Dream 363

'Bullying Mickey with Damien Hirst'

I was in an unfamiliar seaside town with the artist Damien Hirst. We were standing on a pavement which had a 4 foot ledge with a concrete bin on it and then another ledge, about 3 - 4 feet higher. We struggled to climb up to the first ledge with the bin, and then got on top of the bin to climb up to the second ledge. This was quite difficult, given the height. It was daytime, but the sky was grey and overcast. We walked through the town until we got to the sea, where there was a wide concrete jetty. Some other people were on the jetty, standing beside a large easel. Damien instructed us to chop up some pictures to make a triptych. The pictures were some architectural plans, a drawing of a cathedral and a landscape. The cathedral was in the centre, and the blueprint and landscape were to fit either side of it, but everything looked wonky and I could not place them straight, as Damien wanted them to be. He said we should just give up.

There was another male with us, an unfamiliar dream character called 'Mickey' who had learning difficulties. Mickey was in his mid-20s with a round face, pale skin and shortish, black fluffy hair. He was wearing jeans and a white top. I cannot remember him saying anything through this dream. Damien and I were laughing about the fact we had stolen Mickey's brother's painting. It was an old-fashioned painting of a priest in red robes. We had (previously, not experienced in the dream) mounted the painting on the outside of a tall building, near the sea. We were looking up at the painting. The town looked a little bit like Cromer in North Norfolk, and the tall building with the priest painting was where the arcades are usually located. 

Mickey had a clarinet which he could not play. I took the clarinet from him and tried to play it myself, while Damien, Mickey and I walked through the high street. I could not play the clarinet. I said to Damien 'I have never been able to play anything instrument except the bass guitar' (I cannot actually play the bass guitar and was never able to learn to read music or play any of the instruments I tried to learn at school). Damien suggested we also steal the clarinet from Mickey and destroy it, so we did. We smashed it up. Mickey was very upset. Damien and I then tried to get down the two ledges we had previously climbed up. Damien got down both successfully. I got down from the first one onto the concrete bin, which was quite stable and secure. However, the jump down from the bin was too high for me to manage. I called out to Damien to help me down, and he said: 'Yes, darling' and started to walk round to the front of the ledge to catch me when I jumped. However, he was taking his time and the bin began to tilt forwards. I fell in a panic, but before I hit the ground below, the dream scene changed.

I had a litter of  6 puppies which were white. They were sucking my fingers. The puppies were a cross between Staffordshire Bull Terriers (my favourite breed) and Pugs. I was pleased to be able to keep them all.

I was then peeling layers off my left thumb nail. Each time I peeled a new layer of nail off, I felt a bit better. Finally, I got to the final layer of nail and realised that if I removed this, I would have no nail left (I bite my nails in real life and do not fear removing a nail, as I have done this before after one became infected from my fake nails - it grew back in a better condition than it previously had been - in less than a week!) I decided to remove the final layer of the thumb nail. It left a huge hollow hole in my thumb, which was bigger than the area originally covered by the nail. Inside was a long sharp shard of amber, which I picked out. There was a lot of dirt and rubbish in the thumb hole, and I emptied it into an ashtray, feeling good about it, and 'cleaner'. 

The dream scene changed again, and DL and I were approaching the front of my house in Norwich. EB was coming round the corner, approaching my front door. He was holding a pizza box. DL and I decided to avoid him, and ran away. We were running up some concrete, curving stairs which were inside a building. At the top of the stairs, we could see a balcony and bright sun. This looked like the staircases in Norfolk/Suffolk Terrace - student halls of residence at my university. EB was following behind us. He called out to me: 'Will you buy me a new phone?' and I said: 'No! I haven't got enough money to buy you a phone!'

I was then in a classroom. TG, my cleaner was the teacher. The class was filled with other students, who I think were people from my former high school. The room had lots of desks and wwas well-lit - looking like a typical classroom. TG gave us all a sheet of yellow paper on which were two exam questions - one about Holt, a picturesque Georgian town in North Norfolk, and one about my work (many years ago) with Sheringham Skateboard Project (a Prince's Trust and council funded project to build a local skate park). I was writing about Holt in my answer, referring to the fact that Camilla Parker Bowles (the Duchess of Cornwall) is a regular visitor and does her Christmas shopping there (according to my nan). Suddenly, there was a commotion. A young male dream character called 'Lawrence', who had olive skin and shoulder-length black hair, ran out of the class screaming. TG and I followed. with me several steps behind. TG was closer to Lawrence, who had gone up some steps onto a concrete walkway (the classroom we had been in was on ground level). I stood by some double glass doors, overlooking a quadrant, above which the walkway was. TG went up to the walkway level to talk to Lawrence. I shouted to TG: 'He does this all the time and will threaten that his stepdad is going to jump off a bridge!' I thought it was all a fuss about nothing. I returned to the class and sat with my classmates again, this time at a different desk. I went back to my exam questions. TG brought Lawrence back into the class. Lawrence sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, crying and still screaming. His face was red. TG gripped the back of an empty chair and said in frustration: 'You're going to get agonies!' He then went over to Lawrence, put his arms around him and tried to calm him down. 

Dream 362

'Living with a Serial Killer & Visiting Three Different Pubs'

I was attempting to induce a lucid dream using the WILD (wake induced lucid dreaming) technique. I felt myself going into sleep paralysis and then experienced a lucid false awakening almost immediately. I did a reality check which did not show any unusual results. My fingers did not go through my palm, although I did notice that my arms were in a different position to the way I had fallen asleep, despite the fact I knew I had not moved at all. I was in my bedroom and it was darker than it should be for the morning (when I went to sleep). I could hear a strange electrical buzzing from the corner of my ceiling and saw some sparks of light. There was something long and white on the floor, lying against the wall. I woke up in fright.

I then went back to sleep, but was no longer lucid. I was in the house which belonged to Jill Tyrell in my favourite Julia Davis show Nighty Night (series one, 2004). However, the house actually belonged to the Shipman family in Gavin & Stacey (2007), which also stars Julia Davis. Present were Mick and Pam Shipman (Larry Lamb and Alison Steadman), Uncle Bryn (Rob Brydon), Gwen West (Melanie Walters), Vanessa 'Nessa' Jenkins (Ruth Jones) and Pete and Dawn Sutcliffe (Adrian Scarborough and Julia Davis). They were talking about 'hips' and then engaged in a game which involved running through the kitchen and lounge in a circle. The lights were on and it was very bright. There was a party and everyone was drinking alcohol. I started to feel very sick (I was watching, not part of the action). I woke up in real life and still felt sick. I fell asleep again.

I was then on a beach looking out to sea. The characters of Gavin Shipman (Mathew Horne) and Stacey West/Shipman (Joanna Page) were walking out into the sea to catch a cruise ship on the horizon, They were going on honeymoon. I was actually 'Smithy' (James Corden). I waded out after them, calling their names, but they walked too far out into the sea - becoming submerged, and I began to fear that I would drown if I went further myself. I stopped when the sea reached the level of my neck and just remained where I was, staring out to sea.

