Dreamhackers

[dreamingstar]

Hi, in response to the dream mapping thread I'll post the information I read about the Dreamhackers (a group of Russian dreamers) and their discoveries. A person called Aelfrede writes: 'I have some information that has been shared before on other forums. I'll post it here in installments. Please note I DID NOt write the stuff in brackets, some other guy did that. Here goes: "I (someone on some other forum) noticed that someone wrote that they didn't "understand the Dreamhackers", so I'm posting these edited posts to hopefully make clearer what they are actually saying, and also in the hope that they may show themselves again, and answer the points raised [bracketed] in the edit. #1 "Hi. First, please forgive me for my weak knowledge of the english language, and for the fact that I am using an auto-translator. You may know that in Russia there is a group of strong dreamers called "Dreamhackers". If you have a interest in their achievements, I can tell you about them. This will be something new for you. [Not for everybody] But for now, I'll give you a small fragment from the ultimate source. Sergei Izrigi (group leader): Zero danger level. Preliminary analysis. Once upon a time there was a crazy hacker who got an idea to "break in" to the Dreaming world. He was an eccentric type-a wild mix of Don Quixote, Baron Munchausen- a fortunate adventurer who managed to come across one and a half million dollars of "easy" money! His name was Sam Gorbunkov. Or, maybe it was Sergei Izrigi? What difference does it make now? He organised six dreaming clubs, in Minsk, in Riga and in four major Russian cities. The guy hired 5 advertising agents and 16 psychoanalysts who enticed people to the clubs and conducted questioning according to a method which was specially developed for the research. The conversations were recorded on audio and videotape, and then the tapes were sent to 6 analytical groups. 41 retired military analysts compiled their fancy classifications, extrapolated common patterns, and sent the results to their employer. Those were the great days-insane interest in the powerful project, combined with fatigue, irritation, and anger. People were arriving in a never-ending stream. Imagine a large well-lit conference hall, a huge table with food and drink set out in the middle, an atmosphere of friendship and warmth. Casual chit-chat, people meeting people, and of course, flirting. Then the questioning began, and people talked and talked and talked. "Psychologists nodded, asked their questions, the tapes were rolling. Everyone enjoyed being someone important for a change. People liked the feeling that their knowledge and experience was needed by someone. They shared it to the best of their abilities. More than that-it was hard to stop them. We heard stories of dead people on balconies, of chases through old ruins, flying over cities, and so on and so forth. After two weeks I began waiting for a sign to end this social experiment. The sign came in the flesh, a bodybuilder-type chap with a square face, and fists bigger than his head. I had just come to Riga to check on the local Dreaming club and stumbled upon this guy while walking in the hall. "Is this the Dreaming club?" he asked. "Yes sir, it is." "So..." he shouted... "You're the one who's sleeping with my wife?!" and his fist sent me flying across the hall. I spat out a tooth and decided that this was undoubtedly the sign I had been looking for. We called it a day, shut down the clubs, and started to analyse the results. The psychologist wrote up volumes, but the principle finding was simple. The dreams were a bit of talking, a bit of action and a fantastic cliché-the same thoughts, the same plots, the same movements. When speaking of one hundred cases one cannot see many similarities; however, when it came to thousands of dreams the synchronicity was astonishing. For example, on February the 3rd 1994, a lot of people were dreaming about playing with children either on a construction site or amongst ruins. What was that? A "dream-movie" broadcast? Or some file that was stored on the "disk drive" of those people? Was that a correct interpretation of the data that was sent to them? Was it a warning? An instruction? Even now these questions remain unanswered. It's virgin territory for pioneers like you. The synchronicity issue had a personal touch. While reading the reports I came across a dream that resembled my own in some detail. A woman described sneaking inside a pyramid where, to her surprise, she found a little hen house. That was funny, a pyramid, ruthless guards, underground labyrinth and-a chicken farm. The fact is that I had almost exactly the same dream, only in my dream there were some cows present. I met the woman and we became friends. She entered the group of enthusiasts that began forming around me at that time. Her name was Alla-a bright star of a little town in the suburbs of Moscow. Later she became a dreamhacker and broke into the kernel of "dream security" which traces our conscious trips in the world of forces and energies, the world of our private, collective and social personnifications. Alla- a tragic fate, and a rebellious spirit who broke the chains of physical illness. She is the real-life example that a true hacker is a warrior. We will meet her later, in the next chapter, but for now let's get back to some analysis." To be continued....' DS

[dreamingstar]

I could send all the information at once, or is there a limit to the amount you can put in one post? Or I could send lots of posts in quick succession. Although that might be off putting because there is quite a lot of information. You all say what you prefer.

[no-Name]

I could send all the information at once, or is there a limit to the amount you can put in one post? Or I could send lots of posts in quick succession. Although that might be off putting because there is quite a lot of information. You all say what you prefer. I'd prefer one long post of information. Of course, you haven't really posted any info. It's just a big story. I still don't know what 'dreamhackers' are, but I imagine they have something to do with shared dreaming, no?

[dreamingstar]

I'd prefer one long post of information. Of course, you haven't really posted any info. It's just a big story. I still don't know what 'dreamhackers' are, but I imagine they have something to do with shared dreaming, no? Dreamhackers are a group of Russian dreamers who made some intriguing discoveries about dreams that help get lucid more and have much more control over dreams. I'll send it all in one post then DS

[dreamingstar]

