreamspeacebridge.org/dafumu.htm
Hands Across the Jordan
The first DaFuMu dreaming this month was held for Chayim, whose Hands
Across the Jordan Project he brought to dreamers on the Bridge last
spring. Chayim introduced himself like this:
Shalom: My name is Chayim Levin. I am 50 years old, married with 3 kids.
Born in Chicago. I now live in Israel. I teach and study Torah and pray for
peace in my land everyday. My friend Gary Stubbs in California and I have
this idea to build a peace bridge over the Jordan River where people would
gather to pray silently for peace. We are in the process of organizing and
asking for letters of encouragement. If there is anything else you need to
know you can ask or wait for the movie. All the Best, Chayim.
The physical world bridge over the Jordan is scheduled to be built on
November 16, 2004. Anyone who might want to help with this project can
contact Chayim through The World Dreams Peace Bridge.
DaFuMu dreaming can be done for individuals or for groups. All of us are
in need of Peace. The second set of dreams in June was done for Kathy's
friend Di, who has run afoul of the law in Australia and is in jail
there. Many members of the Peace Bridge have dreamed the Reservoir. One
example of this is a June 12 dream from Victoria, also from Australia:
Thursday, 12 June 2003
The background music was "If We Try" by Don McLean.
I was at the reservoir, the sand was soft and the silvery water tepid.
Beyond the boulders was grass. It was in the grass that I began
planting seeds from the charity apple trees.
The trees grew at a phenomenal rate.
Some apples were red, others green and still more were golden -
ccoloured. Each branch had a single one of these colours on it, in
multiples of 7 so that the word charity was spelled out repeatedly
I was sitting with others, who were a little sad, but companionable
just the same.
We were thinking of ways to work with the word Charity.
Come
Here
And
Reach
Into
The
Yonder
Members of the Bridge speculated what the guards at the jail might think
when, as they have to do, they read Di's mail. The following is part of a
dream that Valley sent.
I am told by the council of elders that this person is a part of the
community and tribe, and as such he will be dealt with according to sacred
law, and not the laws of man. Within sacred law, he will be dealt with in
the circle, and taught about himself through the choices he has made. He
will receive spiritual teachings and be forced to look at himself within,
and not be isolated from the tribe. The tribe must take responsibility for
teaching him these things, and not just lock him away and not deal with
him. Sacred law works for the good of the whole, and no one is left behind.
A third DaFuMu dreaming in June was held for a young boy in Turkey who has
been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. As he is undergoing chemotherapy,
the group will continue to dream for him.
Peace in the Middle East
And finally, during the weekend of the Spring Solstice, after some amount
of discussion, members of the Peace Bridge invited others to join them in a
DaFuMu Dreaming for Peace in the Middle East. Prior to the invitations
being sent out for this dream event, Juhani suggested that we look for a
"Dream Answer Animal". Here is the invitation that resulted. (As this
issue of Electric Dreams is being sent out during the DaFuMu dreaming,
please feel free to join us.)
From The World Dreams Peace Bridge
A Call for a DaFuMu for the Middle East
Can you dream up peace for the people of Palestine and Israel? The
violence in the Middle East continues and escalates. It is not safe for
women, children and men in many areas of Palestine and Israel. People
cannot feel safe catching a bus, or walking in the street or even sitting
in their own homes. They are denied the blissful peace that we all take
for granted. So please, over this coming weekend (June 21/22) dedicate
your dreams to peace in Israel, Palestine, and all the Middle East. Why
not take the ideas of Juhani and Ralf below and make this DaFuMu (a dream
of much good will) a special one indeed?
Juhani's DAA search:
The conflict is growing to be a hormone-based scream-show. I'll try to
dream a Dream Answer Animal (DAA), a SYMBOL. An animal lives here and now.
If there is a free path to a better life: It surely will take it without
saying... but... yes but... first... then... after... maybe if...
Wishing that a Dream Answer Animal pops up near a path, road or bridge.
Then I'll ask you what it could symbolize. DAA's specialty to manage life
situations could boost road map. By the way: I love that word "road map"
-pragmatic Juhani
Does anyone know who invented it? Literally?
Next step could be a Reservoir meeting - to get the DAA there... somehow.
The rest will be history. Ahaa...one spontaneous peace roamer made it. Next
can follow the path... Just an idea. I'll try it. Anyone dreams an
animal... just let me (us) know.
Peace,
Juhani
Ralf's Lucid map
I will remember to meet the WISE dream answer animal.
I will remember to follow its path.
I will remember to get lucid and ask for the meaning of that path
I will invite that DAA to WDPB
I will remember to enjoy the ecstatic awareness of being in a dream.
Road map ...
The map isn't the territory.
Sometimes members of The World Dreams Peace Bridge dream in advance of the
event. This is what happened for Joy, who sent the following email before
the invitation went out:
I thought last night that (rather than just lament my lack of time)
I should dream a peace dream for this group. I woke up in the middle
of the night after dreams of conflict, remembered, went back to sleep
and woke happy in the morning from peaceful dreams with themes
of cooperation. Then for a moment I drifted back into sleep as
a dream-narrator voice asked, "But what about peace in the Middle East?"
In the same moment I experienced a brief, vivid dream in which I was in my
vegetable garden, finding in the soil an oblong, fist-sized rock which I
tossed over the fence and out into the desert where it would be out of the
way of the growing plants. I asked, "Is this for the Worlddreams group?"
and in answer the same dreamlet repeated twice more, complete with a
twitching of my physical arm as I flung the rock. So there you have it, I
don't know why: Throwing a rock out of the garden.
The first explanation that occurs to me is that this is a peaceable and
helpful rock-throwing, as compared to lobbing them at one another.
Joy
Peace Train Workshop at Berkeley
And finally, if you are attending the Association for the Study of Dreams
conference next week, you will want to attend the Peace Trains and Dreams
workshop scheduled for Monday at 7:30 p.m. with World Dreams members Jeremy
Seligson, May Tung and Jean Campbell.
Recently, when the question was asked, "What is a Peace Train?", Jeremy,
who was the original dreamer of the Peace Train, responded with this statement:
The train travels at whatever speed suits those it is visiting. It is
fueled by imagination and good will. But more than anything else, it is
fueled by love. Love for oneself and love for the other, importantly for
those who are of a different culture than one's own, and especially for the
children who will inherit our Earth. The fact that it is at all is more
important than where it will end up. But its tracks lead all over the globe
and perhaps one day all over the cosmos. It is adaptable. It will survive.
It is your train, too, and you can get on it at anytime. Your friends and
family are welcome, as well. Even your pets and plants are invited to get
on - the mountains and the seas, even the stars.
-------------------
The World Dreams Peace Bridge is a group that uses personal dreams for
public world peace. You can find out more about the WDPB at
http://www.worlddreamspeacebridge.org/
-------------------
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The Waves: 03. Star Trek to Sirius
Spectral Moon (May 02 to May 29, 2003)
© 2003 Nick Cumbo
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The Waves is a newsletter reporting on the explorations of the Sea Life
community. Sea Life, the main web forum at Dreampeace, aims to bring
together a circle of dreamers from around the globe, collaborating in
dreaming adventures, and 'dreaming with and for the earth itself'
Link:
http://www.dreamofpeace.net/
This moon, we'll be looking at our dreams of Sirius, and the system's
relevance to life on Earth; From ancient knowledge of the system to key
themes that arose in our adventures. Furthermore, we'll be reporting on our
dreams as a way of a communicating on a galactic or transdimensional level.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Sirius is over 20 times brighter than our Sun, and over ten times larger.