The scene then changed and I was in a bedroom which I did not recognise. I could see Kim Kardashian wearing a midnight blue silk gown which was long (to the ankle), with a split right up to the top of her thigh. She was also wearing white stiletto heels. I then saw the shoes and bottom of the dress in close detail. Her leg (the side with the split) was bent and positioned in a seduction way. As my view panned upwards, I realised that it was actually me wearing the dress. I felt pleased because I realised I now looked like Kim Kardashian. Note that Kim Kardashian now goes by the name of 'Kim Kardashian-West' - which links to the fact I dreamed of Gavin & Stacey characters who share the family name 'West'.

The scene changed again and I was now in a bedroom which appeared to be a composite of my own room in Norwich and a different (unfamiliar) room. I was sharing this room with a serial killer. He was a little older than me and had gingery-blonde hair underneath a white wool beanie hat which he always wore. I am not sure of his name, but I knew him very well in the dream. The serial killer did not say much, if anything. I think he may have remained silent. I knew he was a mad psycho and was completely terrified of him. He was so controlling, he didn't even need to do anything to me to make me fear him. I am not sure if I was simply sharing my room with the serial killer, or actually in a relationship with him. I noticed that at the top of my bed (where I usually pile my laundry) there was a corpse. It was the partially decomposed body of a female victim, killed by my serial killer room-mate. 

While I looked at the body on the floor (it looked like a grey-green rotting zombie with skin flaking off and slime all over it, half hidden by my clothing), the serial killer stood in the corner of the room laughing at me. I noticed that there was a floor lamp beside the door to the room, which had a pretty floral pattern. This was clearly my bedroom which had been taken over by the serial killer against my will. I felt desperate and needed to escape, but I knew the serial killer would not let me leave. I told him that I was going downstairs to make him some dinner as an excuse to leave the room  and plan an escape. My mum and other members of my family were downstairs. I told them about the murder victim in my bedroom and told them we needed to escape the house (which did not look like any real life house, but was our family home in the dream). My mum said that we would all sneak out of the front door and then run down the road before the serial killer room-mate/boyfriend worked out what was happened. Once we were outside we could use her mobile to call the police and tell them about the serial killer, who would be arrested. I was worried because 'the Australian police are slow to respond'. This was the only indication that we might live in Australia - other than this reference to the Australian police, I had assumed we were living in the United Kingdom. My mum said that it would not matter as we would be away from the house and the serial killer would be in a false sense of security, thinking we were still downstairs cooking him a meal. He wouldn't know we had escaped until it was too late. The front-door was a double door, with some flowers and an umbrella stand beside it. We went outside, in a dark, suburban street and I could see the lights on in the windows of other houses in the neighbourhood as we ran down the road. My family members were also with us, but I only recall conversations with my mum. I was feeling panicked and exhilarated at the same time.

I then told my mum that I needed to dispose of both my mobile phone and sim card because there would be 'incriminating texts' on it which might link me to the serial killer. It seemed that I had communicated with him about some of his previous murders, although I had not actually committed any of the murders myself. I was afraid that when the police investigated, they might seize my phone, look at the previous communications with the serial killer and charge me with being an accessory to murder, or aiding and abetting the serial killer in some way. My mum told me to take the sim card out of my mobile, which I did. We then burnt the mobile phone and sim card separately. My mum told me to use her mobile to call the police. The fact that I was the one making the call to inform them of the serial killer's crimes was an indication that I was not guilty in any way. I felt confident that the police would not be able to discover the texts between me and the serial killer in any way. 

Note that in Gavin & Stacey, the main characters are all named after British serial killers - the Wests are named after my 'favourite' serial killers (i.e. the ones that most interest me), Fred and Rose West. Note also, that apparently serial killer Fred West's favourite holiday destination was Barry Island, Wales - after which he even named one of his younger sons. Barry Island is one of the main locations in Gavin & Stacey and where the majority of the show was filmed. I have seen no reference to suggest that the writers of the show, James Corden and Ruth Jones, actually knew this particular fact, as it appears in biographies of Fred and Rose West, and is not necessarily a piece of information which is widely discussed in reference to them (I remember it being cited in a single sentence in one of the biographies I own).

I was then in a pub which was circular and dark. The bar was in the centre of the pub and you could walk all the way around. Half of the pub was elevated with a few small steps leading down to a lower level (about a foot or two lower than the higher level). The pub was decorated and furnished like a traditional English pub. I walked around it counter-clockwise and was about to descend the steps when I saw that an former work colleague, HF, was seated at a table by the steps. She stopped me for a conversation and I stood behind her on the steps while we talked. I cannot recall what was said. I saw two dogs - one was a spaniel-type breed. They were with their old male owner at the next table, near the bar. I went to pet the spaniel and it bit me lightly on the hand. I said: 'No!' in a commanding voice and tapped it softly on the nose in warning. The old man then told me I could train his dog for him, so I began to do this.

I was then with ECM, a former friend. EMC is very short in real life, but in the dream she seemed to be a young child. She was dressed in a bright yellow coat. I noticed that I was a second pub, but cannot recall much about it. I saw my mum's friend, CC. She was eating ravioli in a tomato sauce. I thought the sauce resembled one I had seen my housemate prepare earlier in real life. CC told me the ravioli was the tastiest she had ever eaten and I tried a bit of it from her plate which was stacked full. She told me she had ordered it from Dominoes Pizza, which surprised me. I then saw EMC run off. I told CC I had to chase ECM and keep her safe. CC said she would help me. We left the pub and found we were at the seaside. We boarded a large cruise ship which was where ECM had apparently run. The ship was docked and we were standing on the deck in the sunshine, wondering where to look first.

The scene changed again, before I could find ECM. I was in a different pub, still in the seaside town. The pub was light and airy and there was a bar running alongside the wall where the windows were. I was seated on a bar stool at the bar. To my right side was a table at which were seated various of my former school friends. Next to their table, one of my favourite bands, Glassjaw were performing a live set. I was pleasantly surprised because in real life I have attempted to see this band perform live, but each time the shows were cancelled due to the frontman Daryl Palumbo's poor health. After the set had finished I had a conversation with Daryl, but I cannot recall what it was about.

I was then in another pub. My mum, nan, cousin HM, and aunt, VF were also present. I was sitting at a window seat with my back to my family, who were sitting behind me on a semi circular sofa with a table. I was trying to put a letter in a brown manilla envelope, but my nan kept handing me postage stamps which confused me. I was getting annoyed - because I had so many different stamps being handed to me and the envelope was over-stuffed and had to be re-sealed with sellotape. I started moaning at my nan and telling her to leave me alone and stop giving me stamps. I wanted to send my letter without any assistance. An old man sitting nearby told me I was being rude to my nan and should accept her help. I chose the biggest, most decorative of the stamps she had given me and stuck it on the envelope. I then joined my family at the table. My mum told my aunt that she was doing a history degree. She whispered (audibly) that her coursework was about the Nazi, and the morality of drugs laws. I wondered what the connection between these two subjects were and was surprised that my mum had chosen to study history when she worked in elder care and was interested in this as a topic. 

