Stubbornness and Persistence
Of course, sometimes it's not YOU in your dream being stubborn--excuse me, "persistent". Sometimes it's the monster you fear--or slay. You can't keep a good monster down. And maybe, if it's THAT persistent, you'd be better off trying couples counseling. Jung would say so.
This is a newish list, so let me know if you find dreams that should be here. And if you've HAD one, add your dream!
RELATED TOPICS: assertion - willpower - goals, purposes, values - haste versus patience - anger - See also the full INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
What this site is - Add your dreams! - How to read blurbs - Ratings - Copyright - Downloading - The World Dream Bank has 4000 dreams plus 1000 pages on dreamwork, shamanism, surrealism, fantasy, worldbuilding, creativity and genius. Site © Chris Wayan 2001-2022.
THE AIR BURUNDI PAINTINGS: by Wayan; 7 illus., 2007/1/20, a dream of art & courage Weird paintings cover a hill town in Africa, demanding I paint them when I wake. Paintings on courage, flight... and defying tradition. |
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ALL-GENIUS CLASS: by Wayan; dreamed 2007/5/2, a dream warning it took a decade to spot Our gifted class is on a field trip. Our teacher happily explains we're going to wreck a freeway, tying up traffic for months, to protest crappy gifted programs... CAUTION: SLOWEST DREAM INTERPRETATION EVER |
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ALPENFLIGHT: by Wayan; 1986/4/1, a predictive flying dream Fleeing hunters, blocked by a cafe crowd, I fly up a long slope--but the cafe climbs on & on! At last I perch exhausted on a peak, looking down on a now-alpine cafe above a sea of clouds. Next day... |
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ASCENT: by Wayan; spring 1997; a comix-panorama on recurrent mountaineering dreams. All that spring I dreamed of climbing, cold, fatigue, risk, and fear. But shamanic training involves toughening; ascent isn't always easy flight... |
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ASTRID AND ME: by Wayan, 2019/12/18, a dream inspired by a film--seen after it. DREAM: I'm a girl in love with an underage abused girl (using me to heal?) But gossips (& the Swedish navy) won't let us be... FILM: A Swede gets his teenage assistant pregnant--and small-town gossips blame her. So she writes Pippi Longstocking... CAUTION: TEEN SEX; ESP? |
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THE BARRINGTON BUNNY: by Wayan; 1988/8/30, a world-saving alien-abduction dream Alien robots kidnap me... and make me the mascot for a college football team. But my Channel Changer slowly infuses us all with nerdy trust... |
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BEATING UNCLE FESTER, or, ACHIEVING BILUMIA: by Wayan; 2013/3/31, a stupid telepathic dream I screw the lightbulbs in my ears again, and this time, they stay. I sit down at the piano, and as I play... |
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BLACK SOLSTICE; 1978/12/23 by Wayan; a warning dream-poem It had been a weirdly mild winter day, but in my dream black storms loomed as I tried to build shelter... |
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BLACKSLIME TOWER: by Wayan; 1986/11/13; a transformation dream with political tinges Humanity's trapped in a Quad, overseen by the Guardians of Blackslime Tower. Feather by feather, I grow wings, and plot to escape with the Flying Cat... CAUTION: THE SLIME IS REAGANOMICS |
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BRAID OF SILENCE: by Wayan; 1989/1/24, a brief dream-poem We're slaves on the moon. But we're slowly stretching our freedom in the shadows, undoing the Braid of... |
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BREAK FREE: by Emily Joy; 2006/5/11, an encouraging dream on the price of safety. I search for family skeletons, but then a talking plant on TV inspires me to seek the sun and fly free. But certain velociraptors and barbarian swordswomen object... CAUTION: DUELS, FISH ABUSE, THE F-WORD |
