THE WORLD DREAM BANK: TOPIC: SPELLS AND CURSES

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SPELLS AND CURSES

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"King Aroo", a comic strip from the 1950s, had a witch who pushed an ice cream cart around yelling "Spells and curses! Spells and curses! A prize in each and every pack!" In dreams, I think that's true. Every spell, even a curse, has a prize inside--an insight or message. At the bottom. If you open it, if you look.

What I mean here, by spells and curses, as opposed to wishes or prayers, are structured, deliberate attempts to channel power to get something done magically or psychically. There's a structural reason crystals, rhymes and songs are associated with spells--like mathematical formulae or programming languages, these are compact, complex, yet transparent structures... traits giving them power to affect the world. From the crystal, a spectrum blooms; from the song, people dance and cry; from the formula, a bridge doesn't fall down (usually); from the program, a patent infringement lawsuit flourishes. (Sorry, I lived in Silicon Valley too long.)

Anyway, spells work in dreams, and I wouldn't be surprised if they work in the waking world either, since the people who say they can't are the same clowns who said dream lucidity, telepathy, and predictions are impossible--claims any serious dreamworker knows are false (see psychic dreams; if you're still unconvinced see the Rhine Institute's even larger online database).

Me, I tend to let the world roll along--I like meeting life like we're two creatures playing. I'm just not a programmer/wizard type. But if you are, try making up your own spells (constructive ones, please!) and test them in dreams. You may be surprised to find you're a wizard if you assert things firmly and clearly enough. And fairly. Lies and selfishness don't make you a wizard or shaman, even if your spells work. That's a different job title. That's called a jerk.

The ancient prophet Isaiah came to William Blake once in a vision. Blake asked him "Does a firm persuasion that a thing is so, make it so?" And Isaiah said "... firm persuasion removed mountains; but many are not capable of a firm persuasion of any thing."

And frankly, given what many folks think they want... that's a relief.

RELATED TOPICS: prayers and wishes - loaves and knishes (sorry, building 20,000 links under the sea is hungry work) - Oh yeah, impossible dreams: lucid dreams - psychic dreams - telepathy - precognition and prediction - See also the full INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

The World Dream Bank has 1500 dreams and dream images plus 500 other pages on dreamwork and shamanism, creativity, genius, art, surrealism and fantasy. Unless otherwise noted, all material copyright Chris Wayan, 2001-2006.

