Title: Electric Dreams Volume 1 Number 9 File: Electric Dreams 1(9) ========================================================== Electric Dreams back issues are available to the public and listed individually. For an index of Articles and dreams on Electric Dreams, See the IIDCC Research Tools area. ================================================================ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Electric Dreams | | Volume 1 Issue 9 | | 26 June 1994 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Please send suggestions, contributions, mailing list and back issue | | requests to cbeattie@uwspmail.uwsp.edu or cbeatty@worf.uwsp.edu | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dedicated to sharing and exploring dreams __________________________________________________________________________ Message Center I have gotten a few contributions from people over the weeks with notes at the end stating the contributer didn't think I would put their contribution into the newsletter. Remember, this newsletter belongs to all of us. I do not judge contributions to see if they are "good enough" for the newsletter. As long as what you send is about dreams, it _will_ be printed. Chris Beattie (cbeattie@uwspmail.uwsp.edu) Dear Chris et al, First, let me tell you how much I like Electric Dreams and appreciate the work you put into it. I was also grateful for the extensive comments on my Florida Dreams. I am always eager to receive feedback on my publication so I would like to offer you some suggestions for yours. If you find them impertinent, then please disregard them and continue to put out what is already a fine newsletter. I notice that the subscription list is growing weekly. 1. It is too much material for me to receive each week. Finding even the time to read it is difficult and I would like to be able to participate more actively. Perhaps if it were once or twice a month, it would give people a chance to look forward to its arrival. Also, a table of contents would help me to find the things which are of most interest to me if I don't have time for the entire newsletter. There are clearly different departments but it has taken me a while to understand the structure of the whole. {Note from Chris: I like the idea of printing this every other week, and will begin doing so unless there is a large vote against it. Have your votes in by Saturday, July 2. Next Sunday I will send out either a newsletter or a note with the result of the vote} 2. It seems that there is a core group which provides most of the interpretation. Are you all in the same place? Could you print the dreams and the interpretations in the same issue, the interpretation immediately following the dream? I know, I know. The need for instant gratification is the bane of our society and all that, but it would be much easier to follow. It is difficult to remember dreams from past issues. If others write in with interpretations later, you could perhaps open a Reader's Letters "column". {Note from Chris: We have no formal core group of interpreters, so anyone who would like to volunteer please let me know, and we could try this last suggestion to see how it works.} (dahven@aol.com) __________________________________________________________________________ Dream Comments ======The Bear and the Vampire Princess=================================== In my dreams, bears represent problems or situations that are currently causing problems in my life (i.e. "That test was such a bear!") The fact that the bear was black, and in fact dissolved into a nebulous, undefined "blackness" gives it even more of a feeling of negativity. Perhaps the bear represents my own fears or anger/aggression, my own Jungian "Shadow" or darker side, that I am trying to escape? This aspect of my Self is perfectly natural (emerged from a nature preserve) and yet I try to run away from it, abandoning friendly parts of myself in order to get away. Now, suddenly, I fear being drained of my life force (vampire trying to drink my blood.) I am wearing red, the color of blood, life, passion, and also danger..... Pamela Ryan (pryan@prairienet.org) The all female "anonymous" friends: connection to other women, you don't know them but they seem to be your friends, it seems you don't trust them or, at least, don't consider them very important, you abandon them to save yourself from the Black Bear--could it be that in real life you'd rather stand away from people and not get to know them in order to "save yourself" from rejection or a possible attack? I have an interesting spin on your black bear image. In legend, the bear has always been a symbol of introspection, healing, and tribal /family strength. Have you ever seen how protective a mother bear can be with its young? Or how protective a bear is, in general, of its territory? Bears don't usually attack unless they are sick or defending something (depending on the bear). What would've drawn this bear out and provoked it to attack you and your friends? You try and run but you can't move. The bear was calling you, perhaps in a ferocious way (in order to grab your attention), to set some time out for yourself before you set out for school/work/socializing. Perhaps the bear was also telling you