Dreams and Premonitions

[ravenluv]

just how many people guessed that the theme would be something like 'mind' this year? if i'd had to lay money on it, that's what i would have laid money on. and yet, i hadn't heard a single rumor beforehand. it seems just a little...weird. especially having followed all the other 'in my mind/on the playa' weirdness i've seen so far.

in the same vein, several of my pre-bm dreams last year about bm turned out to be promonitionary. also, i had some strong hunches concerning the weather which proved to be true. i also had dreams at bm which, it turned out, amounted to second sight.

so, what's the deal? am i part of some tribe that i haven't found yet? is bm trying to help me find it? certainly, it seems to be taking the nascent psychic abilities i had and is amplifying them. who among you have had such experiences? at the risk of repeating something that's been done on this board already, i'm inviting y'all to share your thoughts and experiences regarding such matters.

[robotland]

certainly, it seems to be taking the nascent psychic abilities i had and is amplifying them.

Either that, or you're underestimating your natural capacity for reasoning and perception in order to assign a more mystical context.

[QuasiPseudo]

It's more fun the way ravenluv described it.



BTW, I predicted the theme would be Quantum Physics.
I called last year's, thought I could do it again. WRONGO!

[Shinxy]

Burning man looks like all my dreams. Whenever I have a dream these days and something weird happens, my mind thinks "huh, must be at burning man again."

So yeah, I guess it's not altogether surprising. It's more surprising how perfectly the theme lined up with my thinking on the subject.

[fitchu]

that exact same thing has been happening to me. more within the last year or so, maybe 2 yrs. i have dreams and either forget them or don't remember them right when i wake up, and then within 2 or 3 months it will happen. sometimes it's not so much something that happens, but what i'm thinking or the way i feel, then something will happen, and i'm then i realize this has totally happened to me before...

this was my first year at burningman, but i noticed that pretty much everything that happened before, during and after the event seemed to be so many 'coincidences' that it makes me wonder if they are just coincidences or if there's something more. i didn't notice until maybe a week or two after i got back and started to digest everything that happened there, while i was there it was just like look at this, oh wow! look at that!... etc.

i guess i just feel like it seemed that every person i met, everything place that i went seemed to have been meant to happen in order for a needed outcome to happen. for example i was feeling really shy all week, and only met maybe 5 people that i wasn't camped with, but i kept running into those same people all over the playa, and even at a gas station at about 5am monday morning. out of all the 35000 people there, those same 5 kept showing up. maybe i am looking for a more mystical exciting explanation, but i'm not a very religious person, and usually have a healthy scepticism, but a few other people have told me of like experiences and it just makes me wonder...

[ravenluv]

Either that, or you're underestimating your natural capacity for reasoning and perception in order to assign a more mystical context.

indeed, correctly predicting general or specific aspects of the themes for three years running may, if not purely a matter of chance, indicate only that i am thinking along the same lines as whoever it is that decides the themes. there are other things which have mystified me.

for example, i had many dreams six months prior to the last bm indicating that i would not start exploring and having fun at bm until late wednesday. i could not imagine why this would be. i was fully financially prepared and had plenty of time off beforehand. in the two years prior, when everything was done last minute and with greater time and monetary constraints, i managed to get out and about by tuesday night. this year, i arrived very early tuesday morning, a mere 12 hours later than i had planned and earlier than i had ever arrived before. but those wicked winds and a couple of other factors beyond my control rendered the dreams valid. i did not get out and about until wednesday night. of course, it is possible that my dreams were trying to tell me what i refused to consider consciously. perhaps i ‘knew’ six months prior of the factors that would slow me down

then there is the matter of coincidences. coincidences took me to my first bm and they popped up all over the place after that. i went to that bm (2002 - the floating world) with a man who co-owned ‘floating world studios’. the ticket depicted an asian floutist in a boat. the other owner of ‘floating world studios’, who was also in attendance, is a renowned master of the japanese flute. it also happened to be the 17th bm, which had been a very significant number to me ever since i had a powerful dream about it in late ‘88. finally, the ticket also depicted puffer fish floating through the sky. this instantly reminded of a dress worn by a woman i know when i saw her just before leaving for the event. interestingly, her dress actually depicted hot air balloons floating sideways, which is a highly improbable print. but these could be explained as mere coincidences, no more significant than predicting a coin toss to be heads 15 times in a row and being correct.

