Eta Carina

So, a new earth like planet has been discovered. What difference could it make to anybody? Interesting for sure and allows speculation around life forms and the limitations of space travel.

Travelling at the speed of light the USS Enterprise would take 20 years and 6 months to arrive there from Earth. A lot of episodes could be packed into that time. Bit boring though.

Not if you are me however! I have the capability of reaching far star systems in my dreams. This dream was about a visit to the star Eta Carina which is around 7,500 light years from Scotland. In the dream it was a double star but Eta Carinae (η Carinae or η Car) is a highly luminous hypergiant star. Estimates of its mass range from 100–150 times the mass of the Sun, and its luminosity is about four million times that of the Sun.

Anyway I am awaiting confirmation hourly that it is in fact a double star. Bookings for interstellar travel will then be taken. In certain circumstances however it will be necessary for applicants to sleep with me to get the full cosmic experience.

Last Days of Steam

Dreamt that a steam engine clanked along the railway line at the bottom of my garden. Symbol of a bygone age, when Elvis was King and I watched all his films wearing my red nylon jacket. Drove down to the cinema in my Morris Minor, soon to be upgraded to a Hillman Minx, but it was rubbish compared to the Morris. Then a wee green Mini van, excellent vehicle but puddles stopped it in its tracks. Next came a VW Beetle, first registered in Baghdad, still with sand beneath the mats. Driving with this at night was a nightmare with its 6 volt lighting cutting a beam of light up to 12 feet ahead. Many mistakes and successes followed but I never got a steam engine.

The Perfect Storm

I have always had difficulty with 'self growth' groups. This dream was about such a group which took place on a pier stretching out from the safety of land into a wild sea. There was seven women and myself, led by another male, fairly typical odds.

Within the group, passions, jealousies, boundary issues, unacknowledged problems and anger seethed. The key word being unacknowledged. The leader, conscious of his power and fee, continued keeping the group in that same place. After all, the more problems his 'clients' had, the longer the group would last, his own stuff paling into insignificance.

A storm brewed, the tension became unbearable, warnings were sent out and ignored. A collapse or destruction was imminent. I could stand it no longer, I jumped ship, women and children first, my ass.

Perhaps all very cynical but not totally unlikely.

The Winged Horse

To continue the wild horse theme, this was a dream about a winged horse which appeared out of the sea and removed a pistol from my hand. The horse then threw the gun into the water, flew off and returned to the sea.

I had been in a rowing boat with my youngest son and his mother. Why did I have the gun? Whom, if anyone, was I going to shoot? What about the other person in the distance, who was that? Who or what was Pegasus?

This seemed like an important dream, symbolising some real event, either in the present or as a possible future. Waiting and wondering . . .

A Dream of Wild Horses

I went into a cafe to buy a wild horse. The owner, who admitted to having 30 of them in stock, asked if I had 15 minutes to explain why I wanted one and a bit about myself. I started to talk about my history and interests and remembered that the horse was not for me but for a friend. He nodded sagely as if he had got to the truth. I then explained that I had met this woman on the street outside and she had asked me for a wild horse. It was a sufficiently unusual first line that I immediately said I would try to obtain one. But why go into a cafe?
Searching now like fury for connections and wild horse metaphors.
Several occur around dating, riding, freedom, energy, and wild women.
But, not sure. . .

Raining

I lived in a village of tents. It was raining. Miserable. A bus arrived to take Callum diving with a lot of his cronies. I watched him go and realised I was wearing his diving gloves, I ran after the bus to hand them over. The bus headed for the boating pond on the south side of Perth, which is fully 2 feet deep. Excellent diving no doubt.

Rain was continuous, I crossed the Queens Bridge over the Tay, having to wade through 3 feet of turbulent brown water that was surging over the roadway. Down a steep hill to the boating pond. Nothing but water as far as the eye could see, the Flood was upon us.

Still, I would be ok, I was wearing a pair of diving gloves.

Box World

Last night dreamt that people were square or oblong boxes, each around a metre high although some a lot less, with bits on the side that interlocked with each other. Almost like a jigsaw. People came singly, in pairs or little groups. All depended if they fitted together. Also the pattern or profile that they made was important. Seemed like a quest to get the interlocking and pattern right. Some were different colours although coundn't get a sense of what that was about. Not sure how or if they moved around.
We will all eventually go into a box of some sorts. Some are in boxes already and others like to put you and me into boxes. Force fitting not allowed. Wonder if I will find the box to fit mine? Maybe already have.
I probably need some therapy.

