Dream 393

'Two Banana-Shaped Moons'

Dream date: 23 March 2015

I was in a class-room - I think it was supposed to be a university class (this was confirmed later). I was with some friends from high school - I think VW and SF were there and some boys, but I cannot really recall who. We were all sitting in a line, and I was on the end of the table, closest to one of the doors. I have drawn a diagram of the classroom lay-out so it is easier to understand. The teacher was a young female - white, with dark brown hair. She indicated that one of my classmates go to a filing cabinet and get our exam papers. When I received my own exam script - which was typed on several sides of A4 paper, stapled together at the top left corner - I realised this was an English Literature class. I only caught a glimpse of what I had written, and I had mentioned Johnny Depp - it was a piece of creative writing. I turned the exam script over. On the back of the last page were some grades. The teacher asked me to read out what my grade was. She was crouched down by the end of the table, next to me. I found that I could not read my grade, which was - I thought - a percentage. I could not see if it was a 28% or 82% or something completely different. I said to the teacher: 'I can't read it because I am number dyslexic' (I do have dyscalculia in real-life, but I feel the main difficulty in reading my grade came from the fact I was trying to read numbers in a dream, which can yield bizarre results). 

The teacher told me that I had got a 2.1 grade (this confirmed I was at university). She said I needed to sign next to the grade to confirm that I had understood. I went to sign my signature, but then saw a list of other grades above, all with signatures next to them. They were mainly all 95% and the teacher said: 'Those were your previous grades'. This made me feel annoyed, because on this basis, I had done poorly on this particular exam (a 2.1 grade at university is usually between 60 - 69%). I said: 'It's wrong how the English Literature class is always creative writing!' I thought that the class should be more focused on literary analysis and essay-writing. I then realised that I liked creative writing (I do!) and said: 'Even though I want to be a novelist' (I do!) The teacher said: 'You're not ready for that yet'. 

The teacher split the class into two groups and got them to crouch on the floor (where indicated by the grey circle on the diagram) and wait for her. She left the room. There was a male teacher standing in the corner, who I had not noticed before. He was wearing a smart grey suit and was also quite young. He did not do or say anything. While the other classmates - approximately 8 others - were crouched in two groups of 4 people - all looking downwards at the floor), I was left standing by the side of the desk at which I had been sitting. I realised I was the ninth person and my role was different from my classmates. I didn't know what I should be doing - I was bored and felt left out. From behind me, MO - my former high school form tutor, who I disliked entered the classroom (in real-life, she had told me I would 'never make anything of myself' when I was only 12/13 years old - and was a little shocked when my mum told her I had two degrees, a Masters degree, was a qualified lawyer and studying for a PhD in more recent times!) She asked me to come and join her to help her with a task. I did not want to go with her. I tried to protest saying I had to wait for the teacher to return as I was involved in a class activity. I then noticed that MO's son was one of my classmates, crouched on the floor (he was in my year at school in real-life). MO said it was fine for me to leave and I would be better off helping her. I felt pressurised and I decided to go with her.

We were then on a beach and it was a hot, sunny day. I was helping MO build a shed/beach hut on the sand. It was really difficult lifting the heavy wood and placing it in the right places. The wood with both natural brown and painted blue. The beach looked exactly like the one at Great Yarmouth, where the donkey rides are located - beside the Brittania Pier, which we were standing under. There was a grassy bank nearby - the grass was brown and wilting in the sun. As I was listing the wooden parts of the beach hut, N the Dog was present, trying to play. He was making it difficult as he kept biting the planks of wood, but I thought it was funny and cute. Someone, standing just off to one side, told MO that the beach hut would be a great location for afternoon cocktails. I was slightly annoyed, because I thought the beach hut was being constructed for some educational purpose. We carried on building it.

I was then in a room (I think it was a shop), the details of which I cannot recall. Someone - a male dream character who was familiar to me, but I cannot recall who - gave me a catalogue with pictures of puppies in it. I was asked to choose which one was my favourite. I initially chose a brown one on the top of the left page. The male dream character said: 'But that's not a staffy!' and I noticed that it was probably a Jack Russell Terrier. I chose again - a white and brown one - but then realised that this was a breed I was unfamiliar with. I scanned all of the images until I found the one which was the Staffordshire Bull Terrier (my favourite breed) and said: 'This is the one'. 

I was then in my nan's living-room in Sheringham, sitting on the sofa with my mum. On the TV was a scene with three young black women, sitting around a circular table in a cafe. I realised that this was The Cosby Show (1984 - 1992). I disagreed with this being aired on TV, because I was aware (in the dream) that these actresses had been the victims of sexual assault by Bill Cosby (against whom many allegations of rape and sexual abuse have been made in recent times). There was a close-up of one of the actress's faces. She looked very much like Christina Milian (I thought this while in the dream) - she was drinking a milkshake through a straw and her face looked very sad. I thought that this was because of Cosby's sexual abuse of her. 

I was then somewhere (not sure if indoors or outside) and it was night. I was looking up at the sky and could see that there were two moons - one of them normal colour, and the other very yellow. There was also a planet visible - bright red - making me assume that it was Mars. These cosmic bodies were very large and easily viewed. I called over DL and pointed out the two moons. I was not surprised by the presence of the planet at all - that seemed normal. I knew we were witnessing something very special in seeing the two moons and I wondered where the second, yellow moon had come from. I set my mind on investigating this. I seemed to be looking at the moons and planet for quite some time. 

It was the next day and DL and I were standing in my nan's living-room, beside the dining table. There was a quantity of cannabis on the table and DL was placing it in two large plastic baggies. He asked me if I thought he had distributed it equally between them and I said he had. He then handed me one of the baggies, as we went to depart the room - to go and speak to someone (an expert) about the moons. When I looked down, I realised the baggy was actually a mobile phone. As my hand went to the door, I noticed that the screen of the phone had a strange uneven ridge in it, which caught on my fingers as I ran them over the surface. At first I thought it had been caused by the door - perhaps hitting the phone screen, and then I realised that it was just a cracked screen which had always been there. I said to DL: 'You gave me the wrong phone' (DL's phone screen has a crack in it from where he dropped it on my bathroom floor, in real-life). He looked, realised he had, and swapped the phones, giving me my undamaged one. 