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BRIGHT BEAST, PATIENT BEAST: by Edwin Muir; c.1920, a dream of our primal struggle Two beasts eternally fight, the proud bright peacock-tailed beast and the sad-eyed, ever-defeated sheepdog of... |
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CAIRO GIRL: by Wayan; 2008/2/18, a feverdream shifting from nightmare to joy I'm lost in the angry streets of Cairo. But I meet a goth-girl with moth-antennae: a jinni who's working for longterm change. She takes me home... CAUTION: MOTH NUDITY |
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CARTWRIGHT'S HARLEQUIN: by Rosalind Cartwright, 1927? to 2020/12/5? Lifelong recurring dream All her life, Cartwright dreamed of a figure disguised in a harlequin costume; she never saw his face. He always drove her to self-sabotage. But near her death, she dreamt she gave a lecture, and he... |
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CAT WITH A KNIFE: by Wayan, 2000/6/24, a nightmare of a Jungian Shadow changed by patience A guy threatens me with a knife. I sit on him and wait patiently. Slowly he turns into a huge black cat! I set him free in a garden... |
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CELEBRITY ATTACK!: by Pierre Dalcourt, art by Jesse Reklaw; pre-2000; a complex dream on celebrity As a mob of Hollywood stars beats me up, I ask for autographs--and get them. I sell the autographs to fund a statue of the beating--but with me smiling... |
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CHANGE THE CORE PROGRAM: by Wayan; 1995/6/28, a dream of sudden progress. I meet a tragic heroine--great heart, rotten luck. But I open her magic sword and find a bad chip... |
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COMICS & DREAMJOURNAL: by Rick Veitch, Jan 1974, a life-path dream I'm trying to jam together my dream diary and my first comics. My grandmother's skeptical. But at last, with an audible 'click', dreams and comics suddenly merge... |
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CREATURE BECOMES CREATOR: by Wayan; 2015/2/5, three linked advisory dreams on world trends A weird little forest god bred me from an ordinary deer into a creature who can almost pass for human. But World War 2 killed my god, and now I'm growing into... CAUTION: NUDITY, CROSSBREEDING |
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CRESTED DEER: by Wayan; 2022/7/8, two shamanic little dreams In endangered woods I meet deer with bold black-and white feather crests. Higher up, it's barren--a hard winter. But I taste a medicinal blue-black fruit... |
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D, D, D: by Wayan; 1988/2/1, trance-poem during automatic writing (done to rewire my brain) I always wrote some letters strangely--my 'd' was nearly illegible. So I set out to retrain my deep motor skills... |
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DAD'S DATES: by Wayan; 2008/8/17, a dream poem, Dreamverse #8. After my mom's death, my dad starts dating again, while I hide out and wince. Can't I do anything positive? |
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DESERT SLAVERS: by Wayan; 2015/5/29; a grim dream replayed a bit better A gang of slavers catch my family. I flee on a bike but it breaks down. Stranded. Replay! This time I have a gun... CAUTION: GANG, SHOOTING |
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MY DEWCLAW: by Wayan; 1997/6/30; dreams within dreams within dreams Body after body is peeled away revealing truth inside truth... CAUTION: GROTESQUE |
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DINOSAUR GRADE: by Wayan, 2006/1/25, a shamanic workout dream I ride a recumbent bike up an exhausting slope past browsing bears. Oh. Not bears. Dinosaurs. No wonder I'm so tired! Timetravel's hard... |
