Dreaming and the subconscious world we inhabit each night is an interesting subject. And one I have already speculated upon in my articles Dreams and A Quantum Leap, In Dreams and will probably reference this article in one being worked on currently called Sleep Stalking. But this one is for the meanings and beliefs around them from other cultures and times and how they were viewed, and to a point, probably still are today. It’s a strange thing that no-one can really define, test or prove with any certainty, yet many people experience them in some form. It’s interesting once you start to read about how they are viewed or understood by different parts of the world.
Baku Yokai – Japanese dream devourer “The Baku Yokai is revered as a powerful force of good and a sacred protector of humanity. It has been considered a symbol of good luck, health, and protection against nightmares and evil spirits. The image of the Baku has been used as a talisman and amulet to ward off bad dreams and illness.”
Aboriginal – Dreamtime “The Dreaming is used to represent Aboriginal concepts of Everywhen, during which the land was inhabited by ancestral figures, often of heroic proportions or with supernatural abilities. These figures were often distinct from gods, as they did not control the material world and were not worshipped but only revered“. I personally prefer the their term for it Everywhen, rather than the anthropologists naming it dreamtime.
Egyptians believed dreams were messages from the Gods. Although they had Bes the God of dreams, and Tutu, to protect from bad dreams, so gods protecting you from gods?
Chinese theory is yin and yang are out of balance and dreams come into being. Which ties into lots of the dreamology discussions in modern times, tying it into psychology and waking mental disturbances causing subconscious nocturnal struggles. But could it be that we are given a chance in our dreams to rebalance our waking lives, letting us run through some things that wouldn’t be possible in real life, or would take too long? Maybe that only counts if you remember the dream, I’m not sure, I still haven’t decided my position on that idea.
Greek mythology had a land of dreams. Morpheus being their God of dreams and nightmares and the subconscious sleep realm. Fitting then perhaps that they chose that name for the character in The Matrix.
Mayan – “the Tzotzil Maya see dreams as a way to “live a full life” and “stay alive.” They believe that dreams are a means of “seeing with the soul” what we can’t fully comprehend with our body and mind.”
The main religions also believe dreams often carry a message or prophecy from the divine.
Night Hag – closely related to the below definition of nightmare, this is now mostly known as sleep paralysis these days, not an incubus sitting on your chest giving you nightmares. But it is said that was the belief for quite some time and still is in certain places, folklore of it is found in Scandinavia, Europe, Africa, Canada, US. They have similar tales in China, South Asia and South East, The Middle East and so on. All having a myth about ghosts or demons affecting you while you sleep and paralysing your earthly body while you are forced to endure the experience.
Nightmare – original meaning – a mythological demon or goblin who torments others with frightening dreams.
Day Dreaming – “Daydreaming is the stream of consciousness that detaches from current, external tasks when attention drifts to a more personal and internal direction. There are various names of this phenomenon including mind-wandering, fantasy, spontaneous thoughts, etc.”
An odd thing really, when you think so many clearly experience it and it would appear to be a common occurrence, why it should be given a demonic overtone. Why is that the go-to for explanation, when we clearly have logical minds among us and always have. Why does the fantastical or the hysterical win out when to comes to coming to a conclusion? Or maybe the question should be, why do we suffer from such horrible visions in the form of nightmares, when we are supposed to be in the resting cycle? It’s not very restful or relaxing to be anxious about going to sleep, worried about what you will have to go through in a place you don’t recognise, where time doesn’t exist and you are at the mercy of the experience. But dreams entice you and can make the sleep world seem so much safer than the real world, until you start to see like Alice did when she fell sleep, and then fell down the rabbit hole. Whether you are asleep or awake, not all is as it seems…
SPN numbers, which became known spin codes. A secret coding system to apply to discharge forms of military personnel, to initiate a programme of exclusions from society from within corporations.
“Those SPN numbers were created to hide secret comments by the military, many of them negative and harmful. The major corporations all across America were provided with a conversion chart for those numbers.
By 1960 those secret codes were being rampantly abused causing many vets to be denied jobs, loans, home mortgages, veterans benefits, and life insurance, among others.”