that in order to be loved and accepted, you must love and accept yourself. Whenever the image of a bear comes up, it is an omen- -telling you to go "within" the cave introspection (hibernation) and emerge full of renewed strength and wisdom (incubation of dreams, a long rest/sleep, etc. can heal you and help prepare you to deal with the real world again). As for the bear attacking/catching two or more of you friends; perhaps you have observed this behavior in others--others "taking off" to be by themselves--attacked by introspection. Perhaps you have felt abandoned in the past by others who do a lot of this "spending time alone to think" stuff. Perhaps you feel left out in the involvements of others and just want to run away. Or perhaps you just feel guilty whenever you "abandon" others to go off on your own private quests? Because this time _you_ have done the abandoning and you are not the abandoned. When you look back on it, do you feel that perhaps the black bear was your protector or more protective self? When you confront Vampire Princess Miyu, I believe you are coming face to face with your conscience/intuition/Higher Self. Miyu also seems to be a "mystical police woman" who, in some way, tracked you down for not paying your spiritual "dues." Abandoning your friends (even though it was in self-defense) weighs heavily on your mind. The Vampire Princess who is your conscience/intuition/mystical side feels abandoned, too. Here you have been ignoring your conscience/intuition lately? Is there something you feel "chased by" (paranoia, anxiety, worries, etc.) in life that is causing you to abandon some plans or temporarily "abandon" some people you care about? The need to escape seems to be stronger than love or friendship, right now. There are also some simularities between Miyu and the black bear: both are defenders as well as "healers" (Miyu can give immortal life; the bear hibernates in winter to emerge strong in spring--basically renewing itself). Both characters are also images of death/rebirth. Clearly some sort of transition is being emphasized here... In the form of Miyu, your conscience is telling you to trust it and listen; "don't abandon or attack me or I will chase you down and haunt you like a ghost until you deal with me(your inner self)." In the form of the black bear, your strong "fight vs. flight" instinct was telling you; "face my blackness--I am the unknown--I am fierce and I have claws and teeth that can hurt. Face me and you face your fear. Fear can become an ally once you defeat it. I attacked your friends because, in some way, you fear them. Don't allow them or yourself to be hurt by me (fear). Learn from me and let me be your ally..." As for you in the gown: seems you are dressed for some sort of special occasion (considering you rarely wear dresses), could also be a celebration coming, attraction, adornment, making yourself "pretty" for something special, and, since it's red, there is some passion and strong emotion. Red is also the color of the Mother aspect of the Goddess. Perhaps you are growing into the "Queen-hood" of life; maturity, wisdom, embracing the mysteries of woman-hood, fertilizing your passions/projects with the "blood" of life and woman-spirit. And now, for a little experiment....I'm going to draw out a card from my Tarot deck, using the Major Arcana. Since Chris is here with me, I'm going to have her shuffle the cards, separate them into three piles, and, having her concentrate on the image of her dream, have her pick one card from the top.... The card she picked was THE HANGED MAN, in the reversed position. What I interpret from this is that she has been feeling rather "hung up" lately, with little time to herself, spending too much time working/doing things for others. She wants to devote herself to her more "mystical dream-like" side (remembering her dreams, concentrating on learning more about herself, etc.) but to do so, she feels she would have to "abandon" some caution/work/responsibilities to the wind. The Hanged Man is a very spiritual, introspective card in its most general meaning. It's also a card that says "take it easy on yourself;" that worrying is "pre-suffering" and fear will eat up the energy you'll need when a real crisis may happen. Right now, let things be and pamper yourself a bit, hang out with some good friends, and relax. You will feel more refreshed, less fearful, and ready to handle things with a "clear" conscience. --Val, the Dream Shaman (ka109016@spstmail.uwsp.edu) __________________________________________________________________________ Dreams ======Unamed by author==================================================== I 'wake' (like I suddenly exist) wandering on a dirt path, with scrub brush and tufts of dry grass. I walk like I'm drunk - kind of meandering back and forth, but the path is where I'm walking all the time - and it is straight. I feel as if I have always been doing this, and I still am. I continue this forever, and in that dream, am doing that right at this moment. The dream is lucid - since when I do not know. I don't sense this wandering ending, but its like I got drawn into another portion of the dream.. I'm in a white room with a high sloping "wall" (roof), and there's something