Blogpost 7: Alice in Wonderland: Truth in A Dream?

Alice, The White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts, The King of Hearts, The Chesire Cat, The Duchess, The Catterpillar, The Mad Hatter & The March Hare... These are some characters from the popular American animated fantasy-adventure film, Alice in Wonderland. It was produced by Walt Disney Productions and it was primarily based on Lewis Carroll's books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through The Looking-Glass. It's about a girl who fell down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world with peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. She went to so much adventures but in the end, her sister wakes her up and she realizes that everything was just a dream.

I was never a fan of this movie but I've always find the main character, Alice, so cute & adorable. I've always been scared of it's story, being alone somewhere and meeting weird talking creatures. I never even watched the whole film until now but I always thought there may be something else behind the characters and the story because it's just too weird. I kept thinking that there must be a mystery or another meaning behind it or it might also represent something and after doing some research, I guess I was right.

There are a lot of things that people claim about the meaning of Alice in Wonderland but I found this article entitled A Dream That Tells The Truth: Alice in Wonderland by Hayden Butler in the site called Evangelical Outpost. In this article, you will find out about how the movie offers a fanciful study in dreaming. According to the author, as Alice roam around the strange world, she wondered if what she was seeing is real or it was just a figment of her imagination. The Mad Hatter helped resolve this paradox when he said to Alice "Well, if I'm part of your dream, and I'm half mad, that means that you must be half-mad to have dreamt me up!". Having said this, we come to understand that Wonderland is a dream that tells Alice something true about herself. By this, Alice is exhorted to find her imagination and be willing to dream. Another fascinating theme in the film that the author discussed is in the 'Oraculum', a scroll that shows what will happen during each day of Wonderland, past, present, and future. It's fascinating because of its allusion to a long-standing tradition of dream-theory. In the middle ages, a philosopher name Macrobius wrote a treatise about dreams, categorizing them according to their varying characteristics. One such category was termed 'Oraculum'—from the same roots as our term 'oracle'—and referred to a dream that tells accurate information of the future. As such, when the films refers to this idea, it is making the provocative claim to it's audience that not all dreams are fictions. In the world of the film, prophecy is portrayed as a type of dreaming, but a dream that tells true things about the world.

"The film ends with the sentiment that all the greatest people of history were dreamers, were half-mad, were willing to live with one foot in our world and one in Wonderland."

I really find this quote very nice. For me, it means to be a great dreamer you should be willing to take risks, you should think that a thing that may seem impossible may actually be possible, something unreachable may actually be reachable just like what it's like in Wonderland but at the same time, you should also think about reality or our real world.

I guess some people may think cartoons or films like these are just for kids but sometimes, we should care to look deeper or try to understand what they really mean or what they may represent and we would really be amazed on the things we may found out.

Blogpost 6: A Nightmare on Elm Street: Nightmares

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 2010 American horror film that is a remake of Wes Craven's 1984 film of the same name. The story revolves around several teenagers who are stalked and killed in their dreams by an enigmatic man named Freddy Krueger. The teenagers were not aware about the cause of this strange phenomenon but their parents hold a dark secret about this from the past.

This is a movie that really scared the crap out of me. Just imagine having a killer in your dreams and you can't get rid of him because you need to sleep every night to rest and you just dream about him every time. You will need to fight him, run as fast as you can and get away from him every night in your dreams just to stay alive. Well, that would just be so difficult and you probably won't be able to rest and sleeping would just be harder than being awake. This movie also made me wonder what is a nightmare really all about and what can we do about it?

According to the article entitled Common Questions About Nightmares by International Association for the Study of Dreams, a nightmare is a very distressing dream which usually forces at least partial awakening. The dreamer may feel any of the following emotions in a nightmare: anger, guilt, sadness or depression. The most common feelings are fear and anxiety. Just about everyone has this at one time or another, although they are less common in adults. Some nightmares can be caused by certain drugs or medications or it can also be by illness and fever. Many people experience nightmares after they have suffered a traumatic event, such as surgery, the loss of a loved one, an assault or a severe accident. Other people experience this when they are undergoing stress in their waking lives. Finally, some people experience frequent nightmares that seem unrelated to their waking lives. These people tend to be more creative, sensitive, trusting and emotional than average. 

