Monstrous
Witches Brew => Dreaming => Topic started by: Arcane Artifice on June 19, 2010, 01:26:54 AM
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This being from personal experience and a bit of analysis, I have come to a few possible theories for the dream world and how it operates. While this may seem a bit cartoonish or like something out of a comic book I assure you this is all based on personal experience and long thought processes as well as analysis.
The Division of Territory:
This theory originated from the constant shifts in location (most to which I've never visited) however throughout my dreams there are several instances of returning to these locations for various other dream "episodes" per say. While this could be just my mind I have started to believe that the Dreamworld or Realm is divided into three territories: Neutral , Nightmare , and Passive. In this theory the three realms are divided into vastly diverse sizes (The neutral zone having the largest amount of area, while Nightmares have the second highest, and Passive's have the least) this is due to the to numerous dreamers who inhabit the dream world at any given time. Considering most people will normally dream about normal situations, such as meeting a friend, or going out somewhere, these build onto the territory which in turn shapes itself into a vast landscape. The Nightmare zone is usually caused by stress, malevolent forces, or some other cause that effects the dreamer and causes negative Dream-matter to be produced, thus adding onto the size of the nightmare zone. The Passive, pleasant dreams are smaller because in most cases a perfect dream in which a person has absolute control is quite rare, this added to the fact that a pleasant dream requires a large amount of positive stimuli (to which enough isn't accumulated in a normal day unless conditions are met) causes these dreams to be very rare, and in most cases very vivid. With that being stated these three territories have their own systems of law as well as their own inhabitants.
Inhabitants:
In many dreams you will sometimes meet people you've never encountered before, in some cases you will see people you know quite well, and in some cases you will meet things you've never encountered. The people you meet (that you have no idea who they are) are, theorized by myself, to be the dream-matter or the essence of another person somewhere on this planet who may have or still exists. This is because each dreamer leaves behind residue, a sort of bonding anchor that attaches itself to the dreamworld and leaves itself there. This residue (for this topic we shall refer to them as Alter forms, projections, or Avatars) ends up becoming self sufficient and autonomous which explains why each dream can start off different. I refer to this as the "Second life" theory which shall be explained later. However you may ask, "what happens when that person "dies" in one of my dreams?" this can be answered with the "Dream-anchor" and "Regenerative Re-spawn". The Dream-anchor, as mentioned before, ties down a dreamer's essence into the dream world thus giving it a place to constantly be (this could explain why in some dreams you always start in the same location or somewhere close to it). While multiple anchors can be placed within the dream world, the origin marker is always placed within at a specific point (one that normally coincides with a real world location). Regenerative re-spawn is a theory that explains death and rebirth within a dream. Many times in a nightmare or a neutral dream someone, or yourself, may die, while they remain absent from the current dream the thought is that when they die, their dream-matter is merely scattered. Should the Avatar's physical body still be alive regeneration occurs during the day, when the body is active. The collected energy from a normal day adds onto an anchor point, which then acts as a magnet and reconstructs the avatar. When the Avatar is reconstructed it is projected again and carries out its life in the same manner as before.
Second Life:
The Second Life theory is one that came to me a long time ago when I was intensely involved in dream studies. This theory of mine states that as a dreamer sleeps it takes control of the avatar in the dream world and is able to interact with other avatars or things of that nature. However when a Dreamer is awake, the avatar "awakens" and gains its self control, becoming a double and acting in a way according to the style of its physical form. This explains why in some instances you seem familiar with people who you've never met within a dream and why other avatars tend to recognize and act friendly towards you. This second life can vary depending on how the dreamer acts during sleep and to what stimuli and experiences the dreamer encountered during the day.
Dream-Matter: the very fabric of the dream world
It has come to my attention, and through a nightmare, that the dream world we all inhabit is made of the very residue we leave behind. This dream matter forms every single millimeter of the dream world, along with its inhabitants, it creatures, and its enforcers. Dream-matter, upon witnessing an avatar broken down into dream matter, is a heavy liquid that is tinted in a orange-gray, while this could have been to due to the environment to which the nightmare took place I haven't been able to witness the deconstruction of an avatar since that dream. Apologies for the short information on dream-matter i haven't had much time to analyze it.