outside. The place is based solidly on something /somewhere, but there's void outside one wall, which is covered with tall 'windows' or portals. There is - SOMETHING - outside the window. All I can say about it is that it was green and sort of 'gaseous'. And it emenated pure EVIL. For some reason I was reminded of the witch of the (West? East?) in the Wizard of Oz, riding on her broomstick/bicycle outside Dorothy's window in the cyclone (I haven't seen that movie in so long!) Its cackling, or something of the sort, and before this I saw two other things - somehow - like on a screen in my mind. First I saw a 'mask'... like a hideously evil face - but somehow it had a demon's hue about it. And the eyes were - just not eyes, like they were enlarged, no color... like ping pong balls in the sockets. But they were HIS eyes. Then I saw a man's body, in some kind of bulky clothing .. or baggy .. (slacks/flannel?) it was sort of spread eagled, but falling with its right side down, its head to my left. I sensed that it was dead - and also that it almost had no soul. It was in shadow, but everything in the dream was as if suffused in shadow - not light, as is normal. Then I see the - illusion? for some reason that is what I call it. And I see a person I hardly know, and he says that since we both saw the three forms, we shall die. What is really frightening is that the dream was so REAL. I felt everything, and I swear it WAS real. It was like I got jerked from the 'first dream' into reality. I've been 'pulled' into this dream, several times. I start to dream, and end up in it - Once i dreamt that a friend was in it - his back to my perspective - (3rd person at the time) and I approached him, and he became some sort of dragon/gargoyle. Does that have any significance? eternal@ ======Musicians and Lost Boys============================================= I am in a garage, watching a man hang upside down by a rope against a brick wall. He's a singer, and is shooting a video (there was music within the dream -- pop/rock, I think, although the setting looked more jazz/blues). He's quite acrobatic, and is swinging from the rope (held under his arm, or else tied to his foot) as he sings. Another musician is in the scene, as well, seated near the singer. There is a car in the foreground. Now I'm at a gas station, looking for my car. I open the door of a car (same color -- dark red -- as mine, but larger/more luxurious) and sit in the driver's seat. Two young men, one of whom I know from a teen activism group I used to sponsor in RL) ask me how to find a certain house on Elm Street, where they are supposed to attend some kind of meeting. I pull a map out of the glove compartment and locate "Elm" -- it's clear across town! Oddly, the streets on the map aren't continuous lines, but appear fragmented. The boys go off in search of their meeting. I realize that the car I'm in actually belongs to a wealthy, older man who is inside the gas station. I look for my husband, and our van (we don't own a van, in RL --we each have our own compact car.) Pamela Ryan (pryan@prairienet.org) ======Dream from 23 June================================================== I am in a theatre watching the performance of a Japanese dance troupe. At intermission, I realize that I need to get something from home. There is a tiny all-white sportscar at the exit which the theatre uses in the case of medical emergencies. I plan to be back in a few minutes so I decide to borrow the car. I follow a bus, thinking it will lead me to the highway but instead, I find myself trapped in an elevated bus loop. I can see the road I want below but no way of getting there. I decide to take the car down the stairwell of the attached building. At each landing, I have to drive into the adjacent space to turn around. A receptionist is sitting in one of these offices. I am afraid that she will report me for driving in the building so I hurry down the rest of the stairs to the exit. I hear her behind me yelling, "Wait, wait." She is running after the car, holding a child in one arm and dragging a stroller with the other. "Wait, I want to come with you." I floor the pedal but the car is electric and it moves slowly. She is gaining on me. There is another building between me and the street. I go in with the woman hot on my tail. I finally give up and screech to a halt when I see a revolving door in front of me. "All right," I say. "Get in, but there's no room for the baby carriage." I get out of the car to unzip the passenger seat but I feel a stinging on my foot. I look down and see an insect trapped underneath my stocking. "Oooooow... Help! Help me get it off." We peel the stocking away and there is an evil-looking insect burrowing into my foot. It has long front legs and wings and its stinger is buried deeply inside of me. I can't shake it loose but the woman plucks it off, pulling the inch long stinger from my foot. I decide to have the bite looked at since we are in a hospital and I have never seen an insect like this before. I walk to the emergency room where the doctor looks at my swelling foot in the hall. She seems uninterested until I cry out again, "It's the other foot now! Help me!" We peel the other stocking off to find another insect piercing my other foot in exactly the same place. I leave the clinic barefoot, with a welt on the top of each foot, perfectly matched like stigmata.