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Joined: Feb 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,470 Location: Southern California
Re: Prelude to Issue #1's "Hypnagogia" « Reply #1 on Apr 7, 2007, 2:48pm »
i am envious of what e.a.poe says he can do in this excerpt from marginalia.
it sounds like maybe he has greater control over his subconscious mind than we do.. able to induce a state of super-relaxed hyper-awareness, where these fantastic depths open up to conscious perception.
i hypothesize that connecting the conscious with the subconscious like that might result in overwhelming intensity of feelings, where the internal energies that drive thoughts and emotions are somehow crossed over into a feedback loop with the part of the brain that perceives and considers.. resulting in a heightened sense overall.
now for the experiments! where can a guy get rubber mallets wholesale? and hamsters, plenty of hamsters...
A monkey riding a dog is probably the awesomest thing that could ever happen.
Hodgson •Thing That Should Not Be member is offline
Joined: Feb 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 2,882 Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Re: Prelude to Issue #1's "Hypnagogia" « Reply #2 on Apr 7, 2007, 7:03pm »
I think what Poe's described is actually fairly simple--nothing more than allowing yourself to drowse until the sounds and images present themselves. When they do, you only need to rouse yourself. I've done this, while sitting in a recliner, although not to the extent that I'd like. It would be worth experimenting with more often. But it may be a problem for those who drop off to sleep quickly. If you have a chance, try it--sitting up, if possible. Just sit there with your eyes closed, relaxed, without making any particular effort to sleep. Sleep itself isn't necessary--the images will come while you're awake. Be aware, however, that they may be very fragmentary; a few indistinguishable syllables, a passage of music, a face, and nothing else.
A few whacks with a rubber mallet may conceivably bring about a dreaming state. Hamsters should be unnecessary.
Joined: Feb 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,470 Location: Southern California
Re: Prelude to Issue #1's "Hypnagogia" « Reply #3 on Apr 7, 2007, 7:37pm »
believe it or not, i have no memory of any transitional state between awake and asleep. there's a variable duration of 'waiting' for sleep, and eventually, when i'm not keeping track anymore, i just go out. if i'm actually pooped enough in a non-bed situation to drift in and out of sleep, i'm really just wallowing in partial consciousness, not motivated enough to pursue any goal...
for me, i think these kinds of perceptions occur just on the other side of the border, in the land of nod. there have been waking moments when i felt close to it, but the only 'experience' i can relate to this is from dreaming, where i have found more things are possible.
A monkey riding a dog is probably the awesomest thing that could ever happen.
Hodgson •Thing That Should Not Be member is offline
Joined: Feb 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 2,882 Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Re: Prelude to Issue #1's "Hypnagogia" « Reply #4 on Apr 7, 2007, 8:50pm »
Strange. I wonder if receptiveness to these kinds of things might be related to insomnia or sleep deprivation. I've suffered from both. Have you had any trouble in that respect? Or any episode of sleep paralysis?
I can tell you beyond doubt that the experiences I've referred to have occurred while unequivocally awake. It was, in the latest language, REM intrusion--the brain entering the dreaming state while the body is otherwise in a waking condition. This is the same condition present in sleep paralysis.
Joined: Feb 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,470 Location: Southern California
Re: Prelude to Issue #1's "Hypnagogia" « Reply #5 on Apr 9, 2007, 11:09pm »
i've been an irregular sleeper for as long as i can remember.. not really synchronized with anything like clockwork. it usually takes me a while to wake up completely, but that's probably as much by choice as by nature. nothing too remarkable about my sleep functions.
i really don't know what i would do if i ever had a serious problem with sleeping. it's one of my very favorite activities. i've heard that sleep deprivation can lead to hallucinations after just a couple of days. while i am curious about the hallucinations, i like sleeping way too much to investigate.
i tried to post a comment, but it didn't seem to go through. the gist of it was that poe concerned himself more with the intersection of the two realities (waking & dreaming), while lovecraft sought to escape into the independent universe of dreams.
john astin (aka gomez addams) toured the country with a one-man show in which he impersonates edgar allen poe. i actually saw a performance a couple of years ago at cal state fullerton (in nearby orange county). it was more interesting on stage than it is in this video... but i just had to mention this since i stumbled on it.
Joined: Feb 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 3,470 Location: Southern California
Re: Prelude to Issue #1's "Hypnagogia" « Reply #8 on Apr 16, 2007, 2:22pm »
Quote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQxdLkNhDNI
i tried to post a comment, but it didn't seem to go through. the gist of it was that poe concerned himself more with the intersection of the two realities (waking & dreaming), while lovecraft sought to escape into the independent universe of dreams.
the comment i posted: Quote:
nice video! i think this lucidity is the essential difference between poe & lovecraft re: dreaming. google 'fantastic horror' and 'hypnagogia' and you'll find another piece from poe that discusses this very thing. but lovecraft, in my view, was less concerned with connecting the realms of dreaming & waking.. he reveled in the escapism of dreams, and enjoyed them more as an independent reality. i think you'll like our website if you check it out.
it did go through after all... twice. so now i'm that guy in the comments. he responded with some pretty good insights, so i invited him to consider writing something for us, or at least exchanging links. readers here might be interested in his blogs:
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