Nightmare Facts

Hey everyone! Welcome back!

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! I know that this past week, including the Easter Weekend, when I wasn't working at my job, I spend most of my time doing more interesting searches on dreams and nightmares that would both help in my portrayals in Dreamwalkers and purely for interest in the topic - its amazing the kind of things you can learn about dreams and that's not even including some of the stuff we've already looked into! During my search, I came across this pretty cool video on YouTube which was actually pretty relevant to my research, too, and gave a few interesting facts, too, some I've mentioned in passing and others that were pretty new to me as well.

As such, I thought I'd share the video with you guys. The video, of course, is not mine, so all credit goes to Alltime10s on YouTube. Give his video a like if you enjoy it, and give him some support :) I know I have! He's even got a few other dream related videos, too, and many other really interesting vids, so check him out :) I left a link to his YouTube channel if you click on his name.

For now, though, lets have a look at his Top 10 Horrifying Facts About Nightmares

I hope you enjoy! I know its certainly helped give me lots of interesting things to look into more, too :) Definitely a good point to start research into nightmares.

I'll certainly be looking up more interesting videos, facts and mythologies surrounding dreams and nightmares, too. I am also starting on a new tattoo project for a client, too, so hopefully I'll have some more in depth stuff to show to you guys for next time.

Until next time!

Tara

Dream Meaning Crash Course

Hey everyone! Welcome back!

So, for a little while, I've been covering creatures in mythology that effect sleep ir dreams in some way, shape or form. Today, I thought I'd take a break from that to revisit a topic I very briefly covered earlier on. When I say briefly, it was....well, pretty darn brief. So, today, I'm going to cover what some things in dreams might actually mean. Dreams can be interpreted in many ways, depending on what is present in dreams, and to cover every single meaning could take a while. However, I thought today I would cover ten different things that might show up in dreams and their meanings. I'll be sure to cover more another time, though, especially if this does interest anyone :)

So, here's a list of ten different dream meanings:

1) Teeth Falling Out: It is thought that, if you ever dream of teeth falling out, it is likely that you are anxious how others perceive your physical appearance in real life, and, how they might judge you on that physical appearance. There are also other things it could symbolise, such as a feeling of helplessness or loss. This dream is seen a little more in women than men.

2) Dirty Water: If you dream of dirty water, it is thought that this may actually be a signal from the unconscious mind that there is something wrong or unhealthy with the dreamer - a warning system, perhaps, to alert the dreamer of the dreamer not being at full health, perhaps?

3) Storms: Much like the event bringing its own brand of chaos in real life, it is thought that, if you dream of storms, a part of you feels as if you aren't in control, or that you're being strung along by events you can't influence. Perhaps a feeling of helplessness, maybe?

4) Chocolate: If you dream of chocolate, there is two ways you could interpret this: Either you feel you should be rewarded for something and deserve some form of special treatment.....or you've just been indulging in way too much of the stuff! lol. Well, not exactly being too indulgent in just chocolate, as funny as this interpretation could be, but rather just excessive indulgence in anything. The Chocolate here is just a subtle hint to, perhaps, practicing restraint.

5) Missing Big Events: If you dream of something like this, for example missing out on an important date, or a big event, it could mean that you're feeling anxious about failing something. Or, perhaps, just anxious about the event itself. Missing it entirely would certainly be failing at something important, wouldn't you say?

6) A House: If you dream of a house, it often symbolises a person's actual body. If you have such a dream and the house you see is a mansion, you may have an exaggerated sense of self, or at least have a rich sense of self. It could also represent one's future potential, too.

7) Drowning: As sort of stated in the dirty water dreams, dreaming of large bodies of water symbolises the unconscious - I guess this is why the dirty water can be the unconsciousness giving a warning. Dreaming of drowning can symbolise feeling overwhelmed, especially by unconsciously suppressed issues. There is also a slightly lighter symbolism too, that you have moved to a new stage of your development and what is drowning and 'dying' is the old self, instead.

8) Naked Dreams: A commonly used dream in some shows, often played for laughs, dreaming of being naked suggests exposure of oneself to other people, though not in a physical sense, but rather in a vulnerable way. It could also be caused by feelings of shame. On a slightly different note, it could symbolise a desire for freedom, or perhaps feeling unencumbered (from responsibility, maybe?)

9) Feet: People can sometimes react oddly to feet in general. It seems similarly the case in dreams, too. Feet can have all kinds of odd interpretations, such as freedom and mobility, a foundation in something, all the way up to things like sex or humiliation. I imagine that, to get a true understanding of why feet are prominent in a dream, you'd need to compare it to other things appearing within the dream. That way you could probably find the truest interpretation.