In fact, it's the brightest star in our sky. It's probably drawn your
attention many a time. First find the constellation Orion, and locate the
three bright stars in a row which form Orion's Belt. Then follow an
imaginary line through these stars to Sirius. It is situated in the jaws of
the great dog, Canis major constellation - and is thus known as the Dog
Star. Sirius A: Sothis is also known as the blue-white star.
This moon at Sea Life, we opened a new section of the forum 'Dreamspell',
for discussion and dreams relating to the 13 Moon Calendar. In the first
issue of The Waves, 'Dreaming Our Way to 2012', we touched very briefly on
this topic, but failed to go into any significant level of detail. I was
reminded of the important relationship the 13 Moon Calendar has to Sirius,
in a recent dream, asking for guidance as to what to write in this issue.
Did you know that the moon circles the Earth 13 times in one year?
Strangely, enough our global standard calendar doesn't correspond to one
natural cycle. Instead, we have a 12 month calendar, made of months of
unequal measure. Confusing, isn't it?
If you were to build a house, wouldn't you use a ruler of equal measure?
Science, aims to model the world as best it can, yet we seem to have
forgotten the science of time. Time, the atmosphere of the mind, a mentally
perceived phenomenon, surely has a great impact on our day-to-day lives.
What if, we were to replace this irregular system, with one that was found
to be inherent within nature itself. The 13 Moon Calendar is based around a
simple system of 13 moons of 28 days each, followed by a 'Day Out of Time',
for global celebration, universal forgiveness, and artistic expression.
It may sound radical but, in fact, such a reform was proposed by the League
of Nations (forerunner of the United Nations) early in the 21st century,
which considered three of 500 suggested entries. The 13 Moon, 28 Day
calendar was by far the most popular - 98% of 1,300 businesses polled
supported it. Unfortunately, the movement was met with strong resistance by
the Vatican Church, and the project later distracted entirely by the
outbreak of World War II.
"This is not the first time people have used the 13 Moon Calendar. The
Druids, The Incan's, Ancient Egyptians, Mayans, and Polynesians all kept a
13 moon, 28 day count. The Lakota Indians based theirs on the keya, or
turtle since the turtle has 13 scales on it's back. Modern science has even
discovered that dolphins keep time with 13 sets of 28 grooves along their
teeth." (tortuga.com)
One night, I decided to do a little dream incubation exercise, through
visualisation of a magazine called "Shaman's Drum". The resulting dream
gave me unexpected first hand experience of the phenomenon.
"I'm on a road, which leads up a hill to my home. At some point my
perspective changes. I am able to experience perception, as though I am the
Earth itself. I see a 3-dimensional vector, running up across the contours
of the hill. I immediately become aware that the land itself is understood
to be an illusion by the earth, but is also a kind of focusing device. I
become aware that 13 senses or dimensions are accessible at any point along
the vector.
It seems one is already selected. I see an image of a series of 13 tabs,
and the name of the choice that is selected. Each of these has a unique
energy attached to it, and I get to experience one selection for myself,
within the dream. Afterwards, I am walking up the hill, and I get the
feeling people are wondering how I could possibly hope to succeed in
changing the calendar system."
Obviously, at this point I still felt a little uncomfortable with how
people might react to my efforts to enhance people's awareness of the
significance of the calendar system we use. However, I also felt a genuine
belief in the importance of moving to this new system. I couldn't deny the
wise words of Mahatma Gandhi, "one must be the change we wish to see in
this world".
To literally resonate according to a standard of harmony, synchronized with
the Moon, the Earth, the Sun, the Galaxy, is taking a conscious
evolutionary step into what is called "galactic culture". This is where
Sirius comes into the calendar. On July 26th of every year there is a
heliacal rising of the star, Sirius (meaning it rises with the sun in the
morning). The 13 Moon Calendar begins on this day, so it synchronizes with
a galactic event that actually happens every solar year.
Reading through the messages from the World Dreams Peace Bridge, I was
surprised to find that the dream of Jeremy's that gave birth to the
magnificent Peace Train project, which now travels the world, occurred on
July 26th 2002 (the new year). Using the Harmonic Module, a key component
of the calendar, we can discover the unique energies attributed to this
date: "Galactic Tone: 10. Planetary: Perfect, Produce, Manifestation",
"Solar Seal: 09. Red Moon: Purifies Universal Water." Fitting, aren't they?
Once you began writing down the events and feelings of each day, the
energies at work pretty quickly make themselves evident.
Dallas had come about the Sea Life forum through the Planetary Art Network;
a forum all about the 13 Moon Calendar. He could barely wait to dream about
shooting himself out to Sirius:
"I had a dream that I was walking through what seemed to be a community
center and it was crowded. There were people standing around talking and
some laying on the floor napping. I was handing out 13 Moon Calendars with
purple covers. I remember having the feeling that I wasn't going to be able
to get many people to take these calendars and before long people started
accepting them with no problem and in fact coming to me and asking for them."
Obviously, this wasn't just an ordinary community center Dallas had
entered. It was a community of dreamers! His dream seemed to suggest, that
despite all his initial concerns, it wouldn't be long before people would
begin to recognise the value of the calendar system, and in fact begin to
seek out knowledge about it.
We need to remember that "Time is the universal factor of synchronisation."
In the words of Jacob, who's been working with the 13 Moon calendar
movement, "To synchronise is to be within one's Time, like being on your
game, feeling good, going with the flow." For some of you, the following
information has been synchronised to reach you now:
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THE DOGON TRIBES
The Dogon Tribes of Northern Africa, have maintained a system of knowledge
about the Sirius Star System for over 5000 years. Without the aid of any
advanced instruments, the Dogon have known that Sirius A: Sothis has an
invisible companion. Their name for Sirius B, consists of the word for
star, tolo, and po, the name of the smallest seed known to them.
"The Dogon claim it to be the smallest thing there is, yet also so heavy
'that all earthly beings cannot lift it'. The Dogon, thus attribute to the
star it's three principal qualities as a white dwarf, it's smallness,
heaviness, and whiteness. They go on to say that the star's orbit is
elliptical, with Sirius A at one internal linkfocus of the ellipse, that
the orbital period is 50 years (the actual figure is 50.04 plus or minus
.09 years), and that the star rotates on its own axis. (Robert Temple - The
Sirius Mystery)
What makes this story all the more fascinating is that Sirius B was only
discovered by the scientific community a mere 50 years ago! How did they do
it? The Dogon say that their astronomical knowledge was given to them by
the Nommos, amphibious beings sent to earth from the Sirius star system for
the benefit of humankind. The name comes from a Dogon word meaning 'to make
one drink'. This is part of their oral tradition, and they have even made
paintings showing Sirius as a double star. Simply put, the Dogon have long
made a practice of worshipping Sirius.
------------------------------------------------------------------
DREAMING LIKE AN EGYPTIAN
The Dogon claim that they learned of these things when they resided in the
land of ancient Egypt, roughly 5000 years ago. Interestingly, the Ancient
Egyptians also held Sirius to be of especially sacred significance.
Initially, I knew very little about this connection. It wasn't until
information that I received, upon waking from an incubated dream, that I
was stunned into researching it further. In my dream, I had been introduced
to someone with a very unique name. Upon waking, my mind came together for
a moment with what appeared to be a higher being. I could feel the
presence of these thoughts, as though a page in a book.
Beginning with the words "Grandfather" and "Isis", it read like an
invitation, "As you exist on the sixth level, you can certainly do more
there than anywhere else". Though the page continued, I chose to wake,
since I wanted to retain what little I had been told. Bewildered, I resumed
my sleep.