Driving on water

This dream was about being ushered onto a phantom bridge leading to the Western Isles by a man who was a level crossing. Never been quite sure about this dream or what it may have been about. Driving across such a bridge would certainly be an exercise in trust. I know the level crossing man didn't wish us to use the ferry that was quietly standing by, awaiting trade. Perhaps a premonition of the new Skye bridge and he was from the old Scottish Office.
On the other hand a visit to the Western Isles is long overdue, soon to be remedied by a trip to Mull and Iona, no reinforced concrete across the Firth of Lorne.
I see that I have upgraded to a green Mk2 Jaguar, hopefully a 3.4 or even a 3.8, excellent.
Hope they float.

Lucid Dreaming

This was a dream I had at my previous house. In it, I was helping my dad to repair his van when we saw these weird shapes in the sky. Even in the dream they appeared unusual. This was enough for me to realise it was actually a dream. At this point I annoyingly woke up. In other similar cases the dream becomes lucid and I can do the sort of things that are normally impossible for me, eg flying, having super powers and being attractive to women (made the last one up).

The Radio Shack

Another dream of communication. This one last night was of a radio telephone in a small shed. It was the only one in the entire world. Not much point you might say, except of course that it was a direct link to God and toll free.
Needless to say there was a queue. I took my place and wondered what to say. Small talk was probably out. Endless questions passed through my head.
In the end I decided just to say, "Hello".

Artesian Arts

This was a dream I had after attending an initial meeting for an art organisation I was involved in called Artesian. It existed to give a forum for 'upwelling art and creativity' mainly involving outsider artists, ie people like me with no training. One of its major features was a magazine, which was one of the major topics at the meeting.

In the dream I could see the people that attended the meeting through a square metal grid (i'm the white one with my back to the camera). They appeared as various shapes, governed no doubt by the impressions and feelings they engendered in me at the time. As you might guess the meeting was a bit of a nightmare. The magazine however contained some excellent stuff and survived for some time before various difficulties gradually brought it down.

The web site still exists and it seems like it might all come back to life.

http://www.artesian-arts.org/

Phone home

To my horror I discovered a big hole in the middle of my mobile phone screen. This happened when I tried to phone my mother, who has been dead for many years. She would keep me right.
Still, every cloud has a silver lining, it meant that I could go and buy another phone.
Phones never last very long with me, either drop them down the toilet, they just stop working or I accidentally lay them on the hot plate of the stove. And of course the hole in the screen syndrome.
Buying another phone is always great fun, not quite the highlight of my year, but you get the picture. What type, colour, folding, sliding, big screen, little screen (my one had two), quadband, bluetooth etc etc. Every boy's toy.
And of course its got to be able to talk to the Other Side.

Serious Stuff (not the Evostik product)

This was a dream entitled 'The park keeper said that they were unknown to science'. 'They' being some type of crustaceans that I had caught in a bucket. The shape of the pool mirrors their own. They were wanting to return to somewhere they knew as home. Is that what I am doing now? Preparing to return? Not to death but to more than life. I know I want to be fulfilled, but don't want to just fill my time up. Choosing what I do now seems really important

Unknown to science may mean unknown to me, which is pretty much everything, or perhaps I have just forgotten the important stuff.

When I sit on that park bench at the end of my life, looking back, I want no regrets and that means . . .

Battle at the Bingo Bar

Last night went to a bingo meeting with a strange woman (that would be a first). Before going in I ordered a rum and blackcurrant at the bar. The woman had her own drink. Another man pushed in front of me and a scuffle developed. This guy was quite a handful, forearms like Popeye. During the scuffle my drink appeared but it was green. I started arguing with the barman, saying it should be a dark red colour. I was then battling on two fronts and behind on points. Everything was upset, the drinks, the bar, people around me, I awoke in my anguish.
Talk about internal conflicts, jealousies, stop and go colours etc.

Micro boring arteries

This dream was about drinking incredible tasting toffee out of clear plastic sachets. After I finished each one I let the empty packet drift up into the sky in a most environmentally unfriendly way. Looked good though, watching them disappearing into space. Must have been during one of my healthy eating periods.

Yesterday was another day of spartan eating, nothing but easter eggs.