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THE DOG PILOT PROGRAM: by Wayan; 1981/4/23, a dream of doing the impossible. I get a job in China teaching bus-driving dogs how to fly. I don't know how. Luckily, the dogs... |
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DON'T SETTLE FOR HALF: by Wayan; 2010/1/21; an advisory dream about dreaming Struggling to recall a magical dream, I suddenly get a single, simple image. ... |
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THE DOOR THROUGH DEATH: by Wayan; 1981/10/25; a Greco-Egyptian nightmare poem At death's door, my friend lets Cerberus devour her, so I can enter Death's pyramid alive and expose the truth about the afterlife... CAUTION: FATAL DOG ATTACK |
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THE DOUBT: by Wayan; 2007/2/15, an undream trance-painting Painting an abstract watercolor, I drifted into trance, and found myself climbing a thorny slope. Deer in the brush. Great peaks around. Had I gone wrong? |
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DRAGON-JEWEL: by Wayan; 2013/6/27, a 1001 Nights epic dream disturbingly predictive of ISIS In Old Palmyra, I stumble on a dragon-hoard. Wizards and caliphs hunt me--how to get out of town? Magic carpet? No. I put on a brown coat, borrow a delivery bike, and slowly pedal... |
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DRILL TO FLOW: by Wayan; 2011/4/8, an anti-frustration dream A panel of argumentative gods grant me a spare lifetime of piano practice. It takes that long, but... |
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EFFORT VERSUS APTITUDE: by Wayan, 2017/8/23, a dream about... oh, read the title. I urge a cafe to host a talented Tarot reader with an amazing aura, but the owner says "Anyone can be psychic with practice." Oh? Can practice make you Einstein, too? |
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ERODE THE MUTING CURSE: by Wayan, 2014/8/23, a dream of... health advice? The Fairy Queen curses me, taking away my language. Recovery often takes years, but I practice hard, and speak full sentences--the next day. The Queen is slipping... |
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ESCAPE BY INTUITION: by Wayan; 2010/1/11; four dreams of breaking through I must see a community as a whole, and intuit my way out of a sealed room, and spot details, and join a trio in bed... CAUTION: NUDITY IN LAST DREAM |
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FILL IN THE PIT: by Wayan; 2018/8/18, a political/practical advisory dream The boarding school needs to fill in the old Punishment Pit. Not just archaic, but a threat to every student. So let every student dump clay in & dance on it... |
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FILLY'S QUEST: by Wayan; 1981/1/31, a dream on dream-theory. Head versus... wings! The tunnel has pictures of a winged unicorn filly on a quest. But the editor of the deluxe book version is intellectual, patriarchal and heavy-handed... CAUTION: UNDERAGE ALICORN FLIRTING |
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FINAL EXAM, WRITTEN IN BLOOD: by Wayan; 2019/6/16, a dream on systemic bigotry My classmates stole my pen. My teacher condones it. I am, after all, a hated minority. They won't even SELL me one. So I write my final in blood--three huge, crude letters... |
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FLAMES: by John, c. 1973, as told by Gayle Delaney; an induced transcendent dream I asked my dreams if I should leave my alcoholic wife. I dreamt we were conjoined flames, green and blue. I awoke hopeful, and knew I'd stay. For eight months my wife struggled. Now she's been sober five years... |
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FLIER MISJUDGES REEFWORLD: by Wayan; 2018/12/16, an otherworldly dream on... social media? A girl from a low-gravity, dense-air world, where you strap on wings and fly, tours a world of tropical atolls with me. I love sailing, but flight's spoiled her for it--too slow... |