Continuing from last post.... "At that time scientists openly discussed dreams and published their research. The military paid almost no attention at all to the subject. However, in 1995 the situation changed dramatically. Hundreds of files describing the relations between "reality" and the "Dreaming world" were removed from the archives. Some examples of direct correlations: a) How do the dreams of ordinary people differ from those of rape victims? b) Dreams of the survivors of concentration camps and those who witnessed mass executions? c) Dreams of the teens with the symptoms of progressive hearing loss? d) Influence of sadism and masochism on dreams of people of different age groups; e) Connection between vestibular activity and the frequency of "transparent" dreams; f) Influence of the menstrual hormonal circle on the content of dreams; Some opposing examples: a) The rôle of dreams in stress adaptation; b) The influence of dreams on creativity and the conception of metaphors; c) Incorporation of "solutions" from the "dreamworld" to "everyday reality". d) The influence of different types of dreams on hormonal activity. However, we made it just in time. All scientific knowledge accumulated by humanity over the last 30 centuries found its place in 50 thick files titled "Archives". The work of hundreds of hired specialists who spent their days flying up-and-down the ladders between the racks of tall shelving was not in vain. "I found myself immersed in a sea of theories. Articles praising Calvin Hall and Bergson were followed by critiques of Freud. "The content of dreams is a product of memories randomly chosen by a biological process" reputable scientists wrote. "No way!" others replied. "You forgot to take into account the aspects of creative incubation and the REM-dream function. The brain itself organises the neuron signals, a cogniscent co-relation which creates interruptions and inconsistencies during dreams." "Nonsense!" other opponents insisted. "We should consider REM-dreams, NREM-dreams and the waking state as the expressions of one undifferentiated state, because EEG graphs clearly show 7 to 9 Hz peaks between the waking state, the NREM-dream, and the REM-dream, in the same frequency that was noted during meditation." However, every theory is just a possibility determined by a set of chosen facts. That is, the number of theories could be infinite, and all of them could be correct in some way. At the same time the "creeping silence" was all over Russia. The "science of dreaming" was ripped-off down to the last file, hidden away, and shuffled into the back of a dark closet. Professors stole the last of the equipment. Assistants were drinking ethanol and selling the last discoveries. Maybe because of all that, my friend, one rich and crazy hacker said: "Enough is enough! Let someone else make their fortune on the blood of Russian boys and their mothers' tears! I will invest in the development of the science of "controlled dreams", so everyone who's fed up with the nonsense of world leaders can have a place where he can go-the place of dreams and knowledge, a beautiful and mysterious El Dorado". What was said was done. In a little over a period of one month we collected all the then-available information about Dreams and Dreaming. Our conclusion was that Dreaming was an analogy of accessing a computer text file in "read only" mode.["Machines are extensions of the senses"] Now, five years later, some American scientists have come to the same conclusion. Dreaming is the description, the interpretation of influences which are passed to our consciousness by our brain. The Dreaming world is an illusion, maya. In fact, each dream is a "bubble of perception", embodying the description of some place, the scene, the characters, the emotions and feelings. What we call the "Dreaming world" is just a handful of "bubbles"-a void-within-a-void, separated from chaos by a thin film of colour. Those familiar with computers will know that a data file cannot influence the operating system. However it can become the "lock pick" once you add on macros. Hackers use this trick to break in to any secured system, and we decided to use it to "break in" to Dreaming. This is why Don Juan told Castaneda to look for his hands in dreams- he insisted on remembering about it while Dreaming, in bringing on the awareness, the macro "hands" in the content of the dream, and gradually creating the "worm' in the programming of his conscience. One might say it's the craziest idea they've ever heard. Well, considering that it came from our crazy hacker, it is not surprising. The important thing is that my friend was rich enough to be able to test his hypothesis. In order to find a method different from the one used by Carlos Castaneda, our analyst suggested to use a "CAR", a "Creation of Artificial Replacement". This method implies introducing the "active" into the system, which in its turn will create an artificial space, a place for future action. We decided to replace a handful of "bubbles of perception" with an artificial "controlled" space, or more accurately, with an exact copy of the human conscience matrix which describes the dreaming world for us. Each of us had to create a map of Dreams, and place all the "bubbles" in one "picture". Oh, how naïve we were in our vanity of pioneers. After years passed, we realised that we had only been repeating the Toltec technique of Recapitulation, with the only difference that we were recapitulating not our lives, but our Dreams. And do you know what? Those Toltecs were the real hackers. Drawing a "Dreaming-map". Drawing a map of any kind is not the goal, just a means to an end. While drawing a map, you get acquainted with the surroundings, and later find yourself in those new surroundings. Let's imagine an ordinary PC game quest, where the gameplay space is obscured by the "fog of war". This may sound far-fetched, but is a suitable analogy with the Dreamworld. Is there anywhere, or anyone who has ever played such a PC game, who found one where the mission consisted in uncovering the map? No. But instead of that, there are a lot of games, where by getting rid of the "fog of war" and uncovering the map, we find the solution for the "quest mission". The real gamer knows that it is impossible to achieve the goal without using the map. Spatial orientation saves your time and energy, while the absence of the map transforms the interesting game into a boring wandering-round-in-circles. Drawing the map is the method, but not the aim. Moreover, the map is not the Dreamworld, just as the globe is not the Earth. The Dreaming-map is a type of space created in vitro, which only in a varying degree reflects the description of our Dreams. The map is not able to describe all of your Dreams. It is limited by the choice of the basic elements. For instance, you can draw the map of the terrain with the complexity of your feelings, or you can direct your attention to the other components of the Dream. "Dreamhackers" stopped on drawing the map of the terrain. But why did they choose this way? They decided that it could be used as a method of Not-doing for Dream description. In this case the dreamer excludes a part of the inner dialogue, the part connected with the "spirit entities" of the dream (the term coined by the Dreamhackers). According to the hackers' opinion, the Dream is the bubble of perception which includes a small terrain with such attributes as "spirits" and background. Some Dreams don't have those attributes. Let's run off this topic for a bit and discuss different classifications of Dreams. In fact, there are thousands of them. For instance, Partris Garfield (Ïàòðèöèÿ Ãàðôèëüä) offers a classification of "universal dreams", which stresses emotional constituents, and divides all kinds of Dreams into pairs of opposites: Dreams about falling and Dreams about flying; Dreams about losses and Dreams about acquisitions etc. It seems a pat method of classification, but it numbers 36 different types of Dream. "Hackers" devised their own classification and narrowed it down to 4 types: 1) "Loops of delirium": Usually, these dreams are extremely schematic, and have a common plot. As a rule, people have these dreams during illness, during periods of being laid-up in bed, or periods of hunger and starvation. These dreams can be remembered perfectly. In most of these cases "loops" occur during the 5-6 REM periods. As far as beginners go, they are practically useless. As for experienced users, it is a wonderful chance to jump into a "lucid" Dream. It's interesting that "loops" frequently have minimal background, and almost always have no "Dream entities". "Hackers" consider this type of Dream to be equivalent to a "checkout" programme. 2) "Talking" Dreams, whose content, 80%-90% of the time, consists of tittle-tattle, monologue, and dialogue. Usually, people don't remember them. These Dreams can be had during the 2-3-4 REM periods. In the case of an active Dream practitioner, these dreams transform into types 3) and 4); 3) "Bright" dreams: dreams with a deep background, a complex plot, and picturesque "Dreaming entities". These dreams can be usually had during a 1, 5, or 6 REM period. They supply the Dreamer with the main material for map creation. 4) "Transparent Dreams". They are usually very rare in the initial stages of practice. People remember them almost perfectly, and often interpret them as lucid dreams, because a transparent dream involves moments of realising that you are asleep. NB: "Hackers" consider that "controlled dreams" are not dreams at all. As I have already said, it is only one of the available classifications. Mostly, they don't differ from the others and I offer it to you only to show all the limitations of dream cartography, which mainly, as you have already understood, uses only types 3) and 4). But why do we need this beta-version (the cut down model)? And what about creating something more global? For example, a description which recalls the Mendeleyev Table, where the combined energy of feelings, of the columns of visualized images, and of the concentration on specific energy centres of the body could identify the paradigm and orientation of your feelings. All these challenges are available to you. You have already lived out a third of your life in your dreams and are an expert in this field. You can create you own models and classifications. There is the rule of the chinese philosopher U-at first, you plough the field, and only after that can the field feed you. You should work on your model if you want your model to work on you. "Hackers" are lazy dogs! [So are all Dreamers! ;o)] That's why, they have created this "beta-version". Their method is not any "gate of Dreaming", but a common underground passage under the wall of the unknown. I have met a lot of regular guys, who with varying degrees of diligence used the method of "finding their hands in dreams". In fact, only a few of them have achieved any success. Two or three successful dreams in a year reflects the most typical situation. Of course, there were some lucky devils, who managed to do it without any efforts (or with efforts). And in the same time thousands of people left the "Toltec way", considering themselves to be incapable and weak. After that, they hunted for explanations for their "bad luck", but in the deepest part of their soul they longed for those amazing possibilities, which were described by Castaneda. "Hackers" offer them one more chance-entering the world of lucid dreams through the narrow manhole of a substitute method, created in vitro. If the Eagle is satisfied by the substitution, created by Recapitulation, then why shouldn't he swallow the surrogate of the recapitulated dream? Well, let's enter the underground passage. We will begin our quest and dispel (a bit) the "fog of war". In other words, we will just look around. What does the dreamer need to practice the cartography? Firstly, he needs to keep a diary of his dreams. Keep it near to your bed. Secondly, he needs a pencil with a rubber. If you ask your memory and subsequently remember one of your dreams you should make a note. Firstly, you should draw the plan of the terrain-a chain of mountains, a lake, a glade with a road. If you see yourself in a building, don't waste your time on drawing different rooms-mark this house and everything which surrounds it. If you see a comb, which transforms into a mountain, then call it comb/mountain. You mustn't be too particular. But the more strength of concentration you put in at the beginning, the quicker you will progress. Secondly, write titles on your plan, which illustrate the details of the landscape. A month later you will look at your picture as if for the first time, and your titles will bring forth recollections. Thirdly, you should briefly describe the plot of the dream. For instance, "The meeting with an "Ally". It looked at me and I became very afraid of it. Fear took my attention away into another bubble of the perception (into another dream scenario)". It is very useful to number every described dream. While describing the dream you don't need to use cardinal points. Later, some interesting transformations in your gathered dream collection will take place. Some of your dream bubbles will interflow. For example, you had a dream about your institute, later, about your native house, then the third dream, which united three dreams in a chain of a united space. It's better to remember the last dream. So you should learn how to awake very softly. Plug in your intention to "remember all of your dreams" after every awakening. Just hold on to the fragile recollection of the scene, and put the full dream into your perception. A little bit of practice and you will invent your own method of recollection. The main point is making notes daily. If you didn't manage to catch the dream of the previous night then describe another dream, which you remembered. But do it every day! (Or try to!). Let's diverge a bit and speak about orientation. Let us assume that you have already gathered hundreds of described dreams and you still don't have any idea how to place them on your map. Well, perhaps several dreams interflowed, but others are still up-in-the-air. OK. You have two possibilities: to continue creating your map from thousands of personal puzzles, or you can use the hackers' experience and in that way save 3-4 years of your life. Those who prefer the "purity of the experiment", should choose the first option. As for others, they will get dozens of options around which they can group their described dreams. At the initial phase of our research we engaged several