Dreams and life – lucid and otherwise.
Posts tagged dreaming
The Tonocololocai – A Cautionary Tale
May 5th
The Tonocololocai – A Cautionary Tale
by Pete Celano
Some time ago, a species of small, furry creature vaguely resembling a fluffy cockroach evolved in isolation on a tiny island near Tuvalu. In spite of their ridiculous countenance and facial features that looked to be in a state of perpetual dumbfounded astonishment, they had no natural predators other than humans, who at first thought they were kinda cute. Soon large colonies of these creatures had become firmly established and were driving the natives to drink. The creatures were called “tonocololocai” by the islanders in their native tongue, though the ability to pronounce this tended to be inversely proportional to how inebriated the annunciator happened to be at the time. (A popular pastime on the island was to see who could drink the most without mispronouncing “tonocololocai”. One of the more common alcohol-induced mispronunciations sounded something like “tonoloco-loco-loco”, and some etymologists believe this to be the true origin of the term “loco”.)
After depleting their limited stores of Caribbean rum, the natives began distilling an amazingly flavorful and potent concoction using relatively scarce sugarcane juice and molasses combined with copious amounts of coconut milk, the juice of annatto seeds and the readily available (and, it turned out, mildly hallucinogenic) droppings of the tonocololocai. So successful was the pacifying sedative effect of this liquor that the natives soon forgot about their island being overrun by by the tonocololocai and instead occupied their few collective sober moments building a community processing plant for their new concoction, the centerpiece of which was a monumentally gigantic and ornate still built in the style of Louis XIV. In all, it was a raging success and a strange synergy gradually developed between the tonocololocai and the islanders, who began welcoming the creatures into their homes, schools and places of worship. The tonocololocai multiplied, while the islanders mostly continued drinking.
One late Thursday, while the afternoon shift of the still boiler tenders were distractedly engaged in a spirited game of loco-loco, a marauding gaggle of tonocololocai intent on finding out for themselves what all the fuss over gathering their dung was about passed much too close to the boiler fires. Their fur caught flame and they scattered, carrying the fire into the walls and floors of the still and throughout the processing plant. Before anybody could sober up enough to respond, the entire plant was ablaze. Fire quickly spread, and once the liquor holding tanks were breached the entire island was quickly engulfed and completely destroyed.
None of the tonocololocai survived, and the only islanders who lived to tell the tale happened to be some distance from the island on a small fishing vessel, themselves playing the loco-loco game to relax after a grueling day of hard drinking. On seeing their island home erupt into a giant inferno, they quickly downed all of the tonocololocai liquor they had with them and passed out, except for one young man who somehow managed to remain conscious. He couldn’t believe his eyes as he watched his entire world – his home, family, culture, people and every aspect of his life – reduced to smoldering cinders before his eyes. This was beyond belief; the worst of all possible nightmares. Out of habit, he pinched his nose shut and tried breathing through it. . . and discovered that he was dreaming.
The Tonocololocai
Worth The Wait
Jan 28th
Now, sadly, I do not remember what my first lucid dream was like. I would have been very young, like many things, the dream faded with age. As such, I can not personally tell you what a first lucid dream is like. However, I have told friends about lucid dreaming and even taught others how to do it. I’ve been told their first experiences, and I think I’ve gained a grasp of what it is like.
My current room mate just recently had his first lucid dream. As he told it, he had been standing in the middle of the street and he suddenly just knew he was dreaming. He looked up and down the street, taking in his surroundings. He saw the colors more vivid than life. Everything shone with extraordinary brilliance. He felt happy. He concentrated on flying. He lifted himself off the ground shortly. He moved down the street but the dream faded quickly. He was happy to hear that it was his first lucid dream. He asked me if it was one. He didn’t know you could have a lucid dream without trying. (I guess I’m not a great teacher.)
The way he described it was fittingly, “inexplicable.” Until you’ve had the experience, I don’t think words could properly translate the feelings and pure beauty of a lucid dream. I had told and taught my room mate – an old friend – about lucid dreaming quite a long time ago, but when he had no success, he gave up. I hope this recent experience will revitalize his ambition.
Too often people will lose hope when they do not succeed as soon as they would like to. I’ve known people to give up after the first night. Others who’ve stuck to it for months before having success. What do they say about it? “Worth the wait.”
The first dream where you realize you can do anything – however shortly – is enough to change any spirits. Lucid dreaming my be hard to get into, but it’s worth it when you do.
What can you do in lucid dreams
Jan 26th
Some will say: in lucid dreams, you can fly, you can eat whatever you want, you can visit landscapes from your imagination, you can have the most extraordinary experiences… I believe those explanations are incomplete. The best answer would be: there’s nothing you can’t do!
Think it, imagine it,… do it!
That’s right! Explaining the potentials of lucid dreaming is this simple. If you can imagine it, it can be done. And what you use lucid dreaming for, it’s up to you. Some use it to study, others for healing, others even to rehearse a skill. Some people live the most amazing experiences, so amazing there are no words to describe it.