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	AMPLIFIER: by Alder; 1999/11/13, a dream on self-underestimation I was always the weakest magic-worker I knew. But when demons threatened my grandchild...
	ANNABEL ROSE: by Emily Joy; 2006/12/14, a ghostbusting dream on... love? sex? what? Edgar Allen Poe confronts his dead girlfriend, who wants to drag him into the grave with her... CAUTION: HUNGRY GHOST, SEX TALK
	ARAGORN'S LIVER: by Wayan; 1983/1/29, a nightmare. I'm a hobbit in Silicon Valley, stalking Ring-wraiths down El Camino. But one of them's stalking me... CAUTION: VIOLENCE, MADNESS?
	THE ASILOMAR OF DREAMS: by Wayan; 1986/3/5, a dream about dreams. Jungian angels at a conference of dreams test my progress. But I'm all backwards: did the hard stuff first...
	BLACK MAGIC: by Wayan; 1986/11/10, a dream of love and rage; Chapter 8 of UNICORN TAG, though it can stand alone. A packet of magic soup mix transports me to the secret wizards' lab in our attic. They're trouble enough, but they've called up a demon they can't handle: the furious Black Unicorn...
	THE BLAMMOR: by Wayan; 1984/4/20, four linked private-eye dreams. I'm a Fast-Food Detective tracking a kidnapper-sorceress. Castles, magic carpets... and unexpected love. CAUTION: SEX TALK
	CASSANDRA AND OTTER: by Wayan; 1982/3/14, a reassuring nightmare. I take Cassandra's prophecies seriously, but she can't make sense of my future. So we go see an otter with a crystal ball. But he's put in this new security system...
	CAT AND CRAB: by Wayan; 1981/3/12, a dream about teasing?. My cat keeps going into heat and sneaking out for sex with my godmother's pet crab, and... CAUTION: SEX, BAD PUNS, CRABBINESS
	COSMOLOGIST: by Wayan; 1994/12/2, another physicist's nightmare. A mad gunman breaks in and shoots at me, but I start him talking, and learn what's eating him...
	CURSES!: by Wayan; 1995/7/29, a rant on how we fear the power of wishes. Studies confirm that prayer can heal. So can curses harm? Yet fearing curses leads back to witch-hunts... CAUTION: DISTURBING IMPLICATIONS, IF TRUE
	CURSING ISABELLA: by Wayan; 1992/8/19, a thoughtful dream of sorcery. How I cursed Isabella the sofa sorceress, cursed her with a blueberry. And why that stinks... CAUTION: UNDER THE MAGIC, IDEAS
	CUTE WITCH, BAD HEAD: by Wayan; 1992/1/31, a sexual healing dream. A witch with a messed-up mind makes me her sex slave. But what if I can bypass her brain?... CAUTION: SEX
	THE DEER'S HOLY LAKE: by Wayan; 1995/5/15, a dream of holy turf. A magic lake where deer glide on water... so I try it. And start to realize I could build such a lake...
	DEER SORCERESS: by Wayan; 1981/5/18, a dream on the virtues of chaos. A witch-girl turned to a deer flees hell-hounds who just CAN'T get organized...
	THE DREAMSUIT: by Wayan; 1992/7/12, a dream on unconscious programming. An experimental helmet knocks me out. I'm groggy, miserable, till I learn what it did to others...
	THE EGG PROBLEM: by Wayan; 1990/3/2, digital painting of a magical dream. I was a intellectual ballerina trying to stop zombie monsters from hatching out of the Earth...
	ELBERETH PAUSES: by Wayan; 1989/6/26, a dream on postwar ethics. After the Lord of the Rings falls, Elbereth herself is sent to heal the land. But she has a troubling neighbor...
	EMADRO: by Wayan; 1983/6/4, a wild dream on clinging--and letting go. An elephant sinks in the North Sea, and the Oracle Mink says a wizard did it. Can old Lady Gandalf help?
	FAERIE: by Wayan; 1995/7/1885K, 1995/7/18 and 8/6: two linked dreams of postmodern Faerie, with sketches I'm the daughter of a mortal doctor working in Faerie as it faces social upheaval (and I look for a decent date...)
	FOX-BOY: by Wayan; 1997/2/28, a dream fable. A boy offends his uncle the King, who transforms him into a fox. Grounded! But Fox-Boy runs away...
	GOD-SHIELDS: by Wayan; 1990/8/21, a confusing dream of growth. I'm a fat guy hired as a temp by some unethical gods. Or are they trying to teach me something?
	HARRY AND THE HORCRUX: by J.K. Rowling; mid-December 2006, a dream of creative ferment People have asked me if I ever dream that I am 'in' Harry's world. The answer was 'no' until a few nights ago, when...
	THE HEDGEHOG DISPENSARY: by Wayan; 440K, 27 watercolors, 2004/10/2, a dream of a furry ambitopia. A rabbit shaman orders his apprentice to drape dead hedgehogs round her neck til she bleeds. Ow! Why? Well... CAUTION: FURRY NUDITY, ABUSIVE MENTOR
	HELPLESSLY LUCID: by Alder; 2007/6/23, a lucid dream in which I’m powerless! I’m a homeless elf. We’re a persecuted minority group. I know I’m dreaming and try to change it but...
	HOP: by Emily Joy, Maddie, and Kathe, 2004/3/31; three linked dreams of a single character Three friends in one bed dream three dreams in one night about a talking rabbit with a persistent request...
	KARMA AND HER SISTERS: by Emily Joy; 2006/12/27, a happy sexy flying dream that turned tragic. One boring lonely day, I meet a cute teenage bunny who wants to play with me! But half an hour later… CAUTION: LANGUAGE, INTERSPECIES FLIRTING, AND LOSS