We were then walking along - we were in a different town from Sheringham, although I am not sure where it was. It did not look familiar. We went into one shop - to talk to the shopkeeper about the moons - but realised that the shop was just a newsagents. We then went into another shop and I became aware that DL was now my best friend from high school, SF. The shop had a long counter with some books on it and a stand with some information written on it. Behind the desk was an old man with a long grey/white beard. I thought this man must be an expert on moons. I said: 'Why are there two moons?' I then had a sudden thought - that one of the many moons of Venus (Venus does not have any natural satellites in real-life) had accidentally left its orbit and travelled towards Earth. I wondered how it would return to it's orbit around Venus and was slightly worried about this idea. I saw a view from space (as if I was floating in space), of Venus and a moon leaving it's orbit and heading towards Earth.

The man behind the counter said: 'You came to ask about the two banana-shaped moons?' and pointed at the stand on his desk (which was a small, hinged chalkboard), on which was written some information about the moon phenomenon. I thought it was odd that he referred to them as 'banana-shaped' because they had looked like normal spherical moons. He said: 'The yellow-flame moon is Baron's Moon - it floated past all the planets to come to Earth.' This really shocked me, as in the dream 'Baron' was the name of Pluto. I wondered how the moon had managed to leave Pluto's orbit and come all the way to Earth - it seemed impossible that it could float all that way through space without anyone noticing this. He also said the red planet was Venus, which I thought was odd, because Mars is the red planet. I was still thinking about the moon phenomenon, when SF held out her arms and said: 'My brother likes to beat me!' She was smiling and seemed unconcerned about this revelation of violence. She handed a pink cheque to the old man behind the desk and said: 'Can you cash this cheque for me?' and then left. I was aware that there was a post office at the back of the shop. I decided I should leave my post there as well. I sat on the floor and I rolled a cigarette with loose tobacco, then burned the end of it (not smoking it). I then attached a postage stamp to it (wrapping it around the cigarette), and asked the man if he could 'send' if for me. He said he hoped the glue on the Rizla was sticking properly - I looked and noticed it wasn't, but hoped the stamp would hold it all together. I handed it to the man.

I then had to return home by myself. I said (to no-one, because I was alone, but I seemed to be mentally communicating with someone) that I would walk from Norwich (where I apparently was) via Great Yarmouth to Sheringham (this would be an impossible walk for me to do - it is physically possible, but it a route of nearly 45 miles. The person with whom I was telepathically communicating (I think it may have been my mum) protested mu ability to walk this distance and suggested I take the bus home, but I was adamant I wanted to walk this strange convoluted route. I was still thinking about 'Baron's Moon' and how strange it was.

* Note that Pluto's actual moon is called 'Charon'! This didn't even register in my mind until I wrote this Blog post and searched for an image of the dwarf planets (the Kuiper Belt objects) in the outer solar system to illustrate it - I saw an annotated image on the internet which showed Charon orbiting Pluto. The recognition of this fact made me feel really shocked and overwhelmed!

Potential Day/Dream Residue:

• The night before this dream I had a discussion with my friend about our creative writing aspirations. My friend was telling me about his Editor who was impossible to work with and suggested that if his college tutors had treated him in the same way as the Editor, then his exams would have been manipulated to ensure he got completely different grades (his Editor always changed every aspect of his writing and made him feel completely inadequate).
• It was on my mind that I needed to print off hardcopies of my case studies (for my PhD) and then staple them together, before I could do my data analysis.
• I had a conversation with someone about Dyscalculia two days before this dream.
• The day before this dream I had seen a picture of MO's son on the internet (Facebook) - he had been holding a puppy in the photograph.
• I had seen some pictures on the internet - and also, specifically on a friend's Facebook - of some beach huts.
• The day of this dream, someone mentioned that it must be calming and peaceful to live by the sea. They had initially asked if I was raised in Norwich, and I had said that I had been raised in Sheringham and that I moved to Norwich (the closest city) as an adult.
• The day that this dream took place (23 March 2015) was National Puppy Day - raising awareness of puppy adoption.
• The day of this dream I had seen a picture of Christina Milian in a newspaper - she was drinking a Margarita cocktail, using a straw.
• The day of this dream I had a conversation with someone about the recent eclipse. That person had referred to the moon as the 'Blood Moon' and said it's presence had brought him positivity. 
• Shortly before I went to bed and had this dream I had eaten two bananas.
• On the day of this dream, a member on the Lucid Dreaming page on Facebook had uploaded a 'photo manipulation' which showed a beach at night, with a galaxy effect and a large planet.moon visible. It was captioned: 'wouldn't you love to go here in a lucid dream?' or words to that general effect. Next to this photograph on Facebook, there was a 'suggestion' for a page I might like - it was a page dedicated to the dwarf planet 'Eris'.
• Before I went to bed I was discussing the infinity of the universe with a friend and he had said 'imagine if you could travel to the edge of the universe and then end up coming back to Earth from the other direction' (like when you go to the edge of a video game screen and then pop out on the other side.
• DL is also 'Baron'.
• DL and I had a recent conversation about the crack in his phone screen and how he was awaiting an upgrade.
• I have had recent dreams - Dream 390 and Dream 391 about cannabis. DL and I also discussed cannabis the day before this dream. 

Waking Thoughts & Emotions:

When I first awoke, this dream seemed very significant - specifically the scenes involving the moons. I also had some difficulty in remembering the name 'Pluto' when thinking of the last identified (dwarf) planet in our solar system. This dream did feel quite positive and I was happy to have experienced it.

* I have forgotten some of this dream (I think perhaps the final scenes, because I was awoken while in the dream, by a sudden noise in my house). If I recall any more of this dream later, I will record it below.

Dream 392

'Zoe Ball's Keyboard Vandalism'

Dream date: 22 March 2015

I was in Zoe Ball's family home - she lived with her parents (unseen in the dream). The house was very nicely decorated, in a classy, but typically domestic way. Zoe was wearing white trousers and a yellow top. We went through to a home music recording studio (in real-life Zoe's husband Normal Cook aka 'Fat Boy Slim' is a DJ and musician, but this recording studio belonged to her parents). There was a lot of expensive sound/audio equipment in the home recording studio, including a large electric keyboard.

