I’ve had a lot of questions about how the dream theory in Dark Legacy works, and that’s going to be tough to explain until everyone has their copy. I don’t want to give too much away. But, it’ll be fun until then talking about the real-world dream theories I researched and based my Dark Legacy world on.
To wit–Dream Logic. To make Dark Legacy (and it’s sequel) work, there had to be a way to define dreams and also to intentionally alter their logic through psychic projection via the collective unconsciousness. See–you really have to read the book for that to all make sense. But before you do, we can talk a little about how dreams really do find their meanings and how you might be able to get a closer look at what’s going on while you sleep.
To start with…
…our logic differs radically between our conscious minds and our dreams. REM sleep is actually an active state where the brain pulses in a particular pattern. Daytime logic shuts down and is replaced by what would appear to be illogical to the waking mind. Our minds tend to forget this reality–to reject it, actually. The conscious mind will literally block the transfer of dream images from sleep into your “real” world. So, if you’re wondering why you don’t recall most of your dreams–it’s your mind’s own defense mechanism.
As an aside, during REM our bodies are typically “partially” paralyzed (though not respiration or other essential functions) so we don’t act out or physically react to the dream world.
If you do find yourself remembering something that feels like a dream, but you can’t put your finger on exactly what you’re remembering, what you’re most likely remembering is the emotions of your dreams. Emotion is how our dream logic makes its way into our waking lives. The actual visual symbols of those emotions inside the dream are of less importance–so the emotions are most often what crosses over between both states of consciousness. That’s why dream interpreters will tell you the visual in the dream is, if not meaningless, is of less important that what the images symbolize–the emotions behind them.
So, the logic behind the symbols and the emotions triggering them (or being triggered by them) became the key focus of Dark Legacy. That’s why there’s a raven and a tree on the cover. Trust me, you’ll see those images all over the book. And (a bit of a spoiler), you don’t really know what they mean until the very end of the Dark Legacy–though I hope you have fun trying to figure them out along the way ;O)
Back to you and your dream work once more before I have to close–I’m getting questions about how to get more in touch with your dreams. My reading suggests that it’s important to relax (either when you’re just waking and are in a “near dream” state, or for some of us when we realize mid-dream that we’re, well, dreaming.) Don’t grasp for the images. Feel the emotions. Don’t try to hold on to what you’re seeing (or what you’ve just seen). Don’t try to make immediate sense out of it. Instead, eliminate the power of reasoning and let the details float around you. Keep an open mind and respect the dream itself by tuning into the emotions the symbols come with.
It’s a neat exercise. I’d actually been doing that very thing since I was a child without even realizing it. Probably why I can slip in and out of the stories I write so easily. If I couldn’t, I couldn’t write stories for a living. So, basically, my comfort with my dreams and acceptance of their “altered” logic has made me the “altered” creative writer that I am today ;o) Bwahahahaha…
Give it a try. Let me know what you think. Keep sending my your questions, too (either in comments here or to my website address, anna “at” annawrites “dot” com). More fun dream discussion to come, right up until the August 25th release of Dark Legacy. Then we’ll get to take that dream world apart and have some REAL fun! If you want an early peak at Dark Legacy, enter my June blog contest (see the categories to the right) for your chance to win an ARC!
Tags: Dream Theories, dreams, fantasy, fantasy author, Legacy Series, parapsychology, psychic
When I was young (er) I used to dream conversations that made absolutely no sense at the time. Some time later I would hear people talking and would know what was coming next – from what I heard in my dreams. I guess that I’ve heard everything – as they say- because I now longer hear those conversations.
I actually have a theory about this Karin. Similar things happened to me as I child. I think what I was dreaming were conversations I’d heard and didn’t understand, but they’d made contact somehow with my subconscious. Why my mind would do while dreaming, I suppose, was store those conversations and manange the information in them even if I couldn’t follow along while I haerd them. Then, especially with family convos, much later when I actually could plug into what was being said, it all seemed familiar somehow.
I’ll talk more about the encoding part of a dream’s job later. But I do believe that we store things away in our dreams for later–for when we’ll be better able to deal with them. And that’s where a good bit of the deja vu comes from. Suddenly, we find ourselves in a rush of memory that we swear we’ve never actually experienced–except we’ve dreamed it.
Very cool stuff!!!
It is during the REM stage of sleep that I have a problem. The Dr. described it just as you did. But when I am in that REM state, I do stop breathing. I have sleep apnia. I have to wear a mask at night to keep that from happening. Since the problem was discovered and appropiate action taken, I sleep better, dream more and remember more details of dreams. I feel the emotion now more than ever. I am so looking forward to the book being available or I win whichever comes first LOL so we can learn more about dreams. Have a great day and hugs to all.
The psyiological changes the body undergoes during sleep are fascinating–and a little scary, when they go haywire. Sleep apnia is one of the more severe misfires the mind can make. There are documented instances of sleep eating (particularly with those who take some prescribed sleep aids), sleep driving (shudder) and so forth. Things far beyond the “funny” sleep walking we typically think about. I’m so glad you got the help you needed Fannie. Sorr yfor the mask while you sleep, but I’m glad you’re sleep and dreams are more stable. Both are so important.
As or Dark Legacy, once the book’s out, I’m dying to get into discussions with everyone about the way I’ve taken the idea of daydeams and sleepwalking and merged them into a form of unconscious but “lucid” walking dream–which can be remotely triggered by psychics as a weapon. Sooooo cool!
Since the time I reached a “certain age,” I’ve had difficulty
sleeping. I was put on a popular sleep medication and began
having some horrific dreams. The strange thing was that the
dreams would stay with me well into the day. I found that it
wasn’t really restful sleep, either. A medication change is
giving me a more normal type of sleep and dreams. Knowing more
about your “Dark Legacy” has me looking forward to reading
the books.
Pat Cochran
I read how common your experience is every day, Pat. From what I read, disrupting your sleep patterns (forcing sleep, when your body’s not actually carrying out its restorative work) causes the symptoms you experienced. Your body doesn’t get the rest it needs. Your mind/memory don’t go through their natural “storage” rhythms. In short, you’re not awake but you’re not really sleeping either. You’re unconscious–a totally different thing.
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