Camels, Candles and Castles: Tales of an Oneironaut

Camels, Candles and Castles

Nightmares / Dreamscapes

A Man / A City
A dark town. Not only in the context of its lighting, but in that the streets felt dark. Like something from a Frank Miller comic, the monochromatic tones of a dead and dark city surrounded me with a gruesome mass. The city was dead, and I speculate that it had been for some time.

It seems that the city is a recurring scene, as I have in fact visited its streets on several occasions. Also a character recurs within the city, I'm unsure to whether or not this character represents the darkness of my subconscious. At first I had assumed that his presence was that of a 'dream guide', I'm still quite unsure about this.

On our first meeting, we were sitting by a wired fence, in what I recall was an alleyway. The town is cold, dark. It's a chilling space and its coldness was no doubt creeping over me. The presence that was sitting next to me resembled that of what I can only describe as a 'dark' Willy Wonker inspired character. Like the town, he was shrouded in grays and blacks, with a wiry untamed tuft growing from his chin.

This character handed me a cherry. Bright red it was, in vivid contrast to the dull cityscape. Upon eating it (at which point I noticed several other people were sitting with us, one of which was my father) the coldness began to leave me and I was filled with the most blissful warmth. After consuming the entire cherry I was left with its seed.

I watched the seed, and so too did the character watch the seed. Suddenly, it began to reconstruct its flesh, yet rather than the beautiful red it now resembled a dusty blue/gray which showed a chalky texture. With slight hesitation i consumed this blue/gray cherry- as I did this, the blissful warmth was greatly intensified, spilling down into my arms and my fingertips. The feeling was that which i can now compare to ecstasy.

I continued consumption, each time the fruit reconstructing, and the sensations upon each bite intensifying magnificently! The sensations reached the point of what was almost 'orgasmic' as I continued to eat the fruit, these feelings of bliss racing vigorously down my entire body.

Though, upon looking downwards I was able to perceive that my colours were slowly melting from me, revealing a dullness reminiscent to the rest of the cityscape. This conjured a certain panic which induced lucidity, at which point the dream faded- or perhaps I faded from it.

Hey... I was led to believe there would be camels here. That's false advertising.

Welcome to DV, CCC! Interesting start to your DJ.

I'd like to have one of those Willy Wonker cherries.

Great writing! You sound like a professional writer.

Strong religious overtones in this following voyage. I myself am not a man of strictly religious nature, though I do in fact follow certain beliefs of my own about life and its surroundings- drawing some what from the ideologies of solipsism and pantheism.

"Lucifer!"
I'm at school, yet the building itself has transformed into something that resembles more so a cathedral than an education center. The sky is burning, and mountains grow upside down from the clouds. This is typical of many of my dreams, where the geography of the dreamscape is spread brilliantly through the sky- as if the dream takes place on the inner of a sphere rather than the outer.

Children gather the hall, looking up into the sky through gigantic stained glass. Flames, fire and smoke stain the sky- obscuring what is beyond. I try to obtain the attention of another student, yet I'm unable to do so. Everyone is fixed on the sky and its magical dancing flames.

It's not until a child screams "Lucifer!" that this state of mesmerisation is shattered into a thousand fragments. A black mass of smoke jets its path through the sky, and as it does, I perceive that the face of Lucifer is in fact pronounced over its surface. (I shall state now that I am of what would be considered agnostic faith- My beliefs tend to dismiss the ideology of a Christian good and evil, yet I am still very much open to a more pantheistic concept of what god may be)

In utter panic, the hall is emptied, with figures wailing in their own confusion. The dreamscape shifts, as I find myself amongst a crowd of monks running furiously upwards over green hills. At this point I'm quite aware that I'm now in the sky- and thus, my sense of upwards and downwards has shifted accordingly.

The monks thoughts are projected to me without words, as I gather that we are searching for train tracks among the green hills. I already know, I don't tell the monks, but I already know- The tracks were burnt centuries ago.

I let the regiment of monks over take me, watching them scatter into the distance- like ants over a tablecloth. "Lucifer has burnt the tracks!" They exclaim.

The Docks
The docks are a most peculiar space, shrouded with the most brilliant array of the colour blue, a dark rich navy midnight. Clouds stretch wonderful figures across the sky, twisting and tangling like skinny wisps of white smoke. Upon comparison, the reflections upon the water are not nearly reminiscent to what the sky would suggest they be- yet I don’t let this bother me. The scene is perfect.

Tiny fairy lights twinkle marvellously across the water. Looking up, I am able to perceive that these lights are in fact reflections of a marvellous starry midnight sky. Deeper into the water, I feel as if I have conquered a new standard of awareness, as the reflections of clouds transform into beautiful white koi carps, swimming brilliantly through the dark navy waters, dodging past the fairy lights with such graceful beauty.

The scene is complimented by the most fantastic Asian inspired architecture, such brilliant rooftops mazing upwards into the sky. Orange lanterns hang from the balconies, swinging magically in the wind, and moths of the most flamboyant colours dance busily across the sky, their radiance creating streamers of vivid colour against the dark sky as they flutter through the air.

There are men dressed in stylish double breasted velvet coats, wearing Chinese conical hats upon their crowns. Their eyes are masked with round lens shades, lit up with the fiery reflections of orange lanterns. They seem to be loading the ferry with large crates, I’m curious as to what they contain but unfortunately none are opened to see. To my side a man is sitting on a pile of crates, smoking a large wardens pipe- despite being unable to perceive his face (hidden underneath the shadow of his conical hat) there is something familiar about his presence.

I continue to watch the figure for some time. Attention is brought towards the white smoke as it climbs skywards from the end of the pipe. My consciousness follows the smoke, and suddenly I understand that this smoke, the clouds and the white koi carp are merely projections of the same thing.

wow im really liking your DJ so far man. That Lucifer dream, although freaky, has som incredible images. The mountains in the sky and the flames great stuff

I love the Docks dream especially the moths and the way the reflected lights turn into carp. Keep it up man:)

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Originally Posted by mark

wow im really liking your DJ so far man. That Lucifer dream, although freaky, has som incredible images. The mountains in the sky and the flames great stuff

I love the Docks dream especially the moths and the way the reflected lights turn into carp. Keep it up man:)

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Thanks Mark. The dream at the docks was simply amazing to experience- I don't think I've ever allowed so much of my attention to be consumed in the details of a dream. I felt as though I was in a higher state of consciousness, different from the lucid state as within the dream I was unconcerned as to whether or not my surroundings were merely dreamscape. In fact, I'm highly grateful that I wasn't forced into lucidity, voyeurism and observation seemed so much more relevant than interaction.