	MAHAKALA, MOZART, AND THE CRIPPLED BIRD: by Wayan; 135K, 1985/4/17, a dream on facing one's shadow. The Christian God vs Mahakala, Buddhist god of right anger! War in Middle Earth, as Pink Floyd sings...
	MOOSE: by Wayan; 1984/3/12, a dream on the blessings of curses. How the Supreme Court gave my brother antlers, and where his soul went: where I'll go, now that I know...
	MY LIPS ARE SEALED: by Wayan, 1989/6/3, a moody, psychic, epic dream. A two-part dream: I'm a Romantic poet who defeats the curse of the fountain, to marry; but when our daughter's grown, a new curse strikes me mute, paralyzed. And I mistake it for old age! Then, in real life...
	NO “I": by Wayan; 2003/10/22, a dream of identity loss. I’m in San Francisco trying to throw Sauron’s Ring into the Cracks of San Andreas. But a sexy sorcerer steals my sense of I! How can you act without a self?
	NO VACATIONS?: by Wayan; 1999/8/14, a spiritual nightmare. Before I was born, I set up this life to learn loneliness, boredom and fear. Good move, soul! No vacations?
	NORASINGH: by Wayan; 1987/1/15, a Tantric Frankenstein dream. I fall in love with my sculpture of a mythical Southeast Asian creature. Then a mad yogi breaks in... CAUTION: SEX, TANTRA, AND GENERAL WEIRDNESS
	THE OLD WITCH: by Wayan; 1991/8/1, a dreamtale on abandon. A Hollywood sex goddess confronts the Ingenue who's supplanting her. Just how far will she go? CAUTION: EXHIBITIONISM
	ORIOLE GIRL: by Wayan; 100K, 7 illus., 1992/1/23, a poem telling a psychic dream. While conducting a census of fairies in Golden Gate Park, I fall in love with an abused oriole-angel, and we try to heal each other... CAUTION: AWKWARD SEX
	PHARAOH HOOKS: by Wayan; 1989/7/31, a deadpan joke of a dream. My sister and her friend the snake-woman tell me the facts of life: the golden hooks, the piglets... CAUTION: UNRELIABLE GYNECOLOGY
	PIXY: by Wayan; 200K, 2006/3/25, six images; a diagnostic sex dream? Janet's obsessed with a creepy guy, until her friend Kay--a pixy--decides to knock some sense into her cunt... CAUTION: LANGUAGE, EMBARRASSING SITUATION, NASTY LOVE SPELL
	POKER WITH A DEMON: by Wayan; 1980/8/15; a comic psychic financial dream. I'm authorized to play high-stakes poker with a scary-looking but rather nice demon...
	SCALDED: by Wayan; 1993/7/3, a near-nightmare. The feud between our magical families is getting ugly. Hawk-Head's dad throws boiling water on me, so I... CAUTION: VIOLENCE
	THE SELL-FISH WITCHES: by Wayan; 1983/6/29, a dreamtale. My sister and I are runaways, developing psychic powers. A cult of fish-selling witches wants to use us... CAUTION: SIBLING INCEST, SPELL ABUSE
	SELL THE GODS, AND RAISE HELL!: by Wayan; 1994/1/26, a dream riddle. Reactionaries smash a paper. To rebuild, the editor must sell tiki carvings! But gods don't LIKE being sold... CAUTION: MORAL QUANDARY
	SHEVEK'S TIME-SLIP: by Wayan; 1996/10/14, a chronohomeostatic dream. Shevek invents time-travel and discreetly alters the past. But the future alters Shevek's present, to make his changes meaningless. Who's sabotaging him? Or should we ask... WHAT?
	SHOWERED WITH WISHES: by Zooop; 2007/3/12, a dream that enough is enough I took my cellphone into the shower. I couldn’t find the shampoo, and idly typed SHAMPOO in, and... CAUTION: NOW YOU KNOW WHO STOLE YOUR ODD SOCKS
	SLEEPING BEAUTY: by Wayan, 1999/8/22, a warning dream on quitting too soon. A girl lies dreaming in the street; no one can wake her. At last I yell "Face it, she's dead!" But is she? I never try a kiss...
	SPILL SPELL: by Wayan; 1995/9/30, a mini-dream. I'm a Lapp boy in northern Finland, studying shamanism. So why do I pour coffee down a driveway?
	STOP ME!: by Wayan; 1994/2/22, a nested nightmare. I kill with an angry wish! I hide the bodies, but secretly pray someone'll catch me before I snipe again... CAUTION: VIOLENCE, GUILT
	SWAN: by Wayan; 225K (5 images), 1995/4/8, a stubborn dreamtale. I wake amnesic in a cabin in Alaska, in a dress printed with self-putdowns. I track down who cursed me...
	TARDIS GAZEBO: by Wayan; 230K, a 3-page digital dream-comic, 1993/2/17 Solve a hieroglyphic riddle and you can fly, shapeshift, work magic! But someone doesn't want me solving that riddle...
	THAR SHE BLOWS!: by Madeline; 2008/3/27, a pirate mermaid shipwreck sex dream. On the run I meet a lycan, a pirate, and a mermaid. She causes a flood, and something floats by I just have to grab... CAUTION: IMPLIED SEX
	TO HELL: by Katie Hofgard; 2003/4/19?, a nightmare of loyalty I loyally served a demon who punished me until at last he sent me to hell. And STILL I didn't rebel... CAUTION: BLOODY ABUSE
	12 SWALLOWS, 700 DAUGHTERS: by Wayan; 1972/10/14, a dream poem on compassion; Dreamverse #5 Alchemy demands I kill ten swallows. I refuse! Instead, twelve birds and I fuse and fly over a magic wood...
	UNDER THE HEIRESS'S SPELL: by Wayan; 1997/7/30, a wish-fulfilment fable. A glamorous heiress casts a spell that spills over, so I can have anyone I see! But who DO I see?...