this year’s theme has inspired me far more than any other. i didn’t realize this would happen when i first learned of it, but barely a day has gone by since then when i haven’t pondered questions of psyche and its relationship to the ‘outer world’. rational thought tells us that reality is a relatively solid, predictable place and that rational thinking allows us to explain away most, if not all, of what was once considered mysterious and/or mystical. yet, it has yet to address certain matters related to the psyche. for example, what of the princeton experiments in which it was shown scientifically that people’s thoughts could influence the outcome of a random yes/no outcome generator? the psyche operates in the boundary between consciousness and reality and it’s not so certain that we know exactly what happens in that boundary.

i’m enthused at the prospect of learning of other people’s thoughts and experiences regarding this matter. i appreciate your input and agree with what you said. but i will also add that i personally find the whole notion of rationality and perception to itself be a mysterious phenomenon, perhaps even mystical. i am willing to consider there is more to it than we have yet seen. lucretius said reality was made of atoms and pretty much correctly predicted the social ramifications of what would happen when he was proven right. we've done quite well at understanding the physical world (which is why we know lucretius was right, two thousand years later), but what of the mind, shamanistic journeys, miracles and psychic phenomenon? do we really know everything there is to be known? all the same, you are right to point out that it is good to distinguish between bona fide premonitions and the rational by-products of intellect.

[ravenluv]

....this was my first year at burningman, but i noticed that pretty much everything that happened before, during and after the event seemed to be so many 'coincidences'.... only met maybe 5 people that i wasn't camped with, but i kept running into those same people all over the playa, and even at a gas station at about 5am monday morning.... a few other people have told me of like experiences and it just makes me wonder...

this is very much like my experiences as well and i much appreciate you sharing them. i hope others choose to share as well. also, have you had any thoughts about what might be at work here?

the coincidences you spoke of are examples of what jung called synchronicity. he saw them as evidence of god. i questioned why they happened at particular times. a friend suggested that they happened when they did to let us know that we were exactly where we should be in that moment. this begs the question: why am i supposed to be at burning man? i really thought this would be the year i'd skip it, but now they've gone and synchronistically concocted a theme that touch heavily upon everything i've experienced at bm so far. any ideas as to why you are supposed to be at burning man?

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

Thanks, Ravenluv. I was determined and relieved to wait for the theme announcement before I started changing our Mutant Vehicle. More on this at the link on the bottom of this message.

The International Time Vault was a nod both to the Vault in this years theme, but also an embrace of the experience of time. You can imagine my delight when the news came out.

The three cars in the train previosly represented the Future, Present, and Past, so I don't know who to thank for elaborating the theme with the three levels of consciousness. After a few margaritas in my garage this year with "About Color", she took home the Wheel of Memory and I asked her to paint anything on it that fit the them. She painted a great looking Indian with clouds above his head. I cut one out so the memories in the wheel could flash through it withe the strobe. I never got time to insert enough graphics into the spokes of the wheel before we took it to the playa with the rest of the art car, but now I know why. All along we were doing art for BM 2005!

If I have one more happy accident like this I'm gonna get religion!