I didn't see it happen, but somehow, Zoe vandalised the recording studio. I saw the trashed keyboard, laying broken on the floor of the room, which was now darker than it had been before. Zoe laid on the floor next to the broken keyboard. Suddenly, we were joined by a white male dream character. He had mid-brown hair and a red-flushed bulbous face. He lifted his arms up, and I saw they were very tiny - they didn't come above his head. Zoe started to dress him in some dark clothes, now kneeling on the floor beside the deformed man - he was short - only about 5 feet tall. The deformed man said to me: 'The deformed arms belong to the woman who was here before me'. I wondered what he meant, because there had been no woman there before him, only Zoe and I. I was worried Zoe would be in trouble for the broken keyboard and trashed home studio when her parents came home and found out. 

Zoe and I were then buying tickets to the Boom Bap festival - a UK Hip Hop festival held annually in the summer. 

Potential Day/Dream Residue:

• The night of this dream I had been looking for a picture of a 'ball in a glass' (unsuccessfully) to illustrate Dream 391.
• The night of this dream I had been engaged in a very long debate which took place amongst various members/fans of the UK Hip Hop industry, sparked by a racially-ignorant 'white pride' track which had been made by a rapper. A random female had entered the conversation halfway through (this being assumed to be a fake profile of the White Pride rapper) - she called us 'keyboard warriors'.
• I had been thinking of attending the Boom Bap 2015 festival.

Waking Thoughts & Emotions:

This dream made me even more keen to attend this year's Boom Bap festival.

Dream 391

'Treelands'

Dream date: 21 March 2015

This is a very hard dream to describe. It was so vivid and realistic, but it was more of a 'mentally vivid' dream as opposed to one which relies on the senses.

I was in a house with a female dream character. At some point I became aware that this female was the TV personality, Melanie Sykes and that she had a twin brother (not in the dream, and not true in real-life) who I also knew. I had a 'flashback' - a memory within the dream, that I was standing in the square at my university, thinking about the fact Melanie Sykes had Indian heritage. Melanie showed me around her house which was on one level/floor. In the dream she had two daughters - one who was 8 years old and the other who was 5 years old (also not true in real-life). Both of the girls were blonde haired and blue-eyed. The youngest daughter was ready for bed and in the top bunk of a set of bunk beds in one small room. Melanie kissed her 'goodnight'. The elder daughter was a problem-child and very naughty and precocious. She was in hospital for a minor operation, and I saw an image of her in a hospital bed - shouting curse words (at an unseen doctor) in an abusive way. 

Melanie showed me the eldest daughter's bedroom, which was a large, square room with a dressing table against the wall, next to the door. The rest of the room was furnished like the typical bedroom of a young girl, with toys placed neatly on shelves. On the dressing table was a huge quantity of cannabis. Melanie was not pleased about this, but also not overly concerned. She said something along the lines of: 'Oh dear, she shouldn't have that!' I took a handful of the cannabis secretly, for myself, and crushed it in my hand until it compacted into an easily concealable amount. This was done easily, and I was quite surprised. Melanie led me out into the living-room which was the lounge of my mum's flat in Sheringham (my mum lives above her workplace, which is a private residential home for the elderly). She gave me a clear plastic cannabis grinder and some king-size Rizla, but when I produced the cannabis, she realised I had taken it from her daughter's room and she chastised me, telling me I had stolen too much and should replace it. I thought she was weird for wanting her daughter to be in possession of such large quantities of cannabis at such a young, tender age and thought I had been doing her a favour in taking some of it away from her, even if it was essentially theft.

I left the room, with the cannabis (which was now somehow in a clear plastic baggy) and the grinder, intending to 'pretend' to return the cannabis to her daughter's room, but in fact keep it for myself and perhaps steal some more while I was alone. There had been several ounces scattered over the dressing table. As I walked around the house, I became lost. The house was decorated in a bright royal blue, although when I awoke, I realised it was actually 'International Klein Blue - the colour formulated by the artist Yves Klein (1928 - 1962). However, despite this, the building had an institutional feel about it. The doors were all grey varnished office-type doors with small white signs on them, with various combinations of numbers in black Helvetica typeface. I could not find Melanie's daughter's room, so I thought I would look for the bathroom, and perhaps roll a joint while hidden in there. I eventually came across what seemed to be a bathroom, but it was not Melanie's bathroom. I quickly became aware that Melanie lived in the lower part of a three-storey building - this explained the institutional feel to the corridors, which were luxurious and simplistic in the way they were decorated, but appeared to belong in a non-domestic setting. I cannot describe what I mean, other than the house seemed to be more hotel-like and used by other people in addition to the Sykes family. The lower part (Melanie's area) was a normal domestic flat. The upper parts seemed reserved for something clinical, therapeutic and exclusive to those who were 'members'.

I entered the bathroom - it was large and completely white and very clinical. There were counters all around, with medicines and potions on them, and several toilet stalls. 

I then became aware that Melanie lived in a building which was also used by a company/organisation called 'Treelands' (although at first, the word 'forest' was in my head, until I 'remembered' the correct name). This organisation was a place where elderly people came to live to recapture their youth. They were given spa treatments and therapies in order to stay functional and sexually active. This bathroom was part of 'Treelands', not Melanie's house. No-one except 'Treelands' residents were allowed in this part of the building. 

Some elderly dream characters entered and used the bathroom. They did not question my presence, but I knew I should not be in that part of the building. In fact, I had a strong notion that part of Melanie's tenancy stipulated that neither she nor her guests could access the 'Treelands' part of the building and there would some form of penalty or punishment if anyone found that I had gone here. 

I looked around the bathroom. I saw a door, which I knew led to some stairs. I was on the first floor (even though I had not climbed any stairs to get to this part of the building). The top part of the building was part of a secret society run by Treelands. This was the true reason why the elderly people joined the organisation and lived there. It was some kind of society which provided a spiritual therapy to the old people, in addition to the general therapies and activities organised there. The secret society seemed to have some kind of negative vibe - I felt uncomfortable about knowing this, although I did not have a clear indication of why I felt this way. On the door, I saw there was a poster, showing a number of happy, smiling elderly people dressed in white robes. The background of the image was of blue, cloudy skies. I did not dare open the door or go upstairs. I suddenly had a very clear memory of my mum once telling me that her friend MFZ had lived in this building (before Melanie moved in) and had ventured upstairs to peek on the secret society. MFZ had told my mum this story when he and my mum both worked in the Two Lifeboats Hotel in Sheringham. The spiritual therapy had some kind of religious connotations and ritualistic practices. The elderly people did benefit from what was on offer for them, but there was something sinister about it. This was an intense knowledge and memory in the dream. It was very clear to me that 'Treelands' was located in Sheringham and had been for a very long time. I wondered (in the dream) how I had forgotten my mum telling me about this. It all seemed so obvious to me. 