< The night before last, I dreamt that I was carrying my scooter up the stairwell of a school building because I was late for a history exam and couldn't find a place to park it. What am trying to communicate to myself? (dahven@aol.com) ======Val's Serial Dream================================================== "I'm Death, BJ's the Crow, and We Hunt Down a Serial Killer" VMK DREAM JOURNAL ENTRY #83 Vol. 5, March 24, 1994 Part Six: "Meeting at the Graveyard" I had a hard time sleeping so this sequence is somewhat fragmented because I was taking naps--only allowing for short "films" of dreams to take place. The first one was walking along the shore, getting bored, all alone. It was warm outside, but in the distance was thunder and rain, yet so faraway and not coming towards me. Then there was this disorienting blur and I was back facing the homestead-like-rickety-house -that-Beavis-n-Butthead-built-an-extention-to. I heard echoed voices. I walked up closer to the front and peeked inside the windows. Moulder and Scully were inside. I almost attracted their attention, til I was pulled back by BJ. "Val, don't be so dangerous!" He cried and I briefly woke up. Next time I went to sleep, there was this flash of flowers and a huge bumble bee buzzing about a long stemmed rose. For some reason, I wasn't afraid of the bee and longed to take the rose. But Chris suddenly appeared before me. "Chris, you're alive!" I shouted. But she shook her head, "no", and then BJ appeared. "What...who were you talking about?" He asked. And I just stood there. "If you _want_ the rose, take it!" He handed me the rose and the bee flew out the window. "Now," he continued, "let's find out who the hell this serial killer is! Tom called and he's going to meet us at the cemetery." I don't take the rose, but we _do_ go to the cemetery only to find all the tombstones are blank and the Moon is as bright as the Sun. BJ was normally dressed, where I was Death once again. Like a super spy, Tom popps out from behind one of the big tombstones. "PSST!" He hisses, and he pushes a button on the side of the stone (the tomb is unmarked). After that, out opens a trap door with stairs leading down into the Earth. Tom leads us down there. It's dank and cool, not too wet. Inside the Earth, we are as we are in a cave, but we're not. It's like this underground bunker--the sort that some people made during the cold war that's supposed to help you survive a nuclear explosion. Down there, Tom tells us he has some information..."secret" information. "The serial killer is very near now," he said, "he is the swarm of bees devouring flowers--especially old ones in danger of wilting that are no longer needed or wanted now. Get yourselves out of the water and stay underground. If you need a weapon, light a fire or a couple of fires--but don't let them burn and keep the light to yourselves." For some reason BJ asks, "Is Chris the serial killer? She might've faked her death, you know...no one really checked to see if it was _indeed_ her body that we found!" Tom shakes his head "no." "She is the killed, but ever surviving. Swab her with sweetness and she will be a guide..." That's all I remember. (Just three more dreams in this series to go! Making nine dreams in all. In issue 12, I'll collect my own commentaries on this "Serial Killer" dream as well as those of others. There is quite an interesting, real life story behind this one...stay tuned!) --Val, the Dream Shaman (ka109016@spstmail.uwsp.edu) __________________________________________________________________________ Dream Project Thanks, guys, for all your comments on my dreams! As you suspected, Pam, I _do_ have a deep connection with nature, infact, it is the basis of my spirituality and Native American heritage. I also love the fairy-tales of old and dreams are just one way of my getting in touch with my creative, inner child. I have a terrible temper and vindictive side which is rarely provoked. I never get angry or obsessive about the little things, though. Betrayal and superficiality is what upsets me the most. I hardly ever react physically on my anger, I scream and break dishes a lot... I _do_ get to feel helpless a lot and have a hard time letting go of the past which haunts me--only because I let it haunt me. When I dream of mirrors it is my way of "going within" to heal myself and get at the root of problems. As for Chris' comments on the gore in my dreams...I have experienced a lot of trauma due to the deaths of two friends--one was a drug dealer who was killed in my neighborhood (just down the block from where I used to live) and the other was a sort of "stoner" friend of mine who killed himself by a gunshot to the head (he did this in front of me and others). I used to hang out with the rough crowd back in high school. I had to deal with gang fighting, drug and alcohol use, suicide, psuedo-Satanism, the works! After seeing some people get really messed up, I turned my life around by re-discovering my cultural and spiritual roots and by getting serious about my art and academic life. I guess those experiences toughened me up