••• The International Writers Magazine: The Power of Dreams

The Dream Country • Fred C. Wilson III Dreaming is the cheapest form of travel I know. Everybody dreams; even those who deny it dream only they’re not cognizant of it. All it costs is your subconscious mind to work the magic.

“It is possible to travel to the future. That is relativity shows that it is possible to create a time machine that will jump you forward in time.”
~Professor Stephen Hawking~

Dreams cover a spacious amount of mental ‘territory.’ This article will focus mainly on dreams that lure dreamers back or forward in time. Point—I’ve always wanted attend an Edwardian Era baseball game in period costume (tie, bowler, three piece suit). A few years ago I DID! I dreamt I was a child of 12. It was the summer of 1912. The game was between the Chicago White Sox in the then newly built (July 1910) Comiskey Park now U.S. Cellular Field and the Detroit Tigers. My favorite player Ty Cobb was playing center field. I had a seat along the third base line about five rows from the field; that close. From my well tailored clothes I must have been a ‘rich kid.’ As I sat watching the game there was old Ty in his prime. What I remembered about this dream was Cobb’s lightening charge towards second base on an attempted steal. Cobb was incredibly fast! Except for vintage film clips no one today remember seeing him play; in my dream I did. On one play the man charged towards second base! Spikes high he slammed into his desired base and was ruled safe! The 2nd baseman avoided Ty’s sharp spikes by wisely yielding the base never trying to block Cobb’s charge. Unlike popular media in Ty’s time and today, Cobb never tried to slide into opposing basemen to purposely injure them so long as the basemen didn’t hog the base path. I’ve traveled backwards in time at least 15 times. I sleep with a notepad and pen handy to record my dreams.

Historically speaking I’m not the only one who has traveled backwards in time. There were others some household names then and now. The Pali Canon of Buddhism mentions time travel. In the Pavasi Sutta Kumara Kassapa one of the Buddha’s main disciples told Paysasi that, “In Heaven…time passes at a different pace, and people live much longer…in the period of our century; one hundred years, only a single day 24 hours would have passed for them.”

In the Jewish Talmud Honi ha-M’agel sleeps for 70 years and awakes to find his grandchildren have become grandparents, his house destroyed and all his family and friends dead; very sad.

In the Bible seer-saint Joseph of Egypt’s futuristic dream of him lording over his herd of jealous brothers mentioned in Genesis 37 (NIV) nearly got him killed. After Joseph was sold into slavery and later imprisoned on false rape charges he interpreted a dream for the then ruling Pharaoh. His dream of 7 fat cows - 7 skinny ones symbolized a future famine. After the King took Joseph’s advice thus saving Egypt from starvation Joseph was released from prison. The ex-convict was rewarded for services rendered.

Contemporary time-travelers can boast of past best seller - ‘The Year 2440’ written in 1771 by French writer Louis-Sebastien Mercier. This book went through 25 highly successful editions. H.G.Wells ‘The Time Machine,’ Samuel Madden’s ‘Memoirs of the Twentieth Century’ written in 1733 and Charles Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’ are but a few memorable books written on the subject of dreams and time travel. The wildly popular ‘Back to the Future’ trilogy (1985-1990) by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s characters travel backward and forward into time. The concept/explanation of parallel universes is acted out in ‘Back to the Future II.’

In the twin theories of special and general relativity objects can move and travel through time. Reader, please go to: ‘World lines,’ ‘Godel spacetime’ and ‘closed timelike curves.’ The experts do a better job explaining this than your beloved writer.

Professor Stephen Hawking argues against time travel dream/actual due to the absence of time traveling tourists. The late Carl Sagan suggested the possibility that time travelers may already be living among us in disguise bringing unintentional changes some good some bad to the time-space continuum. My take on all of this can only be based on what I’ve read and from my own hyper-realistic dreams.

In dream state I once was a priest who lived in the 12th century. I was assigned to a large home to serve as chaplain to some noble, his family and the large staff who ran his palatial estate. When I wasn’t making my pastoral rounds I also worked as a scribe assigned to copy/illuminate a large Bible by hand. The job was boring, very tedious and hard on my eyes. Every time I was tempted to complain I would look out my window at the poor peasant farmers who were toiling away under the hot summer sun. In this dream I celebrated one Mass for the staff in their private chapel. I was pretty much left to myself. I saw the lord of the manor once when he passed through drink in hand to glance at my work.

Twice I dreamt I lived during the 19th century; in both instances I was on the wrong side of the law; dream one had me doing hard time for some crime I can’t recall. I do remember that I had a lady friend who wore a purple dress. She would visit me and beg me to go straight and quit crime; dream two had me dangling at the end of a rope as another person and the aforementioned Sox-Tigers game in 1912. Did I actually go back in time; who can say? What was it like living yesterday’s news; pretty hum-drum and often grim except for the ball game. Reader, I’m 70. Citibank once had my birthday set on April 27th 1926. It took years for them correct the error. My birthday is April 27th 1946.