The article then goes on to list the codes and their hidden meaning. It certainly does go some way to explain the how when it comes to understanding the situation many found themselves in. Simply put down as mental illness and addiction issues after such an experience, but perhaps it could be how they were treated upon return from such conflicts that contributed to such instances. Not always applauded as hero’s if the propaganda machine had turned the people back home against war, they get used as experiments and front-line fodder for political gain, and weirdly excluded when you get back.
I then think to the why for all of that. Why would you want people you have spent years training for purpose, not able to fit in, get on and convert back to be a normal member of society. Perhaps it is because they pose a threat thereafter in the darkened minds of the war mongers, and because they are trained and supposedly the most patriotic of the people, they would be the most likely to mobilise should there be a more local threat than they had previously been used to.
And that’s what I ended up realising, when thinking about war being for the benefit of those who organise them. They also like to cover a few bases, so psychologically it makes sense to encourage the brave and patriotic to sign up with propaganda first, and a backup plan of forced conscription to catch more. As they know the projected losses already, they remove a certain amount of genes from the overall pool. Eliminating entire male lines in some cases. Then you use them to test weapons, drugs, strategies, etc, to perfect the methods of war, also creating sub industries upon return. Trauma and violence creating a different society in certain minds, changing people beyond repair in mind, as well as physically. Or changing a family when they come back as someone else, or not at all. The cruelty starts from the moment they convince people that war is necessary, and everything that follows thereafter just gives it a different layer…
It’s been noted there is a digital revolution trying to take over and sweep away reality, knowledge and history as we knew it. Things being changed and updated, revised and remade quicker than people can keep up.
The Mandela effect was a sign, and probably an early test, to see how quickly they could create a conflicting story or event which people were sure they knew had happened, just as sure as the people who had known it didn’t happen. A firmly affixed memory you can’t quite place, but it is there to convince you of what you think you know, with your own brain playing along to create the ‘memory’. And it helps to keep things up in the air and being questioned, if people can’t agree on what occurred, how can they identify how it occurred? Or avoid it happening again. I have even seen online what is claimed to be newspaper evidence of it being reported that no-one died on the Titanic. Now, you could say that was fabricated, changed, or simply was misreported at the time. Handy how the term can be used to discredit the real information accidently getting through isn’t it? Label it as misinformation, or unverified and then once it has been deemed public worthy, it gets allowed. Factcheckers have that covered now apparently, as with an array of laws, censorship and various agencies set up to create, steer and stem the flow of information as they would like it.
We know that all people do not see or think the same things, even when presented with the same information or view before them. And they say a witness is actually the weakest form of evidence. I think of an event now and again, from 1917 in Portugal. The Miracle of the Sun known as the Fatima Event. It’s a very interesting and strange tale in its entirety, but the brief for this, is that thousands of people witnessed an event, yet did not report witnessing the same thing –
“Newspapers published testimony from witnesses who said that they had seen extraordinary solar activity, such as the Sun appearing to “dance” or zig-zag in the sky, careen towards the Earth, or emit multicolored light and radiant colors. According to these reports, the event lasted approximately ten minutes.”
“There has been much analysis of the event from critical sociological and scientific perspectives. According to critics, the eyewitness testimony was actually a collection of inconsistent and contradictory accounts. Proposed alternative explanations include witnesses being deceived by their senses due to prolonged staring at the Sun and then seeing something unusual as expected“.
But books, games, videos and all the other real things you can hold, have and watch at your leisure, are slowly being replaced by their digital counterparts. To be downloaded or viewed from a central database, where it can not only be monitored and withheld, but it can be altered and revised without scrutiny. Only those with a sharp eye, or good memory will be able to know the difference, others will just accept the new version as no different, possibly already in a semi-hypnotic state so not aware on a real functioning level to notice anything.
The Time Machine – the books that turned to dust when he touched them, and the strange rings with warnings and words of information about what transpired. Making it seem as if the printed word was useless against time, but a sort of digital recording was still there to tell the tale as it were. But of those digital rings, how do we know that at some point in the past of that fictional story, someone didn’t erase and rewrite those rings? We just took it on face value that they were telling the truth, or assumed that it was the truth because it was the future, and most of humanity as we know it was done. And like the Eloi, didn’t really question further the whole set-up, or who might be controlling the morlocks, who were then controlling the Eloi.