10) Forests: Forests are similar to large amounts of water in dreams in that they can also symbolise the unconscious mind. So if you ever find yourself wandering a forest in a dream, you may be exploring the unconscious realm, or you are finding comfort within your mind's refuge from the demands of your daily life.

Of course, this barely scratches the surface of things that could be in your dream and how they are interpreted. Indeed, even what I mentioned could just be a very quick peek, as I'm sure there are much, much more detailed reasoning for why you may dream any of these and the exact meanings for them in certain contexts. Still, I do hope that you have found some interest in this. I hope to bring some more interesting dream meanings to the table in the future, too, maybe with more details as well. So, if you've enjoyed reading about this, let me know! It'll be a big help :)

Until next time!

Tara

Dream Mythology: Dab Tsuam

Hey Everyone! Welcome back!

So, last few weeks we looked at mythology in dreams where the item or creature mentioned was actually benevolent towards humans. This time, we'll be looking at a mythology which had a lot of influence towards Dreamwalkers, or, more specifically, in the Oneiros themselves. As with many dream myths, there was usually an actual sleep based phenomenon that it was used to explain, similar to how the Mare were thought to have been a cause of Sleep Paralysis. This one goes a step further, not just paralysing the victim temporarily, but rather causing outright death.

In 1977, there was the first noted case of unexpected and, at the time, unexplained, death during sleep, among the Hmong refugees in the US. It was noted again between 1982 and 1990, when 230 otherwise healthy Thai men all died in their sleep of unexpected causes. Pretty scary, to think that someone could just die in their sleep for seemingly no reason at all, right? Indeed, what is now known as 'Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome', or 'Sudden Adult Death Syndrome' (Shortened to SADS), 'Sudden Unexpected/Unexplained Death Syndrome' (SUDS) or 'Sudden Unexpected/Unexplained Nocturnal Death Syndrome (SUNDS), actually inspired several things, such as the film Nightmare on Elm Street and also brought about the belief amongst the Hmong in the supernatural creature Dab Tsuam (Pronounced 'Dab Cho').

Dab Tsuam is the one that we'll be looking at today, however. Unlike Nightmare on Elm Street, this one certainly hits the mythology status.

So, who, or what, is Dab Tsuam?

The mythology states that Dab Tsuam is a hideous, hag like woman, who, similar to the Mare, would sit on the chest of the victims. Unlike the Mare, however, she would stay there on the victims chest until they could not breath and would die as a result.

Its now known that the cause is a genetically irregular heartbeat that is difficult to detect or could have been missed entirely, which lead to the deaths. But it seems the saying of one being 'scared to death' could indeed have some fact. The belief in Dab Tsuam was so strong, that it is thought that it caused people night terrors about the woman, which, in turn, put strain on the heart and exacerbate the underlying heart issue, resulting in the end deaths, seemingly without any explanation, during their sleep.

Its hardly surprising that a Nightmare on Elm Street might have some basis here.

I do suggest reading up about SADS though. It's definitely an interesting read. Not to mention pretty scary to think about since there' only really one effective treatment method, too.

There are other mythologies which have similar beings to Dab Tsuam. These include Bei Gui Ya in China, Dutch mythology's Nachtmerrie and Philippian folklore's Batibat or Bangungot.

Still, it is certainly interesting that there are dream myths that are linked to thinks that have happened in fairly recent history.

Until next time!

Tara

Dream Mythology: Dreamcatchers

Hey everyone! Welcome back!

So, still covering dream mythology, and, believe me, there is still a lot where that comes from. It's pretty amazing how many mythologies have some form of entities or explanations for sleep phenomena. But so far, we've only really covered certain creatures that are related to sleep, dreams or nightmares in mythology. Today, we're going to be a bit different and cover an item related to sleep. A somewhat well known item, in shape, if not in name.

Today, we are going to look at an item of Native American Culture, the Dreamcatcher.

So, what exactly is a dreamcatcher?