[Ranger Genius]

Considering the fact that the average person has at least 200 dreams a night, it would seem pretty unlikely that none of them ever came true...it only seems supernatural ex post facto, because 1:) you're looking for that (see Barnum Effect), and 2:) the dream wasn't important until it came true.
Coincidences are simply that: coincidences. The odds of running into a particular person at burningman (all things being equal) are 1:35000 every time you run into any single person. Considering the number of people you walk past in a given day, not seeing anyone you knew would be nigh miraculous. Add in the fact that people you know well and to whom you are similar are likely to haunt the same places as you are.

this was my first year at burningman, but i noticed that pretty much everything that happened before, during and after the event seemed to be so many 'coincidences' that it makes me wonder if they are just coincidences or if there's something more. i didn't notice until maybe a week or two after i got back and started to digest everything that happened there, while i was there it was just like look at this, oh wow! look at that!... etc.

We call this deja vu, and it often happens when a person is in an altered state of perception (psychologically or chemically). When not caused by the jogged memory of one the millions of dreams we all have, it is generally agreed to be an effect of the miscataloguing of memories by the brain...you're remembering the present as though it were the past because of a neurochemical 'malfunction'(for lack of a better term).

If, however, you feel you have genuinely prophetic dreams, or other forms of precognition, remote seeing, or other similar phenomenon, please go to The James Randi Educational Foundation's Website, and the guy in my avatar will give you one million dollars in cold hard cash if you prove it.

[fitchu]

....this was my first year at burningman, but i noticed that pretty much everything that happened before, during and after the event seemed to be so many 'coincidences'.... only met maybe 5 people that i wasn't camped with, but i kept running into those same people all over the playa, and even at a gas station at about 5am monday morning.... a few other people have told me of like experiences and it just makes me wonder...

this is very much like my experiences as well and i much appreciate you sharing them. i hope others choose to share as well. also, have you had any thoughts about what might be at work here?

the coincidences you spoke of are examples of what jung called synchronicity. he saw them as evidence of god. i questioned why they happened at particular times. a friend suggested that they happened when they did to let us know that we were exactly where we should be in that moment. this begs the question: why am i supposed to be at burning man? i really thought this would be the year i'd skip it, but now they've gone and synchronistically concocted a theme that touch heavily upon everything i've experienced at bm so far. any ideas as to why you are supposed to be at burning man?

i agree with your friend, that it happens to make sure that we're in the right place at the right time so to speak.

maybe the reason we're meant to be in certain places at certain times is to learn lessons or have experiences that we couldn't have in any other place or situation. maybe we need to learn something from a person, place, or see or experience something that would/will cause us to question something or change the way we are for a reason that isn't yet clear to us.
of course, this is all speculation and nothing can be sliced, diced, dyed and put under a microscope the way things are in medical science, part of which unfortunately takes away from the credibility of it all to some...

hope that was coherent, writing in a rush as my class starts in 2 minutes now...

[Ranger Genius]

Was it a dream where you were where you see yourself standing in sort of sun-god robes on a pyramid, with a thousand naked women screaming and throwing little pickles at you?

Why am I the only one who has that dream?

[III]

you're not.

chris knight had that dream first.

[stuart]

would you call that a launch flaw or...

[Ranger Genius]

Whew. That's a load off my mind.

[spank the rabbit]

I had not come into contact with the word "synchronicity" for a number of years. Today I received my daily email from "whatis.com". Yep, it described the concept of coincedences and how Jung had explored them.

Then I come and read this. By the way this is my first post to ePlaya - I'm not even a regular visitor to the discussion board.

Synchronicity around synchronicity ... I like that.

Just to add to this. I emailed my BM Camp (LovePotion / Rabbit Hole) about the number of unbelieveable coincedences I was exeriencing around the 'BM energy' since attending BM for the first time in 2003.

By trade I'm a logical, rational, scientific management consultant, but even I'm finding these things freaky!

[Tiahaar]

So here's my contribution to Dreams and Premonitions: I had a dream a few months ago of walking around a small dry deserty town/camp kind of place, very Black Rock City-ish meets old west ghost town, and I was this rather feral shirtless long-haired barefoot character in ratty jeans. It was sunny and pleasant and the dusty unpaved streets were warm to walk on.