psychologists to try to solve our problems of orientation. They did a great amount of research, recruiting our gays and volunteers who didn't know anything about the project. For instance, they used to gather a group of ten muscovites and ask them to describe a particular memorial. "How do you see it and from which side do you see it? From which direction do you come to it? Let's describe one more memorial. From which side do you see it?" And so on and so forth. It was an ineffective effort. Finally, the experts made the following conclusion: everybody in a specific period of time learns to orientate by the cardinal points. People choose two points-their own position, and another object, which is titled as "north" or "south", "east" or "west" in relation to their position. The following orientation is lined up according to this object; to be exact, the definitive direction turns out to be the icing on the cake. And experiments in these groups confirmed this theory to an extent, but it was neither hot nor cold for us. "Hackers" divided into 2 bands. One of them practiced the already- described method of dream coalescence. The other one posted numbers of dreams on their maps, pinning their faith on intuition. The first method brought a great amount of interesting invention. The second, although bringing a mass of commotion, finally appeared to be no worse then the first. Well... so what "inventions" were made? 1) The Dreamworld (or rather the model which described it) appeared to be a rather small area. For instance, there was only one city there. I have lived in many countries. In Russia, I haven't only been in the far north and in the far east. Nevertheless, there is only one city on the map: the embodiment of all the cities I have ever seen, with elements of St.Petersburg, Minsk, of Kasbah [Where is Kasbah?] and Tashkent. Transitions and interflows of these places in-Dreaming are amazingly harmonic and natural. Furthermore there are a lot of "cul-de-sac bubbles" (dreams) round the City-summer camps, friends' houses, directions in the area to places of which I had heard, but hadn't visited yet. 2) The centre of the Dreamworld is the house of the Dreamer. The edges of the map are called "border ranges" (usually mountain chains, seas, rivers, dunes, and deserts). There is nowhere farther than these "border ranges". In this very moment "Hackers" know only that northern and southern "border ranges" are immutable. With the practice the northern "border range" moves slightly further afield. There are some "blind spots" on the eastern "border range" (a highly- restricted area!). 3) There are dozen of places on the Dream map which don't exist in the "real" world. For instance, the zone of cataclysms, labyrinths etc. [Caves?] which I have already mentioned. 4) And last but not least: we nearly went crazy when we found out that our maps had common basic details. Some special places are present on nearly every map. For example, K. writes about a huge building, which has a link with a stadium. And I have this formation too. And, as I know where this place is situated, I can give K. some useful advice and in this way I can help her create a map. And, in the case of telling K. about the nearest landmarks, she may have had a very interesting insight-she came to know that she had already visited those landmarks thousands of times, and consequently she was caught up by a wonderful and inexpressible feeling of dream recollection. Another "invention" is connected to two buildings-a sanctuary and a jail (the sanctuary could be in the form of "police" or a "computer"; the "jail" could be smart, evil, and destructive: a concentration camp with a bigot-executioner; an army college etc.). You will find a lot in the first place. As for the second place, you will have already visited it many times, and loosen up a lot.[What does this mean?] Then "hackers" found out that if they got their practice right (by searching for necessary places and avoiding unnecessary places) a Dreamer becomes involved in a shocking process. Each new recollection and description of a dream will rope you into a chain of very old recollections (ten or twenty years old)! Hundreds of places, where you have been hundreds of times will be revealed in a bright flash! In such moments a man lives through a very powerful state. ["It is like a 'weekly Satori' "] You will not feel euphoria, but rather a strange thirst-faster! More! The everyday "reality" of your family, friends, your job, the "real" world will leave you. You are neither here nor there-on a strange borderline. Dreams become very transparent. You remember yourself in a Dream every night. Achievements turn out to be heady. The words of Castaneda and don Juan gain a new meaning. You see something in them that you didn't manage to catch before. BAH! Subsequent collapse into an insufferable depression-you want to commit suicide. And yet again you have to gather up your strength bit-by- bit and continue your practice until new ups-and-downs come, breaking certain membranes in yourself. And later you take your map, knead it like a piece of dough, and use it purposefully. Then you don't need it any more. By this time, as a rule, there is no "fog of war" on it. Some time later you turn your attention to those strange "blind spots" on the "border range" of the Tonal. But, as the saying goes, that's another story. Dreams consist of a set of components: subjects and emotions; "characters"; locality/terrain; colour and sound; nonconformities; breaks/ruptures; passageways, and so forth. In contemporary culture, dream-sleeps are usually used for divination, for the prediction of future events. Recalling the pair of "Bright dreams", and "meanings of dreams", you look in a "dream-book" and find their interpretations. Everything is clear and understandable: "to dream of an island indicates the finding of rest, freedom and the deserved appreciation of others, after much anxiety." Or: "to see chains betokens slander and treacherous intentions of those jealous of you." Don't do what I did, that is, don't look in another "dream interpretation" book. Don't make the same mistake, or you will find a different interpretation: "an island: this means changes in your personal life, separation and loss; divorce. And: "a chain is a symbol of undivided faithfulness." As soon as you compare the interpretations of two different dream-interpretation books, the method of divination loses half of its effectiveness. This is its main failing Dreamhackers decided to go another way. We wanted to create "technology" which would satisfy all requirements and rules, as described in the books of Castaneda. We conducted serious studies and then arrived at some interesting conclusions/derivations: 1) Sleep is a "protected programme": On average, man spends a third of his life asleep. Each night we participate in some mysterious process, of which we can only recall fragments with great difficulty. Many people assert that they do not generally "dream". This is a fallacy. Science explains that each of us experiences 5-6 dream-sleeps per night. The problem lies in remembering. This odd forgetfulness in respect of sleep can be explained in different ways. Psychologists say that survival is the primal instinct of man. Since this function, in essence, is achieved in the "waking" state, human consciousness abstracts and removes this secondary role of sleep, and frequently it does not fix or "record" the memories of events we experience in dreams. The severe conditions of life itself are so draining, that sleep becomes a prohibitive luxury for many people. Therefore within a dream they lose their colourfulness and are subverted into dim reflections of everyday concerns. Some scientists are convinced that the process of assimilating sleep is connected with one's living environment. If you live in the city, the variety of "realities" distracts you from the experience of dream-sleep. But there is some value in your succombing to the lure of the "civilized world", be it your house, a Tibetan Lhasa, or the Sonoran desert. Consciousness changes priorities, and, avoiding boredom, it can bring you to the "internal experience". Mystics and occultists adhere to another point of view. For them the world of dreams is a special space, in which their own laws of perception are manifest. Special methods for the fixation of one's attention are required for the transfer of information from the world of dream-sleep into the world of "reality". Otherwise, as Mefodius Solunskian asserts, a dreamer will repeat the parable of the emaciated little mouse, that easily slips through a hole in a basket of grain, but after eating his fill, cannot escape back through the hole because of his bloated size. "So it is with the one who "reads" dream-sleep...hungry for knowledge, he will easily traverse the adjacent gap between sleep and waking "reality", but the energy he expends, and the fruits of his labours that he gathers there, will prevent him from returning with his hard-gotten gains, because one can only take away what one originally entered with. Therefore it is necessary either to throw away these gains, in order to return, or to remain there with them forever." (extract from "Khazar's Dictionary"). Dreamhackers consider that the system of human perception is similar to a "packing programme", which depicts perceived information in the form of specific symbols and figures. This accelerates data processing. In the state of everyday wakefulness people use one set of "packing", whilst using others in the state of sleep. This difference in the methods of information-processing hampers the process of recollection. Nevertheless, the problem can be solved, partially or completely. We know that the fact of compiling a dream- diary improves recollection of dream-sleep: your attention, which you focus on your records, increases the priority of the "decoding programme", which in turn accelerates fulfilment of this objective. Dreamers and stalkers (Castaneda terminology) generally change the language of description for dream-sleep, and separate "realities" like this make it possible for them to combine two parts of their existence into one-into dream- sleep, or into Dreaming Awake. Difficulties in the transfer of information are just the tip of the iceberg. We, as users of the "programme" of sleep, are almost completely deprived of any elements of control. People can enter into sleep and be bounced (an analogy of "start" and "log out"). Everything else depends on the "sleep programme". In the everyday waking state, we usually wake up in the same place where we fell asleep. Having relative confidence and trust in the subject of the everyday chronological sequentiality of our "waking" state, our attention clearly records daily events, creating from them a continuous sequential library of action and movement. You can easily describe how and why these events are assembled from point A to point B, although every rule has its exception of course. Alcohol, narcotics, or the consequences of illness and disease are capable of ripping up the continuum of the "waking state". A brick that falls on your head can easily disrupt the fixation of your attention. Nevertheless, in this waking state we usually possess a certain control over the situation, albeit sometimes partial, but still "concrete". Sleep converts us into marionettes, entering into a dream scene that we do not know, in whatever place it may be. The collection of subjects and characters is tied to us by our will. The programme transfers us from one scene to another in a completely illogical fashion. We appear first in the role of spectator, then in the role of participant in the event(s). Sleep monitors us, making it necessary to be subordinated to its commands and rules. Although here there are exceptions. On rare occasions, some people can "order" the subject of a dream-sleep.Others can introduce insignificant elements of control into their dreams. However, any prolonged efforts to "tame" dream-sleep cause "retaliatory attacks". This is one additional criterion of the "protection" of the dream's programme. Each researcher of dream-sleep will, after a time, encounter "guardians". These "keepers", "defenders ", "monstrosities", can frighten dreamers who begin to study the special features of dream spaces. I have personally known children who, after encountering "guardians" did not sleep for 3-4 days. The fear experienced by them led to nervous disorders and even in one case to a serious disease. Psychologists assert that "guardians" are the personnification of our problems, the output of our unconscious. Mystics and occultists indicate that these "keepers" and "monstrosities" are astral essences or forces, which can take on the form of terrible and dangerous monsters in-Dreaming. It is interesting to note that in our time the "output of the unconscious" is considered as the more "scientific", but not the "contact with the astral essence". So much so that if you describe the "security" of the dream programme using "personnifications" and the "human unconscious", they will award you any scientific degree you want. But if you address the question of these "astral essences", they will label you as a charlatan, or as a victim of the predilections of the antique. Concerning this question, Dreamhackers have their own point of view, as I will describe later. The sleep programme possesses one additional level of "protection". At this specific level of study, a dreamer falls under the influence of the "forces of fate". His life becomes confusion. He risks his health and prosperity, and of those who are close to him. This "karma racketeering" can be perceived as a "test of maturity" or as an "obstacle which hardens the spirit". Honestly speaking, this turn of events was a completely unexpected contingency to us. We sustained large losses. [What does this mean?] But let us become acquainted with some other conclusions of the dreamhackers. 