Diary of my dreamy wanderings and adventures
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Diary of a Dreamonaut — Introduction and early October 2015 dreams
Introduction / Background information
Definition: A dreamonaut is a semi-to-fully aware wanderer / traveller / participant in his own dreams.
Short description: A dreamonaut does not actively shape his dreams; however, he is actively participating in the shaping process of his dreams (it’s not the same thing).
A dreamonaut knows that the his dreams´ explorations and adventures are not of “inferior” quality or significance to his waking / conscious / everyday life experiences which he shares (to an extent) with billions of his fellow human beings; nevertheless, he can clearly distinguish between the two kinds of experiences and he can also (in rarer occasions) combine selected elements from both.
From the dreamonaut’s perspective, every dream he experiences consists of four dimensions:
Set-up: The given dreamworld’s space and / or time coordinates, ranging, as a rule, from rather vague to predominantly inconsistent; with usually some sort of reference to the dreamonaut’s waking world experience. The dream set-up also includes the particular qualities of the atmosphere permeating the given dreamworld.
Cast: The given dream’s primary and secondary characters; of course, for self-explanatory reasons, the protagonist’s role is by default reserved for the dreamonaut himself.
Mood: The dreamonaut’s psychological / physical predisposition towards the given dream / dreamworld [for convenience purposes, let’s assume that this predisposition can take three values: -1 (or negative), 0 (or neutral) or +1 (or positive)].
Plot: The dynamic evolution of the dreamonaut’s experience in the given dreamworld translated (to the extent possible, which, unavoidably, varies from dream to dream) into a, ideally linear, storyline format.
NB: The similarity of the terminology used in the above lines to the one applicable to motion pictures is not coincidental: in a sense, every dream is a movie projected in its only (?) viewer’s internal screen [how we wish to name the “location” of this screen (brain, soul or something else) goes beyond the scope of this endeavour].
Every dream included in this diary may be accompanied by notes. These notes will have a concise and, possibly quite often, codified and / or telegraphic form. They aim at broadening the context of the dream in question and at highlighting potential links to other types of experiences, pertaining usually (but not necessarily) to the waking world.
Unless otherwise explicitly specified, the dreamonaut navigating through the dreams included in this diary is me, Alex.
Early October 2015 dreams
Dream 1: The event
Set-up: A borough in the dream version of Athens, Greece, consisting entirely or almost entirely of rather old (built in the era immediately after World War II) single-storey houses. It vaguely resembles the waking world borough of Kolonos / Akadimia Platonos (Plato’s Academy). Somewhere in the centre of this borough, looms a quite spacious old-style tavern with live entertainment. It’s late at night and the general atmosphere is rather melancholic with undertones of a widespread, and often extreme, insecurity (stemming from inside of me rather than from the outside environment).
Cast: E.D, J.A. and perhaps two dozens or so of former fellow university students (none of whom I am able to clearly recall).
Mood: -1 (negative).
Plot: I wander around the borough’s labyrinthine network of inconspicuous alleys trying to find my way to the tavern where my fellow students / friends are gathered. When I eventually spot the tavern and I enter it, no one appears to notice me. The place is neither empty nor super-packed. I opt to sit in a dark corner, away from the rest of the clientele. As the band finishes playing a song, E.D. steps on the stage and in the limelight. She takes the microphone in her hands but she seems hesitant to proceed with any further actions. Moments later, J.A. steps on the stage as well, looks her in the eyes and, with a decisive and calm move, takes the microphone off of her hands. Without taking his eyes away from hers for a single instance, he shares with her and the audience the most poetic and beautiful words he has probably ever spoken to a human being. She blushes and slightly lowers her head. The audience are holding their breath. E.D. then lifts her head again so that she can re-establish eye contact with J.A. and, with a slow, single step, gets really close to him. She now has her back three quarters of a turn to the audience, but from the angle I stand I can see both of their profiles pretty well. They have the same height and her tall and slender silhouette appears to fit perfectly with his muscular, projecting masculine confidence, build. She takes his two hands in hers and then, as they both simultaneously and semi-instinctively close their eyes, she touches his lips with hers (but they don’t kiss). Everyone is standing in absolute awe, marveling this bizarre union of the archetypal couple. I am in pieces, but a part of me cannot but fully admire this sight.