I was carrying around this very prized possesion, long shining steel with bright brass pommel and simple handguards (what are they called?), a beautiful sword. No fighting or swashbuckling, just a contented stroll around with the sword thrust through a belt loop or slung over my back. It was the centerpiece of the dream in a strange sort of way.

So the next morning when I woke up I said to myself "I must try and find a sword like I had in the dream!" Now I've collected all sorts of different knick-knacks over the years, vintage toasters and wafflers, ceramic plates, nail polish (the Sally Hanson Chrome line heheh) but never had an interest in swords. Did some research and found something really close to what I was dreaming...a Scottish Claymore! I'm even part Scot so that figures.

Anyways I found someone selling stage swords made in India, bought three (!) of similar design and have brought my dream to reality. Now I'm thinking the next step is to re-enact the scene and be the character at least part of the time on playa this year. Exciting! The sword edges are blunt and safe to handle, now to find out if they're allowed through the gates : ) Watch for me...oh yes the dream person had this outrageous huge mop of gold/brown hair and I've got just the wig for that too!

[Donita]

I sometimes have dreams/premonitions that certain people in my life are going to die. Usually 2-4 weeks in advance. This has happened 4 times in my life. I hate it. It scares me and is very uncomfortable to talk about.

[ravenluv]

Thank you all so much for your contributions. I haven’t been able to see them until today. They are all quite awesome.

Indian and sky...spanking bunnies…men with swords…science vs. not-science and more! All much appreciated.

Believing that some dreams were bona fide premonitions was the first real step I took into the madness of extrasensory belief systems. Accepting synchronicity as a viable concept just made it worse. Soon enough, those potent mental concoctions led to the worst possible outcome – outright spiritual questioning. Souls? Soul energy? Something beyond the veil? Gods and Goddesses? Aliens? Suddenly an immense and utterly unreal universe of non-possibilities lay open to my fat, lazy mind. I still bathe in them regularly.

Back in the real world, my fortunes have steadily declined. In fact, they are worse now than at any previous time I can remember. This, of course, has made the issue of spirit all the more potent. Is the magical feeling fading with my fortunes? It’s quite hard to tell just yet. I only know that hope seems like an exercise in worshipping the improbable.

I really like the story about the Wheel of Memory being adorned with an Indian. I like it for purely selfish reasons. It’s part of my so-called ‘spirituality”. I danced with a young native in the back of the ‘ping’ bus to the beats laid down by Big Al in the wee hours after the burn in 02. It meant a lot to me. This year another native told me of his brother whose name is the same as mine (I never mentioned mine) and through that medium instructed me as to my own failing (which remains). There are many synaptic pathways in my brain which are linked to the concept of Indians, but those are the two which also connect to Burning Man.

So thank you for that story. With any luck, or pluck (which would be a lucky thing to have at this juncture), I’ll get to see that Wheel of Memory spin this year. That would be nice. But for now I must deal with the slow-motion train wreck my life is revealing itself to be. In that context, all these memories and associations and theorems about spiritual interconnectedness aren’t helpful in any apparent way.

Like a good parent, science has warned me all along not to get so wrapped up in these entertaining (but statistically insignificant) stories that allude to some spiritual or psychic dimensions. It knew I’d be in for a disheartening shock when life showed me there was nothing beyond the veil to save me or aid me. It didn’t want me to get hood-winked by childish dreams of escape from the laws of purely physical determinism which rule this universe. It didn’t want me to get hooked on the mass's opium.

But I did anyway. And now look at me – I’m a meta-something addict. Even after I have lost nearly everything, I can’t stop believing in that which lies beyond the veil. I'm even wondering just what the hell it thinks of me. Judging from recent developments, much less than I think of myself! And that thought just slays me on some level.

Anyhoo...that's the danger inherent in believing that dreams can show you something about the future. It's a gateway belief. You're better off avoiding it.

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