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FLY-PARADISE: by Wayan; 1978/12/15, an automatic-writing poem that worked like an advisory dream I'm a fly lured to a bright but sealed window. The only way out is to ignore the light and brave the dark--and only when a door opens. Patience AND boldness... |
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FOUR WHO COULD ONLY GET HALF-WAY by Nancy Price; 1948, a frustration-dream with deep advice I'm one of four mediocrities: all our efforts come to nought. Mum says "You're netted, but you can fray the ropes... |
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GALLEY SLAVE: by Wayan; 2008/11/27, a punning career-advice dream; Dreamverse #47 Shipwrecked and claimed as salvage on Crete, Ed the writer became a dishwashing slave! In contrast, Marie the musician... |
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GANDHI RUNS: by Wayan; 1997/8/1, a fusion dream. Gandhi and I must run barefoot across a burning racetrack miles wide... the Ascetic Desert? |
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GARDEN OF THE GODS: by Wayan; 1995/10/6, a dream of slowth. In the Garden of the Gods, I sit through sun and rain. For gods aren't the gardeners, they're the crop... |
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GET YOUR BODY BACK: by Wayan; 1997/6/11, a dreamed parable. A man dies--his body's chopped up. He ends in Hell. But he's a stubborn guy; he wants his body back. So... |
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THE GIFTED CHILD: by Brenda Ferrimani, 2013?, a painting of an incubated dream Previous dreamwork had made it clear my mother had betrayed me; I asked my dreams how to protect myself from those who do not love me... |
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GIRAFFE MISSION, or, THE 17TH FOOT: by Wayan, 2017/1/30, a Seussy dreampoem on breadth of view I was in the Mission with friends. A giraffe saw me as narrowminded, and lifted me up to show me HIS viewpoint. No insights--till we topped the roofline... |
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GIRL IN THE WATER: by Wayan, 2000/10/7, twin dreams on... dreamwork? In a California with no Gold Rush, wild deer carry a girl over the San Fernando hills to a secret dream-pool... Then in a Japantown hotel lobby, that girl floats meditating in a huge aquarium, as local gossips lie about her... |
GURNEY TO WHEELCHAIR TO WALKER TO CANE: by Wayan; 2011/10/10; a dream on persistence |
After seeing the cast of Glee interviewed, I dream I'm a paranoid cripple in music school who goes from... |
A HAUNTED HOUSE INDEED!: by Anna Kingsford; 1887/4/12, an epic ghost dream |
I was warned about soul-devouring art in the haunted house, but I didn't expect to find an entire art salon... CAUTION: ABSORBING ARTWORK |
HEART CHAKRA: by Wayan; 2011/5/8, a dreamlet blending Indian mysticism and the movie Megamind |
I'm a digital superhero, rubbing red-orange oil into my fake skin. I have six more colors of oil to rub in, six more chakras to heal. But first things first!... |
HEIST THE GOLDEN EGGS!: by Wayan; 2008/7/18, a dream of do-it-yourself tech--and ethics |
Two teens crack a bank with a homemade rocket--but forgot a crowbar! Caught, but the bank can't press charges; the kids have proof the bank uses slave labor... CAUTION: DISSES CAPITALISM |
HIDE IN THE REEDS: by Wayan, 2023/2/5, a punning health-advice dream |
In the park, long lines of worshipers wait to meet a guru. But I'm naked, so I hide in the reeds... CAUTION: NUDE SUNBATHING |
HIGHER LEVEL: by Wayan; 2011/12/13, an absurd transcendent dream |
I paddle through the grim streets of Karachi on my belly, on a skateboard, with my flipper-hands, until at last I reach the border to a Higher Realm... |
A HISA ON OLYMPUS: by Wayan; 2014/6/15, a dream on the need to slow down |
I'm a hisa, a primitive alien who solves a high-tech crime for the humans. Then I hike home, step by step, down a great shield volcano. Because shuttles leave your soul behind... |
THE HONEST INMATE: by Wayan; 1997/5/8, a dreamfable on truthfulness. |