The Law and its enforcers:
As mentioned everything in the dream world is composed of Dream-matter, along with it's masters and its enforcers. While I've only ever met the Nightmare enforcers (dubbed Dream Demons), it can be assumed that each territory has its own set of enforcers that carry out the laws of the dream world. In this case the law of the dream world is to maintain a balance between the territories as well as making sure that dreamers cannot gain any substantial power that could threaten this balance. In this case I had been anchored into a town on the border of the nightmare and neutral territory, this town had already suffered the effects of being in such close proximity with the negative energy and as a result had many strange growths and was always dim. During this particular dream, the very one that caused me to go back into research and find out more about dreams, it was night time, and word had been spreading around about creatures who only appeared in the night. If you were not inside of your home or any building for that matter, you'd never be heard from again. This led me to become curious, because I had the dream anchor theory still running through my mind, and I began to dive into this rumor spreading through the town. As it appeared these dream demons were prowling the town only at night to collect dream matter to not only sustain themselves but to ensure that the nightmare territory had an ample supply. When I found this out, it had grown to the time that the demons appeared, this occurred in what first was a gentle ground-hugging thick mist, this was the indicator that they were coming. When this sign appeared I saw many of the avatar shells running trying to get inside as fast as possible. I had chosen to go inside of a grocery store with around twenty avatars (No I did not watch "the Mist" prior to having this dream), there I met a diversity of people. When I asked what was going on, a Female avatar (whose name I've forgotten) pulled a gun out from beneath the store counter, many of the employees had also ran into storage and retrieved weapons as well. While I first thought this was turning into an action dream I was quickly corrected when I turned around to look outside the front entrance of the store. Everything had become pitch-black, I couldn't see a single light from the town outside, nor could i see anything beyond the glass separating myself, the avatars, and the darkness outside. It was then that the Female Avatar (I'll go ahead and call her Jill) turned on a flashlight that shot directly into the dark void. Everywhere in that void were short stubby creatures, the point past their elbows was extremely large, and had three large nails protruding from the front with an additional one where the thumb would be. The skin coloration was a dirty tan, like someone dragged a person through dirt and grim. They had no eyes, but their faces were almost rectangular in shape, in fact the head proved to be almost as large as the torso. To add onto their facial features everything as missing save for a slit of skin, that when opened revealed a plentiful array of sharp teeth, this slit could open from ear-tip to ear-tip, and allowed them to bite through just about anything. if I were to guess, they were somewhere between 5 feet to 5'2". When the light hit these creatures their facial slits opened and a hideous shriek spilled out and shattered the glass at the front of the store, it was then I heard Jill yell something, and the avatars began to shoot at the demons. When the bullets impacted it only seemed to slow them down, which seemed to be the point, however there were far too many for the limited amount of firepower that the avatars had. This is where I messed up, being a Lucid dreamer (and possibly being in REM) I accessed some of the skills that my avatar had, in short I materialized some powers and started using them against the demons. Then the demons went crazy. Their pace increased and they began to actually deconstruct the dream matter of any avatars in front of them. I witnessed a small child, a mother, and a man dematerialized by these demons. The process involved the demon(s) holding out their arms, if an avatar was close enough it generated a kind of magnetic pull (I believe this was manipulation of the DM) then by using their own abilities, the DM was returned to its liquid state instantaneously. While the other avatars and I held the line, time (which is accelerated in the dream world) had come to the point where the demons would retreat (this occurred at dawn). Upon retreating I was thanked by Jill and the remaining avatars and had the situation explained further. It was then I saw the actual border to where the town ended and the nightmare territory began (the territory begins as an open dessert expanse) it was then after receiving a few more words from Jill that I awoke, baffled, curious, and frustrated. During this point I began to look into hacking dreams, in which the "Dream Control Panel" (as I call it) is activated by a dreamer allowing them free reign to do as they please, ultimately breaking the second law of the dreamworld. This didn't settle with the Nightmare Lords, who in turn had a dream demon watch me and possibly follow my avatar. Getting back on topic, the enforcer's job was to use the matter and give it a new purpose as well as delete anyone who broke their rules (in this case I almost succeeded). Should the dream matter be broken down it is believed that (in both the dream world and by myself) that all anchor points become invalid and that avatar ceases to exist. While this hasn't happened to me or to any other dreamer I know, I can only document my experiences with it.