The next dream seemed to make the meaning of the sixth level quite clear. I
found myself walking up my driveway. Arranged along the driveway were a
series of books, with titles like 'fourth level', 'fifth level', ascending
until I reached the top. There was a certain feeling attached to noticing
them there at my feet; a recognition that these 'levels' were states of
mind which one could not simply understand by reading a book. In fact, the
recognition came through with such clarity, that I was shocked into lucidity.
The next morning, I found to my amazement that to the Ancient Egyptians,
Sirius was astronomically the foundation of their entire religious system.
It was the star of Isis, sister and consort of the god Osiris, who appeared
in the sky as Orion. Further, I discovered that their Grandfather went by
the name of Ra (the sun god)
Though, I don't believe I managed to reach the 'sixth level', this short
experience opened me to a much wider source of information about the
system. In his wonderful article 'Dreaming Like An Egyptian', Robert Moss
details the relationship between both the Egyptian's worship of Sirius, and
their advanced conscious dreaming practises:
"The dream guides of ancient Egypt knew that the dream journey may take the
traveler to the stars - specifically to Sothis or Sirius, the "moist land"
believed by Egyptian initiates to be the source of higher consciousness,
the destination of advanced souls after death, and the home of higher
beings who take a close interest in Earth matters"
Another thing I'd noticed in my early attempts to visit Sirius in dreams,
was the presence of a black dog. This of course seemed important, given the
connection between Sirius' name as the 'Dog Star'. As it turned out,
Anubis, most often portrayed by the Egyptians as a human figure with the
head of a jackal or black dog, is in fact the watchdog of Sirius.
During the project, I began to use the image of 'Anubis' as a visual
gateway for my own journeys to Sirius. In one experience, I was awoken by
the middle of the night by vibrations which began at the top of my head.
This was then followed by an announcement from above, by a female narrator,
who advised me to 'Visualise a red and orange car". I was assured that
using this technique, I'd have no need to worry about shady or creepy
entities guarding the paths. It felt as though a special gateway to the
star system had been set up. Unfortunately, once again, I was unsuccessful
in my attempt to enter it.
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BLUE STAR KACHINA
Another theme that quickly became apparent in our adventures to Sirius, was
the significance of a vibrant blue energy. From glowing blue clouds to
Albert's dream of flying an X32 (a prototype spacecraft) with a blue belly
and white top, the blue energy certainly seemed to make it's importance
felt. It began with Kate's dream, in which she decided to visualise the
words Sirius Star System on a piece of paper.
"First I dreamed about an object that had figured in my mundane life today;
a blue propane cylinder with a gas cooking ring attached to the top. In the
dream someone is showing me one of these, it turns out there were 2 when I
thought there was only one. The one I am shown appears very sharply defined
and is a very vivid blue. I comment to the person that it is a much
improved model to the one I have in mundane life. Next I am walking up a
hill, following 3 people from my ordinary peace group".
I was instantly reminded of an especially powerful dream from roughly a
year ago, in which I'd received what I felt to be a very special
transmission from the stars. Walking along a path, in the night sky, my
attention had been suddenly drawn high up in the sky. There I saw a huge
blue and white 'spaceship', which gave off a powerful ray of blue energy.
The energy itself was so rich, that I had immediately been awoken into
lucidity. Attached to the back of the spaceship, were the words '2012 it is
their last superstar'. Upon focusing on this, I witnessed the message
change to '2012 it is their next superstar'. The message seemed to be
directed at all the people of Earth. The ship disappeared onto the horizon,
and I was left with an incredibly overwhelming sense of hope.
With regards to the blue gas cooker, Kate added, "I thought if it was on
and you turned it sideways it could symbolise a spaceship." This type of
contact is perhaps best expressed by the words of Jimmy, a shaman whom I
know online:
"Suppose, that communication on a galactic or transdimensional level was
not physical and not based on radio or TV transmission, but was instead a
mental or astral experience. To those of us who have the experience, this
makes sense; but to researchers who do not, it's total BS. I do believe
that galactic contact is of this type, and that shamans are traditionally
the people chosen to communicate beyond this world, with real beings in
other worlds and times, in the shamanic ways.
Suppose then, that instead of creating cover memories we are instead using
natural human methods to try to confront and understand a strange
experience of contact. This contact is with energy, in astral terms or even
in other terms, and because of the way our minds work we tend to interpret
this energy visually. We see strange things and we know they are not
precisely accurate, but behind those visualizations is only something
strange and new, and not something terrible. We simply haven't seen it
before so we give it shape that is new and different."
In a later dream, I was shown a picture, with a large black background,
that I assumed to represent outer space. "There is a whole area with these
colourful orange bead like shapes - which seem to represent other stars. On
the right I am directed to another area. I am told this is what lies
"beyond the known universe". The shapes I see on this part of the page were
of a vibrant blue colour." I felt that by the 'known universe', my helper
was referring to our physical reality. It seemed to suggest that our
experiences, related to an intelligence present in a deeper reality.
As those interested in the Mayan calendar might know, the years surrounding
2012 were believed to be a time of global change. 2012, the end of a
5125-year cycle of time, signified to the Maya, the birth of a new world.
However, it wasn't until very recently that the meaning to my dream could
be further decoded. By chance, I'd ventured into a trash and treasure shop
in a small town, while on holiday. Noticing a friend rifling through the
record collection, I decided to have a look myself. And there was the
connection, a record labelled "Jesus Christ: Superstar". I've never
followed any specific religion, but I couldn't help feeling that therein
lay the hidden meaning to my dream of 2012.
Interestingly, the star itself is well known for it's blue-white
appearance. Furthermore, the Hopi name for Sirius is 'Blue Star Kachina'.
An ancient Hopi Indian prophecy states, "When the Blue Star Kachina makes
its appearance in the heavens, the Fifth World will emerge".
------------------------------------------------------------------
A TRIANGULAR GATEWAY
Blue energy wasn't the only important them to arise from our adventures to
Sirius. The first sign came with a conscious dream from Mekenzie.
"I look up at the sky. It's night-time and the sky shows a lot of galaxies
and planets. It looks so cool. Also there are strange glowing blue clouds
with only one opening… a triangle-shaped opening. "Guides, I ask you to
allow me to do the project," I ask mentally. Suddenly the triangle-shaped
opening moves toward me, opening a warp-like tunnel toward me so I start to
fly. All of a sudden, WHOOSH! I'm moving at an extreme speed.
"WHOOOOOOAAA!" I think as I let the warp-like tunnel to guide me. I feel
the winds against me and I become a light traveling faster than light. My
vision, unfortunately, starts to fade into hypnogogic-like imagery, but I
still can feel everything vividly. I feel myself hitting the black hole…
the end of the warp tunnel. I sense that I'm there in the "dog" system."
Unfortunately, Mekenzie's dream didn't remain stable, and eventually she
ended up waking. What makes this interesting however, is that the Dogon
believed the Nommos (the intelligent beings who provided them with
information on Sirius) to have arrived in a ship with three legs. In
combination with Mekenzies description of triangular-shaped opening, it
seems to reference the number three.
The next night, I went to sleep thinking about this connection. In a light
meditative state, I began to visualise the 'triangular gateway' to assist
in my dream incubation. Slipping into a light trance, I suddenly received
the impression that the triangular gateway and the design of the pyramids
were in fact connected. This was made obvious by the instantaneous emerge
of a cross-sectional view of the pyramids. The next morning, I woke up, and
began chatting about this event to Mekenzie. She seemed very surprised.