2) Sleep: the "bubble". The "physical" space of a separately-undertaken dream is limited. Actually, this is a definite polygon, which in certain cases is reduced to a commonplace pyramid, with the effect of "flat vision": when, for example, you find yourself located on one apex, and the "dream scene", the "sleep picture", is projected onto the plane formed by the other apexes. However, in lucid dream-sleep the programming is so fixed that the space is described by a very complex structure-an almost perfect sphere. Nevertheless, if you reach its boundaries, space begins to change or to be distorted, and the dreamer (in the majority of the cases) passes into another "bubble"- into another scene of dream-sleep. Let us assume that I have a dream in which I am Rambo, fleeing from the enemy. Before me appears a low forest, through which must be the swamp, and then our base camp. I hear the snapping of branches behind me. A "shadow" slides first to my right, then to my left, but the lighting does not change. I go another 10 metres, and the terrain suddenly begins to slope upwards. The forest on this steep slope becomes almost impervious. The path disappears under the roots of an enormous tree. The slope of the mountain forces me to turn and go back twenty metres. I turn around and approach a bookshelf, and pull out a book with the name "Physics of the eighth ricochet". This is a normal dream-sleep, where I survive the closure of the "bubble" of the dream. As you can see, there was a complex set of elements: sonic and light formulation, subject, my thoughts and expectations. Then, when I reached the boundary of the dream-space, the terrain was transformed, after which I transferred into another "bubble", with the room, the window and the bookshelf. As Dreamhackers, we loved the term "bubble". We used it right up to recent times when friends reminded us that this determination of the "bubble of perception" was devised by Carlos Castaneda. He used it in another context, and we seemingly introduced confusion into the already-accepted terminology. We thought it necessary to change this designation. Now we use two separate terms: the "bubble of sleep" and the "sphere of perception". On a personal note, I prefer the former of the two, because the space of a perceived dream-sleep is rarely spherical. 3) The programme of dream-sleep has many blemishes, "bugs" and omissions. Once I sat in Irkutsk airport and was thinking about sudden changes in the landscape in the bubbles of dreams. And there in the airport, it hit me! Yes, it was the same the problem of polygonal texturing! In the three-dimensional graphic for creating virtual worlds two methods are used: voxelic and polygonal. They are distinguished by the method of construction of the graphic. In a voxel graphic, the basic construction unit of a "voxel" is used. (Voxel=Volume of pixel) A volumetric point, or to be more precise, usually a coloured cube. Units are constructed from voxels as if they were cuboid pieces of Lego. The weakness of this method shows in the scale of the object. With an increase in size (by moving closer to the object depicted) the constituents become a mass of squares. Using a polygonal graphic as a basis leads to a polygonal structure-a polygon in space. In order to create an artificial world, an enormous quantity of polygons is required. Let us assume we have to build several houses in a virtual space. In the graphics editor we sketch a picture with the texture, and "stretch" it to the flat quadrangular polygons. We stick coloured "wall-paper" on their white walls. As a result, a fraction of a virtual world is obtained. But all this is theory, and in practice, texture is stored in the memory of a video card. With the formation of an image of each point of the screen there is a selected colour, which corresponds to a "texel"-the fixed byte of texture in the memory. In computer graphics there are several methods of texturing. However, in dreams this process frequently gives distortions, inherent in linear sampling, which is the quickest, but also the most primitive method. This makes it possible to draw a parallel: the strange transformation of landscape in dreams could be explained not by the special quality of sleep, but by certain omissions of "programmers". One additional omission of dreams is visible in the illumination of polygons (or the bubbles of sleep). At its simplest, we frequently perceive in a "flat" visual manner, where the polygon has only one degree of brightness, or an analogue of the Gouraud System of Shading, with which the apexes of polygons are shown up. In such cases we usually see a darkened centre and vividly illuminated angles. The presyncopal (decreases in blood pressure in the brain) states of consciousness are an example of this second type. Furthermore, in dreams there are rather poor conditions of "smoothing" (by anti-aliasing). If you try to draw a circle on the earth while you are Dreaming, then you will understand what I mean. And the greater the diameter of circle, the greater you will realise this omission of the "programmers". It seems to me that don Juan knew about this special feature of dreams. For this very reason he forced Castaneda to draw circles around his house. As soon as I published these findings on certain different Internet forums, dedicated to the techniques of Dreaming, several corroborating posts appeared. "Hello Sergei!" wrote the eminent russian astronomer Andrei. "Recently in my dreams I flew above the city. I was struck by the sight of a blue sky with snowy clouds. As far as colours and nuances were concerned, everything was OK. But the image? You know, it was just like a voxel graphic! Large rectangular pixels, bricks, as if I were focussing on the picture with a powerful zoom lens. I had read your letter and remembered about what you said about this. Then everything was fine-tuned, the clouds adopted a "normal" mode. But at first, there was actual voxel drawing!" "Hi, SI. I noticed a certain anomaly in a dream-sleep. It was tied in to the light switch. I could turn off the light, but couldn't be included in it." [NB Don't understand what is meant here] "Yoyo! I detected something amusing..." wrote a pal. "It is interesting, why is it like this? In the film "The Matrix" this defect would be called a "failure in the system". To explain: I was transported to a house, where I looked for a specific person. Not thinking for long, I decided to peep in the windows. The house had lots of levels. On the street it was late evening. I rose to the level of the second floor and began to inspect the illuminated windows. In the first I noticed the design of the wallpaper, the bed, the shutters on the door, and a cat. I rushed to the next window, and there was the same: wallpaper, bed, shutters, cat... Is that it? A shortage of subjects?" Here is a letter from a remarkable dreamer: "In one of my "aware" dreams I set myself the goal to reach the edge of the bubble. The following effect appeared as I approached the edge: the surrounding "reality" semi-morphed into a labyrinth. It was most important for me here was not to give in, and not to change direction. Like, more convenient paths appear, but if you go on them, you will begin to meander and will not have time to reach your objective. Nearer towards the end the terrain had a tendency to slope upwards, and having risen upward a little myself, at long last I saw the horizon. Immediately ,the effect of insufficient texturing "swam" out, the effect about which Sergei Izrigi has written. In the place where the earth "connected" with the sky, the "developers of the programme" had made rather poor resolution, and there was an effect, the same as in a computer game: from a distance everything is normal, but up close appear pixels on a giant screen. After breaking through the "cloth" (bubble), I saw a stream of black liquid. After diving there, I floated with the flow. I had the thought that somewhere/somehow it would carry me out. My sight was turned off immediately-there remained only the sensation of touch, if you can call it such. After two minutes of this "free floating", I felt a "feeler" touching my foot. I stretched out towards it, and groped a creature, like one of those which told Doc (a Dreamhacker) to stand aside. It burnt me with its feelers a few times, and I decided to wake myself up from any further "sin"..." Later, when the dreamhackers mastered group-dreaming, they revealed new "bugs" in the sleep programme:" a) When you enter into a "controlled" dream (for example in order to absorb another man into the joint dream), then, put simply, you'll be surprised at the roughness and scant nature of the formation of the "bubble". Usually the sleeper is absorbed by some particular part. His attention is fixed on the sense of subject, the sensations and the means. From his "viewpoint", the visitor sees only situation, and it is necessary to say that this is complete hack work. The sleeper can be bathing in gold and be in a wonderful fairytale palace, but this illusion does not act on the visitor. It testifies that the formation of the "bubble" is poor, the subject primitive, and conversations a real absurdity. It has similarities, but the "sleep programme" is not formulated for joint dreaming. b) If a group of five or more men is assembled in a group-dream, there appears what we have termed a "satellite": a definite personnified force, whose purpose is, to date, incomprehensible. It accompanies the group, sometimes warns about danger, but in essence, just observes. Doc called this phenomenon a "virtual rascal". This "satellite" appears in the form of a girl, a small animal (a dog, or cat) or as a bird. Possibly, this is some failure in the "programme", a type of echo from the joint emanations of our consciousness. THE "CRACK" IN THE DREAM'S PROGRAMME. So, each night we experience five to six dream-sleeps, each one consisting of one or more scenarios (the so-called "bubbles of dreams"). If one considers that on average we pass through 20 "bubbles" in every night's sleep, then we will experience 7300 of these per annum. Daily, a novice dreamer can recall two to three scenarios. Long practice helps to bring this number to twelve "bubbles". Here are the initial conditions for our study. But how can we study the phenomenon of dream-sleeps? First of all, we can collect subjects, themes. Or we can try to describe the atmosphere of the scene, and put it into a more complex categorisation. Or we can detach ourselves from thought and supposition, trying to leave aside 'known' interpretations, and thus approach the universal "cosmic language". All of this is worthy of research. But, being dreamhackers, my friends took another route. They decided to focus their attention on the "dream space", the actual layout of the scenario. Let us hypothesise that you have a dream in which you meet a friend on some unknown street. You have a conversation about the "Tibetan sharks" [Who are they?] and their connection with the Buddhistic Sutra of "Final Enlightenment". Next, four raiders appear, who proceed to rob an adjacent jewellery store. Terrible scenes of shooting occur, but you nonchalantly continue your conversation. The nose of your friend increases in size continually and this confuses you a little. You look to the side, noticing a beautiful monument and a flabby old lady on a bench. Then you look up at the low yellow cloud, and you are in a new scene. A strange rustling noise behind you frightens you. You are taken in, and find yourself back in your old school classroom. Several iron cots are arranged instead of the desks in the room. A rat sits on one of them. It holds a pencil in its claws, and is sharpening the pencil with its teeth. You remember that the Biology office was located here before. Something is not right in this room. It becomes uncomfortable. You rapidly go out into the corridor and find yourself in the hall of a large store. Crowds of people pass by, mocking you with their stares. Suddenly you realise that you are standing in your underwear. The surge of complex feelings and emotions forces you to wake up. Here we have three "bubbles": "street", "class" and "store". Each of the bubbles has its limited space. Let's try to describe them in more detail. In the first scene you memorised the street and the landmarks located in it: the bank, the monument, the bench, and so forth. In the second "bubble", the space is limited by the walls of the classroom. In the third, by the boundaries of the hall of the store. "Bubbles" are connected by transition points, or so- called "transits". It should be noted that the association of these three spaces described by us does not create one common continuum. These "bubbles" can be located far away from each other in "dreamland". Transits accomplish an instantaneous transfer of our attention from one scene of sleep into another. Expert dreamers use them as transportation means. But it is far too early to talk about this. Here we examine the method of the "crack" in the dream programme: Transportation between the "bubbles" is possible only through these "transits", but this is not simply the way of smallest resistance for our dreaming attention. This is the result of tuning our emanations. For example, you see some object/subject (let us assume you perceived it as an enema!) and by association (i.e., sorting out not only different concepts, but also the emanations of consciousness, connecting with the "data" of one's preconceptions) you come to the more extensive gloss of "hospital". Your intention is not clearly expressed, but it is still there. And you translate from the sphere "house" into the sphere "hospital". You consider the possibility that the "enema" is the transit. But in the following dream another object/subject serves as a transit. Thus, transit can be achieved during this associative "tuning" which usually occurs unconsciously. However, in many spheres of perception there are so- called "space transits". This type of transit connects a specific place on dream map with another concrete place. Such interconnections can be called stable. And there is a third type of "transit" which transfers you unpredictably into a new place. In this case the entrance point is compulsorily located in the zone of conversions and transmutations (archetypal zones on the dreaming map). The everyday waking reality is the gathering of similar "bubbles" (units of perception). Apartments, houses, natural obstacles, and so forth. Think about this. We are transferred into remote places with the aid of technical equipment (trains, cars, aircrafts, rockets), which personnify in themselves the idea of "stable" and "space" transits. But if in the everyday waking reality this form of transits was preserved, then, you can be confident that there are two remaining . [Huh?] Another matter is how to use them. This question is solved by concentration, tuning one's intention.Intent. The process of describing a terrain seen in dream-sleep is named the "mapping of dreams". I, as you, learnt about this method in a relatively finished form; therefore I can foresee almost all your questions. Nevertheless you had better ask them yourself." I'm going to pause a second as there is a lot more information than I remember and I'm worried this post will be too long to post...