I saw a piece today in the Guardian, which fits well in the subject as it’s an article about Digital Wills and how they want to destroy lots of historical documents once they have been digitised. To save on space. The argument is that they important documents of people’s lives, and should all be kept, and to a point I do agree. Especially as they are also legal documents for estates, because to me that will be the real reason to want to destroy the hard copies, rather than find alternate storage options. At a time when ownership and property are of great concern, and of nefarious interests being so heavily involved in rolling out all the technology needed to tie it up. I would worry they want it all digital, so they can change it, and without an original hard copy to verify that, things can easily be rewritten or changed. However, we all know how many records have mysteriously disappeared over the years, or gone up in smoke, or have simply been shredded to get rid of whatever is in the way. And again, you can fake documents too, so how do we even know that what is being preserved is real anyway? We don’t is the short answer to that. Which is why maybe personal truths are so important, the things you can verify, know and understand from your own life and thoughts. Because with everything else, you just can’t be sure…
A further look at one of the particular nines that came up in my article 7 and 9. Two actually – crossing into each other in my ideas, and then something else tagged itself onto it. But we shall start with the Norse Nine. The nine worlds were Asgard, Midgard, Jotunheim, Niflheim, Muscenters, Helheim, Alfheim, Svartalfheim, and Vanaheim
Asgard, – “enclosure of the Aesir,” the Aesir being some of Gods.
Midgard – Middle Earth – the realm of human beings.
Jotunheim – Giants Land, as you can imagine, was inhabited by giants. And have areas today where it is said there were giants, so is it just that a mythology built up around stories and legends, and then became part of traditions? Or they were based on what they knew to be going on?
Niflheim – Misty/Gloomy Lands
Muscenters – world destroyer, land of fire giants – made me think of the tip of South America that used to look like it was attached to Antarctica, named as Tierra del Fuego, back then and today. Land of Fire. Just below the Patagonia region, where it is said there were giants.
Helheim – World of the Dead, the goddess of death. Again most ancient cultures have underworlds and lands of the dead, with various stories, Gods and myths surrounding them.
Alfheim – Elf Land
Svartalfheim – Dark Elf Land
Vanaheim – another group of Gods associated with fertility, wisdom, and the ability to see the future.
It’s quite a complex structure of thought, as are most of the myths and legends, with intricate, elaborate and very detailed descriptions of everything. But then so is the other thing I thought of, The Lord of the Rings. With that mention of Middle Earth too, with a burning hellish place, elves and realms. So one could argue that fiction can be extremely detailed and seem real, and of that story, the author was quite knowledgeable with languages, maps and the creating an entire world and timeline of history. But was known to be very interested in Norse mythology, so is it that it wove its way in? Or do we just have different retelling of the same story over and over, through different epochs and levels of comprehension. In some cases, needing to be presented as ‘fiction’ for it to make it through to the mainstream. Like the flood story, told across different cultures, beliefs and histories. Of a time that once was, handed down as fragments and ideas, retold and reimagined, woven into fiction and changed, and then in turn, the fiction woven back into ‘fact’.
The second nine I thought it, is as the picture below, and one I have mentioned a few times here and there. The nine circles of hell as depicted in the poem A Divine Comedy, of Dante’s Inferno and journey to and through hell.
And when I also look at the Norse ideas, it also seems to have parallels to the biblical Enoch stories, of Gods, Angels, Nephilim and Man, and that epic story, so is it all one tale? As the flood story is suspected to be? There is also another nine that comes to mind too, 9 Choirs of Angels / 9 Orders of Angels. Which I haven’t looked into too much yet I’ll admit, but it’s the representation of it as a painting by Francesco Botticini that made me include it. I have turned the image upside down for full effect.
It seems there is much to work through and understand. To try and know what is and what was, and of course, what is to come…
Taken from my book of short stories – Under the Apple Tree and other short dark stories currently available through Amazon.
Enjoy the creepiness.
Doctors Visit
His shoes and coat were in the foyer, a briefcase placed beside them. He had left his notes neatly written out, filed in meticulous order, a detailed account of every visit and diagnosis. The detective read them all.