I'm a psychopath in a prison for the insane. But I fall in love, and change. Blunt honesty fuels the change... |
HUBRIS EGGS: by Wayan; 1981/6/11, a short defiant psychic dream. |
I'm wrapping my heavy-metal eggs too slowly, so the Judges sink my car! I set out to get revenge... |
HYPNOGOGIC ASSAULT: by Dr Simon Forman; 1559-63, recurring hypnogogic images. |
From age six on, Simon nightly climbs mountains and faces roaring floods in a sort of naptime bootcamp... |
I GUESS IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY PARTY: by Jack Kerouac, early Oct.1952, a transcendent nightmare? |
My party's a slow disaster. Talk, booze, pot, sex--nothing works out. What will Mom think? At last, trapped in an office, I get the Message... |
IN THE STAR; 1988/9/12 by Wayan; an epic, out-of-body, intrastellar quest-dream |
I tour the heart of a red supergiant, where dreaming souls explore their fears and heart's desires, unconstrained by solid matter... CAUTION: SWEDENBORGIAN VISION, UNICORN NUDITY |
INCREMENTAL HEAVENS: by Wayan; 2016/9/5, a reincarnation-frustration dream, baffling then. Not now. |
I keep getting reincarnated in dull heavens where all is blocked by know-nothings. After the 2016 election... CAUTION: CAUSTIC |
IS A SUN: by Wayan; 1992/2/20, nondream picture-poem. |
Poem by Emily Dickinson on fighting depression, which I get when my neuroallergies are severe... |
IS LONGING A RIGHT?: by Wayan; 2021/6/26, a dream on willpower & guilt |
I'm in a dance class where we built not just muscle strength but strength of will, too: the idea's to magically summon your soulmate through sheer longing! And my classmates succeed--intermittently... CAUTION: QUEER THINKING |
IT IS THE ONLY WAY!: by Rick Veitch; c.1960; a child's career-predicting dream |
My bedroom window is choked with dirt. I dig up to the surface and find a man reading comics. He says 'It is the only way!'... |
JETPACK AND TIGER: by Wayan; 1988/3/17, a nonlucid yet lucidlike shamanic dream. |
After watching both Star Trek & Doctor Who, I find I'm held prisoner by the Rani and her laser-toting tiger guards. So I meditate--and manifest a jetpack and a laser gun! I never deduced I'm dreaming; it's not lucidity. It's simpler. What have I got to lose? |
JOKE PILOT: by Wayan; 1995/7/15, a dream of defiance. |
Among aliens, humans are jokes. Fragile and blind, we can't fly starships. Unless we build our own... |
KICK HER: by Wayan; 1994/8/9, a gameshow nightmare. |
I'm a blonde gameshow bimbo. Each week, I'm beaten up. Ha ha ha! But my bruises are real. At last, I... CAUTION: GAMESHOW FROM HELL |
THE KING'S LANGUAGE: by Emanuel Swedenborg, 1744/4/24, a dream on the language of dreams |
Swedenborg struggles to grasp the King's broken French. He wakes to realize he's trying to learn a greater King's difficult language. Still relevant today, for he saw the problem's twofold: the difficult language of images, but also issues the waking mind missed--or wants to deny! |
LAMIA by Wayan, 1988/11/1 with a nightmare by John Ruskin, 1869/11/1 |
I ask my dreams about sex, and get... sex on a beach with a sea-serpent girl--a lamia. But she gets queasy-- landsick! Too hot for her up here. Help her back in the sea. What a contrast with Ruskin's lamia nightmare... CAUTION: SCALY SEX |
THE LONGEVITY INSTITUTE: by Wayan, 2019/5/7; a dream on a family mutation |
On the show Finding Your Roots, it turns out my dad's a genetic experiment born in... 1880?! The experiment worked; my sisters and I are slow-maturing, long-lived mutants... |
MAGICAL GRADUATION: by Wayan, 2018/4/22, twin dreamlets on letting go and being yourself |
I befriend author Andre Norton--an ageless high-school kid writing enthused fan fiction, forever... I find my Niche--the stone nook that decides if I'm a journeyman mage! Here comes my prophecy... |
MARVIN, CRASH: by Rick Veitch; Feb 1974; a predictive/warning dream |