Ads by Google

Weird dream last night. Images were coming into my head one after another. As soon as the image appeared, the Google crawler or whatever it is, picked up the image and selected an appropriate advert, which immediately appeared on my blog. The images appeared one after the other along with the advert, almost too fast to see, reducing the point of it all. One of the images I remember was of a Fire Engine racing along the road. The advert that flicked onto my blog was one for Coke. The rather tenuous connection was when Homer Simpson got his hand stuck in a soft drinks machine. The emergency crew that attended worked for some time to free his hand only to discover that Homer was simply refusing to let go of the can.
Maybe a sign to give up the blog, Google has now crawled into my head.

Of gay men, a walrus, dogs and seals.

This painting was entitled:-

"Was I jealous of the amorous attack by the walrus on my friend?"
Probably at the time I was exploring any homophobia or bi-sexuality in my psyche. Jury still out on that one.

Last night I was at a big seaside party. The dogs, Max and Emma were swimming in the sea. I was busy building things from driftwood. Two seals arrived and started playing with the dogs out at sea. The dogs were getting jumped over and splashed relentlessly. Also the dogs were being stared out by the seals and were barking insults or compliments at each other, not sure which.
The party ended and I had to rush to sweep the sawdust I had created off the beach. Pointless or what?

A dream of fresh fish.

I thought I would increase my chances of living a bit longer. So, decided to have two fresh mackerel for my tea. Wonder how much longer you get, an hour for each fish? Anyway, cleaned them, wrapped them in foil and put them on a baking tray in the oven for 30 mins at 180 C. Lit a candle on my table and awaited the ping from the timer. Soon I was sat with them on my plate and they looked delicious. Stuck a fork in mackerel number one and was about to cut my first little slice when they both started to flap madly around. I fell backwards from fright. They were now off the plate and into my salt and pepper. I was really shaken and the old heart was hammering. Never mind living longer, that could have been IT.
Another 10 minutes in the oven next time.

Star Patterns

This dream was about a month after my dad died. I was out looking for him in a strange city at night. Looks like I had my red Datsun at that time. Searching for him for ages, then looked up into the sky. We could see lines joining up the various star constellations. Just like in an astronomy book. The patterns were really striking. I could even recognise some of them, Andromeda, Cassiopeia and Orion. No trace of Dad though.

POP

Another from the archives. Its from the period when I was interested in Process Oriented Psychology.
http://www.rspopuk.com/
Only thing I remember from this dream was that I arrived in a weird place (the process state)through a fenceless gate, clutching a coil of rope, and was confronted by two of the main seminar leaders. They demanded to know how I had got their without going through the long and very expensive training. I said I had used the length of rope to circumvent their whole selection and training process. They were well annoyed, and I was very pleased.

These seminars and others like them changed my life and those around me, big time. "If only you had not gone to those groups!" still rings in my head, from one of the 'injured' parties.

Cafe Tardis

In my village there is a small cafe, wonderful little place. I decided to go their with a friend for an earl grey and a cosy chat. We entered and I was astounded at the size of the place. The last time I visited there were half a dozen or so tables. Now the place was so vast and crowded that distant tables were lost in an atmospheric haze. However, all the 4 million or so customers turned to look at us. A myriad shining eyes, disconcerting. Luckily, we spotted a empty table about 100yds distant and were about to set a course when I noticed a 'Please Wait To Be Seated' sign. "No wonder," my friend said, "It would take several days for an unannounced visitor to be discovered."
Time the ego was downsized perhaps.

Dundee Blues

This was a dream I had some time ago when my youngest son and myself were standing at the rear of a house in Perth. There was a feeling of dread, extremely strong, and then a blinding flash from the direction of Dundee, about 22 miles away. Some sort of nuclear device had detonated.
Wondering now why Dundee, who was it that I didn't like in that area? Mind you, traditionally there is some ill feeling between the two cities, or there was when I was younger. But that is taking things a bit far. Now know quite a lot of people in that area, some I like much more than others. But it was only a dream.
Going there today.

Yet Another Confrontation

I was sitting having a picnic at the side of a rocky path. Earl Grey out of the flask and two cheese sandwiches.
A young boy about 12 years old came and sat beside me. He was crying. I asked what was wrong. He said that three young men, now approaching, had punched him. A swift internal debate ensued and I decided they would not pass unchallenged. I blocked their path and asked what they were about, attacking a boy, half their age. Big mistake I then thought. Threats were exchanged, but unexpectedly they climbed down and offered to shake the boy by the hand. This they did and moved on. I then noticed that behind and unseen by me sat the young boy's friends, about 40 of them.