In view of the technological advancements we’ve made in the previous century I don’t think you’d enjoy it much if you went back in time; I didn’t. I don’t know about you Reader but I like preserving food in my refrigerator instead of shouting “ice man” to some guy in a horse drawn wagon when I was a kid, paying him .25 or .50 depending on the size of the slab, having the poor guy carry it on his back three flights up to our apartment with large tongs. THESE are the good old days! Ignore that negative clap-trap mind-controlling news media types crank out.

Are dreams portals to parallel/alternate realities; according to my research the jury is still out. That question won’t be answered for decades since science has only began to seriously research the possibility of dream realities. Most people already have working knowledge of Dr. Freud’s work on the subject of dreams and the subsequent interpretations of them. From the many so-called ‘dream books’ I’ve scanned through the decades these cheap pulp fictions tend to reflect the particular authors cultural/religious phobias and prejudices sans any modicum of scientific knowledge.

There have been extensive cases of deceased persons supposedly appearing to living relatives/friends in dream state. Dreams can serve as warnings. Point—I received what some label a premonition of my mother’s impending death two days before the actual event. I’m glad I had to good sense not to tell her and made my final peace before her Big Day. I remember the day very well. I was teaching my class when the principal told me over the public address system that my mother had died in her sleep only hours hence and for me to report immediately to her office. Since I was forewarned days before the actual event I calmly accepted the reality of that awful message.

The scientific discipline of Quantum Mechanics offers some insights into the correlation between science and the dream state. Dreams have often been associated with spirituality. Point—here in Chicago ‘The Cenacle’ has an ongoing class in dreams and spirituality. If you want to know more about this new and fascinating ministry/study their email address is: crcc@cenaclechicago.org.

Can dreams be manipulated by technology? In ‘The Daily Telegraph’ a popular UK publication their article ‘A Quantum Theory of Dreams’ the answer is a definite YES. Popular U.S. science magazine ‘Scientific American’ article ‘How Can You Control Your Dreams?’ describes methods of dream manipulation. It has been my experience that I can manipulate my dreams only when I’m semiconscious or when I’m having nightmares when I rouse myself from sleep to full consciousness. Oddly enough approximately ¾ ths of my dreams center on my previous profession as educator. I’m always in the classroom teaching my disadvantaged youngsters their ‘ABC’s.’ Regretfully dreams about sex with luscious women, luxury resorts and other extravagant pleasures are exceedingly rare. Dreams of warfare are mother’s milk to my subconscious mind.

Individual body temperature can be an influencing factor in dream quality. Point—just a few hours ago at the time of this writing I dreamt that I was taking a late night bus coming home from work. During the course of my dream I decided to take a short cut through an icy vacant lot. It was winter. Snow and ice covered the ground. It was a construction site. The lot was pock marked with plenty of holes, earth moving equipment and deep craters. There were even sections that were parts of the adjoining sidewalk. Since it was growing dark all the machines were shut down, abandoned, coated with ice and new snow. That lot resembled a war movie set. Somehow during my hike through the lot I slipped and fell in a large ice coated crater near the sidewalk. The icy hole was over my head. With nobody around coupled with the fact of my two bad knees I couldn’t raise and free myself. I was trapped and would probably be found the next morning frozen to death when the construction crew arrived. In a panic I did what I wrote about earlier. Somehow I managed to rouse myself from the dream, force myself to climb out from that ditch back on to what remained of the sidewalk, walk that ½ block to the Bus Stop and went home. When I regained full consciousness I outlined this nightmare on my nearby notepad. As I wrote I noticed that I was shivering. The cold from the air conditioner had a negative influence on my dream.

Finally there’s the most dreaded of all dreams Night Terrors or Killer Dreams. Night terrors are induced when we’re half-asleep usually during the wee hours of the morning. These ‘dreams’ of demons and other evil creatures resting near or on top of us while we’re frozen in place helpless to resist them are known killers. Search: ‘Night terrors vs. Nightmares’ to learn more about parasomnias. Considered sleep disorders parasomnias are dangerous!

There is so much credible information on the subject of dreams that would require volumes to do it proper justice. For additional information on this timely subject please search:
· Time Travel-Dreams
· Dreaming of Time Travel
· Time Travel-Wikipedia
· Quantum Mechanics Lecture
· Look up: oneirokinesis (Dream manipulation).
· Quantum Mechanics Explained—Simple Explanation of…Youtube
· AWE011-Dreams and Parallel Realities-Parts 1 & 2
· Dream Manipulation Technology
· Search: ‘Are Dreams portals to other realities?’
· Stephen Hawking on Time Travel
· ‘God, Dreams, and Revelation’ and ‘Dreams: A Way to Listen to God’ both by Morton T. Kelsey
· The Repercusions of Tomas D - dreams and time travel WW2 novel

I hope that you research further into this fascinating subject. The above suggested websites will get you started. Bon Voyage, happy dreaming and God bless.

© Fred Wilson 111 June 7th 2016
vamaxwell@yahoo.com

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