I was then in a house which belonged to my mum. It was not her real life flat, but instead a big dark house, where the lounge was also a bedroom. I was asking my mum if I could borrow her computer and she said I could. I was dismayed to see that it was an old-fashioned typewriter and I did not know how to operate it. My mum pulled down a part which clipped onto the top, setting it up for use. I thought my mum seemed more technologically advanced than myself, as I would not have known how to use this typewriter which was not a normal one. I started typing (I am not sure what) and could hear my mum and nan in conversation beside me. My mum was telling my nan that my young cousin JC2 was having trouble because he had lost some cannabis and could not get hold of any more. My nan called over to me and asked me to contact my friend CD to ask for a re-supply of cannabis for JC2. I said I would, but I needed to finish my typing first. I was surprised that my mum and nan were trying to arrange a drug deal on behalf of my younger cousin, even though it is openly known that myself and several of my family members - including my uncle, aunt and cousins - all smoke cannabis occasionally. I heard my stepdad call my mum through to another room. 

Note that two of my aunts - VF (who appears in this dream) and KC (who does not appear in this dream, but whom is the mother of JC2, who was referred to in the dream) share names with two dream characters - a character in Gavin & Stacey and another prominent female celebrity who appeared in a later dream scene!

I cannot recall anything else about this dream, but if any further memories resurface, I will note them below...

Dream 361

'Scared of the Homeless'
Dream date: 25 January 2015

I was in a house which was a composite between an unfamiliar one and my nan's house in Sheringham. I was an adult, but still attending school. There was a recent series of occurrences in the town which involved homeless men breaking into houses in the middle of the night and sleeping in the bedroom of the homeowner/tenant without their knowledge. The homeowner/tenant would discover the homeless person when they awoke.

I woke one morning (for school) to find a homeless boy at the bottom of my bed. He climbed over my head and I could see that he had a huge tear in his jeans which meant that there was no crotch - just a gap, exposing his underwear. He had messy blonde hair, about shoulder length. I felt scared by the intrusion into my bedroom and he left quickly.

The next night, I made sure all the windows were closed and the doors were locked. In the morning, I awoke to find a different homeless man was in my bedroom. He had vomited on my belongings and had been smoking in my bedroom, which made me feel angry and again, scared by the intrusion into my private life.

I went into my uncle's bedroom, which was slightly bigger than it would be in real-life. My mum and stepdad were standing beside the bed, looking at the contents of a cardboard box which was on top of the duvet. My mum was crying. It turned out that the homeless man had smashed some expensive champagne glasses which belonged to my mum in the dream.

There was a town meeting to discuss the problem with homeless men invading the bedrooms of town members. I saw the blonde boy with the hole in his jeans and pointed him out to the row of people attending the meeting (none of whom I recognised in real-life). One man said: 'That's Jim, he used to be do casual jobs on the taxis. He's nice'. I felt less scared of him than I had before, but still did not like the second homeless man who had vomited/smoked/smashed the glasses. When I returned home after the meeting, I saw that the second homeless man had left a pile of books and worn socks under my bed. I assumed that this meant he planned to return and I wondered what I could do to stop him breaking in again. 

There was a scene involving Kurt Cobain (1967 - 1994) but I cannot recall what happened. I think we were outside a shopping mall at the time, and that it was dusk.

Dream 360

'Suicide & Boxes of Toys'

Dream date: 24 January 2015

I was with an ex-boyfriend SL in a room I do not recognise. He was showing me a box which contained several toys in boxes - action figures, dolls, games etc. He was moaning that he had ordered the box which came with a selection of surprise toys but he was not impressed with the ones chosen for him by the supplier.

I walked into a bathroom and saw another ex-boyfriend, PS sitting in a bath. He held up his left forearm to me and I saw that on the inside, from the elbow to the wrist, he had made deep incisions with a razor. I thought it was a suicide attempt and felt horrified. The bathroom was covered in his blood. 

I was then with PS and his friend, FK. We were going to a Turkish Ocakbasi restaurant, similar to one we used to visit when I lived in London. It was dark in the restaurant and we sat in a corner. PS was telling me I should not be there with him because his girlfriend 'Laura' would not like it. I was arguing that the visit to the restaurant was innocent and indeed he had invited me along. I told him I was worried about his earlier suicide attempt. 

I do not remember anything else about this dream.

Dream 359

'Babysitting and Pink Slime'
Dream date: 23 January 2015

I was with DL and he had a male friend (just a dream character) who was a large young man with brown hair, dressed in a boiler suit. His name was 'Tom'. Tom was performing a stand-up comedy routine, which was taking place on a stage, which was in fact my real-life kitchen floor space. He performed the comedy routine, but it was a failure and no-one found it funny at all. 

DL and I then found ourselves on some kind of balcony which was enclosed by large floor-to-ceiling planes of glass. I was looking out of the window and could see three over-lapping cosmic bodies, which were so large that they filled the entire sky and extended down below the horizon, meaning they were both close to Earth and much larger than it. However, they all looked to be the same size as one another. I looked closely at them and realised these cosmic bodies were the Sun, the moon and Jupiter. I was trying to draw DL's attention to this phenomenon, but he was more keen to talk about Tom's comedy routine, which did not interest me. We stepped away from the glass panes of the balcony, further into the room which was made up of grey concrete (walls and floor). Tom came into the room and stood against the wall. He was upset at his failure. 

DL and I were then in my lounge/kitchen in my home in Norwich. It was very dark, only dimly lit with small lamps. The kitchen appeared to be the same as in real-life, but the lounge area was bigger, with more homely furniture, such as dressers and cupboards. This house belonged to WP, someone I once briefly dated. Now, in real-life he has a partner, a step-child and a baby daughter. In the dream he had two daughters - one aged 6 years and the other age 2 years. DL and I were babysitting for the girls, who were sitting on a sofa. I had brought a biscuit tin filled with pink slime. It was food for the 2 year old. I wasn't sure if it was suitable to feed her, so I wanted to contact WP to ask him. I found a baby intercom on the table and tried to use it as a mobile phone, but could not get it to work. I then looked in the fridge, and saw a container with the same pink slime in it. This indicated to me that the pink slime was the right food to feed the 2 year old. I went to remove the contained from the fridge, but overbalanced (while kneeling down) and fell on my butt. 

I then tried to convince the 2 year old that she must eat the pink slime. I said if she didn't eat it, she would have to eat Christmas pudding. The girl said she liked Christmas pudding. DL was sitting beside her on the sofa and was holding a Christmas pudding, still in its wrapping. DL said we could not eat his Christmas pudding. He said that since it was January there would probably still be Christmas puddings on sale (at a discount price) in the shops, but I did not want to go shopping. I told the girl that if she did not eat the pink slime she would have to eat boiled sprouts. I was trying to think of foods she would find disgusting, thereby convincing her that the pink slime was the lesser of two evils. The girl said she also liked sprouts. I then told her she could eat the pink slime or eel. 