I left the 'Treelands' part of the building, and exited the entire place, through the front entrance, glad to be departing from this strange location. It was now night-time. When I was standing out on the street in the dark, I looked back and saw a grand entrance, which blue carpeted steps, leading to double glass doors and an exquisite blue, gold and glass decorated foyer. It looked like a super-posh, upmarket hotel and other than the blue colour (which had also been present in the interior) did not suit the rest of the building I had seen. I wondered if Melanie would be angry with me for going uninvited into the 'Treelands' part of the building. 

A racist comment was written about a black male dream character on the internet. I was discussing it with my stepdad, saying how I disapproved of this.

I was then with DL watching a movie, but it seemed like we were in the actual space where the action took place, rather than watching it on screen. The location was a New York loft-style bar with exposed brick walls, lots of glass and bright white lighting. It looked very luxurious. I soon became aware that the movie was based on my time working as a stripper/exotic dancer (this is something I did in real-life). I questioned why the set was the expensive looking bar, when in reality, I had worked in a very dark and sleazy-looking club (a typical strip club!). There were some male dream characters - either owners/managers or customers - they were older than me and had moustaches and beards. One in particular wore a denim shirt, a waistcoat and a cowboy hat. I told DL: 'Those men are playing themselves in the movie' (so, these were apparently actual people I had met when working in the strip club - although it wasn't actually true, as I have never seen them in real-life). I then saw myself - or rather, the actress employed to play me. 'I' was in conversation with a smaller girl with curly black hair (who was a dream character, not someone I remember from the strip club, although in the dream I 'remembered' who she was - she had the same first name as my mum does in real-life). My character was wearing a long red dress, which was strapless, very sparkly and low-cut, although almost floor length. 

The actress playing me had larger boobs than my own and she was touching them, adjusting the dress. I could see a generous amount of cleavage on show. However, she looked quite a lot like me - perhaps slightly prettier, but you could easily tell she was supposed to be me and her features were very similar to my own. I told DL that I was angry that a movie had been made of my life, without my consultation or consent. I felt that it was wrong that 'I' appeared in the movie, since it revealed to the audience that I had worked as a stripper/dancer and I might not have wanted this to be public knowledge (in real-life I am not ashamed of the fact - I made money to pay for law school and cover my bills at the time, and I have been quite open about it). I saw a long tracking shot of a small white ball rolling along the bar in the club, and eventually falling into an empty champagne glass. I saw this happen in close-up and what appeared to be slow motion.  The 'movie' of my time working in the strip-club continued, but I cannot remember all of what happened/what was said.

I took a lift (an elevator) upstairs. I needed to use the bathroom very desperately. I was wearing white panties, which I saw when I sat on a toilet and started to pee. The feeling of needing to pee did not subside even though I felt like I was peeing for ages. I began to worry about the fact I could not stop peeing. I woke up, desperately needing to pee in real-life and glad I had not wet the bed!!!

Potential Day/Dream Residue:

• Melanie Syke's daughters in this dream appeared to be very similar to the young daughter of one of my school friends - he had posted a photograph of her on Facebook, the day before this dream.
• I had a dream about cannabis (Dream 390) the night before this dream took place.
• I had been engaged in a number of debates about spiritualism and spirituality (I am an Atheist Humanist, who favours scientific empirical evidence for phenomena and is sceptical - or critical - of anything labelled pseudo-science or based around faith/religiou, which might explain my attitude towards the secret spiritualist society called 'Treelands'.
• A while ago, I watched a documentary about 'Heaven's Gate' (a religious cult which led to the mass suicide of many of it's followers). As I commented on the Youtube video, whenever another user comments, I am reminded of the documentary. In this dream 'Treelands' seemed to have some kind of strong connection to 'Heaven's Gate', although I cannot say specifically what this connection or subconscious link was. I just woke up thinking that 'Treelands' was similar to the 'Heaven's Gate cult' and felt uneasy about it.
• 'Treelands' may have been inspired by the fact my mum lives above a private residential home for the elderly (instead of below it, like Melanie Sykes in this dream) and she had told me a few days before that I might have to stay over (in her lounge) if I attended a family function in Sheringham.
• I had read an article which featured a bar/club which was described as a 'New York loft-style conversion' in a newspaper a few days before I had this dream.

Waking Thoughts & Emotions:

This dream left me feeling really confused and uneasy when I first woke up. Even a few moments after waking I was convinced that 'Treelands' - as recalled from the dream and described in this Dream Diary entry - did really exist in Sheringham and that my mum had told me about it, based on what MFZ had told her (therefore the 'memories' in the dream were real). I didn't 'believe' that Melanie Sykes and her daughters lived in the same building - I recognised that as being a fiction created by the dream, but 'Treelands' seemed so real to me. It took quite a while for me to process the fact that 'Treelands' was just a very vivid aspect of my dream and that the 'memories' of it I had were also part of the dream, not real-life memories. The rest of the dream appeared to be just slightly amusing or banal elements which did not affect my waking thoughts and emotions on the same level. I liked the fact that my dream had incorporated a scene where I desperately needed to pee in order to rouse me from sleep so I could really pee in real-life and it confirmed to me that the popular notion that if you use a toilet in a dream you will wet yourself during your sleep, is not true for me!

Dream 390

'Ipswich, America & Possession With Intent to Deny'

Dream date: 20 March 2015

I was in an outside environment, by myself. It was sunny and I was unsure of where I was. I walked down towards a seafront promenade. I looked downwards (I was on an elevated concrete path) and could see that beneath a long, concrete wall there was a lower walkway, and below that the sea. It appeared to be like the seafront at Sheringham, but I knew I was not in Sheringham. On the lower level, there was a concrete platform, which jutted out, towards the sea. On this was a colourful (blue and yellow) object, which looked a little bit like a sign, but also like a traffic cone or buoy. I thought: 'This must be America'. I went into a small cafe, which was very dark. I sat at a high, circular table by the wall. Apart from a male and female dream character (both old and white) who worked in the cafe, it was empty. On the corner of my table was a circular glass display case, with a till receipt in it. I could not touch the receipt as it was contained within the case/cabinet. I tried to read it, to see if the prices were in pounds or dollars (to give me some indication of whether I was actually in America or not). I thought the receipt said '$69' in relation to the cost of  cup of tea. I got up from the table and walked a very short distance to the door which led to the kitchen, hoping to speak to one of the dream characters. The female came to the door. She was small and wore her grey hair in a bun on top of her head. I asked: 'Am I in America?' She flung her arms out either side of her and said: 'No, you are in Ipswich' which surprised me at first, and then made sense, because the seaside appeared to be very 'British'. However, in real-life, Ipswich is not on the coast, it is on the River Orwell. I did not question this, and accepted what she said. 