Well, a dreamcatcher's name pretty much describes what it does. It, you guessed it, catches dreams. Though the name itself is actually a translation from the various names it has in Native American cultures. In Lakota, a dream catcher is called 'iháŋbla gmunka'. 'Iháŋbla' means 'to dream' or 'to have visions, while 'gmunka' means 'to trap' - so essentially a dream trap or dream catcher. In Ojibwe there are two words given to a dreamcatcher - 'asabikeshiinh', which is the inanimate form of the word 'spider', or 'bawaajige nagwaagan', which translates to 'dream snare'. Dreamcatchers are said to have been first created by the Ojibwe people, though the practice spread somewhat do to intermarrage and/or trade. In the Pan-Indian Movement during the 1960-70s, it was adopted as a kind of symbol of unity between Native American Nations, but others feel that the dreamcatcher has been overcomertialised, misapropriated and missused by non-natives.

Now, I am not personally Native American, so bear with me. I do hope that I at least scratch the surface of what a Dreamcatcher is, but I will always suggest reading up on it yourself too, just in case I missed anything on my brief summery. Though I do admit that dreamcatchers have always facinated me, if not from their appearence, then from the story behind it.

Indeed, there is, like many of the myths and legends I've been covering, a story behind the dreamcatcher. The Ojibwe story tells of the Spider Woman known as Asibikaashi, who took care of the children and the people of the land. Eventually, as the people began to spread out over Native America, it became more and more difficult  for her to reach all the children. As such, Mothers and Grandmothers would weave magical webs made from sinew, or cortage made from plants, over willow hoops to form what would become a dreamcatcher. The webs would catch dreams, filtering out the bad from the good. Good dreams would filter through the dreamcatcher and into the sleeping minds, while bad dreams would become trapped within the web, and disipate as the sun rises.

Of course in recent times, Dreamcatchers can look pretty different, made from all kinds of materials, but those ones aren't authentic. As you can guess, you need to look to the right places for a real, authentic version. But you have to admit, the desig itself is very pretty. I could at least imagine them to catch dreams either like flies in a spiderweb, or allowing the dream to move on like morning dew on a thread. Or maybe I'm just a little poetic? Either way, I have to say I do like dreamcatchers, both by their appearence and the reason they were made in the first place.

It makes for some interesting inspiration as well. Who knows, maybe it will inspire something in Dreamwalkers in the future?

Until next time!

Tara

Dream Mythology: Baku

Hey Everyone! Welcome back!

So the last few times we've looked at some malevolent dream related myths. This time, I thought we'd cover a mythology involving a creature that is actually benevolent to the sleeper. So, for this myth, we're looking to Japan's mythology involving a curious creature called the Baku.

So, what is the Baku?

While primarily known as a Japanese myth, it did originate from Chinese folklore, but has been comfortably in Japanese mythology by the 14th-15th century.

According to the mythology, the Baku is a creature that was created of left over parts of different animals, creating a chimera like creature. Though because the work 'Baku' is also commonly used to name a Malayan Tapir, the Baku spirit is sometimes pictured as having similar features to its real life counterpart. Unlike the Chimera in Greek mythology, or a tapir, however, the Baku would eat the nightmares of suffering sleepers.

The myth states that if someone (specifically children in the stories) wakes after a nightmare, and they call out three times to a Baku 'Baku-san, come eat my dream', then the Baku would come to devour the nightmare and allow the person to go back to sleep peacefully again. They say, however, not to call upon the Baku too much, as it is still hungry after eating a nightmare, and may eat the sleepers hopes and dreams as well, leading to an empty life.

All things are good when used sparingly, as they say.

Still, because of the connections to eating nightmares, it is common to have a Baku on talismans and the like on children's bedsides to ward off nightmares.

I'll admit this mythology was another that helped to expand my ideas for Dreamwalkers. Though SOS doesn't typically 'eat' dreams they certainly do stop them so people can sleep peacefully again. The SOS business card could be considered a talisman, though. lol

Still, its nice to know that not all dream mythology is bad. And there is still plenty more things that dream mythology has in store as well!

Until next time!

Tara

Dream Mythology: Empusa

Hey everyone! Welcome Back!

Last week, looked at a dream mythology about creatures known as the Mare. Today, we're going to be continuing our jaunt through mythologies involving sleep and dreams by looking at something that, like the Mare, was also a myth that people thought was the cause behind sleep paralysis - Empusa. Though, unlike the Mare (who have different versions of themselves with similar names across several mythologies), Empusa comes from Greek mythology

So who, or what, is Empusa?

Empusa has, through various iterations, come across as a single individual, or a race of creatures. However, initially, Empusa was believed to be a demigoddess, the daughter of Hecate, a goddess associated with sorcery and crossroads, and a spirit named Mormo, who was known to be a companion of Hecate, and would bite children if they misbehaved. Empusa was said to be quite beautiful, and she would feast on the blood of young men she seduced as they slept (which would cause the sleep paralysis, before consuming their flesh. In a way, this, like the Mare, makes her similar to Succubi or incubi, who also seduce their prey.