Dream 358

'Mark Renton's Sister From Another Mister'

Dream date: 22 January 2015

I dreamed from the perspective of a young woman living in the late 1980s. I never saw what 'I' looked like, but I was in my early 20s and was part of a working-class family which consisted of a father, mother and an older sister. I had two sons, the younger of which was called 'Bang'. My elder sister had pretensions of grandeur and acted as if she were middle-class, dressing in Laura Ashley. I was a heroin addict and my family were ashamed of me. 

I attended a family meal at my parent's home. My 'mum' had made a lemon meringue pie for desert. Before we had even eaten the main course, my father ate a slice of the pie. We were standing in the kitchen (my mum was upstairs). It was daylight. My mum came into the kitchen and saw the ruined desert and started blaming me. I said 'I like heroin more than I like cake, and I haven't taken any heroin today, so I definitely didn't eat the cake!' This seemed to be perfectly logical to me.

My sister took me upstairs and gave me a bottle of Gordon's gin, because I was also an alcoholic and in need of a drink. I came downstairs to the lounge, drinking the gin straight from the bottle. The lounge was the same as my nan's living-room in Sheringham. My mum started screaming at me that I had stolen the gin from her bedroom, but I was protesting, saying that my sister had given it to me as a gift. No-one believed me and my sister would not confirm this to save me from their accusations. 

There was a scene outside a laundrette and another one at night, outside a nightclub. I cannot recall these scenes.

I had a wrap of cocaine, but I was worried about snorting it and wanted to take it orally. I started snorting the cocaine with some male dream characters. There was an older female heroin addict named Marjorie. 

I was then informed (as myself, the dreamer) that this dream was the plot for a best-selling novel. The book was a re-working of Irvine Welsh's hit novel, Trainspotting (1993) told from the perspective of an English female heroin addict. The tagline for the book (given by reviewers) was 'The story of Mark Renton's sister from another mister'. I woke up thinking this was a great idea for a novel.

Dream 357

'Trying to Find a Semi-Automatic in a Horrible False Awakening'

Dream date: 21 January 2015

I induced a lucid dream by using the WILD (Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming) technique. I had a false awakening, with lucidity. I found myself in bed with DL in the dark. He used his hand to strike my right thigh. It felt like an intense stab wound. I was so shocked and in so much pain, I fell back into a normal sleep.

I woke up again, and found that this was another lucid false awakening. I was standing in my room and there were two DLs. One was standing in front of me - he was benign and non-threatening. Another version of him was standing in the corner, in the dark. This version in the corner was jumping from foot to foot and stretching his arms up into the air. I did feel threatened by the DL in the corner. I knew he intended me some harm and was waiting to pounce on me and hurt me again. I tried to change the dream scene by closing my eyes and telling myself it was possible to do this. I also tried spinning on the spot. Nothing changed the dream scene - I was stuck in this false awakening  within my bedroom with the two DLs. I tried telling the friendly DL that I was in a lucid dream and wanted to wake up. I pleaded with him to help me wake up, but he couldn't do anything. I knew he did not accept that he was just a dream character in my lucid dream and I felt stupid asking a dream character to help me wake up! I then decided to manifest a weapon with which to 'kill' the nasty DL (still dancing about in the corner of the room). I got a shotgun. I could not load the shotgun - the bullets/cartridges would not fit. I tried to fire the gun without loading it, but it didn't work. I decided I needed an automatic weapon. I found that there was an orange wooden gun rack in the corner of the room adjacent to the nasty DL. It was well-lit, despite the rest of the room  being dark. The gun rack was pretty empty, but I thought: 'I need a weapon which just sprays the bullets!' and saw one that I recognised from playing Call of Duty. This was the 'SN6 - Hammer', although in the dream, I thought it was called an 'Anchor'. I took it off the rack and started firing it at nasty DL - I am not sure exactly what happened because I lost lucidity at this point and went into a normal non-lucid dream.

I was in a supermarket. My mum was asking the female shop assistant to help her find some panty-liners. The shop assistant gave her a pack of them, but my mum just looked at them and threw them back on the shelf. My mum said she and my stepdad were going on a reality TV show called 'Paul'. I assumed this was like Big Brother or I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here and they would be gone for a while, but my mum told me it was more like a holiday and they would only be gone for a week. I then saw my mum and stepdad on the show 'Paul' - they were with an elderly zoologist who was wearing a Safari outfit. The three of them stood around a surgical table on which a monkey/ape (perhaps a chimpanzee) was laying, unconscious. The chest of the chimp was made of hard, thick leather, with a big wooden zip down it. The zoologist had unzipped the chest and stomach of the chimp and was examining the insides, showing my parents the internal organs. I thought that this was unethical, and I also got to see what they were looking at in close detail, as if I was hovering just above the surgical table. 

Dream 356

'Talking to N the Dog'

Dream date: 20 January 2015

I was with someone - I am not sure who, only that it was another female with whom I was familiar. We were eating big, round, bright red sweets and drinking red drinks which turned into red lipsticks. I saw a close-up of our lips painted with the red lipstick.

I then found myself in my bedroom at my nan's house in Sheringham. I was sitting on the bed, and N the Dog was at my feet. I was helping him try on a variety of different headbands (designed for humans) and he was conversing with me in English. I did not think that this was odd! I do not recall what we talked about. I ended up selecting a white towelling headband (like a sport's sweatband) for him to wear, which he seemed to like.

There was a dream scene involving a violin, but I cannot recall anything else about it! 

Dream 355

'Makeup for Dolls'

Dream date: 19 January 2015

I was with someone - I think it was my cousin, HM. We were playing with some large-headed fashion dolls, which resembled Bratz Dolls. We were putting makeup on them. I then found myself in a makeup shop, buying makeup brushes for lipstick application. 

In the next scene, I was looking at a computer screen, scrolling through images of young black males (all unknown). Suddenly, I became aware that one of the pictures was Tinie Tempah, a UK musician. 

Something was said about Terry Wogan, the Irish TV and radio broadcaster. I think it was scandalous or negative, but I cannot remember what it was about, other than I have the subtle impression it was in relation to the UK police investigation, Operation Yewtree into sexual abuse within the British entertainment industry. It was not necessarily the case that I dreamed Wogan was a suspect (he has in real-life condemned the defendants uncovered by Yewtree, in particular, notorious paedophile and necrophiliac, Jimmy Savile).

Dream 354

'A Sexy Nun'

Dream date: 17 January 2015

I was in a room filled with various people with whom I went to high school. I was thinking 'I've been accepted by the popular girls now' and this felt positive. The room was much like a typical lounge, with sofas and coffee tables. The 'popular girls' were seated on one long sofa. Behind them, was a blonde girl - tall, slim and slightly older than us (we were our teenage selves). I recognised that she was someone who had moved to the local area and also been accepted by the popular crowd due to her being both pretty and 'cool'. I wondered where she had come from and how she had met everyone.

I was then in a supermarket - Sainsbury's in Sheringham (this shop had not opened when we were in high school, it has only been on the high street for a few years). I was standing by the fresh bread section. LT - one of a pair of male/female twins from my local area, but not someone I know other than by name and his appearance when he was also at school in a year group below my own - was also in the shop. He threw a tube of Pringles at me and asked me to put them in a shopping basket. I walked over the the tills (which were in the centre of the shop instead of to the right of the entrance) and put the Pringles in the shopping basket of the older female whom I assumed he was with. It was the pretty blonde female from earlier. She was wearing a nun's habit and she turned towards me and winked. 