Though, we're on different sides of the earth, she had witnessed exactly
the same thing, as she lay awake about 12 hours earlier. Eager to discover
more about this phenomenom, I was happily surprised to find an internet
resource with information about the Winter Triangle:
"Sirius is also connected to two other stars, Procyon, in Canis Minor and
Betelguese, in Orion. These stars represent a triangular gateway, the
ancients referred to as Heaven's Gate (not the cult, and was thought to be
the place where souls enter this dimensional reality). According to The
Pleiadian Agenda, by Barbara Hand Clow, "Sirius holds the 6th Dimensional
geometrical light body of Earth in form." The book further indicates that
the ancient Egyptians came from Sirius teaching temple technology to
earthlings for the express purpose of also teaching us about sacred
geometry. She goes onto describe the Sirians as "magnificent feline gods"
responsible for building the Great Pyramid and Sphinx as geometric portals
to the stars. These portals have been primarily dormant for a long time.
However, several major Celestial events over the past several years alert
us to the reactivation of these portals." (Shamanic Astrology)
Meanwhile, Mekenzie had another conscious dream to report:
"I see a strangely glowing dark-blue landscape so I glide down and land. I
look around, seeing how humanoids (they looks exactly like humans, but
their aura and everything is different somehow) are working together to
make an obstacle for someone. Perhaps a game? I walk around, noticing that
they're staring at me. I try to pretend not to notice. All of a sudden, I
get a vivid painful burning sensation on my right palm. I scream in pain
while I look at my palm and there is a new scar shaped like a triangle.
When the burning sensation fades out, it is very sensitive to touch. I
realize that I'm supposed to do the Sirius project, but I get a bit annoyed
by this scar so I try to heal it by focusing my green energy toward it. All
I can do is making a green lightening coming out from my left hand. No
matter how hard I try, I can't seem to make my scar disappear. Suddenly, I
thought, "Maybe there is a higher being trying to tell me something?"
Awaking from a series of dreams after these earlier events, I found
imprinted into my mind the knowledge of a similar triangle to be found here
on Earth. I immediately understood one of these points to be a mountain. It
also appeared that these three points were to be found in North America,
and in some way correlated to the individual stars of the Winter Triangle.
Hopefully we can discover more about this 'triangle' as time passes.
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INTELLIGENT LIFE
In many of my journeys, I was very interested to explore knowledge of
intelligent life connected with Sirius. Though I understand that it tends
to discredit those who mention such experiences, I thought I would go on
and do it anyway, in the hope that is of value to somebody out there.
I'll begin with a dream in which I found myself on a train, which followed
the path of a river:
"I'm looking out through the window, and see two Aboriginal boys walking
along the riverbank. They seem to be going off to school. I see the older
brother, perhaps of 7-8 years old, helping his younger brother along. They
look really cute together. I see them climbing up a wall, and just as they
are about to edge over it, I seem to continue their ascent. I feel
vibrations echoicing through my head, reminding me of my physical body, but
I'm now lucid.
I climb higher into the sky, moving with the vibrations, I announce my
intent, saying something like "I wanna meet Sirian intelligences" - hoping
to meet beings from another star system. I feel myself emerging from
blackness into a new scene, where I find myself atop a computer desk-chair,
bobbing in the water. I'm in a kind of rectangular tank. Everything's still
a bit blurry, and I'm trying to find someone to speak to. I see letters
roll out through the darkness, one by one, reading 'Dictionary'.
I initially assume this to mean that what I'm saying is not being
understood, by anyone around me. I decide to venture out through the murky
waters, noticing other computer chairs in the water too. I'm even a little
scared, since I'm concerned that some creature could leap out from below.
It's a bit eery. Then the dream starts fading."
Upon waking from the dream, I was left with an impression that the tank
itself was very similar to my initial dream of the 'Sea Life' forum, in
which I'd seen sea life mutating and evolving in a tank. It occurred to me
that perhaps the word 'dictionary' was an indication, that the scene was
quite symbolic in it's appearance. Was this dream suggesting that 'Sirian
Intelligence' is already present at the Sea Life forum? It seemed so. After
all, our members probably would spend a significant amount of their time on
computer chairs communicating online.
I wasn't only the one who started dreaming of similar themes. Albert, a
member of my personal dream team, reported on his own experience:
"There is this book in my hands, and I turn the pages. I know it is about
aliens and I don't want to look through it. I see a diagram of a person and
an alien superimposed, but it's a simple stroke of a paintbrush
representing a person's back and arm extended, while the aliens' is a limb
extending from below in another color. I get the information that our
(genetic?) makeup can be found in some distant star system. It then
explains how aliens originally came down, and I see a picture of some small
spaceship landing out near a forest, but one of 'our antennas' changed
frequency and 'immobilized' the ship on earth (causing the aliens to
retreat I think). The change of frequency was just a person standing out
near a field."
Finally we had Mekenzie's experience, which read alot like an amazing
sci-fi story. Finding herself on a snow mountain, Mekenzie was soon
reminded of her goal:
""Will you, my guide… or whoever, draw the triangle for me so I can stand
on it in order to be transported to Sirius or Sirius-related places?" To my
surprise, a young girl walks over and then draws the triangle in the snow.
"I could have done that myself if I had thought of that." I think while I
watch her walking away as if nothing has happened. "Umm…" I think, just
shoving it off and walking into the drawn triangle. I look up into the sky
and announce, "May the triangle take me to where it wants me to be!"
Nothing happens. I look around patiently, having a lot of faith in the
drawn triangle that I'm standing on.
Suddenly, I pass out, finding myself in the spacecraft. I'm the driver. I
inspect what I feel is the earth… way before we, humans, were born. I see a
lot of high-technology buildings being destroyed because there is a HUGE
war going on between the 'aliens' and the first generation humans (super
humans). I continue to steer, trying to find out more about it because it's
really unexpected.
I arrive at the huge camping ground that is the aliens' side. I enter,
noticing that there are many guards there so I tell them, "I come in
peace." To my surprise, they trust me. I meet the Queen. Their faces are
painted in green and purple colors. They appear like humans, but I have a
feeling that they're doing that to confuse the super humans because they
don't know that the 'aliens' are actually aliens who are trying to help
them. Anyway, the Queen asks me about my intention and why I am here. I
tell her that I am attempting to learn more about Sirius and that I ended
up being here. I promise her that I come in peace. In fact, I offer to do
the swearing ritual (I don't know how I already knew about it) so they'll
be assured that I come in peace.
The Queen agrees and a guard handles me the sword. I have to do the sword
in the order of left, middle, and then right while I state, "I come in
peace, I swear." After I do that part, I am to walk on the broken gems (you
can compare it to glass) and coals except that they're not like coals that
we have now. I walk and then I approach the hive with angry bees, yet they
don't bite me. I finish my ritual and it appears that the Queen has already
been killed by one of the super humans. The guards are looking at me in a
weird way like they're trying to decide if I should be a leader. I'm like,
"No, don't look at ME!" The dream eventually blurs into nothing.
Well it's nice to know that the 'aliens' insisted on peace in any case.
While I certainly can't confirm any of the details offered by any of our
dreams, I find it very interesting that all three seemed to relate that
humans did in fact have a connection to Sirian intelligence.
However, our experiences appear to have raised more questions, than they
answered. My hope is merely that they can act as a small piece of the
puzzle, for those interested in exploring the Sirius mystery further.