However, in the myth, she made a fatal error by targeting a man that was sleeping on the road, not realising that this man just so happened to be the god Zeus in disguise. Zeus awoke during her attack and, in his wrath, killed her.

Empusa, as an individual, was described to have red hair and would wear brazen slippers. However, this isn't the only way she appears in mythology. Likely due to what was believed to be the meaning of her name (One-footed), she has also been thought to be a one legged hybrid, with the single leg either being that of a donkey, or it would be pictured as a brass prosthetic one.

It was likely these later forms of her appearance that gave way to the other way that Empusa is portrayed - as a group of creatures under Hecate's command, rather than as her daughter. In this version of the mythology, these creatures were called Empusae, Empuse or Empusa. As Hecate was the goddess of roadsides along with sorcery and crossroads, she would send out the Empusae to guard roads and devour travellers. Funnily enough, it was thought that they would run and hide if at the sound of insults. Certainly an interesting defeat tactic, though this doesn't seem to be something shared by the original demigoddess version. Though I've not seen specific examples of what quality of insults would cause them to run away.

Oddly, the individual version seems to have the most to do with dream mythology, rather than the group versions, as it's not said that the travellers the group versions devour had to be asleep or not.

Still, both versions have appeared in media before, with a whole list of them referenced on Wikipedia, though it wouldn't surprise me if Empusa, as an individual or as a singular, have appeared in many more.

Still, we've been covering some not so benevolent dream mythologies, but there are some mythologies that, like the concept of the sandman, also do have more pleasant connections. So, we're going to be having a look at some of them next time.

Until then!

Tara

Dream Mythology: Mare

Hey Everyone! Welcome back

Today we'll be continuing with myths and legends based around sleep. Last week we covered one of the more well known figures in stories - the Sandman. Today, we'll be looking at a folklore which did go towards the various inspirations in creating the Onreios in my story Dreamwalkers.

Today, we are discussing the Mare.

Mare, also known as Mara (in High Old German, Old Norse and Old Church Slavic - not to be mistaken with the Buddhist Mara) or Maera (in old English), along with many other variations on the name, are evil spirits or goblins that sit on the chest of the victim, causing them bad dreams and nightmares. The word 'Nightmare' seems to be linked with these beings, being made up of two words 'night' and 'mare'. In other languages, such as in Norwegian and Danish, the words used for nightmare (mareritt and mareridt respectively) translate to 'Mare-ride' and Swedish mardröm translates to Mare-dream. In many other languages, the words used for nightmare have various links to these beings.

It is also thought that, what we might in modern times know as Sleep Paralysis, was also caused by Mare.

Due to how many different mythologies that Mare show up in, the stories can be quite varied.

Mare are also sometimes compared or likened to other mythological beings such as Incubi and succubae (though those we'll cover another time).

In other mythology, the Mare are said to 'ride' horses until they were sweating an exhausted by morning. This version sees the Mare as female, who entangles the hair of sleeping men or beasts. It is thought that this might have originated as an explanation for a hair disease called Polish Plait. They would call them Mare-braids or Mare-tangles.

Another belief is that Mare are witches who transformed into animals, such as frogs, cats, horses, hares, dogs, oxen, birds or wasps and bees, when their spirits were out and about during trances.

Mare mostly appear in Germanic, Scandinavian and Slavic, though sometimes known by different names, but there are similar creatures also seen in other mythologies. In Hungarian mythology, they have 'Night-Goer  In Thailand, the documented phenomena is linked to the Pee Ahm ('Pee' meaning 'ghost'), with Buddhist residents wearing amulets to ward them off, and in Turkey, Mare are named 'Karabasan' (Ominous Presser)

Mare have also shown up in recent media. Marianne, a Swedish horror film made in 2011features Mare. Likewise, a Dutch thriller in 2013 called 'Borgman' also features Mare. A 'found footage' film called Paranormal Entity, made in 2009, has a main antagonist who is also a Mare as well. So, if you're interested in the Mare, you could check those out. :)

When I first started to come up with ideas for Dreamwalkers, I initially looked up mythologies that had being that cause nightmares, and the Mare were the first ones I read about, so its partially in thanks to this mythology that I started the basis of what would eventually become the Onreios.

Of course, there are still others that helped to inspire me , so I hope you'll all enjoy what I have for you guys next!

Until next time!

Tara