Into The Dreamtime

''The following report was located deep within the vaults of the Gaslight Society, Th author is Holly Warren. We most definitely recommend this report, especially for those interested in the phenomena of lucidity.''

Maggie Urquidez

Templar

Paradigm City Cabal

Overview
I have never been one to push forward information, relevant account details, or methodologies that I knew to be false. I have never allowed myself to be historically inaccurate when I knew that fundamentals would lead to a particular learning curve or causation. This is particularly true of the principles and attributes of Magick, whether that magick be High or Low and so it remains especially concerning the realm of awareness and credibility called, collectively, the Dream time.

To the pagan Irish and Celtics it was Concordia. To the Romans and their ilk it was Acadia. To the Australian aboriginals it was the Dreamtime. I believe, and I hold with firm conviction, that they are not separate places. There are no vastly differing realms of fantasy and thought. Flesh for fantasy, the Scorch, the City of Windmills and the Kingdom of Apples; they are all the same place. I will brook no mitigation on this point nor will I out and betray my mores by attempting to maintain otherwise. I will teach you what I know about this vast and majestic empire and together you and I shall navigate it as I have known it. If you learn more from my guide than I have to teach you, then I will have done my job above and beyond.

A serious student of Magick will at some point need to plunge into the Dreamtime. The first question to be asked is, why? Most often it is because there is a need for an undertaking of Magick that simply can't be done elsewhere. Some rituals or workings require such intense amounts of energy that attempting it anywhere else would be detrimental to the self or one's allies. Some magick requires suh an expenditure of energy that trying to channel it all through one's physical body is just impossible, the result would be so much mackial energy being released that you might immolate yourself or blow up your environment. Many forms of magick are purely mental, so why bother with a body at all? In the Dreamtime, everything is energy; from the single blade of grass to the proliferation of nuclear arms. I'm not kidding. I've seen mages throwing vast amounts of energy back and forth at each other in Dream for fun or warfare.

At other times, the nature of the magick you're performing is beyond your scope or talents; or you are working with higher selves or entities that we don't dare try and interact with physically. Not everything responds well to a summoning circrle. In fact, having the utter gall to try and call in a diety, arch-angel, or demon lord into a circle can be of such an insult to the entity that you could expect the back of it's hand. It would have every right to smack you around, too. But in the Dream things temper and level out; even a god doesn't mind being approached on it's own turf in the Dream and shown proper respect.

So, now that we understand why entering the Dream is necessary for a mage, how do we best enter?

The best way, I have found, is by visual relaxation-visualization. Prepare your space and relax. Have a nice bath, drink some mint tea, and then lay down and listen to music or a mantra; for myself personally I find the song Silent Lucidity from Queensryche or Into The Ocean by Blue October to be fitting. Let yourself drift, but never so much so that you lose your grip on your environment. With enough practice your mind will readily become aware and you will sleep and dream, but be awake in the Dream. When this occurs you will have entered a state of perfect lucidity. You will be in the Dreamtime.

The Environment: Slices, Kinships, & Empires
The first thing that you will notice from the Dream is mutability. The Dreamtime is largely semi-fluid. There are huge swatches of the Dreamtime ruled by the Fae, the Outer Gods, hostile intelligences, and foreign agencies but by far the most powerful of these are the Fae. They are the lords and ladies of Dream. From them we get the City of Windmills and other places known as Empires. The Empires respond only to the oldest and greatest of the Fae, the Tuatha. The Tuatha are the Celtic Gods and only they can manipulate Empires. Don't try to change an Empire, it won't happen. to recap:

EMPIRE: A section/region of the Dream created by and ruled over by one or more Celtic Gods, the Tuatha. Empires such as the City of Windmills, the Kingdom of Apples, The Scorch, et al cannot be changed or modified except by the intentional will of the Celtic God whom created the Empire. If wanted, a full list of the Dreamtime Empires and the Celtic Gods/Tuatha responsible for them can be provided. There are currently 374 Tuatha and corresponding Empires.

Below the Empires are the Kinships. Kinships are realms formed by collective entities or the dreamers of those entities; for example a realm where Arthur and his Knights still search for the Grail, a city filled with scantily clad catgirls, the Efreet City of Brass, and so on. Kinships are built upon by only the oldest and most powerful Dreamers. A Kinship can only be changed or modified by the Dreamer who created it; in this way they are very similar to Slices. As with Empires a cohesive and alphabetical list of Kinships can be provided. There are 202 known Kinships.

Which brings us at last to Slices. A Slice is your own personal section of the Dream. It can be one small home such as your favorite childhood playground or a Slice can be an entire large space such as the Haunted Woods and Black Tower of Hayleh Alcott. Your Slice is yours, it's personal to you; which means that you and you alone can modify it at whim. Being a mage has its benefits: in your Slice, you are god.

You will know when someone enters your Slice. You will know their numbers, their intentions, their outlooks; you can change the environment to your liking at a moment's notice, you can shut down anything anyone in your Slice wants to do. In your Slice if you are, say, attacked by the hoards of Genghis Khan you can, in a second, turn their weapons into balls of yarn and prevent them from forming Kimera. You can eject hostiles instantly or allow only those whom you like. In short, the world responds to you and you alone.

Kimera and Ephemera
These are two Dreamtime features that often confuse and frustrate the new Dreamer, because of principles that are not understood correctly or have, Heaven forbid, not been taught to the new reamer correctly. They are the names for creating things from the Dreamstuff.