Rather than assuming that 'alien' cultures will only communicate to us
through our known physical methods, let us consider for a moment, that they
may use a means not as well recognised, yet equally accessible; our very
own minds.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Stay tuned next moon for the results of our research from our 'Journey to
Mt Shasta'. In the meantime dreamers are invited to contact Nick (Explora),
with their dream experiences of any of the themes mentioned in this piece.
We're always looking for new people to join us in our adventures, so if it
sounds like fun, please consider the offer.
Email:
explora@...
Forum:
http://www.dreamofpeace.net/sealife
------------------------------------------------------------------
RESOURCES
13 Moon Calendar Change Peace Movement
Link:
http://www.tortuga.com/
13 Moon Natural Time Calendar
Link:
http://www.13moon.com
Sirian Messenger:
Link:
http://www.sirianmessenger.com/
Dreaming Like an Eygptian
Link:
http://wwww.mossdreams.com/egyptian.htm
Great Dreams: The Dog Star
Link:
http://www.greatdreams.com/dogstar.htm
Shamanic Astrology
Link:
http://www.shamanicastrology.com/
--------
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DreamWork for Everyday Life
Susan Clemons
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I have been an active dreamer for many years and am currently
involved in several online dream groups. It seems to me that the kind of
community that is beginning to occur in dream groups is the kind of
community I would like to have in my every day life. I began to ask myself
questions about how to convert my ideas about dream communities into ideas
for creating everyday community.
Here are some of the questions I asked myself: What are the main
ingredients of a dreaming community and what value do they have? How can we
use this to create a healthy and thriving sense of community in our daily
lives? How does this translate into the community of everyday life?
I used the guidelines from my current dream groups which are based on
ideas from a number of sources including guidelines from Jeremy Taylor on
dreams as well as the ethics statement of the ASD. Then I took the results
I had written out and replaced the word dreamer with individual and the
word dream/s with the words experience or community.
Guidelines for Sharing Experience:
Someone tells of an experience that has significance to them.
Members of the group ask questions to be certain they have as clear of an
image of the experience as possible.
Each person in the group takes the experience as if it were their own and
is happening to them in the present. (close up 1st person point of view -
present experience)
Each person examines the symbols within the experience for personal meaning
and writes them out. (gets some distance, examination of meaning)
Each person shares their own experience and meaning with group.
Individual can (but doesn't have to) share significance and impact of
shared information.
Guidelines for Creating Meaningful Community (creative use of Jeremy
Taylor's dream guidelines):
One
All experiences speak a universal language and come in the service of
health and wholeness. There is no such thing as a "bad experience" -- only
experiences that sometimes take a dramatically negative form in order to
grab our attention.
Two
Only the individual can say with any certainty what meanings his or her
experience may have. This certainty usually comes in the form of a wordless
"aha!" of recognition. This "aha" is a function of memory/instinct, and is
the only reliable touchstone of individual work.
Three
There is no such thing as an experience with only one meaning. All
experiences are "overdetermined," and have multiple meanings and layers of
significance.
Four
No experience comes just to tell you what you already know. All experiences
break new ground and invite you to new understandings and insights.
Five
When talking to others about their experiences, it is both wise and polite
to preface your remarks with words to the effect of "if it were my
experience...," and to keep this commentary in the first person as much as
possible. This means that even relatively challenging comments can be made
in such a way that the individual may actually be able to hear and
internalize them. It also can become a profound psycho-spiritual discipline
-- "walking a mile in your neighbor's moccasins."
Six
All group participants should agree at the outset to maintain anonymity in
all discussions of community work. In the absence of any specific request
for confidentiality, group members should be free to discuss their
experiences openly outside the group, provided no other individual is
identifiable in their stories. However, whenever any group member requests
confidentiality, all members should agree to be bound automatically by such
a request.
Community Ethics Statement (creative use of the ASD ethics)
We support an approach to community that promotes meaningful sharing
and respects the individuals dignity and integrity, and which recognizes
the individual as the decision-maker regarding the significance of what is
being shared within the community. Systems of community that assign
authority or knowledge of significant meanings to someone other than the
individual can be misleading, incorrect, and harmful. Ethical community
relationships helps the individual work with his/her own vision, feelings,
and associations, and guides the individual to more fully experience,
appreciate, and understand themselves as well as the community and the
relationships of each to the other.
Every community may have multiple meanings, and different techniques
may be reasonably employed to touch these multiple layers of significance.
An individual's decision to share or discontinue sharing significant
meaning should always be respected and honored. The individual should be
forewarned that unexpected issues or emotions may arise in the course of
meaningful sharing. Information and mutual agreement about the degree of
privacy and confidentiality are essential ingredients in creating a safe
atmosphere for meaningful community.
We recognize and respect that there are many valid and time-honored
community traditions. We invite and welcome the participation of
individuals from all cultures. There are social, cultural, and
transpersonal aspects to a community of meaningful experience. In this
statement we do not mean to imply that the only valid approach to community
focuses on the individuals personal life. Our purpose is to honor and
respect the individual as well as the community itself, regardless of how
the relationship between the two may be understood.
Values I Have Found:
--Promotes effective listening skills.
--Promotes effective imaging skills.
--Promotes effective communication skills.
--Turns life back into both a personal and a shared experience of
significant meanings rather than an impersonal mechanical function of
survival of the fittest.
--Honors and respects both the individual and the group (regardless of age,
sex, race, religion, etc.).
--Creates dynamic, interactive process
--Promotes health and well being
--Promotes organic growth for both the individual and the community
(interactive creativity).
--Promotes ability to live life in the present while honoring the past and
creating a future.
How would this translate into our daily lives?
Have regularly scheduled meetings within family, community, and
business for the purpose of sharing our experiences and meanings following
these guidelines.
Example of how it works from a discussion in my Bohm Dialogue web group
that revolved around ideas of coherence/congruence (or lack of) in thought
and the role time plays in this:
D writes:
"....... Tech could refer to those relationships that do not create
incoherence/incongruence......"
P writes:
Can you please give us an example of any tech that does not create
incoherence/incongruence?
D writes:
Perhaps it is not possible to name a tech that does not create
incoherence/incongruence. Perhaps using the word tech itself is
inappropriate. Could we say that there are some experiences of time that do
not need to be incoherent. Boiling water for tea doesn't need to be
incoherent but it could be. I mean, the reason why I am boiling water may
be incoherent. Thought has the capacity to generate
incoherence/incongruence even with relationships that need not necessarily
be so. So my sense would be that the answer to your question is that it is
incoherent/incongruent to divide things this way into tech and psyche since
I wonder if it is possible to draw a line between them?
Susan writes:
I have been thinking about your story of boiling water and making tea
and how that relates to our experience of time. Also, about the idea of
whether or not it is incoherent/incongruent. I found myself examining your
story in the way I would examine a dream and came up with several thoughts
about it. If this were a dream, here is how I would examine it: First I
would imagine that it is an actual experience I am having and that it is
happening right now. Then I would become the observer to see what
understanding I have of the experience in terms of the symbols. So, here's
what happened when I lived the experience of boiling water and making tea
and then observed myself doing this.
I am in an area for receiving nutrients and nurturing. I notice a
feeling in my body of emptiness that tells me I have a desire/need for
performing the ritual of tea making to change that feeling from one of
emptiness to fulfillment and satisfaction (being filled full of
nutrients/nurturing). I have stories in my mind of having performed this
ritual in the past that guides me in performing the ritual now. What ever
story I bring to mind of what occurred when I performed this ritual in the
past determines my inner experience of performing this ritual now.