[LightningMunk]

yea theres this too: http://magic-su.net/eng/firstgate/

[dreamingstar]

First of all I will describe the common methods of the dreamhacker experiments. A first act was the creation of a method which would satisfy all requirements and "rules", described by Castaneda. We seriously and diligently analysed different possibilities, and stopped at the "mapping of dreams". First, this is the "not-doing" of usual dreams (in the "doing" we retell the subject or we attempt to interpret some parts of dream-sleep in our dream diaries). In the second place, the "mapping of dreams" is the recapitulation of dream- sleep, the awakening of the dream memory, which means the same regulated shift of the assemblage point as with the recapitulation of "memorable events". Thirdly, this "polishing" of the Tonal, an amalgamation or the guidance of order in the chaotic mass of dream- sleep changes the certainly-dense sphere of the first attention into some type of "virtual" medium. With prolonged dream-mapping this sphere takes on mass and density and begins to snowball, to assimilate energies and information of the Nagual. Something like a type of artificial "black hole". Using a computer analogy, we called it a "worm" in the programme of dreaming. So perhaps we can think of dreams as being analogous to computer text files. Acting within periods of dream-sleep, man usually operates with words, text, concepts, but cannot control the dream programme. We created the "subprogramme" which acted autonomously from the general routine of dreams and, most importantly, also influenced it. Specifically because of this, my friends decided to call themselves "dreamhackers". Fourthly, mapping-an entertaining practice. We especially created for it a "play" context, and a "quest" context, wherein the dreamer searches for something specific, tries to solve problems encountered, passes through the established levels and, after all of this, begins to survive the dream scenarios he has realised. Specifically, the "quest" nature of dream-mapping brings an aura of elitism to a dreamer of long-standing practice. Otherwise only very relaxed people or "fans" would attempt it. But "fans" have their necessary leader-their Guru. We Dreamhackers despise all "Grand Masters", since, at present, they all, as one, contain the mercantile spirit of the swindler. A Guru-knowledge for money, for the servitude of mind, body, and spirit. We were searching for personal freedom, and we found this relation manifesting itself. And since not one of us wanted to be the pupil of a "great Teacher", we decided to stop "quest mapping". It is interesting to note that the first years of practice brought us several interesting discoveries. First, we understood that each person in dream-mapping constructed one and the same universal or archetypal matrix. There were some individual differences, but the basis for all dream maps was basically the same-some imprint of our everyday reality, an imprint described by this mapping. We isolated the basic archetypal elements of landscape-fringe areas, gigantic constructions, labyrinths, the "zone of transmutations" (conversions of landscape), transport lines, the "zone of cataclysms", the desert, etc. Secondly, we detected the places where, after visiting, a dreamer survived the enormous inflow of energy and the intensification of different abilities. One of the consequences of such "successful entries" is the explosion of the "dream memory". Man survives a unique and ecstatic state, when, in a moment both finite and infinite, he recalls hundreds and thousands of previous dream-sleeps; the moment when he instantly and accurately knows when and in which lifetime he experienced these dream-sleeps; and when it becomes knowledge that has a definite integrity. Words are not adequate to describe this properly, but if and when you test it on yourself, then you will be able to sit down, and draw an entire map of your dreams and it will be absorbed by you. It will remain and live inside you, in your consciousness. This is understandable. Over a long time we visited almost all the points of the "map". But at the moment of this explosion of the dream memory all these parts will be collected into a one-piece picture. Specifically, after this is when we found the onset of what we termed "controlled dreams". Thirdly, we found that the dream-programme is well-protected. By-and- large, people are disenfranchised users of dream-sleep. And we found our "system administrators". At first the dreamhackers classified these by their three already-existing categories, specifically the "flyers", "inorganic beings", and "guardians". But then our further studies led us to another conclusion: all these "spirits of sleep" appear as the personnifications of histones of DNA-Tonal. (I will describe this in more detail later). Moreover, now we know that "passageways into the other side" (i.e., natural outputs from the Tonal into the Nagual, in the verbally-descriptive and physically- mapping aspects), and places where we previously thought that man restores his luminosity, are in reality the histones of DNA-Tonal. Fourthly, we detected anomalies in the orientation of "dream spaces". The same anomalies were noted in ancient Chinese cartography. This pushed us (slightly) to new studies and searches of certain ancient books and manuscripts. The results were staggering. The same group research led to the fact that one of our dreamers discovered a method of reading "dream books". Reading texts in dreams is difficult. However, dreamhackers solved this problem. And again something phenomenal happened. We obtained access to that layer of information which is usually called The Chronicles of Akashi. Actually, this is access to any data, written down in the "information layers" of the planet. The first result of this breach became the almost "magic" model of stalking-a model based on the patience of Medici.[Don't get it-check it out]. This model worked with the chains of everyday events. It solved the problems we had at the time, and altered the flow of events in the necessary direction, and helped us to carry out the "revision of life" [recapitulation?] (recapitulation as explained in Castaneda books - Aelfrede) in a much more captivating and altogether happier manner, rather than making us sit on a box, rocking backwards and forwards holding our heads in our hands. The study of passageways from one dream-sleep to another was the following stage of our studies. We discovered the 'texture' of transits-the elements that correspond to similar passageways. And it turned out that "transits" exist both there and in the daily world. But what is interesting is that this similarity of daily and dream worlds led to one more discovery-to the discovery of the basic reality that includes these two worlds. And thus was born the model of DNA-Tonal (Tonal as described in Castaneda books - Aelfrede). At a given moment we not only developed it, but we also began to test it in different areas of our activity. The prospects were staggering. Let us have a talk about the the archetypal elements which appear during "dream mapping". First of all, some of these form the boundaries of the map. In dreams, we see them as mountains, rivers, seas or as expansive deserts. Dreamhackers do not know what is located beyond these limits. Even in lucid dreams, after asking yourself this question, you do not obtain an answer. In the so-called "controlled dream" it is possible to move apart [?? Stretch? Push apart?] these unknown northern and eastern boundaries, but the west and the south are fixed.. If, in the single bubble of a dream, the familiar orientation of the cardinal points remains , then, during the composition of the dream map we note another orientation-all is just as in the "real" world, but the south switches places with the north. This fact astonished the dreamhackers. They conducted a search for this phenomenon in literature and found that in certain ancient Chinese geographical texts [Which ones?] the same phenomenon can be found. Ancient Chinese maps had a mirror-image orientation along the Y-axis.[Ancient polarity reversal?] In the same ancient books we found the description of territories beyond the northern boundary. This territory was considered the realm of giants-the realm through which it was necessary to pass in order to reach the "source of immortality". Reading these texts we understood that the ancient Chinese dealt with the mapping of dreams in a serious fashion. It is probable to say that dreamhackers are only repeating the steps of these ancient chinese pioneers. Unfortunately, information about these ancient dreamers is very scarce and vague. The following archetypal elements are gigantic constructions. One of them is "the Tower", which reaches to the sky (Tower of Babel?) It is frequently associated in dreams with sport, or with the military, or with some sort of transport terminal. Another gigantic construction is "the Temple", built in the form of a horseshoe. Its wings splay out from a central construction, and they descend in five steps, forming the horseshoe. This is a dangerous place for dreamers. I have already mentioned "the City". In its eastern part is located a very interesting "industrial area". Next time I will describe other zones of the map, including "labyrinths". Another archetypal element on the dream map is the labyrinth. Here is an extract of a letter from "Doc": "I don't remember whether I told you about a method of healing which can be realised through "controllable" dreams. It is such a fascinating and frightening area, that some might compare to the delirium of a lunatic! But the essence is this: the self is an energy unit that can be split into parts. One or more of these "parts" wanders into a so-called "labyrinth". Labyrinths can