"It may be surprising to learn that many people are not really disturbed by their nightmares, even though the experiences themselves are distressing. Research has shown that about half of people who have quite frequent nightmares regard them as fascinating and creative acts of their minds, and either view them as very interesting or dismiss them as 'just dreams'. This illustrates the fact that one's attitude toward nightmares is quite important."

I believe that a person's attitude toward anything, not just nightmares, is really important. It always falls down on how we look at things and how we take them. Just like in nightmares, sometimes, I feel like it's just a mindset that we shouldn't get affected by tit because they're just dreams. If you think your nightmares are frequent, too disturbing or distressing, consulting a therapist would be good. You should never hesitate to consult a therapist, if you really need one. 

I believe that nightmares can be lessened or even prevented if only people are knowledgeable about it. Movies like A Nightmare on Elm Street may be really scary but just like what I always say, movies are just for entertainment. So, next time you watch a movie like this, you should keep in mind that it's not true and you shouldn't really be scared of it. 

Blogpost 5: Insidious Chapter 2 & Astral Projection Myths

Insidious Chapter 2 is an American supernatural horror film and a sequel to the 2011 movie Insidious. It's still about the husband and wife who seek for a way to reveal the secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world. This movie was a box-office success, grossing nearly 26 times its' production budget. After the movie's success, more speculation about astral projection came out because it was still a big part of the movie just like in Insidious.

I've read and heard so many things about this movie and astral projection but just like others, it left me with so questions again. Although I'm really curious about it, I kept wishing before not to experience such thing because I always hated the feeling of being alone and helpless, that's why just thinking of how astral projection happened in the movie just scared the crap out of me.

While surfing the internet about astral projection, I came across this article entitled The Movie Insidious Misrepresented Astral Projection by Astral Jerry in the site called Astral Projection Guides and I was amazed about what I read. The author discussed about a few myth about astral projection in the movie. The first thing he discussed was when leaving the body, you cannot get lost & not return. According to him, we never leave the body alone or as an empty shell. A complete copy of our energy stays with our body and another complete copy goes out to explore. There is also what we call an Astral Cord or a Silver Cord, as what others call it, which binds the two bodies together and provides a quick return when needed. So, it's not possible to get lost. He also discussed about the already existing fear which many people had been concerned after watching the movie, astral projection possession. This is also not possible because just like what he said about the Astral Cord, we never actually leave the body, a portion of our energy stays behind with the body the whole time and if something malevolent gets near you, the energy will pull you back in a split second and within moments, you will be wide awake.

"If astral projection is openly discussed among the masses; I believe progress was made. The fear created from the movie can easily be transcended through a little inquiry into the subject."

I totally agree with the author about this. Even though astral projection or it's portrayal in the movie is incorrect, the movie really made the people wonder or believe that we our more than our physical bodies. Some may still find astral projection impossible but a lot of people became interested about it and some even believed it because of the movie.

I also found an article entitled Astral Projection Myths also by Astral Jerry from the same site like the one above. In this article, he shared more myths about astral projection as what the title states. Here are a few more myths from the author that were not discussed in the first article:

You have to be healthy to astral travel.
Your diet doesn't affect astral travel. You do not have to be in good shape to be able to travel out of the body. A lot of people even report that spontaneous out-of-the body experiences happens more when sick or in poor health.

Astral travel is not safe.
Remember that astral travel is a natural process that may happen every night to someone. It is not dangerous because it's just like going to sleep and having a dream.

Is astral projection a sin?
Astral travel is not evil. Again, it's a natural process. Most people are just not aware of it. It has nothing to do with good or bad.

Only a master or an enlightened person can astral travel.
Astral travel can happen to anyone. Any gender, age, race, rich or poor, good or bad, it doesn't matter who you are.

I've learned more a lot about astral projection through this article. It also made me realize that I shouldn't be scared of it because it's not harmful at all. I actually got enlightened from what I researched and it's nice to know that it's just something that may happen to anyone. Some may gain control and become lucid in an astral projection experience with a little training though. Now, I just really think it's awesome to experience an astral projection.

After reading the articles, I realized that we should keep in mind that movies are really just for entertainment. If you're interested in astral projection or if you want to experience it, don't let the movies fool or mislead you.