I was then in a pink Land Rover with the 'sexy nun' (as I now thought of her) and a couple of other females from my school. We were driving to my nan's house. As soon as we got outside my nan's house, I realised the Land Rover was driving itself - the steering wheel was turning as if on auto-pilot. We were picking someone (unseen) up, so we parked outside the house and waited in the vehicle.

I then witnessed the next dream scene from a bird's eye view. It was a seen on a cold, wet British high street - in an unspecified city. There was a huge, crushing crowd, surging forward in excitement. I noticed that the crowd was made up of hundreds of females, all holding makeup brushes aloft - the crowd had gathered to buy some limited edition makeup brushes before they all sold out!

Dream 353

'Chinese Eastenders'

Dream date: 16 January 2015

I had a sister, who was Chinese and younger than myself. We both had beds in my bedroom in my nan's house in Sheringham. The single beds were side-by-side - the way my mum and I used to share the room in my childhood. My dream sister and I were in the beds, holding hands across the gap. We were watching a Chinese version of the UK soap, Eastenders. It seemed to involve a lot of very small people walking around in circles. 

It then transpired that my 'sister' was actually a traveller (a gypsy) who was taking part in a talent competition in an outside environment. I cannot recall what she looked like, other than she was a small child and had dark hair. She had a different family - her father (mature man with a dark beard) was cheering her on as she performed a dance on some grass in a circle of onlookers. When she finished the dance, she was given a red lollipop. I could see all this while standing at the window of my bedroom, although it did not feel as if I was watching from the window, it was more like I was also outside at the same time. It was night-time when I experienced this scene from the bedroom window, but daylight when I experienced it from the outside grassy location. I cannot explain the double perspective of this scene.

I was then watching a TV show about two makeup artists who were standing outside some shops in an urban environment during a cloudy day. Everything looked grey and dull. The two young female makeup artists were fighting over the same man, who was standing on the other side of the road. I knew this was a TV show, although I did not see the screen - it was as though I was standing on the street with these dream characters. 

Dream 352

'Confusing Interactions'

Dream date: 13 January 2015

I was in a small shack which I think was in Sheringham, by the sea. It was very rustic and dark and consisted of one room with a bed in it. This dream is recalled in a very piecemeal and hazy way because I didn't write it down as soon as I awoke, but I can remember that there was lots of travelling about - going to get alcoholic drinks. Everything felt temporary and unfixed - as if I was waiting for a change to take place. It was unsettling.

At some point I was aware that I was with several dream characters, one of whom was PS. PS told me that he could not communicate with me because of his new girlfriend (this mirrors our recent real-life interaction), but we still went ahead and spoke with one another (as in real-life). PS said that I could come with him to a place where he was planning to drink some of the alcohol which had been procured earlier in the dream, but I refused on the basis that I would be the 'third wheel' - only him, his new girlfriend and I would be there, which would be awkward. PS told me that I should bring someone with me. I then noticed that HL was in the shack with us, and I asked him if he wanted to join us. I was sitting on the bed at this time and became aware that HL's brother, PL was laying in the bed, with the duvet pulled up to his chin. PL said: 'You should go with her, she is like an animal in bed, 'E' told me so...' I looked at PL and mouthed to him to shut up, even though he had already said the entire sentence. PL apologised to me. 

There was more interaction in the shack between PS, HL and myself, but I cannot recall it. 

I then was outside in my nan's porch. On the door of the outside toilet or the shed (they are next to each other) was a mirror. I looked at my reflection. I looked like myself facially, but my hair was shoulder-length and had bleached blonde streaks in it. I wondered what had possessed me to get my long hair cut.

I was then walking through an institutional building, following a female dream character, whose face I did not see. She had waist-length black hair, similar to my own in real-life and was wearing a white top and blue jeans. I felt jealous of her hair and kept wondering why I had cut my own short. I then pulled at the ends of my hair and found it had grown considerably - it was now halfway between my shoulders and waist and I felt pleased that it was growing so quickly. I was sure I could get it to it's original length in no time at all. 

There was some more action outside my nan's shed/outside toilet.

I do not remember the next location I found myself in. I was then with a male dream character - I am not sure who this was. He was wearing some very strange white shoes - they were patent leather and pointy. I did not like these shoes one bit and felt that - although the male was attractive - I would be embarrassed to be seen with him wearing these shoes. I was given some items by another character - I think it was cakes. I walked outside and saw a small gazebo, made from white fretwork. SW2 (a boy I went to school with and with whom I have had a recent conversation) was standing in the centre of the gazebo with an older woman arranged his clothing. She was getting ready to show him off to other people somehow.

I cannot remember anything else about this dream.

Dream 351

'Weird Presents & Parties'
Dream date: 11 January 2015

I was in my nan's house in Sheringham when I became aware that one of the undergraduate students for whom I am responsible in my job had left some mail for me. One of my colleagues, EF informed me about this. I travelled to EF's residences, where the mail had been supposedly left, and I could see that on a table were many greetings cards. I looked inside them and they were all addressed to my other colleagues - although my name was mentioned in some of them. The students who had written the greetings cards were thanking us for our hard work. I asked someone (unseen) where the mail intended for me was. I was given a package, which was indeed addressed to me, but had a house no. 28 on it instead of my own house number. I found myself back at my nan's house, where I was sitting on the floor, opening the package. Inside were two bars of chocolate, some other (unrecalled) items and a book. The book (I saw the title, but cannot recall what it was) had a black cover which folded out, double the normal size. The book was a new popular best-seller about two young boys who escape from a well. They were depicted on the cover picture. I did not want to read this book.

I was then in a different location - exiting a shopping mall. As I was about to walk through the doors to leave, I saw some acquaintances entering - BB and KB - a grandmother and granddaughter who live in Sheringham and know my family. I head someone say: 'Hello [my actual name]' and I thought it was one of them, but when I turned around to look, I saw it was LB, who is BB's daughter and KB's aunt. She was standing outside a shop. She said: 'I have your lip-gloss which I need to return to you'. However, the lip-gloss was in the boot of her car, so she told me she would give it to me in a cafe.

I went to the cafe to wait for LB. My mum was in there. I sat at a table and noticed that KP and AP (two sisters with whom I went to school) were also in the cafe, sitting in window seats, while I was seated at a table in the centre. I saw a dog which had fur resembling human faces - the dog was a light colour and the human faces were made out of darker fur. I was showing the dog to my mum, pointing at it. It was with it's owner, halfway between were we were sitting and where KP and AP were sitting. KP and AP starting laughing and making jokes about me. I am not sure in what context, but I felt paranoid and uncomfortable. The dog bounded over to me and I noticed that it was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier (my favourite breed) crossed with a Spaniel (one of my least favourite breeds). I was stroking it and found it to be a friendly dog. I then looked at KP and AP to see what they were doing. AP was wearing a green knitted cardigan/dress item, and it started unravelling and fell off. She had clothes on underneath, but she was shocked and upset as the green woollen garment was a designer label and special to her. I felt vindicated and pleased that the joke was no longer on me. 