I would if I could

Climbing up inside a block of flats (again!) to visit my girlfriend (I wish). Behind me came this other guy, a rival in love. As I was expected and, presumably, he not, I decided against a stairhead battle outside her door, I turned around to deal with him. At this point my girlfriend appeared at the door, looking for me. She saw the situation and decided to de fuse it by asking the rival inside for a quick chat (I hoped!). He went inside, saying to her that she couldn't possibly be serious about me. She replied that my name was Peter Wood, that I was well named, and apart from anything else, whilst I was waiting for a few minutes, I would be able to build something impressive outside her door, made of course, from wood.
That will teach me.
ps I think she must have made that name up.

Ocean Bridge

Walking across an bridge which headed out into the Atlantic with a friend. Further and further out to sea, mist gathering, wave height increasing, fear escalating. Voices coming from the wind and the waves, without understanding. We were coming to a point of no return, as scary to go back as forward, we held hands. A barrier was passed and I awoke.

The Motorcycle and the Tower Block

I roared off on my new 1000cc motorcycle, heading somewhere, I didn't care. Up a steep hill I powered, now off road. Higher and higher effortlessly up to the very summit. I reached it, pleased as punch. Well done bike! I teetered on the very tip. I tried to turn, suddenly terrified, no way down, the hill had unfairly increased its gradient. Was I destined to remain forever perched on my now useless and traitorous machine, like some exhibit?

I then eased myself into another dream where I was climbing endlessly up stairs inside a tower block with Max my dog, who suddenly rebelled at the exercise and ran back down to the ground floor. Near the top a stair gave way underneath me, leaving a yawning gap and cutting off my retreat. I carried on to the top flat where I found Callum, my son now living. Had a nice wee chat with him and tried to head back down to find Max. Realised I had left my jacket, so returned but noticed through the glass door a purple coat shaped blur that could only be his mother. Not sure what to do then, seeing her was problematical and the stairs downwards had a large gap. Awoke before having to resolve this problem.

Some common themes emerging.

To really sea life

Woke up feeling really crap this morning. May have had something to do with the dream. I was standing outside a clifftop hotel somewhere on the west coast of Scotland. I walked up to the cliff edge and saw that the sea was flat calm and incredibly clear. I could see straight through the water to the sand and rocks on the sea bed. Not just at the shore but far out to the horizon the sea was totally transparent. The variety and colours of fish were amazing, totally enthralling. More Red Sea than Atlantic. Also the dolphins, huge friendly faced creatures coming right up to the shore, jumping, somersaulting and diving. I turned to the hotel door to call my son and his mother, just inside the porch. "You must see this," I shouted. They rushed to the clifftop but the sea had returned to its normal state, grey, opaque, breaking waves and no dolphins. They wondered what I was on about. I couldn't believe the change and felt totally crap.

Symbolic?

Another from the archives this time about a mountain with stairs up the middle. They were dark and very gloomy, but safe. The outside route up the mountain was open, exciting and a real challenge, but dangerous. Which route to take?

Go West

I was looking after two large goldfish for a friend that lived in Edinburgh. She had recently moved to the Western Isles. The tank that they were kept in was necessarily small as I had previously had to shuttle them back and forward to Edinburgh. This westward move meant that I was stuck with the fish or had to drive over to return them. I was reluctant to do this as apparently she had moved to the island leaving everything behind. Another friend came to my house and said I was cruel for keeping the fish in such a small tank. We then decided to go west together with the fish and either return them to their owner or let them swim free in the Atlantic Ocean.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39KZ2afBtLU

Trust me, I have GPS.

Out for a cycle run with a friend. We veered off the main road and ascended a narrow track which then started to lead downhill in a series of giddy inclines. I wasn't sure if the track led in the direction we wanted to travel, so in the wonder filled way of dreams I conjured up a GPS overview in my head. Reassured that our direction was good, we set off downhill round the bends. Joggers coming the other way had to be avoided. Then unexpectedly we careered down steps not shown on the GPS picture. Ouch, ouch! This led into a huge covered area reminiscent of Kings Cross railway station. No GPS signal, blast! Unsure of what exit to take my friend gave me a verbal thrashing for leading her astray. To escape I successfully found my way into wakefullness.