Notes: Plato’s Academy: link to ideal couple and love at its purest;
E.D.+J.A.: My role is to intervene only indirectly by recording and immortalising the story of this relationship and what it may signify;
What price is there to be paid when it comes to my interactions with the female, as represented by E.D.?
Dream 2: Paul Walker’s worlds
Set-up: Paul Walker’s residence / office, from where he can access the myriads of the worlds he has been establishing connection with, some of which we visit together. His residence / office is found in a dreamworld version of the centre of Athens, Greece and / or a vague university campus located in an area that appears to largely resonate with the waking world U.S. Midwest area (as is very often the case in dreams, landmarks or landscapes are blurred and intermingled; often having simultaneously more than one correspondence to a location of the waking world).
Cast: Paul Walker and his 8-year old unnamed daughter.
Mood: +1 (positive).
Plot: Paul Walker, who is 56 years old and has an 8 year-old daughter, is a university professor specialising in a field combining elements of quantum physics, sociology and anthropology. I run into him by chance (?) while wandering in the corridors of a big building (resembling a huge, intricate and multi-purpose facility that, in various formats and versions, has been recurrently appearing in my dreams for the last 15–20 years and which I have conveniently named: «the Academy»). We connect immediately and almost intuitively; after we exchange a couple of phrases it’s crystal clear that we belong to the same «Tribe».
Paul Walker takes me to his office / residence and enthusiastically confides in me that he has recently made an incredible breakthrough in his «true» field of research: the establishment or discovery of portals / points of access to worlds found in parallel dimensions / alternate universes. He says that he doesn’t have time to go through the technique in detail, but that it is rather simple and that it involves «aligning one’s will and mood to the core underlying will and mood of the world he wants to access».It seems that once someone establishes this kind of portal with a world found in a parallel universe, he can also invite and accompany others to it. Indeed, he takes me along with him to briefly visit a couple of these worlds: one where there is a vast, but seemingly not inhospitable or hostile, desert occupied by a super-intelligent, non-corporeal life form and another one which is a breathtaking garden of «miracles»; the latter being products of a science and technology far more advanced than anything we human beings can grasp at our current level of scientific and cultural evolution.
Returning back to Paul Walker’s office / residence, I am absolutely awestruck by what I have just experienced (really, any attempt to put in words my impressions and feelings would be condemned to futility). I realise that our interaction is destined to come to an end rather soon, so I try to focus, enjoy and get the most out of it for what time I have left with him.
Paul then introduces me to his 8 year-old daughter, an adorable little red-haired angel. Soon after, he tells me that he is about to abandon our grey and meaningless world for good. «I have been sick and tired of the Establishment since the beginning of my career», he says, «and many years ago I came to the conclusion that fighting against It or trying to change It is a waste of my energy and time. Therefore, as of that point I committed myself entirely to my passion [delivering only the absolute minimum the Establishment required from me in order for It to keep on supplying me with the essentials for our (mine and my daughter’s) survival] and as you just saw, boy, did this decision pay off! Now, it’s time for me to move on; fully and exclusively embracing my true destiny».
As we say goodbye to each other, he seems to convey to me, not via speech but via a deeper and truer kind of communication (I would call it a communion, but again words seem desperately incapable of even scratching the surface of the substance of my experience), his hope and belief that I would sooner rather than later follow his example and, who knows, maybe meet him again one day.
In the final scene I stand in Paul Walker’s office / residence, with mixed feelings of melancholy and exhilaration, knowing that he has left us for good. His daughter, sitting with her legs crossed on a thick red Persian carpet full of marvellous and psychedelic patterns, gives me a bright smile.
Notes: The worlds we visit have a strong Myst-like taste (the highly successful standalone and genre-defining 1993 graphic adventure puzzle video game, developed by Cyan);
Paul Walker is 56 years old; this is the age at which Empedocles allegedly chose to «depart» from our world. According to a belief stemming from the «magic tradition», all multiples of seven (as is 56) are important numbers when it comes to what we could describe as «(deliberately) moving on to another level or plane of existence». Also, 56 is equal to seven times eight (the age of Paul Walker’s daughter);
When I woke up after having this dream, the feeling that I am really close to follow Paul Walker’s footsteps persisted; in fact this very dream triggered my decision to launch this whole project.