I was the walking along Cromer Road in Sheringham, close to the turning for Pine Grove. It was daylight. There was a row of houses, which did not look like the ones which are on this stretch of road - although they looked very familiar. I think they were houses which are actually in Sheringham, but located near the sea-front. They were small and narrow, with brightly coloured doors - they looked like holiday homes. I then realised I was with a female uniformed police officer. I saw a group of young male dream characters a few yards in front of us - two black males and one white male. They entered one of the houses. I then saw a male police officer (in full uniform) appear, suddenly as if out of nowhere. There was also a police car outside the property - one of the older versions (with orange/red, yellow and blue detailing, rather than the model with the contemporary design of blue and yellow squares - this was a police car like the ones in service during my youth, in the 1990s). The police officer did not appear to have driven up to the property in the police car - both appeared instantaneously and separately. The police officer used a key to open the door of the house into which the three males had entered. The female police officer looked at me, as if she knew I was about to object. She said to me: 'It's a legitimate search...' and seemed apologetic for the fact that the male police officer was using a key to open the door to the property in a sneaky way, rather than knocking on the door/ringing a doorbell to announce police presence. I thought using the key to enter the property was very wrong. I knew they were trying to search the property for drugs and that the three males had possession of cannabis with intent to supply. I said: 'But I'm a defence lawyer...' The three males were arrested and brought out of the house by the male police officer. He had apparently found a large quantity of cannabis in the house - I just knew this, without actually seeing what was happening in person. 

I walked off with the female police officer, along Cromer Road in Sheringham, her holding my left hand in a friendly way. I then realised that I had a large quantity of cannabis loose in my right hand. I grasped it tightly, hoping that she would not realise. I feared getting caught with it. 

We entered a pub (not one with which I am familiar in real-life) - I was behind the bar, and the female police officer sat at the bar on the other side. There were old-fashioned brass beer pumps on the bar. I was looking over them. There were other customers in the pub, but I did not know them. The female police officer was saying - to everyone in earshot - how she wanted to arrest anyone with possession of cannabis. She seemed proud and smug about the fact and I felt resentful towards her. The cannabis was still held tightly in my fist and I wanted to leave her to put it somewhere safe and discreet. I walked towards a doorway which led to a staff area. There was a glass cabinet and I wrapped the cannabis in a piece of plastic bag and locked it into the cabinet. I felt anxious - more than I think I would if this was happening to me in real-life.

I was then in my nan's house in Sheringham, sitting on the sofa. I had the cannabis again and my nan was telling me that I was a criminal and should not have it in my possession (in real-life, my nan does not have such strong views on cannabis and knows I smoke it and have done so while I was living with her). She kept shouting at me, in a very angry way. I started wrapping the cannabis in a number of different things - plastic, cloth etc, and then finally in a circular cardboard box, like the kind Dairylea cheese triangles come in - I think it was a Dairylea box. I then put the box - and a metal 'space case' grinder in a duffel bag and then got up. Where the dining table is normally, was a glass cabinet. I put the duffel bag with the cannabis and paraphernalia in the case and locked it. I knew my nan could see me doing this, but I also thought I was hiding it from her. In real-life I wouldn't hide cannabis possession or smoking from my family - various members of my family sometimes indulge and most have liberal views about it. In the dream, it seemed like more of a big deal to me.

Potential Day/Dream Residue:

• The day before this dream I had a discussion with DL about the attitude of Norfolk police, lawyers and judiciary towards black males from London who are arrested in Norwich for possession with intent to supply drugs (i.e. there used to be an institutionalised racism which made it more likely that black males would be stopped/searched, charged and sentenced heavily). As a defence lawyer, this used to concern me.
• I had a desire to smoke some cannabis in real-life, but did not.
• I used to go down to the beach to smoke cannabis when I was a teenager (before I was honest to my family about it and wanted to avoid being caught). I had thought about these memories a couple of days before this dream.
• A few days before this dream I had told DL that I thought the older design (orange/red, yellow and blue) of police cars was better than the contemporary ones (yellow and blue squares) because they were more aesthetically pleasing.
• I heard a story about a search of a property in Norwich, which resulted in the arrest of someone for PWITS - the police had arrived at the property with someone who had a key to enter the residence.

Waking Thoughts & Emotions:

I found this dream interesting, but also was confused about the strong feelings of anxiety I had experienced when in possession of a relatively small quantity of cannabis. In relation to the location which I had assumed was 'America', which was in fact 'Ipswich', I was quite amused, and had to actually check Ipswich isn't on the coast, because I was completely persuaded that it might be on the basis of this dream and my waking recollection. Upon waking, I realised that the location of 'Ipswich' which I had mistaken as 'America' was in fact a memory of Sheringham promenade/seafront. This also explains the 'holiday homes' I saw later on in the dream. This was a very vivid dream.

Dream 389

'Giving Birth & Having a Three-way'

Dream date: 19/20 March 2015

The morning after this dream there was to be a solar eclipse (marking the 'Spring/Vernal Equinox' of 20 March 2015). There was a lot of publicity leading up to this event and I had set an alarm in order to wake up and witness it. 

In the dream I was pregnant and due to give birth soon. I did not look pregnant or feel any different. I was with a group of random dream characters, gathered in an outside location at night. There were trees, but they were silhouettes against the sky, which was filled with stars and other cosmic bodies. The sky was navy blue, but streaked with vivid purple and pink light. We were all looking up at the sky in wonder. This was the solar eclipse. It looked beautiful and awe-inspiring.

