Lost in transition

I”m in the middle of a move so my life has been a bit frazzled lately. Transitions are rough times, but they also have a very magical quality to them. I”d like to submit, quite seriously, that moving is an altered state of consciousness.

This does put U-Haul in a rather awkward position, but consider all that is involved with moving. All the regular boundaries must be dissolved - physical, mental and otherwise - and for a while there we are suspended in between. Neither here nor there. We leave behind not only our ecological niche, the place where we draw our water, but also our habits, routines and conditioning. We leave our community and enter unprotected spaces. Our diets suffer because we can’t control our food intake as well.

Then there’s the shock of re-entry. I don’t know what’s more dangerous, actually: moving someplace where you know no one or someplace where everyone knows who you used to be.

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New Consciousness and Dream Studies Site

Berkeley, CA, September 12, 2007 ” Throughout history, an understanding of the nature of consciousness has been sought after through a variety of fields of research - philosophy, psychology, biology, neurology, physics, various spiritual and occult systems, and more. Often a seemingly concrete solution to the “problem” of consciousness in one field can be counter-balanced by an equally concrete and very opposite solution in another field. To fully understand and appreciate the mystery of consciousness, a multi-disciplinary approach is indispensable.

StreamsOfConsciousness.org is the brainchild of consciousness researcher Kevin Kovelant. The plural “streams” was chosen deliberately, as the study of the nature of consciousness requires a multi-faceted approach. The website features an active blog and impressive array of links to consciousness and dream-related resources online.

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New York Times lucid dreaming article misses the mark

Every couple of years, a major publication venue in the US does a fluff piece on the topic of lucid dreaming. As a dream researcher and an avid lucid dreamer myself, I am usually excited and simultaneously disappointed by these stories. Last week’s New York Times article continues the fine tradition of highlighting the topic of lucid dreaming by promoting every major stereotype about this unique state of consciousness. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, as the article is really promoting a movie. Which, by the way, looks to be very entertaining, in a glam, narcissistic, I”m-in-love-with-my-own-unrealistic-projections-of-women kind of way.

But it’s too easy to bash reporters for misrepresenting lucid dreaming - and it’s not really their fault. The entire topic is a culturally-entangled mess that is rooted in about 2000 years of Western philosophical bias. Rather than taking pot shots at another journalist’s sensationalist take on lucidity that doesn’t bother to mention any of the last 20 years of research into the topic, and instead gives ample space to smug, chuckling Freudians who have never experienced the phenomena for themselves, I want to point out the major assumptions that she brings to the table. As such, this article is a great opportunity to explore the Euro-American culture of lucid dreaming.

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Ecopsychology and Dreams Open Forum

I’ll be joining Kelly Bulkeley and some other core California dreamers next week in a stimulating discussion on eco-dreaming. The talk is open to the public. Here’s the announcement from the Dream Institute:

“Open Forum in Dream Studies,” hosted by the Dream Institute will focus on “Ecopsychology and Dreaming: Exploring the Depths of Deep Ecology.” The questions to be discussed include: To what extent do dreams reveal the depths of our relationship with the natural world? In what ways are personal dreams affected by collective environmental problems? What is the dreaming response to those problems? Can closer attention to dreams help inspire more people to change their waking world behavior towards nature?

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Electric Dreams closes its doors

I”m sad to report that the oldest site for dream studies on the web has published its last issue. Electric Dreams has been providing cutting-edge dream theory and information for fourteen years. Yeah, that’s long before “google” became a verb. Indeed, the associated networking site Dream Gate paved the way for other on-line communities in the early days of the “inter-web.” Virtual space and dreaming go way back.

In an internet era dominated by child pornography and terrible poetry, Electric Dreams tackled the issue of free expression in digital space, refusing to be censored. Let’s face it: dreams have a nasty habit of showing us the ugly bits. The cyber-sharing of dreams snowballed into the larger cultural movement of the 1990s, moving the study of dreams beyond limited medical models and into the realm of culture, spirituality, and ecology.

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