Dream 3: Holiday by the sea and city break
Set-up: An unspecified busy seaside holiday resort town permeated by an atmosphere that strongly resembles famous seaside holiday destinations found in the north-west or south-west coast of Italy or (to a lesser extent) the southern coast of France, in the waking world. There are also sparse elements of Caribbean culture in the main beach-side avenue of the resort, where the first part of the dream takes place. The second part of the dream is unfolded in the centre of the town, away from its busy beach-side / touristic neighbourhood. Here the atmosphere is characterised by an omnipresent ancient / medieval quality and a strong Italianate flair. [I am sure that I have paid (and that I will pay) many other dream visits in this particular dreamworld]. The town here is built in many levels around a multitude of squares (piazzette, to remain faithful to the Italian mood) linked by an intricate network of narrow cobbled pathways, archways and stairs, with very few (if any at all) passers-by. The focal point of this area appears to be a square at the highest (or one of the highest) point in town, offering exquisite, panoramic views, which is dominated by a big, somewhat grim, church, with a very similar style to the typical sixteenth-seventeenth century baroque cathedral. It seems that in this part of town it’s always nighttime (the feeling I get is that it is a little bit after sundown) and slightly foggy with an ever-present faintly glowing reddish light surrounding all animate and inanimate objects, like a daimonic halo [not in the sense of befitting a demonic (i.e. «evil») entity, but rather in the sense of being motivated by a spiritual force or genius].
Cast: H.P.H., for the first part of the dream.
Mood: 0 (neutral)
Plot: In the first part, H.P.H. and I are on holidays in the seaside resort town. We are staying at a rather tired hotel by the beach-side road that looks as if it hasn’t been renovated since the 1980’s (when it was also, most probably, built). The beach is not really that good or special: it’s pebbled, it’s narrow and has, almost literally, every square centimetre of it occupied by loud families and various kind of beach bums and travelling salesmen. Furthermore, the quality of the water in the sea is rather mediocre. As a result of that, we end up aimlessly walking up and down the beach-side road, entering kitsch souvenir shops and devouring snacks of dubious quality (at best) from local vendor stands. At a certain point, the water level is risen (not in a really threatening fashion, though) and the beach is, consequently, evacuated. On the edge of the beachside road closest to the beach and parallel to the water front, a little river has now been created with various forms of sea life floating on it. As we casually gaze at them, a lobster raises his head and looks at me straight in the eyes behind his: two lakes of black stillness.
In the second part, I find myself wandering the cobbled pathways, archways and stairs of the centre of the town (H.P.H. is not with me). There is a feeling of solitude; but also of hidden powers lying just a thin layer below the surface, waiting to be discovered and harnessed. I eventually reach the main square with the big church (as I have done many times in the past) and I stop to admire the view. I try to remember what brought me here in the first place, but after a while I realise it’s pointless. The wind brings me a message: a little boy is looking for me, but in order for him to be able to find me, I need to «adjust my frequency to his». Understanding that the time is not yet right or ripe for that, I sit on a bench and contemplate on what I should do next. «Where is the Priest?», wonders a voice spontaneously rising from the limbo between the dream and waking world .
Notes: The «Italian» city has something reserved for me; but I will need to visit it again (probably many times…) to find out. At least now I know that the Priest and the boy are the key figures (gatekeepers?) of this dreamworld.
A secret lies inside the church, but how / under which circumstances can one enter it?;
Lobster: a lunar symbol and the par excellence lunar star sign of the zodiac circle; seeing a lobster in your dream supposedly indicates that you will receive wealth or face hardships (let’s see what will be the case); they are also an alleged symbol of independence, solitude, longevity and regeneration. Besides: «Lobster», the motion picture by Academy Award nominee, Giorgos Lanthimos, is about to be released.
Travelling Salesman Problem (computer science).