be above ground (i.e. in buildings or consisting of walled surroundings) or underground. Those above ground are somehow connected to our everyday problems, and those underground with health, energy levels, and so forth. Whilst investigating the underground labyrinths, I carried out complete cures on two people, who were deemed "incurable" by medicine. In a controlled dream I helped them to get out of a labyrinth, and it resulted in instant healing! One woman was rejuvenated. She was 28 years old, but she felt like a 15 year old again. The second person was a seven-year girl suffering from congenital blindness. And if I pulled out the first woman without much effort, with the second it was necessary to go much deeper. Inorganic life lives in such places. Actually, "labyrinths" are a way of dialogue with us, and in my opinion, the inorganic forces do not realise that such traps and energy loops deprive us of our life forces and our health. With labyrinths be very cautious. For this type of research you will need some experience in "dream control". Losing dreaming attention, becoming disoriented in a labyrinth, you will become just a titbit-a possible victim for some ruthless beings, and in "everyday reality" you may contract an incurable disease. Nevertheless, if you can't stand the heat, don't go into the kitchen.. Estimate the risk on your abilities. My curiosity has cost me a very heavy o bligation-constant contact with certain beings, which, together with a heap of problems in my life, brought a lot of inexplicable semi-miraculous moments. And even better, I started to avoid "it."..." An extract from a Sergei Izrigi letter: "By and large, there are two types of labyrinth: an archetypal one (common to all mankind) and a personal one (pertaining to the individual). In the first category are: a labyrinth of life (LL); a labyrinth of events (LE) and a labyrinth of obsessions (LO). These three formations penetrate the tonal. We meet them in dreams just as we do in real life. Being our individual labyrinths, an archetypal labyrinth has specific qualities in the material world. For example, they cannot be represented on a dream map as a concrete place (though layers of a map are connected to them by a complex interconnection). In reality, we can only speak about them from a position of philosophy, of psychology, or from a position of mysticism. But certainly, each of you has had experience of the rotation of the Wheel of Destiny, or travel in the "labyrinth of accidents". To understand the idea of the LL, re-read "Witch's Dream" by F.Donner." So, the LL. This construct denotes a sphere penetrated with radial tunnels which are crossed with each other by millions of passageways. So, how do sorcerers, shamans and witches work with the LL? There are various ways. Some move "themselves" (their energy, consciousness and whatever else) around "dark" passageways to somewhere "light". Or, to the opposite-a circle of blackness. Movement in the LL tunnels is very interesting, and directly depends on "will" coupled with experience. Walls of tunnels are perceived in a complexity of living "sight-touch-taste feeling". There are colours and sounds, and tactile sensations of juiciness, softness, humidity . and of life independent of us. Moving in the LL tunnels, the individual experiences various transformations of his personal force (it can be a feeling of flight, of soaring, of having flown, all certain altered conditions of consciousness). But, above all, any movement in an LL tunnel results in a change in one's "everyday" living situation. (An alternative to movement can be a rotation of the definite huge wheel "itself".) Many people frequently get stuck in an impasse. An element of stagnation enters their lives. Each day is the same, the same "gloomy everyday life", little "new" happens, everything is grey and pale. Our inability to move in an LL tunnel (and so it is 99.999% of the time) is defined by the complex programme which dreamhackers have not yet cracked. There are different factors to be taken into account: a "modality of time", the influence which is rendered on your life by your peers, by events, your loss of "power" etc. Why, for example, are old men so inactive, and why are their lives so "grey"? Because of illness? No. There are many people, whose illnesses appear abruptly, and whose lives previously could be described as "wow!", as interesting. Put simply, their "fuel supply" ran out. There are no forces to activate the Wheel of Destiny, or for itself to slip into another branch. The LL tunnel deceives with a promise: [maybe the dreamer deceives himself?] it offers you an opportunity to "improve your life". It's a sort of roulette: we twist a wheel, we throw themselves like a ball, and we skip around on black and red strips of life. It seems, one more turn, one more attempt, and we shall achieve "the good life". But don't let yourself be tricked. A great waste of personal energy! In one month of such practice the person begins to lose interest, and his life becomes even more "grey". Although there is sometimes a successful movement, this is followed by the "lucky beggar" starting to "twitch", beginning to lose his own energy. Yes, my friends, you won't get out of an LL tunnel.. If you compare the person to a ballbearing, he carries on in this "bearing" until he is not quite "erased" (his personal force is not spent yet). However, this "deterioration" can be reduced to a minimum. And if you consider the basic concepts of the "Warriors' way" as described by CC(Carlos Castaneda), the absolute necessity of deletion of personal history, by so- called "recapitulation", becomes clear to you. But it's not for me to say what is important and what is unimportant. An LL tunnel includes sectors of people, of flora and fauna, and also of inorganic beings. The sector of inorganic beings is joined to ours. Any part of it is accessible to us, and our sector is accessible to them. The inorganic beings have found a way to prolong their lives. They became part of the LL construct, and gradually took it over, expanding the expansion. Now I shall proceed to the description of the LE-the labyrinth of events. You will all be familiar with a pinball machine. Your father has lowered "the starting mechanism". You, the "ball", are carried by the "directing tube " of your mother, and have escaped into the world, and have travelled through sectors of events: day nursery, kindergarten, school, army / high school, marriage, work, pension. Sometimes you collided with obstacles, you went sideways, crossed sectors of luck and bad luck, but still rushed on in the unknown ways of destiny. And all this occured in a pinball machine called "LE". It's common to all people. That is, you collide with a heap of other "balls". And the most terrible place in the game is a hole in the ground, a meter or so wide, which we can quantify as "death". We can see an LE as a certain cause-effect matrix, with complex rules and interrelations of events. You know that some combinations of events fulfil our desires-others can turn life into an infernal torment. And, certainly, someone would like to be able to control this "movement by itself". The power of causality-a precious thing, but none too pleasant. And some people like CC tried to change it by their own volition. Dreamhackers have developed a technique for the conscious substitutions of events which, being included in chains of events, yield us the results necessary to our aims." Here it is necessary to note that the LE in dreams is considerably simplified. It too has the unopened riddle of life, above which it would be advisable to break a head.[?] For example, transits in dreams are more precise, much more so than in reality. Movements in space are sharper yet more unpredictable. On the other hand, the study of transits in "reality" can bring fabulous pleasure because sometimes you start to feel like a wizard. Working with LEs (in many respects) is determined by success in such practices as stalking and the study of Intent. We Dreamhackers have spoken about it a lot. Anyone who wants to go down this pathway will find good reference points. The most disgusting of the three archetypal labyrinths is the LO-the labyrinth of obsessions. "Obsessions" does not only mean feelings of tenderness towards something or someone. It, by and large, a trap for our attention. Our "small weaknesses" steal our personal force. All these "hobbies" weave an impenetrable cocoon of emotional dependences around us. Add here an attachment to tobacco, to alcohol, drugs, television, books, computers, internet forums and a heap of similar "boa constrictors" which entangle our consciousness and steal our time, our force, and our opportunities. The LO has similarities to the construction of a harmonic: a mass of holes (small personal chasms). Air travels through these holes. When you, the "clarinet pressure pad", falls on one of them, you start to taste a definite complexity of sensation, as if you were sounding a note). But instead of a harmonic, you get obsessed and fall into a hole, and you will sound the same note all of your life, becoming A-lcoholic, D-rug addict, [E-xcrement?] F-irm man or C-alm gawk. [G-ross!] SI (B)? No comment. Shamans and witches have learned to use elements of the LO for their needs, such as power-plants, rituals, and NLP, zombing, [and what is that?] "the truth I shall tell, at first only gilded my hand" etc. [??] The LO gives powerful means for various manipulations of human consciousness. But, as we know, the way of magicians differs from the way of a man of knowledge. Also it is necessary to say that dreamhackers are searching for knowledge, not power over others. To be continued..[?] ..and that's when they went quiet.." However, I have some more info from somewhere else. More later.'

