Entering the Dreamscape

The sign out front read “Gypsy Dreams. Now Open!” Based on the tapestries hanging in the windows and the smell of patchouli permeating from the open door, this was one of those new age places. Against my better judgement I decided to enter and take a look around.

Gypsy Dreams was exactly the kind of place you’d expect a place named Gypsy Dreams to be. There was crystals, hookahs, scarfs, and hacky sacks. I looked around the space, which was much larger than I thought it would be, expecting to see an employee but there were none. What I did see was 5-6 shelves of books. I consider myself a bit of a bibliophile and as such I felt myself called to the books. I was sorely disappointed when I made it to the shelves though, most of the books were new age garbage covering everything from crystal healing to astrological signs.

I let out a heavy sigh and turned to leave when one last book caught my eye, Sleep Paralysis. I stopped and ran my fingers longingly over the worn leather spine. I’d been battling sleep paralysis since my early teens and had become obsessed with learning more about it. I opened the book slowly and smiled as my fingers traced across the yellowing pages. This book was old, but I couldn’t tell just how old. I decided to turn to the middle of the book and read a few pages. The section of the book I turned to was about lucid dreaming, I flipped the page and stopped when what looked like a small folded up wad of paper fell out.

The cover of what appeared to be an instruction manual simply read “So you want to be a dream walker?”

This is what it said.

Lucid dreaming is a concept that many of us find alluring. Who wouldn’t want to be in control of their dreams? We’d all love to be able to fly on command, or to turn and face the monsters that chase us. It’s not hard to understand why people have such a fascination with the idea of lucid dreaming. But what if lucid dreaming was more than just an idea, what if it was possible and what if you could do it? Would you be willing to become a dream walker? Reader beware, the dreamscape may not be what you expect, in fact it’s almost guaranteed that it won’t be. Now you have to ask yourself, will the fear of the unknown be enough to stop me?

If you’re still reading, that means your curiosity outweighed your fear. That’s good, because fear is not your friend once you enter the dreamscape. This guide will teach you how to lucid dream, it’s easy, but it is not for everyone. This is your final warning, anything that happens to you after this is on you and on you alone. This guide is only to show you the way, what happens after you enter the dreamscape is out of the control of the guide’s authors.

Before you jump straight into the dreamscape there are a few things you’ll need to do to prepare. The most important preparative step is regular reality checks. Reality checks are things that, once you enter the dreamscape, allow you to know that you’re dreaming. These reality checks not only awaken your conscious mind and allow you to control your actions, but they will also serve as your escape route should the need arise. Reality checks must be simple, quick, and so ingrained in you that even your unconscious mind performs them. These checks must become things that you do multiple times during the day when you are awake, you must do them so often that they leak into your dreams. The authors have a few that they recommend. The first is to try to drive your right index finger through your left palm. If you’ve entered the dreamscape you should be able to penetrate your palm with ease. Another way is to check the time and then recheck it quickly. In the dreamscape time doesn’t really exist and because of that, if you were to check the time, look away, and then look back, the time will have changed drastically. The final reality check the authors recommend is reading text. In the dreamscape text doesn’t stay consistent, you can start to read a book or a sign and after the second or third word the rest of the text becomes scrambled and more resembles a child’s scribbles than actual words. Feel free to try these reality checks or even to create your own but make absolutely sure that you incorporate them into your daily life. It is recommended that you stop reading until you’ve mastered reality checks.

By now you should have done so many reality checks that you’ve become sick of them. If that is the case please proceed; however, if you’re foolish enough to continue without being confident in what is and is not reality you are being warned to tread carefully.

Most of us have experienced sleep paralysis at one point or another in our lives. The helplessness of being unable to move paired with what most believe is a demonic presence just out of view, is terrifying to most people and rightly so. But, as stated before, fear is not your friend here. To enter the dreamscape you’ll need to place yourself into sleep paralysis. This is a daunting prospect for most anyone that’s experienced it before but rest assured that it’s not nearly as scary when you do it yourself. It’s also relatively easy to do. When you lay down to sleep tonight, make sure you get comfortable, find a position that you won’t be tempted to move from. I personally found that flat on my back was the best position for this. You’ll need to be comfortable because you cannot move once you start. If you do, you’ll have to start the process over again and if that happens too many times you may become discouraged and quit. Don’t let that happen, lie still and let your mind wander.