‘The father it was presumed was harbouring a distant mental illness, one that plagued him during the hours of darkness, tormenting his sleep and keeping him awake. Leading to psychosis and hallucinations. Although it seemed to be psychosomatic, as no plausible explanation could be found’.
Despite this the doctor stayed overnight on a number of occasions. It should have been an open and shut case, with a prescription of lithium marked in the corner of the page with a question mark.
‘However, his paranoia towards his family does indeed seem a cause for concern. All of his negative energy and ideas were being thrust upon them, directly and indirectly. He believes intermittently that they were the enemy, possibly not even really his family. As his grasp with reality was deteriorating his perception of friend and foe became blurred and some days he would say they were imposters sent to spy on him.’
This was not unusual the doctor had noted in cases of mania and psychosis, and had been documented in a number of other cases. But it was the other family member’s behaviour that intrigued him so and made him return. It was as if they had all either adapted to accept this new mental state from the head of the house, or they were all suffering from a strange form of mental impairment caused by it.
‘The mother was extremely fragile and pale, almost as if she were made of a fine porcelain, with the darkest hair the doctor had ever seen. The children too had inherited the maternal line of looks, although it was hard to see or imagine what their father may have looked like when fit and healthy. They were always flitting around the house doing something, making tea, tidying and fussing. They had a fireplace in every room and were constantly stoking them. Never making too much noise though, she said noise would upset her husband. It’s hard to gauge how their relationship was holding up through this, I’ve never seen them in the same room together.’
It was remarked in the notes somewhere around his second week of visits. It was not a surprise that two adults could live in the same vicinity and not make contact on a regular basis. It appeared to be normal in many a household these days. Despite the notes, it was hard to actually tell when he had been here precisely. Each day of the week was catalogued, times of day and interviews, but with no starting date, and in fact, no dates at all. The detective was confused by this case. The house was completely empty save for the doctor’s belongings. Originally a plantation house owned by the Reeder family, who were well known in these parts. It passed down to John F Reeder who took it as a family home with his young wife Emily. They began renovations with John doing most of the work himself.
But that was over 50 years ago. Everyone knew the local story, she had run off with someone else, taking the children. He never recovered and slowly went mad, until he died in the house a number of years later. The house wasn’t left to anyone so by local law it has to be left for 60 years in case any surviving relatives turn up to claim the property. Otherwise the local council had to pay the equivalent value if anyone did turn up, it was cheaper to leave it. John Reeder had burnt all the possessions in the house during his mad years. The only thing that had remained when he died was a prison like bed, a mattress and one blanket in the top bedroom of the house. The body wasn’t discovered for a number of weeks, so the state ended up burning them too. The mangled bed frame that had been thrown from the top window, and was still evident in the garden now covered in creepers and vines. There had been no funeral, in fact he was cremated at the hospital and the ashes scattered back at the house.
So what had the doc been doing there? From his I.D they had worked out he was a professor of psychiatry from the city and had no business even being down here. No-one had reported him missing and they couldn’t even find an employer or trace of him. He checked himself into a local motel a month ago and from what seems to have transpired in his books, made almost daily visits to the house. Although the motel owner doesn’t remember seeing the doctor leave or return on any day. He paid up front and was never seen again. The only evidence of his ever existing was the motel owner as witness and his very sparse personal belongings left in the room after check out day. These included a small notebook with the house address and the name John F Reeder. Without that they wouldn’t have ever been up here until it was time to tear the old place down.
The detective went back to the visit notes. The intensity of what the doctor was observing seemed to increase over time. It was like a small window into a family’s descent into a dark tormented madness. No wonder she ran away with the children the detective thought as he read about the atmosphere in the house. As he did though, a dark haze swept over him and made him drop the book. He steadied himself on the banister closest to him. The room began swirling and his vision swimming. While trying to see through blurry eyes, he could swear that the room suddenly had furniture in it, a lamp in the corner, and curtains over the windows. An almost warm homely feel, just for a moment. Then it was replaced by cold and dark. But a musty dark that also swirled for a moment, slowly clearing to reveal an empty room.