So to restate this in a quick summary: The law is maintain balance between the territories and make sure a dreamer doesn't have substantial abilities (such as being able to alter the balance). Enforcers are made to, as their name implies, enforce this law as well as delete anyone who breaks these laws, or who's unfortunate enough to encounter them.
I will add more to this in a few hours for I need to sleep (hopefully I won't not encounter anything along the lines of an Enforcer).
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Continuing from where I left off yesterday we'll begin this part by explaining the Dream Control Panel.
The Control Panel:
The Control Panel became apparent to me after my encounter with the Nightmare enforcers, this Panel has two separate forms: The first being a literal panel and the second being an empty space with a number of panels. In its first form the panel is extremely portable and is able to be called forth instantaneously, I assume this is so whoever is using it doesn't have to go into the empty space to access it. The panel in this state has the capability to be voice activated and not immediately present to be used. This has happened when the panel, for an extremely short time was presented to me in a daydream. I was able to alter myself completely and unleash a full range of abilities that I had not been able to do previously. Unfortunately the panel was reclaimed and I haven't been able to use it in full. The second state, or empty space, is a spherical existence in which the user floats in a controlled space. From here the Panel can be used to its fullest. I say this because the panel in this state has the ability to access a complete list of every single dreamer, creature, master, enforcer, etc. This along with the ability to create and delete things from the dream world makes the Panel an extremely dangerous tool. To add onto the danger the empty space is absent from the dream world itself, or perhaps it is in the core of the dream world. I haven't been able to determine this, but maybe one day I shall. It should also be noted that any powers activated with the panel can be revoked should the panel be taken. This means if you've given yourself an ability through the panel that you haven't unlocked or gained through your own means, it can fade should the panel be reclaimed. While I only know of one control panel, I have been able to construct a personal control panel for myself. This panel is made only for me and it lists all of my powers, my abilities, my anchor points, and is capable of gathering information as well as scanning avatar shells to see if those shells are inhabited by their physical bodies or if they're enforcers. This part should be much longer but unfortunately I can't detail much considering I was only able to touch the tip of its potential.
Endless potential: The dreamer's influence on the dreamworld
Considering Dream-Matter composes the dream world, one has to wonder "where did all these landscapes and cities come from?"
The answer lies within the dreamer. A dreamer not only contributes DM to the world but also shapes it through imagination and real life experiences. You may notice in many dreams, locations you've been to that have been altered in ways you weren't familiar with. This is because every single dreamer contributes a part of their experiences and imagination to the shaping of the world. This contributes mainly to the neutral zone, where as the nightmare zone takes those landscapes and distorts them to fit the purpose of the nightmares intent.The Passive zone takes these landscapes and beautifies them to the point where we become seduced and ultimately at peace because they reflect what we desire. As for the rest of the contributions, the dreamscape (sounds better than dreamworld) is filled with numerous environments. Massive forests, cities that are familiar, edited, and completely new, oceans, islands, etc. Each one of the locations is the result of a dreamer's inner universe mixing with the universes of other dreamers to create a grand realm where each dreamer can feel welcome and comfortable. In short a Dreamer has unlimited potential to alter the world around him/her, while this potential is rarely realized due to the Dream Lords ( keeping to rule #2). However part of this potential can be realized when it comes to a dreamer's powers.
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Some nice explanations AA.
My own criteria for explanations is to look at which ones which ones actually help you the most, which have nominal assistance, and lastly those that are interesting but of little benefit yet.
So.... from one dreamer to another, what has been your biggest breakthrough and biggest discovery so far ?
