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You are here: Home / Hearsay / DreamStudies is 3 Years Old

DreamStudies is 3 Years Old

By Ryan Hurd

I realized yesterday that DreamStudies is now 3 years old! This blog has stayed with me as I’ve moved all over the U.S.: from California, to Florida, back to California and now onwards to Pennsylvania later this summer. Also, in that time, I finished my thesis on lucid dreaming, got married, became a freelance writer and Internet consultant, and ate a vast amount of peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. Three years is middle-aged for the blogosphere, but still a toddler in terms of covering the worlds of consciousness and dream studies.

Just now, I did a little google-mancy, and typed “three year old toddler” into the box, and up came this quote from Disney’s WonderTime:

By the age of 3, children have had enough personal experience to master many of life’s simple concepts. Their next challenge is to build on them.

That sums up the status of my mission at DreamStudies pretty well.

A Quick Look Back

I’ve laid much of the foundation in the last three years, covered some major dream theories, and ways to work with your own dreams, although neither of those series were as popular as my articles on lucid dreaming, especially the primer on lucid dream sex.

Representing the dark side, I’ve focused on lucid nightmares, sleep paralysis and occasional tale of jungle sorcerers. Representing the light, I’ve looked into geometric imagery in lucid dreams, as well as lucid dreams in Christianity and the paleolithic era, and the importance of big dreams.

Along the way, I’ve covered more esoteric topics, including the prehistory of hallucinogens, head shrinking,  ancestral dreams, the integral science of consciousness, and a seemingly random, but critical to my sanity,  guide to nature awareness.

I’m noticing I need to reorganize my content again, it’s getting long in the tooth.

And the Way Forward

But more importantly now it’s time to start integrating these concepts and schools of thought. In my first post about the interdisciplinary study of dreams, I wrote:

This portal was created because there are few outlets in the blogosphere that address dream studies from multiple perspectives. While I have lots of opinions about dreaming and the realm of consciousness studies in general, my intention here is not to defend a camp but explore the terrain. Further, I am not here to conquer the terrain, but to take notes in a tiny leather journal like a gentle 19th century naturalist who has a quick eye and a slight limp. As depth psychologist Craig Chalquist likes to remind me, “we are cosmographers, not conquistadors.”

A nice intention, but I’m biased as hell towards certain perspectives, so my map of the state of contemporary Dream Studies is skewed, and it must be skewed. I can’t eradicate my biases, and any attempt to try just destroys my relationship to the Other, because my construction of reality depends on my ability to project a pattern into the void — and if I’m lucky — find that pattern mirrored back. So, yeah, I defended camps along the way – and my hope is that I can continue to do so, but consciously and transparently.

What’s coming next for DreamStudies

With a little luck, this next year will see more about my first love, lucid dreaming, as well as more guest posts from excellent dreamers and visionaries. (My guest authors rock!  In fact, an article by Oneirology blogger Lee Adams on “dreams as the original psychedelic” is still one of the most popular posts of all time on this site.)  I’m also hoping to start exploring more connections between dreams, archaeology, sacred sites and the human visionary capability. Throw in some healthy apocalypticism and a wee bit of transpersonal psychology too.

Owlie, my alter ego, at last year's IASD Dream Conference in Chicago.

Besides that, I’m not sure exactly. But the paperback version of my Sleep Paralysis ebook will be out later this summer: no dates yet. I’ve also got a few articles out that explore the role of dreams in cognitive archaeology: but no dates yet.

Here’s some dates I got:

I’ll be at the annual conference for the International Association for the Study of Dreams next week in Asheville, NC, June 27-July 2, presenting How to Win Fiends and Influence Demons: Sleep Paralysis as a Portal to Extraordinary Dreaming. If you are in the Southeast U.S., check out the dreams conference. We’re mostly harmless, but then again, dreamworkers do tend to dabble into more shadow work than most sane individuals (hence, the toothy owl-monster guardian of dreamstudies: Owlie).

So, onward, towards the second tier, towards integration, and projecting patterns into the void!

But unlike three years ago, I don’t feel like I’m talking to a void anymore, so I’d like to ask you:

What would you like to see more of at DreamStudies?

Filed Under: Hearsay Tagged With: consciousness studies, Integral science, integral theory, Lucid Dreaming

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Pete Celano says

    June 21, 2010 at 5:47 am

    Congratulations on three years, Ryan! It’s a good solid start.

    Pete. . .

  2. tulisild says

    June 21, 2010 at 6:16 am

    I would love to read more about the practical uses of dreams, methods of dream analysis and how do you keep all of it going daily (good habits).

    And anything based on your own personal experience is a great read for me.

  3. Dreampurr says

    June 21, 2010 at 4:26 pm

    Love your blogs, love your articles, love your self awareness and objective observant nature.
    More of what you’re doing is fine by me! Happy Birthday!!!

  4. Ryan Hurd says

    June 21, 2010 at 5:12 pm

    wow, I am feeling the love! thanks ya’ll.

  5. Ben says

    June 21, 2010 at 7:23 pm

    Congrats Ryan! The dream blog world would be a lonely place without Dream Studies staying true to its path and making people think.

    Just think what the next 3 years will bring! And then the site will be 6 years old, which is about 1,000 years old in “internet years”. 🙂

  6. Lee Adams says

    June 23, 2010 at 5:12 pm

    3 years wow! good job man and awesome work!

  7. Wendy says

    July 8, 2010 at 11:07 pm

    Congratulations, Ryan, both on your 3-year blogaversary and on finishing your thesis!

  8. Ryan Hurd says

    July 12, 2010 at 2:54 pm

    thanks ya’ll! Your readership is what keeps me going.

  9. Jonathan Bennett says

    July 15, 2010 at 2:03 pm

    Congrats, Ryan! I’ve just recently discovered your AWESOME site and look forward to reading more of your articles on dreams.

  10. Jo Harthan says

    August 9, 2010 at 4:00 am

    Hi Ryan – your website has evolved into the best, most informative site on dreams in the entire web! Congratulations! (Puts mine to shame!!) I’m so sorry I missed your presentation in Asheville – it clashed with a Shamanic Journeying workshop. Exploring dreams shamanically is my passion – I’d love to see something on your site about this.
    Keep up the good work – you’ve an amazing talent 🙂

    • Ryan Hurd says

      August 11, 2010 at 9:03 pm

      thanks so much Jo for your warm words. I heard that shamanic journeying workshop I think… the beating drums reviberated through the hall and through us all. 🙂 I am actually working up a piece on dream shamanism, but it may have to wait until I get moved in to the new place.

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