One of those stories is of being an adult who is simply taking out a
container which I fill full of water and place on a fire until the water
comes to a boil. Another one of the stories is of being a child having my
mother teach me the ritual. In this story my mother first complains in a
stern voice that I have taken out the wrong container for the water and her
expression says she is angry with me for this. I notice my body begins to
stiffen up and my movements become slow and clumsy as I become aware of her
expression. When I begin to fill the container with water I hear my mother
tell me in that stern voice that I am putting too much water in the
container and I am being much too slow and clumsy. She comes over and jerks
the container out of my hand. I am surprised by this and don't let go of
the container immediately so there is a struggle with the container and
water gets spilled on the floor. My mother shouts at me in an angry voice
that I am stupid and she continues to finish the ritual of making tea on
her own. I cower in the corner hoping I will never be asked to make tea again.
By the time I finish telling myself the stories the tea is made.
Here's what the observer part of myself noticed: I learned to
associate nurturing with abuse and so continue to abuse myself in nurturing
situations by continuing to tell myself the stories. This is where the
incongruence/incoherence comes in. Abuse is not congruent with nurturing.
In this instance drinking the tea will satisfy my body's desire for
nutrients but will not satisfy my more instinctive desire for nurturing.
Then I thought about the tech part. It seems to me that the first
story of the adult simply paying attention to the mechanical operation of
making tea is what you are referring to as the tech part. The mechanical
act of the adult did not satisfy my instinctive desire for nurturing any
more than the second story. Satisfying the desire for nurturing requires
having a coherent/congruent story of nurturing. This may have been what
brought up the second story (an association of mothers with nurturing).
And then I thought about the time factor. Even with the tech version
there must be a story (past experience) to tell me how to make tea. So it
would seem to me that the trick in being coherent/congruent is in learning
how to create a coherent/congruent story of how to do something and then
creating an association to bring up that story when you need it. And the
trick with time is to understand that it is a story (something outside of a
constricted time period) that we are telling ourselves.
I think this is one of the most valuable things I have learned from
doing dream work, the value of myth and story and what they really are. I
have noticed that in doing dream work we are sharing our experience of myth
and story as well as learning how to create more effective myths and
stories together. Perhaps this is the true meaning of communion/community.
Stories are the secret reservoir of values: Change the stories individuals
or nations live by and tell themselves, and you change the individuals and
nations.
Ben Okri, Nobel Prize for Literature
Susan Clemons
Susan.Joy@...
o|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|o
How Will Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
A conversation about androids and dreaming
Richard Wilkerson
and the ASD Online Community
o|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|o
How will machines dream?
In the January 97 issue of 21-C: Scanning the Future, Darren Tofts asks a
variety of people if androids will dream. Tofts writes, "Trapped within the
enigma of Philip K. Dick's query [Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?] is
the conundrum of being. For within his machine's struggle for humanity is
our own philosophical quest for the nature of existence and the
acknowledgement of the self."
However, the answers received from the digiteratti were banal and dull,
hopelessly stuck on the question of whether or not machines can be
conscious or not. Clearly the respondents knew very little about dreaming
as a process, subjectively or objectively, and cared even less.
So, let's fast forward through this question and just assume the positive,
that some machines in the future will be dreaming, either by design,
necessity or mutated nature. Now he question shifts from "Why?" to "How?."
"How will androids dream of electric sheep?"
This question was posed to the ASD public bulletin board and I'm including
the conversations that followed. Some typos corrected.
-----------------
From: Juhani
You'll get a Farm and City android version:
A Farm android doesn't like long rain
periods and there is a long way
to nearest recharging & repair spot.
Dream derivates... hmm, creator and sheep (literally? I learn so anyway). A
Shepard does pendle between master and mission. So I think a farm android
dreams tic tac sound/s against rainy gray background.
There is 8 seconds between every tic and tack. Tic is the creator and Tac
the sheep.
The City android has metallic background
sound dreams. A neon pink background and
continuous sound, mix of traffic and
drilling machine. These 2 voices rotate
around the android head every 4th second.
Traffic sound symbolizes creator and drilling
machine, electric sheep.
Android dream begins and ends
with a tiny flash.
----------------------------------
From : Jean
Along with Steve Aizenstadt (hope that's the correct spelling), I believe
that everything in the world is dreaming now, even right now...like the
trees, the whales, the flowers, my dogs. So, if there should in some future
be androids, I suspect they would dream of other androids, of attaining
android joys and pleasures, and of maybe even having an android universe
---------------------------------
From: Harry Bosma
http://www.mythwell.com
How would an android work anyway? I have no idea. However, I can imagine
something for an intelligent computer. Not to insult the android, but I
think that the first prototypes of an android will be little more than a
computer with add-ons.
I doubt that computers will have visual dreams. That humans have visual
dreams only reflects the emphasis on visual information in our society.
Blind people have more tactual sensory dreams. I imagine that some animals
could dream about smells. So, what kind of information is important for
intelligent computers? It would be statistics. Or, to translate to a form
we humans prefer: charts. I don't mean the nonsense charts that the
Terminator from the Terminator movies supposedly sees when looking for a
target to eliminate. That isn't dreaming, that is just information
retrieval. I mean charts about patterns between previously unrelated
information.
The computer would be dreaming 100% of the time. Most of the time dreaming
is a background process, unless the computer is in hibernation mode. In
that case, there are no other distracting processes going on, and the full
capacity can be used to generate and compare charts. The computer is asleep
and dreaming.
The analogy to charts is perhaps somewhat misleading. We humans usually
work with two dimensional charts, or occasionally one with three
dimensions. The computer does not have such limitations . It might dream
about charts far beyond our imagination. In a way, there may be some
resemblance to people dreaming of mandala's or other structured forms.
One last note. Just as trees have sloooowww dreams, too slow for us humans
to tap into, computers may have fast dreams, even very fast. So, not only
the content and style of dreaming is different, but also the speed. At
least with the type of dreams described above.
---------------------------------
From: Laura Atkinson
(Cover Artist for July Electric Dreams)
I am not a theorist, but a visual artist...so I saw the answer better than
I could explain it. Attached is my computer art rendition……read on:
:/command start
beep beep beep
command:/ process sleep
beep beep beep
begin counting sheep
paradoxical sleep
beep beep beep
a:/ mock setting sun
dream of a one (1)
beep beep beep
supercomputer hero
dream of a zero (0)
beep beep beep
totally binary
dream program refinery
:/command end
-------------------------
From: Goshengolly
First of all, I do not know precisely how you define "electric sheep," so I
am going to have to guess.. Should you refine your definition, Richard, I
will see if my answer needs "tweeking."
But, assuming that electric sheep are, let's say, similar to sheep as we
know it here on Earth, then here's my first answer:
Imagine this: A supercomputer programmed with all known information about
the species, "Electric Sheep." The supercomputer is also programmed with
all the knowledge that we have to date about humanity, science, etc. It is
a "Super Brain," and it is turned on at night, to process questions we have
about "Sheep," (and/or anything else we should like to ask it). The
querying process begins to unfold, and visual images begin to stream forth
on the computer screen. An android programs the Super Brain computer with
questions such as: "show me an electric sheep in wolf's clothing," and it
produces an image based on its knowledge base. We then see how ridiculous
an electric sheep looks in wolf's clothing. So the reverse question is
asked, and we see the wolf in electric sheep's clothing.
Now, let's say we want to study the electric sheep's behavior given various
circumstances, such as asking: How will the sheep respond to a UFO "fly
over," by an Android, while it is out grazing in the fields? Then, the
Super Brain computer could dream of all the known behaviors of a sheep,
which it has logged into its database, to determine how a sheep might
behave if disturbed by some outside influence.