I was then with PS or someone who I have recalled as being PS (I cannot remember seeing this dream character). We were watching a musical performance by actress Lenora Crichlow, although it seemed to be a stage rehearsal. The room was brightly lit and there were several other people watching. Suddenly, we were watching Lenora on a video screen instead of live - it was a music video for the song she was singing. She was a pregnant mermaid swimming under the sea and stroking rocks. I commented to PS that this was a strange music video and wasn't very sexy because she was pretending to be pregnant - she was also topless. I also remarked that this video must be part of the 'Free the Nipple Campaign'.

I was then walking from my nan's house up towards Sunway Park in Sheringham, with someone (a young male, I am not sure who, but I feel as though I know or knew him well at some point in my life). It was daylight, but the light was fading. We passed the turning where my nan's aunt lives (about 50 yards from my nan's house) and saw a small square, beige building on the left (where my nan's aunt's house would normally be). This small square building was the venue for a house party. I had a very strong sense of deja-vu - as if I had seen this exact same scene before. It left me wondering when I had seen a party at this house. I assumed that the house party was being hosted by MS, a boy from my school. I could see loads of people through the windows and in the garden. Many people - including SW2 and other people I went to school with - were standing outside the square house, on the pavement, drinking cans of beer. A very short distance along the road, there were more crowds of people, celebrating. It looked like a street party. There was some interaction between myself, the young male whom I was with and some other people we met. Some scaffolding was in the pavement, and we leaned against it. Some people (unrecalled) were doing something which was making me angry and I was telling them to stop and leave me alone, but they would not. They were making threats which I was not taking seriously, but which was worsening my mood. They were doing the same to my companions. Suddenly, two full-uniform police officers (male) approached from behind them and I started laughing. One of my 'enemies' said something vicious to me and I pointed out the police officers, who arrested them. 

This is all I can recall about this dream.

Dream 350

'Stabbing Out Eyes'
Dream date: 9 January 2015

I do not remember much about this dream.

I was in a house where I lived (not sure where) and I was being burgled. It was as if I knew this was going to happen before it actually did. I was running around the house and locking doors, which were wooden and old-fashioned, with big bolts. I think the burglary took place, but I did not see the burglars.

I went downstairs and found that I was in my old childhood home in Pine Grove, Sheringham. The lights were dim and the  electric fire was on full. My mum, stepdad and another young (unknown) male were in the lounge also. I went up to the young man and plunged two big knives into his eyes, blinding him. He was in shock and pain, but did not seem to blame me for this violent act.

The blinded male and I went out and were standing on the step of a house, knocking on the front door. When the door was opened (I am not sure who by), the blinded male and I robbed the inhabitant of the house, getting a huge stack of money.

This is all I remember about this dream. 

Dream 349

'Faxing Colin Farrell/Russell Crowe'
Dream date: 8 January 2015

I was in a maze-like college which was made up of many small areas or units. It looked very metallic and industrial and there were posters and homemade artwork every where. It reminded me of Afflecks Palace in Manchester - an alternative indoor market I used to visit regularly when I lived in the area. I was in a classroom with some other people - students. We were doing some work, as instructed by an (unseen) teacher. I had lots of notebooks and files full of paper. We were making cakes on the paper, piping the uncooked batter from a piping-bag. The class ended, and I closed the file, shutting the raw cake in the pages. I got up to leave the classroom, and discovered that I had so many files, books etc, that I could not carry them at once. I went to find a locker to store them in. I then walked through the college, past the various units and into the entrance area. I was going to work (at this stage, I did not know where I worked or what my job was in the dream).

Sitting in the entrance area was Colin Farrell who was sitting waiting for me. I went over to him and he asked me out on a date. I said I had to go to work, and he said he would fax me. I asked him why he wouldn't just phone me, but he said: 'You always talk about dreams on the phone'. I left.

I went to the Two Lifeboats Hotel in Sheringham (where my mum used to be the manager and I used to work when I was a teenager). The pub looked normal in the 'Duncan Bar', except it was much longer - double the normal length of this room. I realised I had a fa from Colin - it was handwritten in coloured pencil on a small scrap of yellowing paper. It was a few lines long and included his mobile number. I told my mum that I would start work soon, but first I had to write a return fax to Colin. I had several pieces of paper, but every time I tried to write the fax I made a mistake and had to scribble it out. Sometimes, I would write a perfect fax, but then realise that I had written it in black ink on a piece of black paper so it could not be read. It was as though I had forgotten how to write.

A girl whom used to work for my mum, JHB, kept coming out of the kitchen to check if I was ready to start work. She was getting annoyed by how long I was taking to write my fax. Then a fat woman, pushing a twin-pram came into the bar. She rammed the pram into me, making me scream in pain. My mum pushed the pram from her and started playing with the babies (who were both mixed race, one boy, one girl), while the mother gave me a special massage to heal my back (which was the area I was hit in). She did this by standing behind me and putting her arms behind me and then pulling me back on top of her as she sat down on the seat. I noticed there were lots of customers in the pub.

I then went into the office, which is where the fax machine was. I was planning to send my fax to Colin. The office was dark and was a composite of the actual office as I remember it and the side of the bar where the coffee machine was. Several people entered the office - including RBR, a girl I went to school with. She said: 'You've got charisma, we need you to work the pass' (usually the job of a head chef, shouting out orders, organising the sections of the kitchen and checking the food leaving for the diners is up to standard). I said: 'Yes, I'm just faxing Russell Crowe'. Somehow, Colin Farrell had now become Russell Crowe in my mind. My mum was praising me. 

* I wonder if Colin Farrell became Russell Crowe because of the minor similarities in 'Farrell' and 'Russell' (repetition of letters and 'ell' ending of the names)? I don't find either of them particularly attractive, although Farrell is much more handsome than Crowe...

Dream 348

'Rap Battles and Affairs with Jay-Z'

Dream date: 6 January 2015
I had a really bad day after having this dream, which was a shame because this was one of my favourite dreams in a long time and I felt really positive when I woke up from it. This dream was very long, detailed and vivid.

I was in a small, dilapidated shack in Sheringham, my home town. This shack was really cosy with lots of soft furnishings and was located right by the sea. It seemed to only be a single storey building, with an overgrown leafy garden. I lived in this shack with a male dream character who was most definitely a composite of former and recent boyfriends - SL, PS and DL. At times, this male would look just like one of the boyfriends (he started off looking like SL, but having the personality and lifestyle details associated with PS - and later was PS and then DL at various points in the dream). I will refer to him as 'the boyfriend' and note his specific appearance, if it is possible to identify which of the boyfriends he looked most like. At the start of the dream, the boyfriend looked like SL. He was arranging to buy/sell come cannabis (therefore, an action associated with PS). I was in agreement with his plans. We were just hanging out in the shack and the boyfriend was waiting for the right time to leave. It seemed like it might be daytime at this point. The boyfriend eventually got ready to go out and buy the stash of cannabis (which was going to be a large quantity). I agreed to wait in the shack for him to return. He left. I walked through the a bedroom, and saw Jay-Z, dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, lounging on the bed. I was shocked to see him there, as I had not realised he was in the shack, and he was a celebrity! I went over to talk to him and he started trying to make sexual advances towards me. I was flattered, but confused as to why this was happening - it felt as odd as if Jay-Z was actually in Sheringham, showing interest in someone like me! 