My "friends" pull me away from the girl of my dreams, push booze & pot at me, and won't even try to climb the rope to success. But Marvin saves Evel Knievel from a motorcycle crash. Sounds good--until, ten years later, I hear how Marvin died... CAUTION: GRIM AFTERMATH |
MY MOTHER'S CLOSET: by Rachel Hadas, c. 2000; |
a dream-poem provoking a 2008/9/16 dream by Chris Wayan I was in my mother's closet, trying on her outfits, and trapped in Hamlet, too... |
THE MOTORCYCLE-BOOK: by Alyse and Tim, 1979 or before, complementary dreams |
ALYSE dreams Tim drives a motorcycle-book up a hill, but she doesn't LIKE riding so fast... TIM dreams a wise woman tested him, but found him unqualified to play teacher to Alyse... |
NIC'S THOUSAND PAINTINGS: by Wayan, 2017/7/9, a dream with creative advice |
My friend Nic vows to paint two pictures a day, and, impossibly, does. Meanwhile, I'm blocked. Can she show me how to get unstuck? |
ORPHEUS AND POOH: by Wayan; 1972/4/9, a dream echoing Cocteau's film Orphee--before seeing it |
I meet my true love during a coup. We go through Hell together, like Orpheus and Eurydice--only we... |
OTTER MEDICINE: by The-Fringe, a Crow healer, early 1850s; a shamanic dream with physical effects |
I slept on an island in a scalding hot spring, praying for a dream. I got one--and woke up on the shore... |
PALAIS IDÉAL: by Ferdinand Cheval; dreamed 1864, built 1879-1912, a life-defining dream |
I dreamed I built a palace, but for fifteen years I kept silent, ashamed. Then I tripped over a beautiful stone. I took it home. Next day I collected more... |
PIG YOYO: by Wayan; 1987/11/21, a dream on how to end self-torture. |
A hog is tied so it bounces in a fountain, and at the bottom of each bounce, a fork jabs it! How to free this yoyo pig? CAUTION: PAIN |
PINKIE CLEANS THE WINDOWS OF PERCEPTION: |
by Wayan; 2017/2/5, an advisory dream fusing Aldous Huxley & My Little Pony. My new housemate Pinkie is a party animal, but she's really nice. She climbs a high ladder to help wash my Windows of Perception. Then our unicorn friend Rarity walks in. She warns me to pace this renovation project... CAUTION: PONIES |
PLANET-SCULPTING APE: by "AE" (George Russell); mid-1870s, a childhood characterological dream. |
On a cloud in space I met an ape molding a model of Earth, glancing at the original far below. We were much alike... |
POLES NOW, TROPICS LATER: by Wayan; 1997/3/27, a dream on the pace of change. |
I'm a Martian revolutionary, making the glaciers grow. The equator's still dry, but change is coming... |
POOL ASSASSINS: by Wayan; 2017/3/1, a nightmare after hearing of a real assassination |
Four women with guns attack me at a public pool. Trapped in the water, can I survive? Only by being ruthless... CAUTION: VIOLENCE |
PORTALS: by Wayan; 2020/7/30, a dream about family, uh, bonding... |
I sneak into a mansion where a mom & daughter bond by interrogating willing victims who get off on the bondage. Later, Inquisitor Girl and I are waiting to use a teleportation gate and discover we have something in common: not just weird moms, but even weirder dads... CAUTION: KINKY FAMILY VALUES |
PSYCHIC CAT: by Scott Bartell, art by Jesse Reklaw; pre-2000; a comic dreamlet |
Our neighbors keep dropping by with gifts and favors for our cat. Why? He'd gained magical powers by amassing 10,000 dead mice... |
PUT TWICE AS MUCH IN: by Wayan; 2003/9/22, a dream warning how much it takes to change |
All the claymation figures I made in my teens are gone but one. And the centauress has a broken hip and spindly leg. I start to mend her, but I need TWICE the clay I thought... CAUTION: FURRY NUDITY |
RADAR BEAR: by Wayan; 1983/6/17, a dream of MASH--and perseverance. |
Radar O'Reilly's teddy bear is stolen. He builds spy-planes to find it. One morning the camp wakes to find... |
RAINBOW SPLASH: by Wayan, 2023/4/23, a furry-porn dream hiding art advice! |
I'm in an alt-world Berkeley where mythic creatures shop on College Avenue. Marigold the unicorn flirts with me. Rainbow Dash the pegasus has turned male. Very very male... CAUTION: FURRY NUDITY (AND CRUDITY) |