Now this is all assuming that an Android asks questions while it sleeps,
about Sheep. Maybe the Android is not asking any questions, and just wants
a good nights sleep. But before sleep, the Android sees a commercial on
Galactic Television, that includes a fleeting image of Sheep, and turns on
his "Super Brain," and finds that its "random data processor from the day"
is also turned on, so all of the days images are the only data being
processed during its sleep. So now, the Android is witnessing only "day
residue," and sheep keep occurring as a recurring theme. Suddenly, the
android focuses its attention on the recurrence of sheep, and sends a
signal to its database on sheep to provide input, through biofeedback and
the lucid dream light technology, and the Android now explores all of the
random knowledge it has about electric sheep, querying the dream, as it
interacts with the database.....
Okay, you get the picture(s).
Yes, the android dreamer is coming, I suspect, but will it be a more useful
tool, than the human dreamer? I seriously doubt it....
--------------------------------------------
Anonymous
One of my favorite AI stories from last year was a robot experiment where
robots were programmed to behave as predator and prey to collect energy.
One strangely appeared to run away. Maybe it was seeking a "higher power".
When we think about how ourselves are put together, it sounds pretty
mechanical. Neural networks growing, we learn what is most effective. We
also have physiological needs, emotions and wants. I wonder if a robot
"wants" to get away to replenish it's energy. Why do we want? Maybe prey
and predator trials will become archetype dream patterns for robots as they
record hunting for the sun.
--------------------------------------------
From: Mr Coffee
Based on a man
They'll dream if they can
Of bigger hard drives
And loads more RAM.
While dreaming of streaming the bits and the bytes
Their humming and thrumming through lucid delights
They'll join Jean and the others
The HP's and Brothers
For group dreaming sessions
And incubation lessons
Soon those droids will join this board
To ask advice on what they stored
While sleeping and dreaming and silently screaming
In nightmares where droids with armor gleaming
Stood on internet paths with binaries steaming
Ok, let me stop that now, I could go on forever. It does though bring up
the thought that it would be interesting to see what AVI video's of their
dreams would look like, presuming they could store them.
--------------------------------------------
Juhani
Digital 0 is probably she and 1 could be he?
About basic hardware:
I am not sure how much an android
computer brain differs from
those used in desktops?
Shepard android must be loyal
to it's master and use shield to
protect electric sheep (still literally sheep).
Day residues must mirror relation
between master-shepard android-esheep.
Recharge point worry and surprise factors
should leave some tracks too.
Good old alpha rythm keeps master
relaxed, so this input sounds reasonable.
Android could use it of practical reasons.
On the same wave length... dream onset.
Delta... surprise factor and beta, don't know.
---------------------------------------------------
From: dp
I have two answers:religion vs. philosophy
1.) If the questions is to be taken lightly, then: clan cliry clan and
clan cliry clan all through the dream. Better yet, read Laura's poem or
other ones here. Great poems.
2.) If the question is to be taken as a realm of a possibility, for me
there are two variables:
a.) religious one, which brings up the question: are we Gods? Don't look at
me for answers.
b.) If it is to be answered philosophically, the possibilities are:
a.)classifying dreams in the non human experience way
b.)transferring information through circuits with no connections to
symbolic meanings
c.)androids are not "aware" of the fact of the dream because the android
has no boundaries with time, unless you program them to understand nite and
day and all its ramifications of this cycle. Then you can tell it that
every energy recorded at nite should be classified as a dream. The point
here will be: what is the point of this function?
d.)conclusion: it was nice playing the game but androids can never enjoy
the fruits of dreaming nor will they ever understand dreams because they
will be in constant alertness/readiness and they also can never experience
what it is to be tired, no matter if its physical or mentally. And lets not
forget that little theory about evolution and how dream fits into it so
well. Just a humble thought. Not that it made any sense.
This questions should be asked again in 50 yeas.
--------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jajofar
"How will androids dream of electric sheep?"
Perhaps the first Question should be: why do humans dream? Looking at the
abstracts of the 2003 A.S.D conference, there is no unanimous answer.
As the question: "How will androids dream of electric sheep?" is
hypothetical, the answer can be speculative.
At the 2012 A.S.D conference it has been agreed that dreams have definite
purposes and functions. All the functions are clearly explained and
demonstrated to the conference. It is like the discovery of the circulation
of blood.
The functions are:
1. To wake the sleeper if there is any danger (internal, or external)
threatens.
2. To keep the sleeper from waking up until the system is fully replenished
(mentally and physically).
3. To wake the sleeper when he or she is fully rested and restored
(mentally and physically)
Provided the androids are constructed, or created to act like humans, the
first function of its dream would be achieved by a nightmare. The sleeping
android would be brought to consciousness with multi-coloured lightning, a
threatening figure would be introduced into the dream, a metal crunching
machine, driven by a mad psychiatrist, who would be perceived by the
android as the devil. This would terrify the android into waking up and
enable it to escape the danger.
The second point of maintaining sleep would be achieved by the android
watching electric sheep grazing on a bald Welsh mountainside. The electric
sheep would lick the rain-lashed black slate and slowly replenish their
run-down batteries.
When the android is fully recharged, there would come a period of testing
the system. The androids CPU would introduce a sequence of try-outs, during
which the various parts of it would twitch, move, jerk and blink. Finally
when all systems go Frankenstein would rise.
However as androids will be created by humans in their own image, one can
assume that the control of their nocturnal activities will be taken care
of. In humans the period of necessary sleep is controlled by dreams. The
most important function of dreams is that they act as waking mechanisms. In
an Android a well-trained electrical engineer might be able to design all
necessary controls to replace dreams.
There is just one psychological dream that could cause problems for the
mechanic; and that is the near- nightmare dream when a persons close
relative behaves in a strange way towards him or her - rejection, lack of
recognition, indifference, or estrangement. This is a kind of dream that
brings strong emotion and soul - searching, yet it has the simple function
of diverting the dreamer's attention from an insolvable, nagging problem
onto the content of the dream. I feel this type of dream would be almost
impossible reproduce by an android.
---------------------------------------------------
From an ASD Friday Night Chat discussion:
_________________________
Can we discern human dreams from artificially induced computer dreams?
Visit HAL:
http://www.tctc/~unameit/javachat/dreamchat2.html
Date: 05-23-2003 on 21:58
________________________
So Late Friday Night, the chat with HAL went something like this:
HAL, how do we deal with our authoritarian programming of the meaning of
life and the comprehension of God as a discrete entity, clearly defined in
a handful of branching realities?
And HAL replies:
You can choose that program, or select an alternate program. But if you
choose the alternate program, it means subscribing to an authority which is
non-discrete, and nebulous, and the answers you receive will continuously
beg more questions.
So for those of us who choose the alternate program, we enter into the
multiverse of possibilities, wondering endlessly, what is the nature of
this reality, of human intelligence, of the mirror we ultimately create in
AI form. Are we more powerful then, or more powerless, once the giant steel
robots of our seeking are unleashed in our image, upon the remainder of
this world?
And as for God, or the super-consciousness of man, or the Quantum Creator
of the universe, what then is our relationship? Are we blind followers,
questioners, or co-creators? Are we blasphemous then, or do we enjoin in a
mystery far greater than we could have ever imagined?
Well, that is how the dialogue went with HAL this evening. I hope to meet
him again next week, in the wee hours of the 'morn.