a little, but you still don't get over seeing someone die. I, for the life of me, don't know how war veterans deal with it. Death isn't a very pretty, easy thing to live and deal with when you have experienced it in a violent way... Usually when I am dreaming of such things, I am trying to face my fears, anxieties, and losses so they can no longer have power over me. It's a hard thing to do, but it makes you stronger and helps prepare you for life's other crisises. I do take pride in my dreams and look forward to them every night! Now I'll give you a little background on the dreams I had, what I feel they have to say about me and what I was going through at the time I had them (since they cover several years worth of experiences)... In the "Faceless Man" dream, I was dealing with the superficiality of my friends around me (one in particular was Brandon). I am an honest and deep feeling person and was having a hard time trusting other people with my feelings. Back in October 1989, I had lost a friend to a violent suicide (I literally watched him die) and my friend Brandon (who I had just met that January of 1990) reminded me of this loss. Brandon resembled the friend I had lost to a tee--he had the same attitude, sense of humor, style of dress, and interests. I was trying to block this out of my mind, but the simuliarities were frightening. This was one of the reasons I did not like Brandon when I first met him. The other reasons were that he was very arrogant and "fadish," especially with his friends. We all used to call him "the Chameleon" because he had a flair "blending in with the crowd" and rarely, if ever, voiced an opinion that was solely and originally his. I was afraid of him (therefore, I dream him as this nightmarish, faceless man cutting himself up) and I still associate this man with the image of the friend I lost. He is a symbol of disappointment and loss (see my commentary on "Brandon's Funeral" later on...). "Tea with the Butterfly Woman" was the first dream I had where I met Jhnana, a spirit guide of mine. I believe she is faerie and I had travelled to the realm of Faerie in this dream. The advice she gave me was very helpful. I was still dealing with "fake friends" at the time where one friend-turned-adversary was spreading lies about me. The opinions of others greatly effected me at the time. I felt helpless, still not knowing who to trust and fearing the loss of more friends, this time not to death, but to slander which was even worse. Jhnana reminded me that the "poison" that was being spread about me was untrue and not worth my concern. In the end, truth comes out and it is the truth that was my strength. All the bad stuff that was being thrown at me went straight through me--I learned from it and suffered no harm. In "Mirrors" I was concentrating on my image as an artist, trying to decide where I was to fit in the art world, would I ever be "anybody," etc. At the end of the dream where I am part serpent: I felt powerful because the snake is a personal power totem for me and I have a strange affinity with snakes (when I lived down south I encountered many poisonous ones, but was never bit--once when I was twelve, I handled a copperhead, not knowing it was dangerous!) Seeing the power symbol while exploring my place in the art world meant to me that I was about to create great and wonderful things in my life...and that I have nothing to be down on myself for. The "Undead Stillborn Baby from Hell" is still a mystery to me. I was living with my brother at the time. It was horrible because he wasn't cleaning up after himself and he didn't have a job--he was basically leeching off me! I was very angry and perhaps he was this awful baby in the dream. In real life I knocked some sense into him when I moved out without letting him know (yes, I can be very vindictive!) and he had to start paying all the over due bills in a hurry! Eventually my brother had to serve time in jail for some two year's over due parking tickets (totaling over $500!). I was shocked, but wasn't surprised. When the "Angel Helps Me Put Out a Fire" dream came to me, I was just getting over a bad crush over Brandon. The angel himself is named Christopher and often appears in my dreams whenever I'm dealing with affairs of the heart. I felt he helped me help myself get over him by "putting out the fire." Often in my spirit guide dreams I am lucid and am usually being "tested" and my self esteem benefits a lot from them- -though lately I haven't had very many of them. "Weaving with Grandmother Spider" was a direct connection to the Goddess as Creator. The dream helped me let go of some fears and worries about the future, but I still have trouble dealing with depression and stuff, I'm just not as helpless about it. "Rotting Hands and Crystal Wrists" dealt with a physical ailment I had during the summer of 1992. Because I work so much with my hands (I am an artist), I developed carpal tunnel syndrome and thoratic outlet syndrome which, going unchecked and untreated for five years, resulted in some nerve damage. In this dream, I was attempting to "incubate" some healing (hence trying to draw a power image like a pentagram with my own blood). "The Magician" dream resulted after I had been