RARE BIT FIENDS: by Rick Veitch; 1994 or before; a recurring dream personifying dreamwork? |
The wildcat Rare Bit Fiends slinks out of the hills to stalk and maul dreamers--until one day she rears up to teach a dream workshop... |
RUNNER WITH A PORPOISE: by Wayan; 1999/10/30, a dream of spirits. |
A Japanese high school athlete has no friends, till she starts meeting animal spirits on her long solo runs... |
SATISFACTION: by Keith Richards, 1965/5/7, a famous dream song (and a well-prepared dreamer) |
I always kept a guitar and tape recorder by my bed. I wake up and see the tape's run to the very end. I ran it back to the start and there, in a sort of ghostly version, was... |
SAVED BY A CYMBAL: by Wayan; 2021/11/29, a dream punning about dreamwork! |
Stranded on an island where a marching band drowned, I escape by paddling across the Pacific using a rusty, er, cymbal... |
SEA PARADE: by Rick Veitch; c.1995; a dream on media versus dreams |
We need to get down to the sea, but Disney Corporation blocks the way. Wait--we're dreamworkers! We ooze through the walls, and cheer the parade marching in on the tide... |
THE SELL-FISH WITCHES: by Wayan; 1983/6/29, an epic corrective dream |
My sister and I are runaways, developing psychic powers. A cult of fish-selling witches wants to use us... CAUTION: SIBLING INCEST, SPELL ABUSE |
SIGNORINETTA: by Alfred Douglas; late May 1908, a predictive (and profitable) dream. |
I dreamt a grey filly won the Derby. My friend, a fan, said no fillies were racing this year; but he forgot one named... |
SILKY CLEANS THE UNDERWORLD: by Wayan; 2023/5/26, a heartening surreal dream |
I'm lost in the underworld again. Happens a lot lately. But I run into my anima Silky, in yellow boots and a safety vest, blasting clean the walls of the land of the dead... |
SING TO MY ALIEN FRIEND: by Wayan; 2017/3/7, a dream-poem on... alienation? |
From a crowd in a gym, I sing to my wolflike alien friend. But she can't recognize my voice-- too convincing a falsetto! I slide deeper, but once she heard a girl, she can't imagine... |
SPECTER OF THE BROCKEN: by Carl Jung, c.1893; early dream proposing the Shadow |
Jung walked against stiff wind and fog, sheltering a tiny light, generating a huge eerie shadow--his other self! He concluded this was his life-task--to nurture his spark of awareness & rationality in the dark. But... In hindsight his dream models four key Jungian ideas: Self, Ego, Shadow and Unconscious--at age 18! CAUTION: REJECTS JUNG'S OWN DREAM INTERPRETATION! |
SPONTANEOUS DUCK: by Wayan; 2010/9/14, two dreams on feeling magically inadequate |
I spy on a girl learning magic in a quilted ditch. She lets me join her telekinesis lesson! Can my mind move a balloon? Then I tour a witch-world where normality's shameful. One kid's not witch or normal--he keeps turning into Donald Duck! CAUTION: DISNEY = DISABILITY? |
STAGE FAILURE: by Dana Hughes, art by Jesse Reklaw; pre-2000; a dream of surrender |
I'm on stage. I have to sing. They just stare. I try dancing. Stony silence. At last, a second me leads me offstage, saying "You can only fail so many times"... |
STICK IT BACK ON: by Wayan; 1980/7/15, a scattered dream still hiding a point. |
The tollman on the new bridge to the Land of the Dead revives a beheaded woman by RANDOM action... |
STOCKDEN'S MURDER: by Elizabeth Greenwood; Dec 1695-Jan 1696, six dreams solving a murder. |
Greenwood dreamt her murdered neighbor's ghost gave her tips helping her catch his three killers... |
THE STONE MOVES: by Rick Veitch; 1994 or before; a mysterious breakthrough dream |
Repeated attempts to move a gigantic, sacred, saucerlike stone all failed; but now, with the world's biggest cranes, we get it on a truck. It crawls past adoring crowds... |
TANYA'S DREAMS: by Tanya, as told by Gayle Delaney, Jan 1971-June '72; a set of 6 breakup dreams |
My friend Tanya tries hard to save her marriage, but in her dreams Isidora Duncan, Carl Jung, even the gods themselves warn her to face their deep incompatibility...