In fact, one of the things lucid dreamers know, is the hollowness of words – hollowness, because they are insufficient to transmit others their experiences. The only way to understand their experiences is by experiencing it yourself. And is there a better way to fully understand the potentials of dreaming than by dreaming?
(The Dreams Foundation has a very interesting article about some of the waking life applications of lucid dreaming here).
Inquire within yourself
Jan 22nd
Many people out there, even within lucid dreaming communities, lose contact with the true meaning of a lucid dream. A lucid dream is simply a dream in which you are aware that you are dreaming. Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’ve already had this interesting experience. Many people will merely shrug it off as “one of those things,” but others will take this special situation and use it to gain dream control. Which is exactly what it sounds like.
Lucid dreaming is the entryway to a world unlike any other. A world where you can rule or you can explore. A world where you can terrorize your nightmares and relive your favorite memories and moments as if they were real life. A world infinitely vast and only as expendable as your own imagination.
Now, if lucid dreaming is such a great thing, why do so few know about it? To be honest, I don’t know. It has been given a bad name, lobbed in with mysticism, and called a psuedoscience, but if you go out and ask someone, “Have you ever had a dream where you knew you were dreaming?” they will almost definitely say yes. Studies show that almost everyone will experience a lucid dream at some point in their life. So, if everyone has the ability to do it without any noticeable effort, isn’t it reasonable to think that those who do put effort into it could achieve this fantastical feat?
There are many methods to increase the frequency of lucid dreams, but the first step is almost always believing that this thing exists. Inside yourself is the most enjoyable experience in the world, all it takes is a little determination.
The Call Of The Dream
Jan 21st
My discovery of lucid dreaming was really more of a re-discovery, as I had some strange lucid dreams as a child. I didn’t know what they were though, so most of my life was spent in ignorance of what I was missing.
In February of 2006, I stumbled onto an online article talking about lucid dreaming. That night I had a brief lucid dream that ended with me running through a beautiful lush meadow with my dog. The experience was hyper-real to all my senses and seemed absolutely miraculous. I could run like the wind, do cartwheels, smell and feel the air as I rushed through it. . . and my joyous dog began turning into a panda as she ran along with me.
That taste was enough to know that I wanted to spend as much time in that magical place as possible. The anticipation of getting back there remains as intense as anything I’ve ever longed for in my life.
It is frustrating to try explaining this to people who haven’t experienced lucid dreams. There just aren’t words that can be put together to convey the majesty and magic of it. Even after four years of lucid dreaming, the passion to get back there and spend as much time as possible hasn’t waned a bit.
Anybody who has experienced a lucid dream will understand exactly what I’m talking about.
And to those of you who haven’t. . . all I can really think to say is that you quite literally have no idea what you are missing. There is no way you could possibly know.
But you can find out.
Dreaming Our Way – Life, Play and Improvisation
Jan 15th
The previous post is, it seems to me, the key to everything. It is a worthy listen.
I have been studying jazz for a few years now. In spite of a lifetime of being involved in music, Jazz is tricky business, and mastery of it remains elusive to me.
Jazz improvisation is the communication of a dream – the translation and exposition not so much of the state, but of the journey. A skilled musician can share that journey with us, even though few of us are or will ever be musical virtuosos, polished performers and improvisers. A skilled musician can lead us into a state where the magic of the journey needs no explanation or effort.
Child’s play is pure improvisation – the selfless acting out of dreams. With adulthood, however, comes responsibility and ever increasing resistance to abandoning ourselves to our dreams. As adults, we replace the natural improvisation of play with surrogate experiences such as losing ourselves in a movie or climbing on a roller coaster. We know these experiences are safe in spite of the thrills they can offer. We can indulge ourselves without abandoning our responsibilities or security.
We crave entertainment because we miss our natural ability to improvise. We still want to play.
This, I believe, is why lucid dreaming is destined to become a revolution in human experience. A lucid dream can be the ultimate playground – the ultimate improvisation, with no risk to our status or circumstances. We abandon no responsibility, breach no trusts, and cause no damage that translates to anything outside of our own transient internal world, and the next dream brings a complete reset. This is a good part of what keeps us lucid dreamers coming back.
We view artists as exceptional because they manage that seemingly impossible feat of releasing themselves to the dream and sharing a bit of it with the rest of us. Yet each of us has grown from a child who once knew how to play without being taught. Perhaps the goal of learning to improvise or achieving any other creative goal isn’t really learning at all. Perhaps what we need to do is un-learn.
We already know how to dream – but we live in a world that defines maturity as learning to abandon our dreams.
Improvisation and Dreaming
Jan 15th
Tools ‹ Lucidity Blog — WordPress.
Study: Jazz Improv Cranks Up Brain’s Creativity
When jazz pianists are improvising riffs, their brains act much more like the dreaming brain, with inhibition turned down and creativity cranked way up, a new study finds.
