Sunday, December 02, 2007

Communion Dreams

Sorry I haven’t posted much lately. I’m gearing up for final classes and final exams, and haven’t been feeling very well on top of that. My last class is Wednesday, December 5th, but I’ll still put in close to 40 hours in the next three days because I have late meetings each day. Then I’ll have a break before final exams that I give on December 11, 12, 13.

A bizarre dream I had night before last might be informative of my current mindset. I was in bed in the dream but a hornet had gotten under the covers and was stinging me. I was fighting to kill it and finally got the sheets off and caught the insect between my fingers and squished it. I stood up, looked down to see the stings, and realized a horrible fact. It hadn’t been stinging. It had been laying eggs inside me.

In writing, over the past three days I got six of my unsubmitted stories out of my computer and into the world for consideration. A short essay that I wrote is also off to market. Tonight I plan to get some poetry ready to go out.

Finally, I’m reading Whitley Streiber’s Communion. This is his supposedly nonfiction tale of some bizarre experiences he’s had, which at this point in the book (page 133) appear to be due to alien abduction. Frankly, I’m having a hard time buying much of it. Many of the experiences he relates are classic examples of hypnogogic and hypnopompic experiences, a few of which I’ve had myself.

I’m a skeptic. I wouldn’t be surprised if alien intelligences exist in the universe. It’s a big place. But it seems highly unlikely that any alien intelligence would be humanoid. I’m also doubtful that such an intelligence has ever visited earth and am even more doubtful that they periodically abduct humans for experiments.

What explains the abduction phenomenon then? In some cases, of course, people are lying. Don’t kid yourself, there is money to be made in pretending to close encounters. In many other cases, however, I’m convinced that people are having experiences primarily related to dream states or to other brain phenomena such as epilepsy. Some abduction experience may be related to actual mental illness but I doubt that most do. The causes are more likely natural, if uncommon.

I rather wish aliens were visiting earth. That would be the most incredible discovery in human history. And if they were humanoid it would be even more incredible because it would mean a complete rethinking of currently believed scientific principles. Personally, I’ve always wanted to see a UFO. Perhaps tonight I will. In my dreams.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Keep us posted on what pops out once those damned eggs hatch. You might just find us all reconsidering our views on humanoid extra-terrestials.

SzélsőFa said...

I found the egg-lying most disgusting, but I kept reading on anyhow :)
I like discussing dreams - this one was perhaps induced by the book you're digesting right now.
Although I have never met a ufo, I think there must be life out there, too. Perhaps in a form mankind do not acknowledge as being 'life' at all.
Perhaps they look like stones.

ivan said...

The madddening "scientific" thoroughness of the George Noory/Art Bell set.
Quite a business.
Monkey business.

virtual nexus said...

Agree that altered mental states are likely culprits for alien perceptions. There's a lot of stress these days (and weird viruses) and the brain can do strange things in response to stress and even minor viral and bacterial infections; but don't believe that rules out everything. How about angels?

NB - Shauna left a comment partly
in response to yours on mine as to how she uses google rss feeds to pick up new posts if you want to follow it up.

the walking man said...

I think teenagers are the only proof necessary that at one time in human ascension from the primordial soup aliens mated with human DNA. iT comes to the fore at about 12 and regresses at about 20 yrs. of age.

Peace

mark

Greg said...

I read Communion a few years back... don't remember much about it, except I think it creeped me out a little.

Hope you feel better, Charles.

Bernita said...

I strongly agree with your take on Strieber, etc.

Charles Gramlich said...

Wayne, once they hatch I may no longer be quite human. Who would believe me then?

Szelsofa, sorry about the disgusting factor. It was pretty bad for me as well. I think it was in part induced by some weird tingling I've been having in my legs and feet lately.

Ivan, thanks for visiting.

Julie, yes, and drugs can leave lingering effects as well. I'll check out Shauna's comment.

Greg, thanks.

Erik Donald France said...

I hear you, man. Good luck!

Aliens -- I t.a.'d for David Jacobs at Temple. Great guy -- and a real believer, no joke. Secret Life posits the same idea re: aliens among us. I still don't believe it, but many do. Your speculations sound about right.

Re: dreams. Some day, maybe with drink in hand, check out Bug. It's pretty crazy, but interesting.

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

Oh you so grossed me out. I have the heebie jeebies bad now! There was that movie with Martin Sheen - The Believers? about voodoo and some girls gets a big egg sac growing under cheek and then it hatches. Oh shit, I just grossed myself out again.

My last class is this Thursday and then I have to grade all the papers! sigh. Can't wait til it is over and all the final grades are in!

Sidney said...

My position on most things, UFOs, Bigfoot, Nessie is: "It's probably not true. But it would really COOL if it were."

I've heard UFOs compared with fairy abductions of another era, a more scientific myth for a more advanced age I guess.

Interestingly too in a book by Nick Pope I read Americans tend to report being abducted by Greys while in Britain abductors are Nordics.

Not sure what cultural reference cause that, but it's interesting.

Steve Malley said...

Seem to recall Jung wrote a book on UFO's as psychological phenomena...

Can't remember right now because I keep imagining the eggs hatching:

Eggs sacs swell and grow under the skin. One night, they burst. Charles staggers to bed, feeling not quite right.

He wakes the next morning with a flawless helmet of news-anchor hair, a blinding white smile and an uncontrollable urge to enter Republican politics or television ministry!

They are among us...

Travis Erwin said...

Congrats on getting your stuff out and into the world. Querying and submitting are by far my least favorite writing tasks.

But it sure is worth it when you hear a ... YES!

Chris Eldin said...

I echo Travis' congratulations for getting your work out there! That part is not easy.

Alien abductions have always fascinated me, because I tend to 'want' to believe in other paranormal happenings. But this one is hard to swallow. I need a photo or some kind of alien trinket. Something, for God's sake!!!

:-)

steve on the slow train said...

There was a story called
"The Earwig." I believe Rod Serling adapted it on "Night Gallery," which had a plot similar to your dream's.

Techically we've all seen UFOs--they just have to be unidentified, flying, and objects. Extraterrestrial life forms are another matter.

Gongratulations on getting your stories out.

Danette Haworth said...

Perhaps you have seen UFOs. Charles, MAYBE THAT WASN'T A RACCOON OUTSIDE!

Lana Gramlich said...

Aliens have actually visited our HOUSE, Charles. You remember Jeff? Why do you think I'm staying on his GOOD side?

Charles Gramlich said...

Erik, Lana and I rented "Bug." It wasn't quite what I expected but was interesting.

Ello, oh, please don't mention grading.

Sid, yeah, I wish that too.

Steve Malley, don't even joke about such things, man. Some things are too horrible to consider.

Travis Erwin, yes, definetely.

Church lady, I had a dream once where I picked up a piece of an exploded UFO and brought it home, but it had melted into just a slag of regular metal.

Steve, yes, I've read that one. I don't think it's terribly uncommon as an idea. Gross though.

Danette, I have an idea making use of that concept for a story. Just haven't got around to using it yet.

Lana, true. I guess I had supressed that memory until you brought it up. Maybe if I were hypnotizied I'd remember multiple "jeff" visits.