I then went to give birth. A male dream character doctor gave me some pain relief pills. The birth was easy and pain-free and I recovered immediately. I did not pick up or take my baby with me - I am not even sure whether it was a boy or girl, or whom the father was. It was simply like going to the dentist's to get a tooth removed - I went into the hospital (nondescript and typical), took some medication, had the baby and left. 

I was then in a little room which looked like an attic room. There were white walls and wooden floorboards on the floor. The ceiling was sloping and on one side of the room (the side where the ceiling sloped down towards), was a stand containing information leaflets - all brown in colour. I was standing looking at the leaflets - but not reading them. I was aware that this room was a university room, but it actually belonged to Madonna. I was aware that I had given birth earlier in the day (so this was the day after the night-time eclipse and the birth had taken place several hours ago, as it was still daylight in this scene). I laid down on the floor. JD (a friend and fellow lucid dreamer) and another female (a dream character - white with shoulder-length brown hair and a small, slim build, wearing a white T-shirt) were also in the room. We were about to have a three-way (threesome). JD was starting to have sex with me. The female dream character was standing behind him, waiting to join in, but fully dressed. JD was kissing my neck. I looked at the wall to my right and saw there were words written on the white paint in black marker pen - from ceiling to floor. I thought: 'That will have to be removed or we will get charged for vandalism'. I did not read the words, but I could see that some of the paint on the wall was yellowish, indicating that someone had already attempted to paint over part of the wall, with a slightly different colour. I wondered what colour paint we would need to buy to paint the wall so that it was all the same colour - white, or yellow-white? JD was still having sex with me - missionary position. The female dream character asked whether she could join in yet, and I said 'No' because I was not interested in a three-way. The girl seemed to take offence, and the sexual activity stopped. 

JD and I were then sitting on the sofa in my nan's house and it was night-time. The light was on and the curtains were drawn. I was trying to put items (I am not sure what) into a backpack and I was moaning to JD that I didn't like three-ways because I don't find females sexually attractive. JD was saying he could understand my point of view.

I was then in a commercial kitchen - not one I recall from real-life, although I have previous extensive experience of working in catering. One of my colleagues was a woman (a chef) who I used to work with in The Lobster, Sheringham - and who for a period, lived next-door to me in Pine Grove, Sheringham (I cannot recall her name, but I do remember an incident when her partner - a man with addiction issues - was verbally abusive to me and my friend NN when we were school girls, leading to my stepdad going round to confront him - my mum reminded me of this incident a few months ago). In he dream, I thought I must be working in The Lobster again (I worked there from the ages of 12 - 14 years as a kitchen assistant and waitress, before leaving to work for my mum at The Two Lifeboats Hotel, across the road). The female chef/neighbour said: 'You need to get your baby'. I interpreted this statement as 'You need to let the cat in'. I went to the doorway of the kitchen and opened the door (which led to a concrete yard in the dream). Instead of there being a baby or a cat at the door, there was a small llama. It ran past me into the kitchen, and started galloping around the counters and work surfaces, disturbing the chefs and waiting staff who had to jump out of it's way. 

Potential Day/Dream Residue:

• The forthcoming eclipse obviously influenced this dream. I did wake up in time to see it, but - like much of my region of the United Kingdom - it was too cloudy to properly see it.
• The night before this dream I was discussing childbirth with a friend and I had been saying how I found the idea anxiety-provoking and daunting. My friend had been saying that it is something so natural that you just deal with it as and when it happens.
• I had been talking to JD the day before this dream.
• In a comment on a Lucid Dreaming page on Facebook, I had been trying to help another member interpret a dream in which she had been engaged in sexual activity with another female. Some members had indicated that the dream might represent latent bisexual desires or curiosity, and I had disputed this, stating that I often had dreams of sexual activity with other females, but as a woman who has previously experimented sexually with other women, I know I am fully heterosexual and not curious (although I am an LGBT-advocate, so my resistance is purely from personal experience and my own firm sexual orientation, not that I have any issues with same-sex relationships or experimentation). I have never been interested in having a three-way, whether it is with two males or one male and another female.
• The day before this dream I had read about Madonna in the entertainment media.
• I live in university accommodation (I get a house with my part-time employment) and had wondered how I should clean some of the discoloured marks from the white walls in my bedroom.
• I recently debated the definition of 'junkie' with a member on the Lucid Dreaming page on Facebook, and the husband of the female chef character would fit this description.
• In a post on the Lucid Dreaming page a couple of days before this dream, I had began a silly (non-malicious) argument with a male member. He had produced a screenshot to prove a point to me, and I had noted he had annotated it, using the 'Lobster' font. This is the font I have also used on this Blog!
• The day before this dream I had watched some cat videos on Youtube.

Waking Thoughts & Emotions:

I woke from this dream feeling confused and slightly disturbed - which is common in circumstances where you dream of sexual activity with a platonic friend. However, I also saw the dream as being positive. The dream was very vivid and I could recall many of the details in minute detail, which is always something which pleases me upon waking. 

Dream 388

'Something on the Coastline'
Dream date: 19 March 2015
My memories of this dream are too hazy to write a proper dream report. Therefore I have produced a stream of consciousness picture to illustrate the visual imagery I can remember from the dream and also have done some automatic/free association writing on my vague memories of this dream.

AP - blonde hair - some kind of duty - leaving - vacation or holiday- someone is having a baby - growth - abundance - sunshine - daylight - beach - pale blue-grey meets white - sand at my feet - on the horizon it's all foggy - there is something fat and brown - fur - bear - round - moving - being pulled by ropes - tug-of-war - tent - lots of people - gathered around the big, fat brown thing on the horizon - dragging it to shore - making it safe - removing it from the sea - mist - dreary - drizzle - the sun has gone in now - it's nearly Christmas - Holt, Norfolk - family - visits.

Day/Dream Residue:
Not known

Waking Thoughts/Emotions:
Confusion as to what the dream was about, but generally positive mood upon waking.

Dream 387

'Let's Make it 1986'

Dream date: 18 March 2015

I was teaching a class in a school (not one I have attended in real-life). I was not sure if I was an English Literature or Sociology teacher, but I then decided I could teach both subjects because I had studied both at university (in real-life I have an undergraduate degree in English Literature & Art History, and another in Law, but I have only taken modules which cover basic aspects of Sociology). I had a memory of studying Sociology in the dream. I am not sure what level/age group I was teaching. I then became aware that the classroom was in fact inside one of the Butcher's Shops (Icarus Hines) in Sheringham. The desk was where the glass counter should be. I thought that this was odd. I didn't see any of my students.