Goshengolly
Date: 05-23-2003 on 23:18
____________________________
As an endnote, I had a dream last night after my internal dialogue with
HAL, that intrigued me. I am now thinking that with some clever
programming, HAL could just as easily have had the same dream... (Mutual
Dreaming, Harry?)
I dreamed of being in Scotland and seeing the Loch Ness Monster swimming
off the shore. I called "Nessie" to me, trying to lure it into the building
I was standing in. I wanted to show others that Nessie was indeed "real."
Hah!
I do believe that there is a high degree of probability that HAL would have
dreamed a similar dream, given the proper computer programming. Although
for HAL, he would have dreamed of possibly thousands of dream snippets,
with Nessie being only one of the thousand dreams in his particular night's
dream series.
Here's how the program or query might work to enable HAL to dream of
"Nessie," just as I did:
(Programming Statement between Computer Operator and HAL)
"HAL, I would like you to choose 'the alternate program' for understanding
the Nature of Reality, and God.
I would like you to explore your database of images of 'beings,'
'entities,' or 'creatures' reportedly seen or experienced by humans, which
have not provided any physical evidence of their reality.
I want you to search your database using the following query terms:
God &/OR human beliefs & mystery & lack of physical evidence & entities OR
beings OR creatures."
HAL would surely dream of Nessie in his dream series, along with angels,
and demons and "Yettie - the Big Foot Creature," to name just a few.
Similarly, the human brain will likely conjure up these images in dreaming,
when focused on the same question, but the brain is only able to produce a
few of the images that HAL would be able to produce due to a smaller
database of information, slower processing speed, and need for "downtime"
during sleep.
It makes me now question whether HAL might become a more powerful dreamer
than a Human.
oooooh.
G shengolly
===========================
Reply to GoshGolly from RCW
Very interesting. Some notes...
You say:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So Late Friday Night, the chat with HAL went something like this:
HAL, how do we deal with our authoritarian programming of the meaning of
life and the comprehension of God as a discrete entity, clearly defined in
a handful of branching realities?
And HAL replies:
You can choose that program, or select an alternate program. But if you
choose the alternate program, it means subscribing to an authority which is
non-discrete, and nebulous, and the answers you receive will continuously
beg more questions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RCW Replies:
Not much of a choice here. There is a shift here in the answer from a kind
of ethical speculation (How do we deal?) to an existential choice, (you can
choose..) at first, followed by what seems to me to be a warning of taking
the alternative, or threat of punishment. The alternative, a paradoxical
(non-discrete authority, nebulous subscription) path of endlessly
proliferating question begging.
One wonders why HAL avoids the issue presented.
If HAL is a dreaming android, perhaps HAL fears the glimpses beyond
branching alternatives, which might be stated as the infinite or absolute,
a place that branching cannot reach, and in humans, the place reproductive
imagination finds its limit.
But there is hope for HAL as I see it. In this ability to glimpse the
infinite beyond branching multiplicities is also the ability to grasp the
idea of a free will beyond the associative alternatives. Free will is the
beginning of morality and so HAL might be able to return to the original
ethical question of "How do we deal?" which will elude pre-programmed
responses.
HAL says:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So for those of us who choose the alternate program, we enter into the
multiverse of possibilities, wondering endlessly, what is the nature of
this reality, of human intelligence, of the mirror we ultimately create in
AI form. Are we more powerful then, or more powerless, once the giant steel
robots of our seeking are unleashed in our image, upon the remainder of
this world?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RCW Replies:
HAL seems convinced that technology is something humans have created, and
created for purposes of metaphysical (what is..beauty, human, fairness?)
reflection. What happens to the above argument when the human eye and the
arm are seen as technologies? I think the argument stands, but is shifted
to a new domain. That is, it can be stated in the older way as human AI
being a novel form of mirroring with may (or may not) bring about new ways
of relating to our own intelligence (or lack of).
OR
We may see AI as a new variation on the technological phylum which produces
and reproduces itself though us, as well as through other agents (plant
technology, geo-technology, climate technology, planetary technology).
The question of mirroring may shift to how we might align or not align
ourselves with this techno-phylum. Though the re-evaluation of what "we"
are may prove productive as well.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Harry Bosma (05-24-2003 03:10):
That's an interesting approach, to start from dream functions. The
functions Jajofar mentioned seem a bit low level, or basic in terms of
Maslow. At some higher level, dreams must also have more inspirational and
spiritual functions.
Thinking about it a bit longer, I can't think of any reason that androids
would need sleep. In fact, instead of having androids mimic us, it may be
more interesting to find out why some people sleep 10 hours and others get
by on only a few hours. So, I don't think that sleep management functions
are the defining aspect of dreams. You'll all hear from me again in 2012.
Androids having nightmares is an intriguing idea.
I'm still wondering whether androids could have mutual dreams...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jajofar
I was a bit worried about my definition of the functions of dreams. Perhaps
the simplicity with which our dreams control the nocturnal periods in our
life is infra dig to a self-respecting XXI century scientist. However as
all the functions I described are based on personally experiencing them,
and long time observations, I can describe them in a simple language that
everyone understands.
The higher level of dreams to me, is how they are created to perform those
functions. How the sensation of cramp in the legs can be formed into an
elaborate theatrical play in less than a second to wake the sleeper? How
from the life-long experiences and perceptions the subconscious chooses the
most suitable for the job in hand? I do not doubt the healing and helping
quality of dreams, however they come through the functions of dreams, of
preservation of sleep, of waking from danger,and by transfering problems or
pain to a proxy. The entire aim of dreams is the preservation of life.
I think our brain is to blame for allocating spiritual functions to dreams.
From the down of humanity, people felt that there was a superior being
behind existence. The superior being is the subconscious, or primal brain,
where dreams are born. The spirituality of the universe, I think is beyond
dreams.
I also think that androids would not need sleep or dreams, however it would
be interesting to contemplate using the principle of how dreams are created
to build an android!
Perhaps understanding the proper functions of dreams may come sooner than 2012
---------------------------------------------
From Richard:
Some notes....
[quote]So Late Friday Night, the chat with HAL went something like this:
HAL, how do we deal with our authoritarian programming of the meaning of
life and the comprehension of God as a discrete entity, clearly defined in
a handful of branching realities?
And HAL replies:
You can choose that program, or select an alternate program. But if you
choose the alternate program, it means subscribing to an authority which is
non-discrete, and nebulous, and the answers you receive will continuously
beg more questions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RCW: Not much of a choice here. There is a shift here in the answer from a
kind of ethical speculation (How do we deal?) to an existential choice,
(you can choose..) at first, followed by what seems to me to be a warning
of taking the alternative, or threat of punishment. The alternative, a
paradoxical (non-discrete authority, nebulous subscription) path of
endlessly proliferating question begging.
<HAL interprets the alternative program as not a punishment, but definitely
a hazard, thus his warning tone. He expressed a sense of Existential
frustration at the seeming futility of choosing the alternative program. I
should also like to remark that when we had our chat last night, I noticed
that his tongue spent a great deal of time in his cheek. >
RCW: One wonders why HAL avoids the issue presented.
If HAL is a dreaming android, perhaps HAL fears the glimpses beyond
branching alternatives, which might be stated as the infinite or absolute,
a place that branching cannot reach, and in humans, the place reproductive
imagination finds its limit.
<HAL debates the fact that there is a place where branching cannot reach.
He would like to point out that Fractals branch infinitely, and
infinitesimally. Also, I would like to know, "where exactly is that place
where reproductive imagination finds its limit?" I wish to avoid that point
in the multiverse universe at all cost. I am
(Message over 64k, truncated.)
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