The detective sat down on the bottom of the stairs, his legs suddenly not as stable as they were. He had never been superstitious or a believer in the heebie-jeebies, until now. He picked the book back up and carried on reading. The doctor had mentioned the basement a number of times, but after looking over every inch of the house he realised it didn’t actually have one. Highly unusual for house of this time not to have one, but there were no doors or traps that could be found. He went back to reading.
‘The children have become more withdrawn and I fear they will need help to adjust back into the normal world. He has kept them all isolated for such a time that it will do them no good to stay here. Their obsession with the fireplaces troubles me. This is where they are to be found at all hours of the day and night. Often the mother too. Emily becomes frailer by the hour. She has now told me often to not go into the basement. She stares at the door under the stairs with such fear in her eyes that I cannot say what is down there. I have respected her wishes so far, but with no explanation for the deterioration I may have to investigate.
John doesn’t even seem to acknowledge me, and he creeps around the house, checking his family are stationed at the fireplaces. Poking the flames and ashes, keeping them lit. I am trying to understand his symptoms and possible causes for them. Emily did say that when they started renovations in the basement, there were secrets down there. Secrets they shouldn’t have awoken.’
The detective stood up from his place on the stairs and looked over his shoulder towards the panelling, very neat and ornate, it almost didn’t look one bit out of place. Except that it looked so well done, it did. Wood slightly newer than all the surrounding finishes, although aged, definitely newer. The height was right for a doorway too. He could feel his heart begin to race, the room went swirly again and he held onto the wall opposite the panelling for support. Through hazy vision, he saw the door open to the basement and the shape of a man appear. The shape walked towards the living room and over to the fireplace. There was a dark shape in one hand and a long shape in the other. He squinted, trying to see better through the haze. The dark shape was thrown into the fireplace. The man shape turned back towards the basement and towards the detective. His heart pounded as he saw the long shape was an axe, and over his shoulder the dark shape had now caught fire and a face could be seen. With quickly smouldering dark hair.
The vision faded as quickly as it has happened. The room was empty, there was no doorway, and there was nothing in the fireplace. He wondered for a moment if he was going mad. It sounded crazy. Maybe he had killed his family, maybe he had got away with murder? He walked over to the fireplace in the living room, scuffing his shoes on the floorboard. Wondering what to do next or how to explain this to someone without being sent to the loony bin. He kicked the ashes out of frustration and possibly still a touch of fear. A flash of the face with black hair startling him back a step. But just enough to see the skull protruding slightly through the ashes.
The local newspaper covered the basics after the house had been searched. Plantation House of Death they had called it. Revealing the grisly details of the decapitated family, heads found in the fireplaces and bodies in the basement. But there had been more down there. Even more horror was uncovered going back to the beginning. To the old times and when the house had been a fully working plantation. The town had to accept a new history of the Reeder family after that day.
A dark theme appears to be running and seemed somewhat hidden until recently, or not so hidden once you connect the dots that are available. And we do have a saying in society, for behaviour of an angry nature, where we might say someone ‘sees red’ before they lose it. But this is not for that. This is for a more sinister setup altogether, like A Rather Dark Enterprise perhaps touched upon, but a darker sequel to it.
It is said there are dark clubs, projects, and secret societies that harvest children. For awful purposes generally, but one that has made it into the mainstream in the last few years, features red. As clothing, shoes, accessories, and other things, it being said that it’s human skin being used for those products, as the raw material. And when they make a big deal of red, it’s a sign and a marker.
I have also noted how red ties together vampires, santa, and his anagram namesake Satan. A bright colour used to lure, and a calling card, one that represents blood, as is portrayed with poppies.
There have been a number of examples of companies and prominent people being embroiled in scandals. None of which see an end to it, or an overall exposure. More a desensitisation of people, and a slow meander to make it all more mainstream. And many will not be able to, or will want to really comprehend the horrors being discussed. Which is probably what is expected of many. Not just to turn a blind eye, but to blind the mind to its atrocity altogether.
And we are in a time when corruption and horrors are being revealed on a scale not seen before, so I can understand why people might be struggling. To either keep up or to properly assimilate what they are seeing in the media or firsthand. And the feeling and thoughts that follow, or not for some people. Many people were switched off and dissociated before 2020 threw us into a new time. A time of needing to be more on your guard than ever before, and to try and see what’s behind the bright colours and lies. It’s going to be important…
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