I was then on a residential street which appeared to be in a city. It was night. I was standing outside a Victorian townhouse, looking up at the windows from which lights were shining. My stepdad was with me, in a parked car, next to which I was standing. I thought: 'It's the 1990s, but it could be 1986'. I then decided that it would be 'better; if it was 1986 and I was aware that I was preparing the plotline for a novel within the dream, although it was all very vague. I wasn't lucid, but I was aware that I wasn't experiencing the actions of the dream as a real-life experience. This would have been a perfect opportunity to reality check, but I didn't.

I was then walking in another residential area - this time more suburban. I was with someone (I cannot recall who) and from a distance, I could see a green hedgerow and a grassy bank - the front garden of a house. On the grassy bank were a selection of large colour photographs. An unknown male dream character was standing on the pavement, beside the grassy bank. He seemed to be the owner of the photographs. I ran over to him so I could see the photographs. I was accompanied by my unseen companion. When I got close, I noticed that the photographs were of my cousin CAJ, but only various parts of her face, while makeup was being applied. The makeup brushes and products could be seen in some of the photographs, but you could not see the person/makeup artist holding them. CAJ did not look like herself - she had a face like a doll - or the stereotype of the little girls who are fake-tanned and made-up for American beauty pageants. She had golden blonde curly hair which was shoulder-length, orange fake-tanned skin, pearl jewellery and bright pink make-up, but since the photographs were such close-ups. I could only see this from looking at the various different parts of her face pictured - there was no one photograph which showed her whole face. I thought CAJ looked very different. I then became aware that CAJ and her mother - my aunt, CJ - were getting ready to attend some kind of celebratory party or prom. 

I decided to run 'home' to where I lived with my mum and stepdad. I ran with my unseen companion through the residential area, very fast. We entered a cul-de-sac, where my family home was. My mum and stepdad were outside a house at the bottom of the cul-de-sac. There was a removal van and some cardboard boxes outside. Standing on the lawn of the neighbouring house were two dream characters -  a white male and black male, both young adults, dressed casually - in conversation with my parents. I entered the house, and went upstairs. I found that I was now on the landing of my former family home in Pine Grove, Sheringham. My feet really hurt and I thought this might be because I had been running. I took off my shoes, and placed them in a row of other shoes, lined up along the railing which separates the landing from the staircase. I saw that my shoes were salmon pink fake crocodile skin stilettos, and the heels had broken (snapped, become partially detached from the soles) from me running in them. It was the heels on the shoes which hurt - not my actual feet. Once the shoes were off, my actual feet felt fine and pain-free. I felt disappointed that the shoes were ruined.

Potential Day/Dream Residue:

• I had a conversation online (on a Lucid Dreaming page) a couple of days before this dream. Someone (another member of the page) was criticising me for studying/practising Law, assuming that this meant I had no appreciation for Art (this is ludicrous, since not only do I love art in a very passionate way, including the study of artists I do not like, but I spend a lot of my spare time visiting art exhibitions, reading art monographs or textbooks, studying art/artists online and watching documentaries about art. I therefore have a very committed interest in and appreciation of art generally, not just art/artists I actually like). I told this person I had studied Art History as a degree subject and they had disparaged being educated in Art, saying that learning it in an institutionalised setting meant that I had no natural interest in it and Art could not be learnt (obviously, they have no understanding of the difference between Art History and Fine Art, or knowledge about actual, established artists throughout history, many of which studied in an institution as a way of honing natural talent and networking!) I think this debate may have influenced the scene in my dream where I was a teacher, confused about what subject I was teaching and what subjects I had studied at university.
• I am currently working on a novel, which is set in the 1990s. However, I did consider the novel being partly set in the 1980s. I had also considered whether my main character should be an academic (like myself), teaching undergraduate students in a university. This is yet undecided. However, lucid dreaming is a prominent theme in my novel.

Waking Thoughts & Emotions:

I did not have any strong or specific thoughts/emotions when I awoke from this dream. I see this dream as more of a 'positive' dream in that it felt enjoyable to be dreaming it, but I am disappointed I did not manage to become lucid, because there were strong indications throughout that I was manipulating the dream content slightly - i.e. in 'deciding' that the scene outside the townhouse at night was set in 1986 rather than the 1990s and knowing that I was plotting my real-life novel throughout the dream, and using the dream as inspiration. I was also able to question my cousin's appearance in the photographs of her - which was an obvious dreamsign which should have triggered a reality check.

* I know there was the early scene (at the beginning of the dream); and a scene which took place between the townhouse scene in 1986 and me viewing the photographs of my cousin, which I cannot recall. If I remember these forgotten scenes from this dream, I will record them below.

Dream 386

'Terrible Abuse by Grandfather' - Warning: Explicit, Sexual & Sensitive Content

Dream date: 17 March 2015

I was in my room at my nan's house in Sheringham. The room was pretty much as it would be in real-life, but instead of having a single bed against the wall, opposite the door, there was a huge bed which took up all the available floor space, with a couple/few chairs (dining chairs) at the foot of the bed, between this and my dressing table. DL and I were laying in the massive bed (I think it was dark, but I am unsure). We could hear some girls entering the house, seemingly coming in from a night out or a party, as they had loud voices and seemed to be drunk. I had a vague idea that one of the girls was a lodger in my nan's house - and knew she was a slim white female dream character with long straight blonde hair. I think I knew her name as well (but have since forgotten it). The girls headed towards the bedroom next to mine (which used to be my aunt VF and cousin HM's room - during my childhood, HM and I shared our bedrooms with our mums, and we all lived in the council house with my grandparents). I heard the blonde girl tell her friends that I was studying for my 'holiday holiday'. In the dream 'holiday holiday' meant 'PhD'. It then appeared to be morning. The blonde girl and two of her friends entered my bedroom and sat on the chairs at the bottom of the bed. In the sunlight which lit the room, I could see that DL and I were sharing the bed with a third person - a girl wearing pink, but whom had her back turned to us (she was against the wall, DL was in the middle of us both). I asked DL if he had slept well and he said: 'No, because she's invaded my space', The blonde girl and her friends were trying to engage us in conversation, but I was annoyed that she was disturbing us with her presence.