| THAT WIND: by Wayan; 1986/8/29; an undream poem on a daymare |
Nightmares can warn. But when awake, what warning can you get from nonstop ill-luck? |
TORNADO AND STARSHOWER: by Dream Junkee; 2008/8/15, a nightmare that goes lucid |
A killer tornado traps us in the cellar. I bite my finger. It's boneless--I'm dreaming! I summon... |
TSUNAMI PERSEVERANCE: by Wayan, 2020/1/7, one of twin warning dreams |
We flee a tsunami. Inland. Up a hill. Onto a roof. One by one, the flood plucks us away. Long past hope, I climb a flagpole. As I cling to the very top and the mud rises to my lips... CAUTION: GRIM PREDICTION |
TWILIGHT ANIMA RISING: by Mardi Storm, 2005, a dream leading to artistic defiance | I dreamed of a unicorn rearing in the desert. I wanted to sculpt it and applied to Burning Man but was rejected. So I sculpted the unicorn anyway, out of playa mud. It was a hit... |
UNICORN FEEDBACK: by Wayan; 2009/1/3, a double dream of advice |
A telepathic unicorn gives me some subtle advice. I wake, and tell a friend, who easily proves my account is distorted by my own biases. Telepathy's confusing! Wake again. Her correction was part of the dream... |
WARM MOTHER: by Jenny Badger Sultan; 2001/3/24, 3/29, 3/30 & 4/1; dreams | I dream my mother takes over caring for my sick daughter; I feel pushed aside. When I wake, I try to paint a more positive image of mothering. For a week, dream after dream has opportunities for patience and letting go of jealousy... |
WATERMELON MINE: by Wayan; 2023/6/18, a surreal dream with long-term advice |
I'm the new manager of the watermelon mine. And to free the trapped minors-- oops, miners!--I have to plan. So I cover the floor with My Little Pony post-its... CAUTION: CARTOON NUDITY |
THE WHO IN HELL AM I: by Wayan; 1984/1/28, a stubborn dream. |
I'm Pete Townshend of the Who, climbing stubbornly out of Hell by noticing what I don't want... |
WHOSE DREAM WAS IT?: by Wayan; 2008/10/18, a nested-dream poem, Dreamverse #35. |
I'm a Chinese kid fleeing the Japanese Occupation in 1938. As we near San Francisco, I wake to find it's all my dad's dream. Wait--he's alive again? But he was never a refugee. Is it a pastlife memory? If so, whose--his or mine? |
WILLPOWER (HAPPINESS): by Wayan; 1991/1/17, a didactic dream. |
At age 90, the first female high-rise steelworker tells me why she did it--and why she regrets it now... |
WINDOW IN THE SKY: by Emily Joy; 2006/10/15, an epic, flying, apocalyptic dream |
When my friends and I learn to fly, all of Middle Earth turns against us! Fleeing from Saruman's army, I discover the backstage truth about our world... CAUTION: VIOLENCE, DOOM, PHYSICS! YODA IN THE TUB! |
WINGED BEAST: by Emanuel Swedenborg, 1744/4/7/29, a dream of fighting one's own flaws |
Swedenborg fights a monster but lacks strength. Yet later, on a higher plane, he learns the beast did die... CAUTION: VIOLENT |
WINGLESS: by Wayan; 1992/2/21; a dream-poem on flight versus guilt |
Wingless, I try hard to fly, arm-flapping wild. And I rise! Flight's in the mind. But I'm leaving my friend behind! Guilt ties me down--till I see... |
WITCHMARE SEDUCES TWILIGHT: by Wayan; 2021/3/12 & 13, a dream with a confirming follow-up |
DREAM: Witchmare the sorceress patiently wins over Twilight, a unicorn who thought she was straight. NEXT NIGHT: at a queer picnic, I find I know my orientation--witches! But I'm less sure what sex I am... CAUTION: LESBIANS, UNICORNS, FANART, COMPLEXITY |
WITH WILD AND TURQUOISE EYES: by Joan-lee Woehler; c.1950, a dream of a Jungian Shadow |
I slay the beautiful dragon attacking us, despite my regret. And then, as I sleep, glowing eyes advance on our keep AGAIN... |
WIZARD VERSUS WITCH-HUNTER: by Wayan; 2023/4/16, a dueling dream |
Truce at last! We can party again. But witch-hunters burst in and try to arrest me for being a wizard. They use a box of strong-arm force; I use my wand. But their weapon's rechargeable battery overheats, while I... CAUTION: CRITIQUES SELF-STYLED RATIONALISTS |
WOUND-BARGAIN: by a Marine from New York; 1918/9/12-14, a prediction and possible alteration of the future |
I was sure I'd be wounded, but dreaded being crippled. So I tried on injuries! I settled on a flesh wound in my left shoulder... |
ZILLIONAIRE'S TOWER: by Wayan; 2012/2/9, a financial climbing dream |
My mild yuppie friend Lou climbs a bank tower to reach his rich mentor, and wins an internship. But as he swears his oath to Get Rich Quick... CAUTION: DISSES CUTTHROAT CAPITALISM |
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