I then saw the outside of the shack from a different perspective - as if the scene cut away to show what was happening elsewhere. Beyonce was sitting outside the shack (on the street, from which you could see the garden and doorway), in a blue car. It was night. Beyonce was suspicious that Jay-Z was cheating on her and had come to catch him out. She got out of the car and took her mobile phone (which was a very old, cheap model) and dialled a number, From her perspective, walking towards the shack, I heard a phone ring from inside - this was obviously Jay-Z's mobile phone ringing. Beyonce started to walk down the garden path - I was still seeing the dream from her perspective. I then suddenly - with no reality check, just from the sheer desire not to get caught with Jay-Z (although he was the person at fault and I hadn't done anything sexual with him) became lucid. Still from Beyonce's perspective, I thought (with my lucid brain) that I better change what was happening so Beyonce would not catch Jay-Z trying to seduce me. The perspective of the dream switched back to me and Jay-Z in the bedroom. I told Jay-Z that Beyonce was outside the shack, about to walk through the open front door. He didn't ask me how I knew, he just accepted this as truth. He said he would be busy over the next day or so, but would be staying in Sheringham. He begged to see me again. I agreed I would meet him again, but urged him to get up off the bed and walk through to the door. I advised him to tell Beyonce that he had simply visited the shack to buy some cannabis from the boyfriend. Jay-Z thanked me for trying to save his marriage. While I was still lucid, I managed to notice that he looked younger and better looking than he usually does in real life. I then lost lucidity, but the dream just continued as normal.

Some random girls were in the lounge of the shack, seated on the sofa. The boyfriend (looking like SL) had returned and he asked me to leave the room because his friend, [a female friend of SL whose actual name I cannot remember] was there and he wanted to hang out with her. I was annoyed, because there were other people present in the room and they were allowed to stay. One female dream character was sat in the middle part of the sofa. She had brown bobbed hair and a round face. I poked her in the nose and squashed her nose flat to her face. I wondered if she would seek revenge or be angry about this, but she just laughed. All of the females, except the boyfriend's female friend, left the room with me and we went into another room together. They wanted to be my friends. We were laughing and joking.

I then found myself in the kitchen in PS's home in London, with PS and his teenage sister, JG. PS was baking. JG was telling me a story and dancing in the kitchen. I asked 'the boyfriend' character (PS) if I could see him 'tomorrow' but he said he had theatre tickets and would have to see me the day after. 

I was then taking part in a freestyle rap battle (PS and DL both make hip hop music and SL is in a band, so all these 'boyfriends' are involved in making music). I was battling against a white male dream character. I was freestyling really well (it is something I can actually do in real-life, but I was better at it in the dream). I recall some of my bars, but only really the rhyming words:

'You're bananas', drama, Obama, karma, moussaka, llama 
'Your words need rephrasing', replacing, amazing

I ended up winning the battle. The crowd watching were really excited and the boyfriend (PS/DL) was proud of me. I noticed that my mum and nan and several older women were present in the venue, which seemed to be a posh hotel with a lot of flowery decor. I walked over to a canteen counter where hot drinks were being served. I went to pour a cup of coffee from a coffee machine, and accidentally added some soup to my cup. I felt annoyed that my coffee was polluted with soup, but started thinking about my next rap battle which was soon to start. An elderly woman approached me. She told me that she had been sitting with my family members and was a real fan of my freestyle rapping. She said a lot of elderly people were getting into hip hop and rap battles. She seemed to know what she was talking about and clued up on hip hop culture. 

I was then with the boyfriend (PS) in my bedroom in Sheringham. We were sitting on my bed. He said that he was dating 'Debbie' and before I could even say anything, he noticed the shock on my face (PS is currently dating someone in real-life, but I do not know exactly who it is because we only communicate by text in real-life and he doesn't want to tell me). He said: 'No, not that Debbie!' meaning a girl within his circle of friends in London. He then said that he had been  dating AWB, but she was annoying. A short while after this, he said he was still dating AWB - this all confused and frustrated me, making me feel second-rate and jealous. There was some sexual tension.

I was then on a plane with the boyfriend (DL). The pilot walked down the aisle. He looked like the TV character, Nathan Barley - or rather the actor who plays him, Nicholas Burns (both DL and I really like Nathan Barley in real-life). He wasn't dressed as a pilot, but was wearing casual clothing. The boyfriend was sitting in the window seat and I was in the aisle seat. The pilot seemed to be a friend of ours. He stopped in the aisle by our seats (we were actually in the air at this point, but nearly ready to land, so I was worried how the plan would be landed without the pilot in the cockpit controlling it!). He had a carrier bag which was ripped open. Inside it was about an ounce of cannabis. The pilot offered to sell it to the boyfriend and I for a very cheap price. We took the cannabis from him and inspected it. It wasn't good quality at all - it was leafy, dried up and had no aroma (what I would call 'fraff'), the boyfriend and I said we didn't want to buy it, as we had better cannabis back at the shack (in Sheringham). A young female dream character sitting opposite me across the aisle jumped up from her seat. She was wearing a tight white T-shirt and sunglasses. She said: 'I'll buy it and sell it to become rich and famous!'  and I were laughing at her stupidity and ignorance. I said to the boyfriend: 'She'll only make about £20 profit from selling that!' 

Dream 347

'Making Air Crafts'

Dream date: 5 January 2015
At various points in this dream, I had the sensation of being seated on a large spinning tray-like object alongside other (unseen) dream characters. It was in an outside environment during the day, but I could not see my location because everything was a blur due to the spinning motion. I was thinking of teapots and cutting meat when these experiences occurred.

I was in some kind of factory which manufactured air crafts. I was with two male friends - a Chinese male, who closely resembled my ex-boyfriend MT (yes, I had two Chinese exes, if you are wondering why the pseudonym has changed from that cited in previous dreams) who is now actually working for an airline in Burma; and a black male who seemed to be very similar to my friend, JL, an American medical student. We were all working together in this factory which was very large and made of shiny metal, with benches along the walls. 

I then saw a scene which I was not participating in. I could see a female dream character riding a horse, being led by a middle-aged male, who was the supervisor from the air craft factory. There was no saddle or reins on the horse, only loose ropes which went around the horse and were being held by the female rider. I wasn't sure whether this female dream character was meant to be me (seen in the third person) or whether I was just observing someone else. When I woke up from this dream, I thought the female horse rider might have been me. The female wanted to get off the horse, but she was too scared. The male supervisor leading the horse told her to jump off. He made the horse gallop towards a road, on the other side of which was a wall. The female jumped off the horse mid-gallop. The horse then leapt into the air and landed nose-first on the concrete. I felt very shocked. I noticed other bystanders who also appeared very shocked. We then saw this happen again, in slow motion. The horse was dissected in two parts along the length - like a Damien Hirst installation. You could see it's bones and external organs. When it landed on it's nose, the nose smashed off - it looked flaky and golden brown - like sponge cake. 