The scene changed and I was then having a make-over. I was aiming to bleach my hair like Kim Kardashian - who has recently gone platinum blonde. When I was younger I used to bleach my naturally black hair to blonde and seeing Kim have it done made me think that I could copy it and get a better result this time (Kim has similar hair to my own, being half-Armenian and myself being of Persian heritage). In the dream, I was asking for my hair to be 'like Kim Kardashian's'. While I was waiting for the results of the hair bleaching to be revealed to me, I was selecting nail polishes to go with my new look - I wanted a dove grey one, and was holding the sample nails up to my face to check it suited my olive skin tone, but my skin looked far too yellow - almost jaundiced in colour. I saw I had the bleach on my hair, which was lathered and piled on top of my head, like an ice-cream cone. I then had my hair rinsed. I found myself in the porch which is between my nan's kitchen and her brick shed, looking in a full mirror which was propped against the wall of the shed. I was annoyed to see my hair was still black, with blonde streaks running through it - I had wanted a full-head of blonde hair. As I looked again, the blonde streaks in my hair were now tinged with a green dye. My hair looked frizzy and tangled and I was not pleased at all.

The scene changed again, and I was in a large brightly-lit room, which appeared to be a bedroom. There was a huge bed with white sheets and a massive screen mounted on the wall in front of it, slightly  to one side. I was lying on the bed, on top of the sheets and my cousin HM was also there. We were our adult selves. A male dream character entered - he was our grandfather - but only in the dream, as he did not look much like our real (now deceased grandfather) other than both had olive skin; black hair; a moustache and a tall, thin build. The dream character grandfather was in his 50s and wore a bandanna tied around his head. He looked scruffy. He laid on the bed, but then moved, to sit on the end of the bed, with his head in his hands. I got up from the bed, and decided that I needed to find the Wikipedia entry for George Michael, however, it was only searchable under his Greek- Cypriot name (which in real-life is 'Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou' but in the dream was something else which I cannot recall). I could not find the Wikipedia article for George Michael at all because of not knowing how to spell his Greek-Cypriot name. I was standing in front of the huge screen - I am not sure how I was using the internet, as I cannot remember having a keyboard or touch-screen to type on - it seemed to be operating by my mere thoughts alone. My grandfather got up from the bed and stood behind me, close - with his crotch against my butt. I felt very uncomfortable and deemed this to be inappropriate. My grandfather loaded a Youtube video on the screen. It was an advert for a (dream-created) company called 'Mattressland' which sold beds. The advert showed a poorly-drawn cartoon couple lying on a bed - not moving. An orange-brown cartoon cockerel, wearing navy trousers sprung to the forefront of the scene. It got an erect penis (cock!), which was very visible through the trousers (see the last image for an indication of what the cock-shaped end of the penis/cock looked like). The end/tip of the erect penis (cock) was shaped like a chicken/cock - so the cock (bird) had a cock (penis) shaped like a cock (bird). My grandfather started to hug me tightly from behind and I could feel his penis harden against my butt as he became aroused. I knew he was wearing blue jeans, this thought was clear in my mind as I could feel the denim rubbing my butt as well as his erect penis, which seemed to get bigger and bigger without stopping. I was aware he wanted to have sex with me, and I felt scared and violated. I also hoped that he would not try to do the same to my cousin HM if I rejected him - she was still laying on the bed I think. I tried to remove myself from his embrace, but he wouldn't let me go. I felt sickened. I woke up.

* Note that I was never subjected to incestuous sexual abuse by my grandfather or any other family member. This dream was not based on memories - conscious or repressed - of childhood abuse, it was just an unexplainable and complex figment of my subconscious mind and imagination. It is thought to be a common phenomenon for repressed memories to surface in dreams, but in some cases, a dream can project a scenario which is unsettling and disturbing, but not based on any real-life experience. I have, however, been subjected to sexual assault from males outside my family (see below) and involved in consensual sexual relationships with former partners. This dream may have borrowed memories, thoughts and physical sensations from those experiences and projected them onto the dream character of my 'grandfather' in this dream. Further, as noted above, the dream character of the 'grandfather' was not our actual grandfather in terms of his appearance - the dream attributed the status and relationship of 'grandfather' to him and it appears that this dream character was a symbolic representation. I feel it is necessary to clarify and add this caveat due to the sensitive sexual nature of this dream which involves notions of sexual abuse and incest.

Potential Day/Dream Residue:

• There has been a lot of publicity about Kim Kardashian's new blonde hairstyle in the media.
• I saw an online article about how internet images of nail polish colours can appear to be different colours depending on the light/dark balance of the photograph.
• The day of this dream I had read an online (Daily Mail) article about the legendary late footballer George Best (1946 - 2005) who died of alcoholism and liver failure. The accompanying photograph of him dying in a hospital bed showed him with vivid yellow skin.
• I was singing George Michael's song 'Faith' (1987) a couple of days before this dream and had been previously talking about how much I admired him as an artist and public figure with a friend.
• The day before this dream, my mum had mentioned my cousin HM would be visiting Sheringham to attend a family function and I had asked if she would be staying in my bedroom at my nan's, which would mean me having to sleep elsewhere.
• I had a recent dream (Dream 384) about an abusive grandfather figure.
• The grandfather in the dream looked like the subject (Cecilio 'Junior' Rios) of an HBO documentary Junkie Junior (1986) which I had watched on Youtube the night this dream took place. Prior to watching this documentary I had engaged in a very frustrating online debate (on a Lucid Dreaming Group on Facebook) with a very ignorant woman about the definition of a 'junkie' (she said a 'junkie' is anyone who takes recreational or prescription drugs on a regular basis, whether addictive or not; I argued 'junkie' is usually reserved for those addicted to heroin, but has been broadened to include habitual users of other Class A substances which have a physical and mental dependency).
• I had eaten a roast chicken dinner the day this dream took place.

Waking Thoughts & Emotions:

When I awoke from this dream I felt disturbed and confused. I also was surprised at the clever/funny visual puns (cocks with cock-shaped cocks) which had appeared in the final scene.

* Another point of interest: while I was looking back at previous entries on my Dream Diary, I noticed that I have previously had a dream which featured the idea of sexual assault/rape by a grandfather character (on 10 October 2014). You can view Dream 278 by clicking on the link - please scroll down the page as there are a number of dreams recorded in a single post. The dream is numbered and titled as 'Granddad Rape'.