Your body is going to scream for you to move, to readjust, and to scratch that itch, don’t fall for it. Stay completely still. If you can do that, you will start to feel your body falling asleep before your mind does. It’s an odd but manageable feeling, almost like you’re falling. This is your bodies last ditch effort to get you to move, DON’T DO IT! Stay still for a few moments longer. Your limbs will start to feel heavy and your breathing may feel labored, don’t panic, you are absolutely fine. Once you’ve reached this point start thinking about something, a place, a person, or a situation. Whatever you choose to think about, try to make it pleasant.

The dreamscape will now start to form around you, keep thinking of pleasant things. Fear is not your friend in the dreamscape, fear opens doors that you don’t want to open. It’s unclear if this reaction is your mind attempting to wake you or if it’s the dreamscape itself attempting to evict you, but your fears can and will be used against you. You may find that you encounter yourself, or rather a version of yourself. This is an odd and dangerous moment within the dreamscape. If you see yourself within the dreamscape it’s time to wake up, and you need to do it quickly. If you see yourself in the dreamscape, that is an attempt to silence your conscious mind and whatever it is that causes it will do drastic things to ensure that you’re sleeping and dreaming like you’re supposed to. To escape the dreamscape at any time, you need to first conduct a reality check and then use a safety word that will tell your body to wake up. The authors recommend you use a word that wouldn’t find itself in your day to day lexicon. Below is an excerpt from one of the authors:

“My first time entering the dreamscape was a terrifying affair. I opened my eyes to see a beautiful blue sky above me and I could feel warm sand on my back, if it wasn’t for the fact that I could only move my eyes it would have been downright relaxing. But being paralyzed is a fear inducing event, and fear opens doors. As I frantically scanned around me, only able to move my eyes I could hear someone approaching me and I desperately tried to sit up to no avail. As a lay there silently pleading with my body to move, I saw myself enter into my field of view. I had the misfortune of not knowing about safety words on my first attempt. Dreamscape me stood over actual me with a friendly smile on his face. What felt like hours passed as we stared at each other, neither of us moving. I eventually worked up the courage and attempted to sit up again. I watched with horror as dreamscape me’s face contorted into an angry grimace and he lunged at me, as dreamscape me closed his hands around my throat, I woke up.”

- Corey

IMPORTANT! If you enter the dreamscape at any point, do not trust anything after “waking up”, conduct your reality checks and make certain that what you’ve opened your eyes to is actually real. If it is not, remain calm, the authors again caution you to think of pleasant people, places, and things. Failure to heed this warning could land you at the “factory.” The Factory is the home and source of nightmares, it is a literal hell. Most dream walkers describe the factory’s physical layout the same.

“From the outside, it’s a tall red brick building. You can tell the building is big, but it’s hard to gauge its actual depth. In front of the building is a large wrought iron gate that opens to a broken sidewalk. To the right of the sidewalk is a large dead tree, almost cartoonish in appearance. Once inside the factory, the floor opens up to a large mostly empty space. To the left is a stairway that leads down and to the right a stairway that leads up.”

- John

While the factory layout remains consistent from dream walker to dream walker, the contents of the factory – that is, the things you will see – are subject to change. Some dream walkers have reported seeing large vats full of blood throughout the factory as well as people hanging from the rafters of the building. One dream walker reported seeing a large group of people in the basement of the building:

“They were all dressed really weirdly. It was like they were all from different eras. There were people clearly dressed like they were from the 1920s all the way up to the 1990’s Nirvana grunge look. They weren’t dressed like factory workers either. When I came down the stairs, they all stood motionless in a large open room. The all stared straight ahead, wherever that happened to be at the time. But as I came off the last step, they all turned to face me. A man, much larger than the rest stepped out from the crowd. He was a massive man, clothed in a dark trench coat and large brimmed hat. I was terrified, I mean, I’ve never seen something like that before. I started to mumble my safety word when the hat man spoke. He told me that I was to leave and never come back unless I wanted to be trapped with all the other dream walkers.”

- Allan

This is one of many reports of a “hat man.” He appears periodically throughout the dreamscape but most often in the factory. It’s unclear who or what he is but he seems to be a s…

This is where the instruction manual ended. I looked frantically through the rest of the book, and then through a few other books on the same shelf. The rest of the manual was gone, lost somewhere to time. I sighed heavily before looking quickly left and then right and tucking the manual into my pocket.

I may not have access to the full instructions, but I should have enough to at least attempt to dream walk. I’ll just make sure I follow all the instructions and avoid the hat man, that should be easy right?

Wish me luck…