Blogpost 4: Insidious: Astral Projection

Insidious, according to Miriam-Webster dictionary, it means awaiting a chance to entrap. The word 'Insidious' was used as a title of a supernatural horror film that was released in 2011. The story is about a couple whose son is inexplicably enters a comatose state and he becomes a vessel for ghosts in an astral dimension.

This is a film that had been the talk of the town last September since the part 2 of it was just released last September 18 here in the Philippines. This movie was really scary and it made me scream a lot while watching it. I've been a fan of Japanese horror films and I always find American horror films corny but this movie really amazed me. This movie also made me wonder what astral projection is all about.


I've found this article entitled Explanation on Astral Projection in Insidious Movie by Jason Allen Goodlin in the site called Astral Projection. The article is contains many things about astral projection and the author was able to explain how the astral projection happened in the movie.

"Astral projection is the act of leaving a human body through an astral form. The astral form exits the physical body via the forehead. In astral form, the astral traveler can move about the astral plane, also known as the astral world. Christianity refers to astral projection as an evil act that exposes the physical body to demonic possession. Astral projection is viewed as an act that is not supposed to be conducted, especially because humans are tapping into heavenly practices."

After reading the quote, I really learned many things about astral projection. I was shocked to know that Christianity recognizes it. I mean, I didn't know that astral projection plays a big role on the people who are said to be possessed. I've been watching horror films since I was a kid, especially the ones with demonic possession and I can't believe I have never encountered the term 'astral projection' even once, not until the release of this movie.

I have also checked this article entitled Is Astral Projection Real? by Rebecca Turner in the site called World of Lucid Dreaming. In this article, the author talked about the beliefs about astral projection. She also discussed about how the expectation principle can cause the experience of this take on a higher spiritual form.

"Scientists do not believe that astral projection is real. It is a spiritual theory, and other than first-hand accounts, we have no physical evidence of the phenomena."

I think there are really a lot more to prove about astral projection, if it really happens or not. Although it is believed that the spirit literally travels outside the body for some, we still can't say that it is astral projection. Unlike other types of dreaming, like lucid dreaming, there is still no solid proof about the existence of astral projection under controlled conditions.

I don't know if astral projection is really possible but I know some friends who experienced seeing their own body sleeping in their dreams. Honestly, the thought of astral projection creeps me out but just like what I always say, we still have a lot more to know about dreams and what the human mind is capable of.

Blogpost 3: Click: Another Movie with Precognitive Dreaming?

Click is an American comedy drama film about a workaholic architect, Mike, who is married to his longtime sweetheart and blessed with two kids. Mike gives priority to his work to earn and he often sacrifice the time for his family just to be able to give them the stuff that he never had. One day, he went to a store where an employee gave him a universal remote that enables him to fast forward time especially the unpleasant or dull parts of his life. He soon realizes that those seemingly bad parts of his life contained vital or very important life lessons and wants to take back the time he missed. Luckily, after dying, he suddenly wakes up and finds out that everything he thought that happened was all a dream and he just fell asleep on the bed being sold at the store he went to. After that, he changed for the better and made sure that he won't do things wrong ever again.

Many people believe that the events that are seen in a precognitive dreams are going to happen and there is nothing that can be done to change what will happen. Others believe that the events are based on current circumstances. The events can change depending on choices that the people involved in the event make. I was able to talk about precognitive dreams where they served to be a warning for something that's about to happen that can't be changed on my previous post, If Only & Precognitive Dreaming, but for this movie Click, precognitive dreams became a way to show someone what might happen in the future and the give that person a chance to change it. 

I've found this article called The Anatomy of Precognitive Dreaming by Ian Wilson in the site called YouAreDreaming.org. In this article, as the title states, the anatomy of precognitive dreaming was discussed. The 4 types of precognitive dreams were also discussed. The first type is the Symbolic Precognitive Dream, it is where dream symbolism abstracts the precognitive information and generally is not realized up until the time it actually happens. The second type is the Literal Precognitive Dream, it's from a first-person view, this type is in literal detail. What you sense, think and feel in the dream can actualize in the future. This dream can bring about a Déjà Vu aura however linking the memory of the déjà to a dream is what classifies this type of dream as Déjà Rêvé. The third type is the 3rd Person Precognitive Dream, it is from a third-person vantage point, this type can take on both symbolic and literal similarities however it doesn't mean that the information being observed will happen from a first-person point of view. The last type is the Lucid Precognitive Dream and there are two kinds of this, Active & Ambient. In an active lucid dream, the dreamer actively tries to engage the precognitive dream, while in an ambient lucid dream, the dreamer passively observes the dream remaining within the usual dream flow.