Kimera are Dreamstuff given form and intelligence. When you are in the Dream, let's say that you decide to create for yourself a companion steed; something you can ride but whom understands you. So you conjure up a bright blue flying fish steed named Snelly. Snelly is Kimera, a living and breathing intelligent individual that you are now responsible for. The Tuatha demand it and will see to it. Yes, they have sent Dreamers to trial for murder and other offenses when Kimera are neglected. Kimera are your children. Don't make any until and unless you are willing to take responsibility for them. Kimera do remain after you have Awakened and will be waiting for you when you Dream again.

Ephemera, by contrast, are objects the Dreamer creates. Ephemera can be anything, from a pencil to a platoon of tanks. Like Kimera, Ephemera can be created by the Dreamer wherever the Dreamer happens to be. There are caveats, however. Ephemera are like Kimera in that the object will hang around and remain until willingly destroyed by the Dreamer, returned to the Dreamstuff from which they are made. Ephemera also have a unique signature, meaning they have Resonance.

Resonance is the tone or flavor of the Dreamer's creations. Your Resonance is unique. Your Slice, Kimera, and Ephemera will all have the same Resonance, and it is with this Resonance that your creations can be identified. There's no fooling the Tuatha or the Dreaming, you can't just create something and then hope nobody notices or can't trace it back to you. Resonance is not something you should ever worry about, especially if your use of Dreamstuff is moderated and controlled.

There will be situations where you will create. It's inevitable. The mutability of Dream is there for your benefit, your defense, your skill sets, and your talents. There is almost no situation when you will ever be called in front of the Tuatha. The Courts, however, are an entirely different matter.

So, recap.

Kimera: A living entity created by you and for you to serve as a companion, helpmeet, assisitant, guard, or friend. A pet unicorn, a talking pit bull, your faithful butler, even your talking sword. Kimera are your responsibility, they do not fade or cease to exist unless you will them gone. Kimera have individual will and personalities. They are real people.

Ephemera: Objects you create. They are tools, utilities, structures, habitations, vehicles, and weapons. Like Kimera, Ephemera do not fade or cease to exist when you Awaken. They remain until you return them back to the Dreamstuff from where they came.

Resonance: The flavor or tone of your magick and how you utilize Dreamstuff.

The Courts: Unseelie and Seelie Law
It has been established that the Dream is a massive, border less and timeless place ruled by the Tuatha, the Celtic Gods. It is made up of the collective consciousness of the eternal and mysterious Fae, humanity, and alien intelligentsia. The Dreamtime has existed long before recorded time and will remain long after time has ceased to flow. It is Heaven to some, Hell to others, home to others still. But it is countless tireless worlds and universes and planets that all have one thing in common: Government by the Fae. The Dreamtime does have Law, and those Laws are maintained by the Courts.

I am not going to insult anyone's intelligence by pretending to be a scholar of the Courts. To be perfectly honest, I know almost nothing about the Courts; what I do know comes from my own explorations and conversations with Dreamers much older and smarter than I am. I don't know if the information I am disseminating now is factual. I believe it is, as the answers I have found have all been consistent, but take everything from this point on with a grain of salt. I encourage you to gather your own information, what I give you here now are only what has been explained to me.

During the Spring and Summer months the Courts are ruled by the Seelie Fae. These are the Fae whom, if they are not at least indifferent to humanity are not hostile to it. The Sidhe serve as the judges; they hear the cases presented to them by the prosecutors and the defense. The Sidhe declare that every Dreamer has the exact same rights and benefits under law: the right to have thier cases heard, the right to have defense which includes taking the stand to explain themselves, have the charges against them explained to the full extent, and the right to confront witnesses against them.

The Redcaps are the police force of the Fae. When a Dreamer is accused of a crime, the Redcaps are the ones sent out to fetch the Dreamer, ensure the Dreamer gets at least adequate defense, and to be maintained and protected throughout their trial.

During the Fall and Winter months, the Court becomes Unseelie. Times become tougher for humans here. Unseelie Fae aren't necessarily openly hostile, but they sure as heck aren't friendly either. Naturally, a human Dreamer whom has the misfortune of being accused of a crime during Unseelie months can certainly expect to see harsher penalties. Again, the Sidhe judge and the Redcaps collect the accused. Redcaps can be rough.

From what I have learned, there are some basic Laws and penalties. Remember, ignorance of the Law is no defense so mind your Ps and Qs and don't commit any crimes.

Murder, attempted murder, Mayhem, Slaughter: Life in jail or execution if found guilty.

Theft: 25 years in jail OR jail until the theft amount is repayed.

Other Violent Crime: Jail time, jail for life, an eye for an eye, or all of the above.

Final Thoughts
We, as magicians, the willworkers, have been given an awesome privilege. Our occult knowledge earns us respect by the immortal and the eternal, we have the right to enter the Dream, the right to use our Magick, and the right given to us by the Celtic Gods free access to the Dreamtime and everything it has to offer. If you're anything like me then you will be spending a good deal of time in the Dreamtime as a resident with a Slice and Kimera and Ephemera. We humans are an arrogant species with a sense of entitlement; remember who and what you are. We are Magick, we are a Sisterhood and a family. We are expected to hold ourselves to a higher standard. Please don't blow it.

Dream with me.