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To be honest I'm not sure which is my biggest discovery. I'm torn between the Second-Life and the Control Panel. Though I'll go ahead and say the Control panel is the most important mainly because it has such unlimited power. Considering I only got to tease those powers I can only imagine what else it can do ( aside from being able to recreate the Dreamscape ). That being said I treasure it as my biggest discovery but also one of the more sacred things in my life. I say this because of its unlimited scope, its potential, and its danger to anyone who has it. AS much as I wanted to change things in that world, I chose not too because too many things would be ruined because of it, and even though I still don't have the dreams I want, I accept it because I know I won't be hunted down every time I sleep. It's much better to benefit the community then to benefit yourself.
If you don't mind me asking what would yours be?
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Well i had a quick think about this and a few things came to mind. The first was dream hyperlinks.
You know when you imbed a hyperlink into normal text? when a person clicks on the hyperlink they are transported to where the link takes them. Well i discovered how to recognize naturally occurring hyperlinks in dreams. They pop up all over the place and are actually part of the dream fabric or environment.
They are in effect gateways or portals to new dream areas.
The next discovery that came to mind was the idea of the dream scenario as i percieved it was not really the landscape i was in. It was a comprehension that the images i was seeing and interacting with were not the real underlying geography. When i started to see access and entry points in and out of these scenarios my comprehension of dreaming started to open up.
These two things really opened up dreaming for me. To begin with anyway.
I suppose one of the biggest things after this was the discovery of other real beings in dreaming. Not just dream character but real alive intelligences that interact with dreamers once they pass a certain level of development.
What they wanted, why they interacted with dreamers, and their general ecology altered my understanding of the world in a way that i struggle to convey with words alone.
I guess my discoveries about dreaming continue. I really like your control panel though. I wonder what would happen if you swallowed it.
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Dream Hyperlinks, that's really something else, I don't think I've ever encountered a Hyperlink unless the dream had a method of a instant transportation. As for the real beings, the only thing that I can think of with the description you gave is something like a Dream Lord. Also I forgot to add my breakthrough was actually having a friend inhabit the same dream I had inhabited, after that I went about studying and trying to find ways to link other people to my dreams. At first I thought dreams were separate from each other, but then it became apparent that it was all one giant collected world.
I'm trying harder to get into contact with the higher beings of the dreamworld, but it proves to be very difficult. It could be because I actually fought against the enforcers and tried to attain the control panel. To be honest I'll never know, I suspect they'll reveal themselves to me when the time is right.
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Daydreaming and Half-sleep
Daydreaming to me has been like thinking of alternate realities, except these alternate realities are for dreams. This I find important because I believe there to be a small window of time that is available after waking up in which a dream can be conducted while physically aware. In short this is what I call Half-sleep, simply because you are half awake and half in-dream when this phase occurs. While this may already have a term, the extent to which I talk about is not merely thinking ,or closing your eyes, to view the rest of the dream, but actually altering the dream. I have achieved once "perfect half-sleep" , this phase of half-sleep was very intense because it also involved a shadowy mass. As I awoke, I could see the dream taking place in my bedroom, literally as if my bedroom had become the dream environment, and while at first I was startled I was literally thrown back into the dream by a shadowy mass. I have yet to understand what it was that forced my head down and pushed me back into the actual dream, but I somehow managed to maintain enough sense to reawaken into perfect half-sleep, and finish the dream with my physical body. It was an astonishing thing that I thought about for at least a week. So for a while now I've attempted to maintain half-sleep to study it more, but with summer I find myself in deep sleep more and more, thus making it harder to maintain that level of awareness. Now that I think of it I don't think this was so much a theory as simply a finding that I found unique.
This parallels daydreaming, which to me, is a way of viewing a dream in repeat, diving into your imagination, or dreaming the way you want to dream. There are times I think I'm viewing my avatar shell, but when this happens I can only assume it's a perversion of an actual dream. This is because of the amount of power i have in these thoughts. In staying to rule #2, I shouldn't be able to wield the amount of power I do in my daydreams, this in short is theorizing that Daydreams are simply other mirrors into an alternate Dreamscape.