"At the heart of dreaming, there is one observable fact:

Dreams are organized thought."

After reading this quote, I realized that dreams are really mind-generated thoughts organized into an experience unlike physical reality, there are no atoms, molecules or gravitational forces, it's just thoughts. It's really amazing how our mind works. There are really limitless possibilities of what our mind is capable of. 

I've also found this article called Precognitive Dreams by Manali Oak in the site called Buzzle. In the article, the author discussed who can have precognitive dreams. It has been observed that the precognition we experience are associated with the part of the brain which controls feelings. It has also been found that people with creative minds receive precognition clearer and also the rate of those precognition turning true is higher with them.

"They may turn true; sometimes for occult reasons, sometimes for reasons clearly seen and at times, it's sheer coincidence."

I guess this is why precognitive dreaming is commonly associated with psychic abilities because sometimes, they turn to be true and people tend to believe that the individual who experienced it would always have a correct assumption about things. They don't realize that it may just be a coincidence. It was mentioned in the article that an individual with a creative mind has a higher rate of having precognition that turns to be true. So, I guess, people with real psychic powers must probably have an amazingly creative mind.

I was amazed on how the movie, Click, used precognitive dreaming as a tool to make Mike realize what he had been missing and what he has been taking for granted for many years. If I ever experience precognitive dreaming, I'm sure I would also use it to change things for the better. The movie was really funny but it was also able to leave the viewers with a very nice lesson not to forget to spend quality time with their families and not just think about their career, job or ways to earn money.

Blogpost 2: If Only & Precognitive Dreaming

If Only is a romantic drama film that is about the life of Samantha (Jennifer Love Hewitt), a precocious American studying music in London, and her live-in partner Ian (Paul Nicholls), an ambitious Brit who loves his career more than anything. Ian takes Samantha for granted while Samantha on the other hand wants nothing more but to love Ian and be loved in return. As the day begins in the film, Ian is nonchalantly keeps on forgetting important dates and just generally acting like a tool toward his sympathetic girlfriend. At the end of the night, everything comes to a head, as the two abruptly calls it off and Samantha promptly enters a cab that gets in a car crash, killing her. It’s only then that Ian realizes what he had, but of course it’s too late to make amends. Luckily for the grieving boyfriend, when he wakes up the next morning, Samantha is alive again. Even stranger, he’s reliving that fateful day, and he’s the only one who remembers it.

I really like this movie If Only. For me, it's one of the best drama films I've watched. It's not your usual love story and the twist was just amazing, I never saw it coming. Just imagine having a chance to relive a day... Well, not actually relive since he was just really dreaming at first but who wouldn't want something like that? So, you would have the chance to do the things you want and wouldn't have regrets, right? A precognitive dream, that is what Ian had in the first part of the movie.

According to the article, Precognitive Dreams by Rebecca Turner in the site World of Lucid Dreaming: "Precognitive dreams are dreams that appear to predict the future through a sixth sense.".

In the movie, it was obvious that what Ian dreamed of is somewhat a warning to him to learn to appreciate Samantha and all because he might just lose her. So, it was a prediction of the things that will happen that day though the dream made him feel like it already happened before which may be also be called as Déjà vu, which literally means "already seen" in French according to Merriam-Webster's dictionary. Sadly, in the story, everything in his dream really happened. It was somehow in a different way but still, the result was the same. The only thing he prevented from happening is Samantha's death because instead of letting Samantha take the cab alone, he went with her to protect her, that's why he was the one who died instead.

Precognitive dreams are often related to premonition that's why many people confuse premonition and precognition as the same thing but according to the article Psychic Dreams in the site Dream Dictionary: "There is a slight difference between the two; though similar in nature they have the same end result. Premonitions are mixtures of sounds, random images or feelings that flash involuntary in your mind at any given time. Precognition on the other hand presents itself in dreams by using types of symbols, events or odd feelings."

