I know
I've talked a lot on this blog about my dreams. I hope it isn't too boring.
This post is going to be about dreaming too, particularly about two dreams I
had this past week.
I've
mentioned "lucid" dreams here before. These are dreams in which the dreamer
becomes aware that he or she is dreaming. I have these fairly often. There are
two layers to lucid dreaming. In the first layer, you become aware of the dream
but are unable to change anything about it. You're along for the ride. In the
second layer, you can actually manipulate things in the dream. I have both
experiences, though usually when I become aware that I'm dreaming I can
manipulate it. And when I do, I immediately start to fly! What can I say,
I just love flying.
At the
end of last week I had a lucid dreaming and was flying through a cityscape when
a new idea occurred to me. I was flying "around" the buildings. Why?
Since I knew it was a dream, the buildings were only there in my imagination. I
immediately decided to fly "through" a building. I turned toward a
big brick skyscraper and accelerated directly into the wall. It shattered as I
hit it and the whole top of the building exploded in a scene worthy of a modern
action thriller. I came out the other side unharmed, exhilarated as flames and
smoke rose behind me.
Two
nights ago, I had a different lucid dreaming experience, another first for me.
I'm calling it a semi-lucid dream. Here's what happened.
Lana
and I had company at our house, although the place was different. There was no
tin roof on the back porch and the yard was more open. We could see a stream
not far away. We were outside in the late evening when I noticed a distant
silhouette of some huge flying creature. A plane was flying by at the same time
and distance so I could compare. I told Lana the silhouette looked like a
dragon. Lana said, “I wish.” (Jeopardy that evening had a dragon category that
both Lana and I enjoyed.)
As
I looked back to our yard, a huge hot-air balloon without a basket came
floating through the trees and then hovered, billowing in the air over the
stream. It was shaped like a clown face, very pale, almost mime-like. As I
looked at it, it spoke to me, though I can’t remember what it said.
At
that moment I realized I was dreaming and told Lana. This is where I have to
use the term semi-lucid to describe this dream. Although I knew I was dreaming
and that the clown-face wasn’t real, I actually kept Lana in the dream with me.
I told her that we were going to fly, which I do in lucid dreams, and stepped
forward and wrapped my arms around her.
As
I tried to lift off, however, I could barely budge us, as if we were too heavy
together to fly. Then I sort of laughed and realized how ridiculous that was.
Weight made no difference in a lucid dream. I relaxed myself, held Lana tight,
and lifted off slowly into the air. As we rose, we spun around and around as if
we were dancing. Lana clung to me very tightly, and as we reached the height of
the trees around us, I could tell she was a bit nervous. I let us slowly sink
back to earth.
As
we landed, Lana was all smiles. She turned to go in the house and I moved to
follow her but glanced back one more time at the sky. The hot air balloon face
had been replaced by a gigantic fantasy moon. It was red/orange/black, with a
clearly defined face of shadowy eyes, mouth and nose. “See,” I called after
Lana. “It’s a dream.”
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