[dreamingstar]

Hi again, the following is a post on a forum from someone asking the Dreamhackers an extensive list of questions. One of Dreamhackers ends up responding. First is the post with the questions, followed by Iveta's answers: '"ldstalker Esteemed Regular Posts: 132 (2/28/03 3:41:24 am) Reply Re: Krasnij okjabre nice, finally a crack for the first gate. There is just one minor problem: it might tell us about the problem, but not about the solution. as it seems, this whole Dreaming is only for this elitary group of people with Awareness high enough to see the solution. However, from my childhood (where I had a little more Awareness than now) I remember that: 1) the transport-system of "gazing" at dream-objects can get mapped too 2) apart from the visible objects there are also thought-objects (no diff) 3) actually there are no thoughts only "solid" thought-objects 4) the upper boundary of dream-bubble leads to reality 5) which reality depends on the angle at which you cross it 6) 90° leads to sleeping-body, sinking into ground does too 7) touching something in mid-flight is a transport too most of the time transporting to the same (slightly altered) bubble 9) there is a difference between walking and flying because of this 10)each bubble consists of 3 layers, the middle-layer is for joint dreams 11)swimming can not get beyond layer 1 12)neither are there any objects from layer 1 continued in layer 2 13)each layer does have its own ground where landing is possible 14)by landing however the layer is left and dream-energy is increased 15)from layer3 mapping of bubble-pos is much more easy (cut-off pyramid!) 16)layer2 can only be reached in outdoor-environment 17)when leaving a building to get to the outside doesn't mean you get outdoor 18)one can clearly feel if a dream is outdoor or not 19)again, changing dream-bubble in mid-flight will get you to layer1 20)layer2 will become indoor-bubble most probably 21)one can't see anything in layer2 until landing 22)leaving the bubble in layer3 is possible to the east 23)there's an exit to the west, but it's well-guarded 24)north is decided while entering layer 3 25)there is a preview of the bubble you'd get into by landing there 26)turning west in layer3 most certainly changes the bubble 27)there exists an exit (small) to the south (unexplored) 28)in every outdoor-bubble there's an entrance to indoor-bubble 29)indoor-bubbles are dull and black'n'white and similar things 30)just like the entrance to them 31)sometimes there's a guardian to layer2, fight him 32)and you will be freed of his presence for a long time 33)there's a luring-force *towards* indoor-bubbles 34)which can also be used to find the exit once you're in one 35)all dream-characters tend to lead you into indoor-bubbles 36)you need to ask for it if you wish one of them to lead you out 37)outdoor-bubbles are always full of arriving people 38)there are 2 kinds of dream-characters:bots and players 39)you can steer bots with your will to some degree 40)bots have an own will, but it's small 41)and they can even get squished to the size of their will 42)players are solid and can not get reduced in size 43)there are no crowded places, only few players per bubble 44)the more players the more bots, at least 1 bot per player 45)players leaving the bubble leave a bot behind 46)players leaving are consciously replaced by other players 47)which are located at a slightly different pos (same shape!) 48)once identified as such bots will leave the bubble soon 49)communication is only possible with players 50)bots only perceive your perception/emotions 51)players can allow you to follow them when changing bubbles 52)players' energy prolongs dreams within the same bubble 53)the palm and forearm are best interface for energy-exchange 54)touching player does offer additional communication-level 55)additionally there exists emotional communication between players 56)leaving layer1 towards layer2 is impossible when it is established 57)in the same way as objects are transports, players are tied together 58)since emotion-communication is perception too 59)guardians are communicating through emotions intensively 60)and have the strongest/loudest voice in that aspect 61)while other players or bots often can get scared away by strong emotions 62)guardians can't and are even attracted by them, feeding on them 63)guardians are quite immobile and only react to emotions with movement 64)players can lead you past a guardian if you ask 65)not necessarily to the place the guardian is guarding 66)for players you are doing them a favour by following them 67)spending too much time near the same player makes you his property 68)sexual energy decides which player controls dream-flow 69)most players do have a lot of sexual energy 70)or are controlled by other players which will attempt to control you 71)while giving you enough sexual energy for being entertaining to them 72)moreso for the guardians who actually enjoy a fight 73)thereby sexual energy helps overcoming guardians 74)guardians will attempt to brand-mark you before you get past 75)which apart from hurting (only once) will help you recognizing them 78)in the future throughout all subsequent dreams (through itching) 79)and will form an additional interface for energy (dream-prolonging) 80)and will attract certain players for you to become their property 81)who's relationship will also affect presence of guardian 82)all these players and guardians are shape-shifters 83)who's actual shape reflects the emotions you get from them 84)the mentioned sexual energy *is* the one you can use for sex 85)and only affects the player's dominance-level, nothing else, 86)while dream-energy is only the total duration of the dream 87)which can also be used for moving, body-stability dream-clarity 89)but which is not necessarily used for those by default 90)and can originate from other sources than sexual energy (unknown) 91)partly also influenced by the very bubble you're in currently 92)another influence of dreams comes from the "reality" beyond layer3 93)which can be used to get there into a 94)paralyzed state where only the usual mechanisms can get you into a 95)dream-bubble but nowhere else since all movement is blocked 96)this paralyzed state (SP) is not inside of the physical body 97)movement is possible if trained, but all training 98)is void one week later 99)and finally: SP feels very similar to layer2 please confirm these or report where they don't match! especially interesting is the relation between layer2 and group-dreaming, I even suspect that from layer2 you can drag people from SP into a dream. also 9siiw seems to confirm the existence of Castaneda's Flyers, so some might be interested in disproving it (thereby proving that they aren't affected by any Flyers). the only difficulty (especially in those 2 points) is to avoid switching into a regular dream-bubble, so you'd better double-check if anything changed. especially the attempting to move in SP will most certainly lead into a dream-bubble representation of "reality" because of the very fixation on the thought-object of "moving", then you'd need to get back into SP and check if you actually moved. but also layer2 can be quite tricky, as even though no objects are visible it will probably be more likely to get into a dream-bubble representing the other dreamer, than actually sharing a dream. if you have any questions just ask! if you know any english-speaking group of dream-hackers, please tell me. also an english website with above articles would be interesting, if someone has a link or webspace... krasnij okjabre Unregistered User" "Abramelin Warrior < BURP ! > Reg: 11/23/02 Posts: 1002 Re: A PRESENT FOR THE "DREAMERS' [re: Abramelin] 05/30/03 06:48 PM Edit Reply Quote Idstalker-I understand your impatience, but this is a massive amount of questions/information for Sergei/Iveta to translate. Please could you wait until they have finished their story? I think it is important that their flow is not interrupted. iveta Esteemed Regular Posts: 22 (2/28/03 11:50:14 pm) Reply Re: Idstalker First of all, I must say that dreamhackers are not a elitary of group of people with high awareness. Most likely they are located in the position of reason (about it spoke by don Juan) - from this position was visible the position of silent knowledge. Let me to answer some questions, although the style of their setting is sufficiently difficult for me. 1) the transport-system of "gazing" at dream-objects can get mapped too 2) apart from the visible objects there are also thought-objects (no diff) 3) actually there are no thoughts only "solid" thought-objects I cannot comment this block of assertions. Dreamhackers did not investigate the thought-objects. We have several technician of contemplation, but they are not connected with "gazing" at dream-objects. 4) the upper boundary of dream-bubble leads to reality Most likely collision with upper boundary of dream-bubble leads to a shock of consternation and to the subsequent output into the reality. But this occurs only in the usual sleeps. In the controlled dreams is observed the phenomenon spoked by Henaro: "I do penetrate the first sky… BOOM!.. I do penetrate the second sky… boom…" and so forth. 5) which reality depends on the angle at which you cross it 6)90° leads to sleeping-body, sinking into ground does too For this block there are no commentaries. 7) touching something in mid-flight is a transport too In the usual dreams it is possible to walk, to fly and to float, to be moved through the transits. In the lucid dreams it is possible to be moved along the threads of world (for example, you indicate by finger on the mount, to let the thread of light out from the finger and "to be attracted" to other its end. These two forms of movements in general occur in one and the same bubble. most of the time transporting to the same (slightly altered) bubble In the controlled dreams you moved up to the large distances and into different regions of the dreamland through the space transits founded by you. For example, in your house you arrive through the cornice of the window in airport; through the door of the kitchen - into your working office; through the mirror in the bath-room - into the urban library, etc. 9-22) Here we have differences in description two our systems. Dreamhackers do not use the concept of layers, although I understand that you means in it. The method of mapping intentionally was simplified to the betta-version. We never considered mapping of dreams as purpose, and therefore we related to it disdainfully - as just to the convenient means. Therefore do not await from me detailed descriptions. Our purposes were more abstract. 23-27) Tonal actually proved to be island - the relatively small space icluding all glosses for describing the world. Wherever lived man - in Africa, Antarctica, Germany or Sonora - the map of his dreams have the same basic archetipical features. Here is two gloss of the contemporary person: The house, where you conducted childhood, will be the center of map. Sometimes this house will include the elements of other houses, in which you sometimes lived. This house will be it is located in the city, which will include the elements of all cities, in which you sometimes were. City on the map of dreams one. When in the sleep you, for example, go in the machine from New York to Trenton, you simply will leave a one part of the city and arrive into its another part. Thus, when you fly from Paris to Quebec, you do not exceed the limits of City. This powerful gloss including all cities known to you. But let us return to your questions. Dreamhackers found two passages "to other side". First, this is bridge in the southeastern part of the map. After it does begin narrow passage in the mountain bank and… the membrane swunging and flapsing by wind. Everything precisely in don Juan's manner. In this place always blows the "wind of force". The second passage is located on the north of map. Way to it lies through the terrain, populated by giants. It is amazing, but this locality is very well described in the ancient Chinese books." ' Continued...

[spaceexplorer]

Please Take This Nonsense To Beyond Dreaming Please

[no-Name]

That is one hell of a wall of text, Dreamingstar, I'm sure you can see why it might be offputting to read :\ From what I have seen in this thread, you aren't telling me much at all. I couldn't understand anything from your huge wall of text. Space, use your inside voice

[Oneiro]

Please Take This Nonsense To Beyond Dreaming Please I couldn't disagree more. The Dreamhackers group members have done much, much more research into LDing than any published westerner [fill in appropriate name(s)], and for a time, they were government backed, with funding from their own Russians.. until it all went pear-shaped, that is, and there were some fatalities, as I seem to remember. I personally find it very interesting, and extremely sobering to boot. The fact that you think that it's nonsense is not a reason to "demote" their findings. Would that you could do half of what they've achieved.

[spaceexplorer]

I couldn't disagree more. The Dreamhackers group members have done much, much more research into LDing than any published westerner [fill in appropriate name(s)], and for a time, they were government backed, with funding from their own Russians.. until it all went pear-shaped, that is, and there were some fatalities, as I seem to remember. I personally find it very interesting, and extremely sobering to boot. The fact that you think that it's nonsense is not a reason to "demote" their findings. Would that you could do half of what they've achieved. All very well and good to say such things, but would you be kind enough to share your sources for this information? Because from these posts alone, the dreamhacker concept seems little more than a mishmash of new age concepts. And what exactly HAVE they achieved? (Other than creating their own little cult of terminology and beliefs of course)

[Oneiro]

Typical noob western teenager response. YOU go off, spacecadet, and do the work yourself. Trawl the internet and find their stuff. Don't expect me to mollycoddle you and do the work for you.. jesus. This site really gets on my tits sometimes. Aaaaaaaah.. that feels better.