I was then back in the factory. The supervisor walked with me, MT and JL to a small courtyard where there was a running stream and a fountain. We were looking into the fountain. I was telling the MT character that he reminded me of the actual MT (my ex) and calling him 'Minny' which is a variation of MT's actual name. I then became confused as to whether the MT dream character 'Minny' was actually my ex-boyfriend, MT. I couldn't tell if they were doppelgängers or the same person. The supervisor started telling us that you could not work at the factory if you had poor eyesight. I recounted a (real-life, actual) story about the real MT having been unable to train as a pilot in the UK and getting laser eye surgery which allowed him to train in Burma. Minny then said to me: 'Don't tell the supervisor about the laser eye surgery!' which made me even more confused as to whether Minny was actually MT. We walked back into the main bit of the factory. Leaning against one of the benches was a tall, lanky male dream character. He had two ginger female dream characters with him, one under each arm, hugging him. Suddenly a massive crowd of dream characters (other workers) swarmed over and started pushing against Minny and JT, crushing them against the bench. The tall, lanky male dream character and ginger females seemed unfazed by this, even though they were in the crush.

Michio Kaku: This is Your Brain on Dreams

Theoretical Physicist Dr Michio Kaku has recently applied his brilliant mind to the science of dreaming, and interestingly, affirmed the validity of Freudian theories, with evidence from neuroscience. What could be better than a contemporary luminary - in the theoretical fields of quantum mechanics and String Theory - explaining the science of dreaming (using evidence from empirical research at the cutting-edge of experimental neuroscience) and validating the world's most notoriously genius psychiatrist and dream theorist at the same time?

In his latest bestseller, The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance and Empower the Mind (2014), Michio explores the mysteries of the human consciousness in the hope of using credible scientific methodology to explain the wonders of the brain. This is particularly interesting for me as I am bemused  by amateur attempts made to align quantum physics with spiritualism in ways which undermine - and often dismiss without due consideration - theoretical perspectives which focus on topics such as consciousness and dreaming while maintaining the rigorous standards of modern academic discourse. The internet - and other forums of debate - are awash with apparently irrational beliefs justified by an 'obfuscatory reference' to quantum physics, using ill-defined and poorly-understood definitions out of context. This phenomena is known popularly as Quantum Woo or Quantum Mysticism.

I've had to leave many pleasant internet forums dedicated to lucid dreaming due to the sheer amount of space which is taken up with frustrating arguments which involve the mismatch of spiritualism or mysticism and theoretical science. Often those most deeply and passionately involved in the debate have little time for what they disparagingly refer to as 'traditional science' and scoff at notions such as 'high impact journals', 'peer-review', 'empirical data from double-blind tests', 'replicability', 'methodology', 'confirmation bias' etc etc, while maintaining that all they need do in order to win a petty disagreement over source material and credibility is cite someone else who shares the same world view as them and a cool, anti-establishment reputation. In seeking what is lumped together as 'truth', many choose to blind themselves to simple issues such as who is presenting the idea and what purpose have they got in communicating it. I'm someone who shies away from religion, belief or faith-based perspectives of human consciousness - i.e. all the main organised religions and spirituality/mysticism. Outside of dream research, I'm a doctoral researcher, schooled in the methodology of proving a theory with observable evidence which has been collected and analysed to the standards of my educational institution (which is ranked in the top 1% worldwide for research). I like to combine my academic experience with my love of popular, accessible articles for publication, hence the reason I decided to research dreams and write about them. I love Freudian Theory and the idea of psychoanalysis, but equally I spend a lot of my spare time watching documentaries on theoretical physics and getting both impressed and highly confused at the same time. I sometimes feel a little bit guilty being so neo-Freudian (my forthcoming theory of dreaming is a postmodernist theory), given my preference for empirical science. I worried whether some of the dream theory which has so influenced my own understanding of dreaming and psychology could ever be aligned with my more rational framework for critical thought.

This is why it is so exciting that someone like Michio Kaku has contributed to the discourse of consciousness and dreaming, perhaps successfully bridging a gap which others have attempted, but failed to do persuasively and coherently.

Michio explains that not all of Freud's wild claims were wrong. His multitudinous detractors' claims that his theories could not be scientifically proven with empirical data may in fact have been shortsighted. Michio states that neuroscience has indicated that much of the brain's activity is unconscious, just as Freud had predicted. Further, neuroscientists have been able to utilise brain scan technology to identify parts of the brain which correspond with Freud's ego, superego and id. Michio states that the ego is basically the prefrontal cortex - this is the seat of the consciousness - or who you are, the 'self'. The pleasure centre (the id) is right in the middle of the brain, while the conscience (the superego) is behind the eyes, in the orbital frontal cortex.

Michio then claims that Freud's unique vision of dreaming may be capable of scientific verification after all. Brain scans make it possible for neuroscientists to track the activity of the 'control centre' during sleep. Activity can be detected in the back of the brain, which is a very 'primitive' part of the brain, while the prefrontal cortex is shut off - deactivated. The same happens in the orbital frontal cortex. So basically, rational thought and conscience are silenced during the dream state. The orbital frontal cortex also acts as a 'fact checker' - so this explains why we seem to accept bizarre and odd dream narratives without questioning (unless of course, you are learned in the art of 'reality checks'!) Michio explains that the main brain activity occurs in the part of the brain known as the amygdala - which governs fear and emotions. So the rational part of your brain is dormant during the dream state, but this does not mean that there are no methods of breaking through the 'analytical paralysis'. This is something that all lucid dream enthusiasts know. Michio cites the groundbreaking research carried out at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, which has revealed that lucid dreaming is testable, reproducable and scientifically legitimate. This sort of credible scientific discourse is likely to influence the direction of research and experimental science and Michio predicts that lucid dreaming may become a major focus of neuroscience in the near future, He suggests that one day it will be possible to scan the brain during the dream state and play the dream on a screen for others to watch. Scientists in Japan are already finding innovative new ways to 'photograph dreams'. In his book, Michio outlines exciting futurist technologies which when developed and refined could completely change our lives and the way we use our brains.

Here is the video of Michio Kaku discussing neuroscience, dreams and Sigmund Freud:

New Tallulah La Ghash Youtube Videos Uploaded!

Hiya Dreamers!

I thought I would create and upload some new Youtube videos for you! Please like my videos by giving them the 'thumbs up' and subscribe to my channel! You can find the Tallulah La Ghash Youtube Channel by clicking on this link! 

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So, here are my latest videos for your entertainment and enjoyment:

FILD Technique - Finger Induced Lucid Dreaming
Find the corresponding post on FILD Technique here, the post on WILD Technique here and the post on Dream Scene Visualisation here

Lucid Dream Incubation Experiment Initial Video & Update Video (Freud)

Find the corresponding post here