After reading the quote, I realized that the people I know who claim or believe to have such predictions, just have precognition and not premonition because they just dream about it. I've never met a person who experiences premonition though, I mean experiencing random things that flash involuntary in his/her mind at any given time? I think that is just absurd but I would be glad to meet a person who's capable of having premonitions.

A lot of people say precognitive dreaming is true but I guess not unless I experience it myself, that will only be the time that I'll totally believe in it. I have nothing against it though. I mean I believe that the human mind is really way more powerful than what we know right now but after learning about precognitive dreams, it left me with these questions... What if you can really predict the future through your dreams? Would you use it to change the things from happening if you know the outcome will be bad? or would you just let it be and just make the most of it just like what Ian did in the last part of the story?

Blogpost 1: Inception: A Lucid Dreaming Movie?

Inception, it is a science fiction film that is written, co-produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. The movie revolves around a thief named Dom Cobb who commits espionage or obtaining information that is considered a secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. He does this by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets. He was offered to regain his old life & reunite with his family as a payment for a task that seemed to be impossible: 'Inception', the implantation of the idea of someone else into a target's subconscious. So, instead of stealing information, he will be doing the opposite, planting one.

After watching this movie, I can say that lucid dreaming had a very big part in it. Lucid dreaming is when you can consciously control your dreams or when you are aware that you are dreaming. I've experienced lucid dreaming several times before but it wasn't as amazing as the dreams you see in this movie and of course, I'm not a talented lucid dreamer like Dom Cobb. Although the words 'lucid dreaming' were not mentioned even once, if you've seen this movie, I'm sure you'll agree with me that there is no doubt that the intention of this movie is to put viewers into the world of subconscious reality.

I've always wondered why the words "lucid dreaming" were never mentioned in the movie and I found this article entitled "Lucid Dreaming Myths in Inception" by Rebecca Turner in the site "World of Lucid Dreaming", and the author said it is because there are a number lucid dreaming myths in Inception. Christopher Nolan chose never to use nor mention the term 'lucid dreaming' in the movie so that he can create his own dream mythology that is centered around the act of consciously entering other people's dreams and stealing/planting ideas or secrets.

In the article I've found, three biggest myths in Inception were mentioned. The first one is if you die in a dream, you wake up. In the movie, death in a dream sends the mind back into reality instantly but in reality, there are dreamers who experience physical death in dreams and yet continue to exist in other forms. Based on the article, in dreams, death is not the end. It just often leads to a new beginning. Yes, you can wake up from surprise when you die in a dream, but the two are not fundamentally linked. It was also mentioned there that if you really want to wake yourself up from a lucid dream or even a short moment of consciousness during a bad dream or nightmare, just blink hard and shout 'Wake up' while thinking about your body in bed.

                    
The second myth about Inception is sharing your dreams with other people. In the movie, to start a shared dream, Dom Cobb and his fellow dreamers need to hook themselves up to the fictional machine or device called PASIV (Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous). There are IV lines that allows multiple dreamers to share or network their dream states while the target individual acting as the hub. Of course, no such device exists in the real world. Though there are many people who claim to experience mutual dreaming, science is yet to observe any objective evidence that supports this.

The third big myth in Inception is there's such a place as a dream limbo. In the movie, the characters who die in a dream within a dream will fail to find their way back to reality and become lost in the depths of dream limbo. Dom Cobb & her wife, Mal, lost touch with their conscious selves & spent many years in their empty limbo where they accepted it as reality, never realizing they could simply wake up. One more thing, they also need the PASIV device to be able to do this. So, this is definitely a myth because nobody has ever perceived a lucid dream that lasted for years when it happened.

According to the author of the article, Rebecca Turner: "Nonetheless, the central theme of being able to consciously create and navigate the dream world is impossible to ignore - this is lucid dreaming in its essence."

After reading the quote, I can say that I totally agree with her. Even though the director chose to allow himself to be very flexible in the movie by not using the term 'lucid dreaming', there is no doubt that it is still considered as a lucid dreaming movie. There may be a lot of myths in this movie right now but who knows? What if a PASIV device may actually be invented in the future? What if dream sharing may actually be possible through it? Just thinking about it really excites me. I think this movie really gave the viewers an inception, a starting point of new possibilities, ideas and thoughts.