[Baron Samedi]

I read the whole thing. I thought it was very interesting. So, was the author screwing the big guy's wife in the dream world? haha I have experienced something like a dream bubble. It was actually a cube. One dream when I became super-lucid, I decided to change the setting, but the setting was like 3D images projected on to 6 flat surfaces which I was inside of, and the projections were coming out of me. Imagine watching a movie like that. hmm...

[spaceexplorer]

Whatever

[Oneiro]

You pathetic, childish little boy. Touch a nerve, did I, sonny? I'll have you know I'm 33 years old.. You coulda fucking fooled me boy.. you sure don't act like a non-noob western teenager.. heh.. and have been lucid dreaming since the age of about 5.. Yadda yadda.. I discovered the term lucid dreaming at 13 (at which point I bought a Nova Dreamer, and both of Laberge Books Lucid Dreaming and EWOLD). And have been studying and collecting works on the subject since then. WOW!!! Such gravitas! Such experience! Such arrogance! Heh.. I'm lovin' this.. I have kept a dream diary probably longer than you have been alive. And STILL talking out your arse! I was already out of my teens when you were born, lickspit.. what a fucking arsehole you really are. Heh.. And had thousands of lucid dreams. Yeah yeah yeah yeah.. I have the most extensive lucid dreaming library of anyone I know, including some very rare books worth hundreds (such as "Dreams and how to guide them" by Hervey de Saint-Denys). Oh fuck me.. I genuflect before your munificence, o stunted one.. Lucid Dreaming has been my number one interest for my entire life. Really? So how come you exhibit such a lack of knowledge of the subject? Never heard of the Dreamhackers, for a start, had you? And they're old news. Been around in the West for around 8-9 years. Your little LD ivory tower ain't helping you much is it? So excuse me if I say "go fuck yourself" for calling me a "Typical noob western teenager ". I got you there, didn't I? Heh.. what a fucking stuck-up c**t you are, to be sure. How old are you yourself exactly? Not that it's any fucking business of yours, noob, but I'm over 20 years older than you, boy, and have been PROPER LDing since well before you were a twinkle in the Milkman's eye! Heh.. Sorry if I ask you to back up your statements. Listen, you lazy fucking bullshitter.. YOU go and do the work.YOU go and trawl the internet to further your (perceived) knowledge. Don't expect me to mollycoddle the lazy likes of you.. ..and get your big head out of your arse, while you're at it. Sweet dreams.

[spaceexplorer]

You're in your 50s and you use the word Noob? Wow, that's really sad. I'd spend time arguing with you, but you do a good enough job of making yourself look like a moron. See ya.

[shinta66]

You pathetic, childish little boy. I'll have you know I'm 33 years old, and have been lucid dreaming since the age of about 5. I discovered the term lucid dreaming at 13 (at which point I bought a Nova Dreamer, and both of Laberge Books Lucid Dreaming and EWOLD). And have been studying and collecting works on the subject since then. I have kept a dream diary probably longer than you have been alive. And had thousands of lucid dreams. I have the most extensive lucid dreaming library of anyone I know, including some very rare books worth hundreds (such as "Dreams and how to guide them" by Hervey de Saint-Denys). Lucid Dreaming has been my number one interest for my entire life. So excuse me if I say screw you for calling me a "Typical noob western teenager ". How old are you yourself exactly? Sorry if I ask you to back up your statements. It's kind of how it works you know, you make a statement, you back it up. Unless of course, you're full of BS, then you weasel out of it with some childish attack... oh, look, that's exactly what you did. No one gives a damn space. This is why you piss people off. Oh plus do you have any scientific proof about what you just said?

[no-Name]

This close to locking this thread. No more off-topic or insulting posts.

[spaceexplorer]

No one gives a damn space. This is why you piss people off. And who asked you? And you are? Oh, right, the self appointed spokesperson of the world. Sorry, but If he will come into a thread looking to start an argument then it is absolutely my right to defend myself. Oh plus do you have any scientific proof about what you just said? No but god told me you are a twat, and i have "faith" that its true.

[Baron Samedi]

Too bad it's so hard for people to disagree without resorting to ad hominem attacks. I'd actually like to discuss the topic.

[edge0125]

ok when i saw castanadas name on the article, then i knew this was bs. that guy has been proven to be a phoney and a liar. anyways whats soo great about these "dreamhacker"; whats their method?, and what have they accomplished?

[Fergie1]

Touch a nerve, did I, sonny? You coulda fucking fooled me boy.. you sure don't act like a non-noob western teenager.. heh.. ............ I loled hard.

[spaceexplorer]

I loled hard. You're easily pleased. ok when i saw castanadas name on the article, then i knew this was bs. that guy has been proven to be a phoney and a liar. anyways whats soo great about these "dreamhacker"; whats their method?, and what have they accomplished? Pretty much my thoughts man. Touch a nerve, did I, sonny? No, you're just being fucking rude. You coulda fucking fooled me boy.. you sure don't act like a non-noob western teenager.. heh.. I could say the same about yourself. Yadda yadda.. Like this for example WOW!!! Such gravitas! Such experience! Such arrogance! Heh.. I'm lovin' this.. Because you're a cock much? No arrogance at all, you called me an unexperienced teenager, I point out that you're actually wrong... and you're loving being wrong. And STILL talking out your arse! I was already out of my teens when you were born, lickspit.. what a fucking arsehole you really are. Heh.. Odd that you choose to use words like Noob if you are in your 50s. Rather sad really. Yeah yeah yeah yeah.. Oh fuck me.. I genuflect before your munificence, o stunted one.. Grow up maybe? Shouldn't an old man like yourself know better? I got you there, didn't I? Heh.. what a fucking stuck-up c**t you are, to be sure. No you're just being a rude git. And I find your ability to fly off the handle at a stranger who dosn't agree with you, to be quite sad. Not that it's any fucking business of yours, noob, but I'm over 20 years older than you, boy, and have been PROPER LDing since well before you were a twinkle in the Milkman's eye! Heh.. Wow, bow down to the master, all hail the king of lucid dreaming. What an arrogant fucktard noob. (see how pathetic that kind of response is when it's directed at you? That's basically how you respond to things, sad isn't it.) Listen, you lazy fucking bullshitter.. YOU go and do the work.YOU go and trawl the internet to further your (perceived) knowledge. Don't expect me to mollycoddle the lazy likes of you.. ..and get your big head out of your arse, while you're at it. Sweet dreams. No thanks. I'll leave the new age cult nonsense to people like yourself. Really? So how come you exhibit such a lack of knowledge of the subject? Never heard of the Dreamhackers, for a start, had you? And they're old news. Been around in the West for around 8-9 years. Your little LD ivory tower ain't helping you much is it? No I hadn't heard of the dreamhackers. Big Deal. And from what i've read so far in this thread, I'm glad i hadn't up until now. The name itself is like something out of a bad 80s movie, the principles are a standard mix of newage hockum latched onto some kind of pseudo science to try and lend it credibility. So no, I'm not going to "research them further". If the original posters information is anything to go on, I'd rather avoid these guys like the plague. There is enough BS surrounding lucid dreaming, without yet more new age cultish nonsense to deal with. If this is the kind of thing that floats your boat, then enjoy it, but don't go getting all offensive and childish when someone dosn't agree with your opinion. But the point stands, that this thread DOES belong in beyond dreaming. And that was the only reason I posted in it in the first place. You can continue to spew out your offensive nonsense if you want, but personally I don't care about what some random 50 year old guy, with a taste for the new age thinks about me.

[The Cusp]

From what I can tell, these dream hackers are just a group of people who study dreaming, no different than "DVers" as a whole. They don't all agree on the same thing and are split on different issues. Anyone who wants to dismiss them as a whole must be big on racial stereotypes as well. The name itself is like something out of a bad 80s movie Actually it was a 2002 tv series about a group of medical students who invent a device that lets them enter people's dreams. Never seen it, but it sounds like it's worth checking out. You might have known that if you had taken to time to do even a simple web search. Like Oneiro said, you're too fucking lazy. How can you discuss something you know nothing about and can't be bothered to research? ok when i saw castanadas name on the article, then i knew this was BS. that guy has been proven to be a phoney and a liar. Lol, you make it sound like one of those early high school math problems where they throw in an extra variable or two that isn't relevant to try to throw you off. It's funny how if you throw in the name Castaneda, so many people miss the point, distracted by irrelevant bullshit. Which in a way, was what Castaneda's (or rather Don Juan's) teachings were about. And proven to be a phony and a liar? By other people. Must be nice to let other people do your thinking for you. Dream Mapping I've tried to make maps of my dreams before, and failed in an epic manner. In fact I seen many people try this over the years, but have never seen a finished map. The geographical locations just aren't stable enough to map out. I'm impressed that these "Dream Hackers" have actually managed to solved that dilema. And it's fucking brilliant! They solved all the problems of making dream maps. -The center of the map is your house you grew up in, or an amalgam of all the houses you've ever lived it. -There aren't multiple cities in dreams, only one city, again an amalgam of of all cities you are familiar with. -There are Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western borders to the dream map, and the actual dream map isn't that big, with nothing beyond these borders or edges. The northern and southern ones are immutable (but you can push the northern on further back), and there are blind spots in the eastern border. (Every time I've encountered the "edge of the world" void it was in the east) I don't want to get into this too deeply yet, since it's all brand spanking new to me, but it all holds true for my dreams. And I've put a lot of effort and thought into mapping my dreams in the past. There is a lot of information in there, haven't read it all yet, and there seems to be something lost in the translation that makes understanding difficult, but to dismiss their efforts as a load of crap is just ignorant. Someone asked my awhile back if they could translate my "nature of dream control" thread into Russian. I can only hope it was for this group of dream hackers.