lucid dream "The Rabbit Hole."

The Rabbit Hole (Portal Dream)
I found myself at the entrance to a restaurant/dance hall type of place that was situated on a large mall-like thoroughfare. The front of the establishment looked essentially like a Tiki lounge. The bars were fringed with grass, and had matching thatched roofs. Little paper lanterns and string-lights were hung about the place giving it a very casual, relaxed atmosphere. There was a party going on with "hippie-looking folk" mingling about, sitting at tables chatting, some dancing to a groovy ambient beat that played in the background. I didn't know anyone, but one guy, who I could tell was the host or leader looked like an old friend from grateful dead tour who I used to travel and dance with: "Joseph" from The Spinners, and quite a bit like kris kristoferson. A lovely young woman, my idea of a "Sugar Magnolia/Scarlet Begonias" hippie chick came up to me and told me that she was to be my guide there, assuring me that everything was o.k. Somehow she implied to me that the place/dream I was at was a manifestation of my heart. What I truly believed in, how I felt about life, and the world as I viewed it should be was being represented here. I had the overwhelming sense that I was coming home. The feeling you get when you feel accepted by, let's say a church. Or the way you feel when you visit with old friends and get a chance to reminisce about times past and relive glory days. I specifically recall being informed by Joseph/Kris that it was "adult playtime, but that the kids would be allowed out later", giving the evening the feel of a cocktail party, although I didn't get the sense that alcohol was being served.





I was led toward the back of the place, my guide informing me that we were headed backstage. Once again, there was that reassuring feeling from her that it was ok. People didn't seemed overly concerned about me being there, although some looked on knowingly as if they had "walked in my shoes".






Now please note: All of this time during the dream, I'm not only conscious of the fact that I'm dreaming, but aware of where I'm at on the physical/material level. And that would be in jail. I know I'm sleeping on my bunk; I can hear laughter from my fellow inmates watching late-night T.V. upstairs as well as make out the Spanish-language broadcast from another T.V. 40 or 50 feet away. With this knowledge comes the awareness that I can actually make decisions about where I go, what I do, etc. in the dream. I had a similar experience a few days before, and can't help but think the weird sleep schedule I had developed while locked up ( never more than 3 hours or so at a stretch) was being conducive to this kind of lucidity.






We headed through a more formal dining area, nothing fancy, sort of meditteranean in style and approached a spiraling rock stairwell that climbed the back wall. The steps were carved (or naturally eroded from wear) out of the limestone or coral substance of the small hill. I began to ascend the structure when I noticed what it seemed to be - some sort of waterslide. A pleasant young fellow, who looked like a younger version of me or one of my bros from Dead tour 20 years ago, began to pass me up the steps. But as he was about to "cut", stopped, as if realizing his mistake, and gestured apologetically for me to go ahead. After all, this was not the kind of place where one was rude or in a hurry. Once again, I was reassured (this time by the young gentleman) that everything was going to be O.K. and I had no reason to be apprehensive or fearful. As I reached the top, I saw the slide (also worn into the rock formation) spiraled down towards what I instantly named "The Rabbit Hole". It was a perfectly round entrance into the ground. Opalescent yet metallic in color, it was beautiful. I associate with what one could term, perhaps, the "Eye of God". And people were just casually taking their turn going down- spiraling around and around until they disappeared into the ethereal underground of this "portal".






"The kid" asked me if I was going to go, but I knew it wasn't quite the right time for some reason. As if it would be rushing the experience. And anyways, I wanted to go back and talk to Joseph/Kris. So I descended back down the steps and headed towards the front where the tiki bar was located.






I was familiar, more or less, with the layout now and noticed a couple of things with the new perspective as I made my way out towards the entrance. There was a good sized dancing area bordering the place which looked like it had just been the site of a Dead show, and would soon be again. It was pretty empty at the time, but you could feel the body heat and almost smell the perspiration of dancers past. I also saw the front of the place in a more symbolic way now. "The mall of Humanity", was busy and crowded with all the "normal" people rushing up and down. And just off to the side was this little paradise. Where occasionally people like me found their way home.






Back to the tiki bar, I encountered Joseph/Kris again. He didn't pull any punches in our short encounters. He gave me a kind of "Don't you get it?" look, seeing I was still kind of bewildered by what was transpiring. I also saw his wife playing with their daughter nearby, true to his earlier indication. I then felt as if the dream was coming to an end, and went to find my notebook that I had been writing in while in jail. I came across it, ripped into pieces on the dance floor. I could clearly see entries from a few days earlier on the shredded pages, and then realized that the journal's destruction was do to a ranging dog somewhere close by. As I bent over to pick up the pieces, the culprit came up quickly to me and began licking me in the face. It was THEN I realized that the dog was no other than my old pal Buddy, dearly departed now for a couple of years. I had solemnly celebrated, what would have been his 18th birthday a few days earlier. I woke up in tears, emotionally raw from the experience and immediately got out my notebook and recorded it. I also had the exciting and reassuring feeling that somehow, sometime, I would encounter the Matrix-like Rabbit Hole again.

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