researching ceremonial magick. I believe it was my way of "meeting" with the information I was researching personally. During the summer of 1993, "Brandon's Funeral" dream represented how I was dealing with the fact that he was leaving. He was acting very strange with everyone at the time, becoming very distant and mean spirited. It was difficult for me because during the coarse of the four years I had known him, I let him get close to me. After learning to trust him, he was now brushing me off as if he didn't know me. In my dream I was trying to bury him--physcial death of a friend is a lot easier to handle than rejection for me. "Disgust" came from a time when I went under a deep depression. I was constantly sick and spent a lot of time alone. This dream helped me bring new life to a story I had been working on and, consequently, working on this story helped me to feel better. I believe the swallowing of the mirror and throwing it up was an image of "purging" myself of the negative, untrue things I was forcing myself to ingest. Now for happier things! My "String-o-Fetus" dream to me represents some of the art/literary projects me and my best friend are working on together and separately. I'm real excited about our "creations" but feel they are just small things right now with the potential to grow into wonderful, big things! This dream was definitely a fertile one. >>Sorry so long, I get a bit long-winded sometimes. Thanx again for the commentaries, --Val, the Dream Shaman (ka109016@spstmail.uwsp.edu) __________________________________________________________________________ Dream Articles ======The Power of Dreams-Review========================================== Part One: The Search for Meaning This is a summary of a show that was on The Discovery Channel. I will review one part for each issue of Electric Dreams until I run out of parts. This episode explored what dreams are, why we dream, and what our dreams mean. It is no wonder that we should be so interested in dreams. The average person spends 2 hours per night dreaming. This is a total of 6 years over the average lifetime. Doctor Milton Kramer described his theory that dreams are a type of emotional thermostat. Our overall emotional state will influence dream content. The contents of our dreams may also affect our mood when we wake up. Emotions in dreams should be given as much attention as the dream content. Doctor Kramer also talked about nightmares, especially where post traumatic stress disorder was involved. He believed the nightmares actually contributed to the the problem by keeping it alive. The experience is not contained within the dream, and the dreamer wakes up emotionally charged. Robert Bosnak felt it helps to talk about dreams in a group. In his discusion groups, the dream is recited in the present tense, with the other members of the group trying to experience the dream for themselves. The group describes their own feelings and physical reactions, and then drill the dreamer for his or her feelings about the dream. Bosnak feels that the dream can bring emotions to the surface where they can be felt and dealt with, rather than repressed. Rosalind Cartwright researches the dreams of people who have been through traumatic events. She feels people who pay close attention to their dreams tend to recover more quickly from life crises. We need to dream and dream often because dreams are our only opportunity to deal with our emotional needs. During waking life, we are too busy with our day to day concerns, like getting food and avoiding trucks, to worry about our emotional state. Rapid Eye Movement was discovered in 1953 at University of Chicago by Eugene Aserinski and Nathanial Clightman. EEG showed brainwaves were very rapid, almost as active as waking mind, during REM sleep. Heartrate and breathing also increased. Humans have a 90 minute sleep cycle, occuring 4 to 5 times per night. Newborns spend 8 hours per day in REM sleep, kittens, almost 24 hours. It is believed dream sleep is crucial in young creatures for development of the central nervous system. Muscles shut down during REM sleep, with eyes, fingers and toes still able to move. Physical signs of sexual arousal in both genders have also been detected. REM sleep behavior disorder is a disease that occurs in some people, mostly elderly men. These people can move during dream sleep, and attemp to act out their dreams. They may injure their spouses or themselves. This affliction is treatable by medication. The cause is unknown, but is believed to be neurological and related to aging. Francis Crik believes dreams are a wastebasket for the brain. We dream to forget, to remove bizarre forms of thought and avoid mental gridlock. He feels we may be better off forgetting our dreams. Allan Hobson and Robert McKarly came up with something called the Dream generator. This theory states that dreams are generated by the random firing of neurons in a primitive part of the brain called the pons. The neural impulses travel to the cortex where a story is created to impose order on this random input. Earnest Hartmann discussed dreams as an indicator of personallity type. The personallity factors were called boundaries in the mind. There are two poles to the types, thin