The Cusp

There is a huge leather bound tome, full of people's teeth. Not pictures of teeth, actual teeth. The book flies around, spinning through the air, and hits people in the mouth.

This was likely inspired by Golan the Insatiable.

There was something in my dream. I don't recall actually seeing it, but I knew it was there. It wanted something from me. What it wanted was for me to dream of things I was very attached to, it loved these and couldn't get enough. I don't know if it was feeding of them or what, but that's what it wanted, and it did it's best to encourage me to provide them. It's absolute favorite thing was children, and the attachment parent form to their children. I don't have any kids, but it was encouraging me to have some, just so I could bring it it's ultimate prize...

I was contemplating my relationship with my parents last night.

Ive just fallen asleep, and I notice the dreamscape is still kind of dark and shadowy, not fully formed yet. I realize this means I'm dreaming!

I see that I'm at work, so I try to levitate into the air to begin flying, so that I can use the power of momentum to solidify the dream. Only instead of my body rising into the air, a ghost or spirit form of myself rises out of my dream body. Close enough. I completely ignore the spit that just happened, and focus completely on flying, and even looking back at the "body" I just left behind.

I dip and dive, building speed, my flight control gets better, and I randomly float down to the ground. While wondering what do do next, I spot my new co-worker. I get the idea to try and somehow leave a mark on his real physical body by messing with this representation of him in the dream world. I had read of people waking with red marks from doing this, and I wanted to try it. I figured I'd put my hands on his arm or something, but then he began walking right at me.

I throw up my hands and push against my co-worker's chest, but I have no traction, and he just keeps walking, pushing me along until he plows me into some work benches and the impact wakes me up.

Raz A;'ghul and Werewolves
Sleep: OK
Sleep position: Left side (right brain)

I've somehow become Ras Al'ghul, in charge of the entire League of Assassins. Unfortunately, there are those who would challenge my authority, and there's a lot of people trying to kill me, particularly ninjas. As I'm fighting off my various attackers, I notice these ingenious traps set all over the compound. The traps are made from sticks or stiff vines woven together like a basket to create something like a spring. The wooden sticks are pulled down and tied off so that they spring outwards with a great deal of force, impaling victims with blades and attatched to the end of the wooden spring traps.

These wooden springs are very strong and very sturdy. I can stand on one, trigger it, and use it to launch myself through the air. I'm jumping and flipping and flying all over the place.

-The theme of being chased and hunted stuck with through the night, and as some point it shifted from ninjas to werewolves. I was in class in high school, when I hear something in the hall. I go to look and see a monstrously huge werewolf tearing up the hall. It's so big, so fast, and so powerful, I don't even think about fighting it, I just flee. I don't think I'm going to make it, when the werewolf suddenly turns and runs right through the door to another classroom, blasting if off the hinges like it was nothing.

I hear screams from the classroom, and run back into mine, when I can hear the werewolf coming. I don't even have time to close the door properly before it bursts into the room. Luckily there's other students nearby which momentarily distracts the beast as it tears them apart. I run and spot a metal cabinet, which I crawl inside of. Again, before I can properly close the doors, the werewolf is on me and ravaging the cabinet. It falls over onto it's front, keeping the front closed under it's weight. I breathe a sigh of relief.

Realized I've been using some weird technique to go back to sleep when I wake up. Realized that because it failed last night.

I assume I was painting with a smudge brush in my dream, and when I woke, I was still doing the same thing. I tried to paint my blankets, but the brush stroke was too short, not enough momentum, and I woke up. Not sure what else I could have used for a longer mental runway.

Somebody sends me one of my pictures, and I notice that hidden in the layers is a bunch of top secret information. I accidentally post that image online with the secret files, then wonder if that was a bad idea. The people who sent it to me chastise me, and I counter with a "Don't worry, it's well hidden".

Sleep: OK
Sleep Position: Unknown

I'm dreaming of using the smudge brush I use for my digital art. I start with one person, and paint out their best features. Then I overlay my picture onto another person, an exagerate their best features onto my my picture. I keep going, using different people and adding their best features to the whole of my image. By the time I'm finished, it's quite an impressive piece, and want to save it. As I try figure out how to go about saving it, I realize I'm in a dream, and there's just no way to save this masterpiece. Ever been disappointed that you're lucid? lol

A little reluctant to let go of my work, I decide I'm going to try and practice holding that image steady as long as I can. That seemed easy enough, so I began exposing it to things with strong influences. Overlaying my picture onto freaky looking people who would cause my image to change drastically, taking on their characteristics. WHen I removed my image, I could put it back it it's original form (more or less). Then I began literally saving it. I'd close it down, do something else for a bit, then periodically summon up the image again to see if it was staying the same. It was for the most part

I know, seems like a weird thing to do while lucid, but that's how I practice dream control. Trying to keep things steady without change in the dream is something I've never attempted to do before.

The influence behind this dream is that I was making more adventure time themed art before bed. The art just happened to be dream related. Not quite finished, below is just an early version.

Another night, another battle of wills with what I thought to be another dreamer (at least I did within the dream). Maybe it's because I'm always inviting people to come find me in every dream related forum, or it could even be a regular dream. My recall is too poor still to tell.

I remember that back and forth pattern, the pushing of wills. At one point they began to attack me physically, leaving me covered in these huge bloody welts almost 2 feet long. I almost made the mistake of trying to heal myself and focus on closing up those wounds, but thought better of it at the last moment and just ignored the wounds instead.


Fragments:
-Playing Linkrealms and I find a silver fur cape. *I was confused and disappointed to find I didn't actually have that cape when I booted up my game in RL.
-Walking in the woods with someone, the snow is almost all melted, and I notice tons of big fat Wintergreen berries. They seem to have gotten twice as big over the winter.