and thick boundaries. The boundaries seperate things like thought and emotion, dreaming and waking, fantasy and reality. People with thick boundaries tend not to remember many of their dreams, don't spend much time daydreaming or fantasizing, and keep things very seperated in their minds. They typically have jobs as engineers, lawyers, or military personnel. Thin boundaried people remember many dreams and nightmares. They don't usually have typical blue or white collar jobs, but tend to be artists, painters, or musicians. They often use their dreams in their work. Many thin boundaried people are more susceptable to depression. The closing quote was, "Dreams are real while they last. Can we say more of life?" This article only touched on what the video covered. The Discovery Channel is offering the full set of 3 video tapes. Call 1-800-932-3600 to order them. They cost $49.95 for the set. I will review the other two shows in the next two issues. Sorry if names of some people mentioned in this article are spelled wrong, time constraints took their toll this issue. Chris (cbeattie@uwspmail.uwsp.edu) __________________________________________________________________________ Questions and Answers Dear Dreamers, Thank you all for your responses. My journey has taken me to meet and talk with several different groups of people. All have been very friendly and helpful. Pamela, you mentioned that 'These Power Dreams or Great Dreams have much to tell us, not just the individual dreamer.' Could you expand on this for me please. My studies are converging towards a path we may both share and I seek knowledge. Val, my 'born again' Pagan friend. I like that, though I'm not sure Pagan fits either. My Mom still believes that I'll come back into the fold and she's happy with it. I try not to make waves. And you absolutely correct about 'Answers are never given to you.' I came across something called Ten Indispensable Tools for being Human and one of them is 'Your answer lies within you. All you need to do is look, listen and trust.' Chris, Thanks again for Electric Dreams. It is a great forum! :) Now I have a question for all of you. Has anyone had a dream in which someone tells you, your name is not your real name? And you wake up wondering what that is all about? In my dream, I sat and argued with a woman I didn't know, telling her my name was James Hunter, and with piercing eyes she told me "No. It's not." I've tried to find out my "Dream" name with some luck but not a solid feeling. Well??? Jim (jamesh@dsinet.dgtl.com) {Note from Chris: These are responses to last week's questions, asking about possible themes and topics for future issues, readers polls, dreaming in comic book format, and dreams about Morpheus.} Life-Altering/Spiritual dreams would be a good topic, in my opinion. Nightmares would be another interesting one. Or the first dream you remember, from childhood. The poll idea is interesting. I have a questionnaire that I used to distribute to students when I used to teach dream seminars -- I'd be happy to pass it along. I've never been much into comic books, but have heard interesting things about SANDMAN. I have had dreams in cartoon-animation form, but never comic book form. No ideas about Morpheus, sorry. Pamela Ryan (pryan@prairienet.org) The dreams I have had about comics deal with illustration and creativity, imagination, etc. I get wonderful ideas for stories and projects from them, eventhough I'm not truely looking into comics as a career (I'd rather write or edit them). As for Morpheus, whenever I dream of him, he is not how he looks as the comic character he is in SANDMAN. He is an average looking man with long brown hair (sort of like a lion's mane) and he has the eyes of a cat. He wears black all the time and feels like a brother to me. The only way I found out that he was Morpheus was I asked him his name and he told me it was "Morpheus...." I haven't asked him what he thinks of the newsletter yet, but I'm sure he'd like it. Anyone who's into dreams should be into _Electric Dreams_! --Val, the Dream Shaman (ka109016@spstmail.uwsp.edu) I love the idea of themes. I keep an electronic dream journal so I can easily pull up old dreams to suit theme issues. Current events dreams are always interesting (O.J. Simpson? No, I haven't dreamt about him either but you know what I mean. Maybe Yugoslavia). Public figures (Madonna? Elvis? Did you know that someone is putting together or maybe has published already a book of dreams about Bill Clinton?) Holidays when timely (Christmas, Mother's Day...). And how about flying, train, religious, transformation, goddess, school, insect, food, death, apocalypse dreams? I have thought about arranging dreams from different people chronologically to see if their were any recurring themes on a given night. You could put out a call like, "OK, everybody concentrate on your dreams on the night of the summer solstice," or something like that. I've also wanted to find someone in a "sister city" and exchange dreams to see what they say about the cultural characteristics of the places we live. Just a few ideas... (dahven@aol.com) ______ Electric Dreams is an independent electronic publication, and is not affiliated with any other organization.