Lost all the detail of this dream, I just remember a pattern of pushing back and forth with something, not physically, but with our attention. I suspect it was a shared dream and I was fighting someone. I say that because of the back and forth pattern. For some reason dream fights against other dreamers seem to develop the pace of a tennis match, with the ball going from one side of the court to the other until someone scores.

When you attack in a shared dream, you are trying to hook your opponent's attention. What happens is you send something at your opponent, and they either ignore it, deal with it, or succumb to it. If they don't succumb, then they send something at you. It goes back and forth until something until someone finally believes of the the incoming "gambits" is real and it overwhelms them. There's a chance that may be a pattern that just happens with me, but I'm fairly sure it's a strange attractor that will hold true for any two people fighting in a dream. (and by fighting, I don't necessarily mean physical fighing).

That's the second or third dream like that I've had this week. Not sure who it could have been. I've always had an open invitation for anyone to come find my in my dreams. Plus I've also been having what I think might be shared dreams with one of my prodigal dream control students. We both only half remember these dreams, but the pattern of me demonstrating something, then making him do it, then me, then him, over and over, drilling him with repetition, that's an easy one to spot.

It's weird, I haven't had any shared dreams in years, and then I run into Waking Nomad online last week, and now I'm having them almost every night.

Really need to work on improving my recall. Had an awesome sword fighting dream during a nap yesterday, and I forgot all the detail.

Art Obsession

Spent most of the day yesterday doing digital art, and spent most of the night dreaming about doing the same. Been having lots of dreams like this over the past couple of months, and I think it's really helped improve my art. I don't wake up with any "Ah-ha!" moments, but I must be gaining experience, because my work has improved dramatically.

Time to start keeping my dream journal again. Other dreamers are starting to show up, and it would be nice to be able to remember them. Have a vague recollection of seeing one of my prodigal students in my dreams the past two nights, but can't recall anything about it. What a waste!

I consider this one semi lucid, since it involved obvious dream related themes. I just accepted it as being a little to real to be fully lucid.

Keeping Secrets
Sleep: OK
Sleep position: Unknown

I have power which manifests it's self visually in my dream as a sword. Other people, other dreamers, think they can take my power by stealing my sword, which is ridiculous. The sword is a phantom projection of a part of myself, which would be impossible to take from me, but that's not stopping these guys from trying. They are constantly coming after me, and I fight them off. On occasion they surprise me and actually do get my sword, but it's still me and I can still control it. I make it disappear, and they just come back to try again.

Starting to get annoyed, I decide to put an end to this once and for all, but how? It's not like I can destroy the sword to stop them from coming for it, it was never real in the first place. I turn to the first rule of dream control for the answer: Every thing requires your attention to exist. If I can't destroy the sword, I can destroy everyone who knows of it's existence. If nobody knows about it, then for all intents and purposes it doesn't exist for anyone other than me.

I was quite proud of how neat and tidy that solution was.

While there is nothing in there directly relating to the 12 Monkeys, I can still see that show's influence on this dream.

Finally! A remembered dream. Not that exciting, but it's a start.

Going Home
Recall: 8/10
Sleep: Good
Sleep Position: Left SIde (Right Brain)

I'm in an elevator, returning to my apartment. I get out on my floor and look for any danger, as I've encountered thugs here in previous dreams, but the coast is clear.

I unlock the door, and enter to find the place almost barren. It is a three bedroom apartment, but my two room mates have left, leaving only my furniture and a lot of empty space. This apartment really is huge for just me. I'm a little surprised the rent is still paid, as I haven't been here in months. Not sure how much time I have left here with my rend covered, I wonder how I will afford the entire rent by myself.

As I'm considering my finances, I hear what sounds like a woman in trouble in the hall. A muffled scream. I open the door, but see nothing down the hall. I turn the corner and look down that hall, still nothing. So I go back inside.

I'm really tired so I go lay down in bed for an hour or so, when I hear a knock on the door. Who could it be? Nobody knows I'm here. I go to the door and look out the peep hole and stare into someone's collar bone. I don't say anything, just look trying to see a face. Finally the person tries to look through the peephole himself and says to someone "There's someone looking at me". Still I remain quiet, then I catch a glimpse of their faces.

I sort of recognize them as having known my room mates, but don't feel like explaining where they are (since I don't know). Plus these guys look real sketchy. I go back to bed for awhile until I have to use the washroom. I duck low underneath the window in case those people at the door were outside now trying to look in, and crawl to the bathroom. Unfortunately, the entire bathroom is covered in windows. The lower ones are almost frosted and hard to see through, but there are many that are clear, leaving a good view of me. I pee anyways, not really caring who sees me.

Fragment: From the Sea
I've just scaled a wall, and am hanging over the top of it, resting on the top of the wall on my stomach. On the other side of the wall is ocean. From beneath the water, something large and grey jumps up at me, and all I see are twisted teeth fly by my face.

Again this thing jumps out, and I see it's a retarded looking seal. It seem super friendly and keeps jumping up at me with the enthusiasm of a big stupid dog.

Last few nights my dreams have been mostly modeled after a browser game I started playing, Obliterate everything 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5_ogU4Jzt4#t=101

Work got super busy this week, so haven't slept much, the weekend should be better.

Fragment: Yakuza
I'm on some sort of mission, with a list of tasks to accomplish, but I need help for some of them. I ask various groups to help me in exchange for favors. One group I ask is just 4 Japanese men in business suits. We help each other out and I move on.

Later in the dream, one of the more powerful factions tries to get in my way by interfering with those 4 Japanese men, but they have grown stronger. Their organization is now large like the Yakuza, and it works out in my favor that this evil woman has pissed them off.

Hmmm... Might take some time to get my recall back up to par