Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Mavis Staples

We're on the verge of saying goodbye to 2008, and based on some of the Christmas letters I received this year, it's not a moment too soon. Ready for 2009? Mavis Staples sends us on our way with this week's lullaby. Ready or not, here we go...

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Cornell Kinderknecht

This week's lullaby comes from a winter solstice celebration two years ago. Cornell Kinderknecht performs Night Path on the bansuri flute. Beautiful and haunting, it is a lovely, meditative work. I hope you enjoy it.

The Cold, Deep Night

© Ivan Kmit | Dreamstime.com

As we approach the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, I find that my conception of winter nights - still, hushed, all of nature covered in a deep blanket of snow - may not be quite right.

Last week I was driving home after my night shift job when I saw a crow on the wing, passing through the illumination of a street light. Crows will roost in large numbers during the fall and winter, gathering at sunset, raucous, even foreboding to some observers, until they settle down to sleep. But it was hours past sun down, and I wondered where this single crow was heading.

Then, completely by chance, I read an account on a local forum (scroll down toward the end) about "mysterious noctural conventions" of crows, where, on certain snowy nights, they fly in circles around some invisible, designated point, great numbers of them, but completely silent. Maybe the crow I saw was on its way to such a meeting, since it was, in fact, snowing. I looked for more information on the phenomenon, but found nothing to explain the mystery.

The enigma of these long, cold nights remains, and certainly explains the rituals of light so many cultures have developed to mark the solstice. Below is a video you might remember - a clip from Northern Exposure, where local artist Chris, after confiscating almost every light bulb in town, creates a light sculpture to challenge the long Alaskan night.



I wish you a wonderful holiday season and safe travels. I'll be posting lullabies this Sunday and next, and will pick up the Luminous Life series following the holiday week. Best wishes and peace.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Debussy

Time is getting away from me these days, for reasons I don't entirely understand. Time to slow down and relax to a gorgeous rendition of Debussy's Reverie, performed by pianist David Delucia. The videographer known as Spadecaller provides lovely images to complete this week's lullaby offering.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Odetta and Friends

Folk legend Odetta died this past week. An ardent civil rights supporter and musical master, she will be missed by so many. This week's lullaby is Hymn, by Janis Ian, sung by Ian, Odetta and Phoebe Snow, possibly the only collaboration of these three gifted singers. Easily one of the best lullabies you will find on this blog.

Luminous Life - An Intro to Bioluminescence

To me, bioluminescence, the ability of some microbes, plants and animals to emit visible light, is one of the most interesting phenomena in the natural world. It's time to explore how some life forms have developed this talent, which evolved first in the blackness of the deep sea, and then among land plants and animals that glow against the backdrop of the night.

Most people are familiar with the fireflies that grace summer evenings. But the greenish glow doesn't end there. The image above shows eerie fungi found in a state park in Brazil - as if the woods in the nighttime weren't mysterious enough.

To get started, here's a video that showcases some deep sea bioluminescent creatures, as well as some octopi camoflaging themselves in amazing ways. There's more to come as we survey the luminous life around us.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Meditations

The first major snow storm of the season has arrived. They're forecasting 6 to 8 inches by Monday morning. The snow made me think of this video, Meditations: A Year of Changes. Harry G. Pellegrin performs El Noi de la Mare, set to images he took along the Mohawk River in New York. I like that the images aren't the usual perfectly-lit, heavily composed nature pictures you see so often. They remind me of the parks near me - I'm still in nature, but need to look deeper to see the beauty and meaning of what is around me.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Tramuntana

The glory of autumn has passed, and we are faced with a brown and gray landscape, a chill in the air and the darkest day of the year still more than a month away. So here is a remedy - a lullaby featuring beautiful nature images from the island of Cres in Croatia. The lovely, relaxing music is New Born by Matt Chernishov. Enjoy the lullaby as we head into the holiday week.

Song of the Northern Lights

Seeing the Northern Lights dance on a clear winter night is a wonderful spectacle. But hearing the aurora is another experience entirely. In this video from the Minnesota Planetarium and Space Discovery Center, sound recordist Steve McGreevy discusses the aurora as a natural radio source and what it takes to record its strange song. Here's the location of the original YouTube video, which includes several links of interest. (And in case you're wondering, the video was originally designed to be projected onto the planetarium dome, hence the circular imagery.)

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Arlo Guthrie

Arlo Guthrie supplies our lullaby tonight - that classic American folk song, City of New Orleans. Poignant and nostalgic, it portrays a lost era, when rail travel was supreme, and all the romanticism that went along with it.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Gregory and the Hawk

Here's a lovely song from Gregory and the Hawk, entitled Boats and Birds. In its early days, this young band bypassed the usual music industry apparatus and relied on the internet to build a fan base. Now signed with a record label, they continue to produce original, wonderful songs.

Another Namesake

Well, it turns out, I'm back on the night shift, working second-shift hours again part-time. This means the usual time I blog is unavailable, at least for another week, when my permanent schedule kicks in.

So for this week and possibly next week, things will be a little quiet around here. After that, though, I plan to start a new series that I think will be fun and interesting. So stick around. And there will always be a new lullaby on Sundays.

In the meantime, enjoy this video, Night, the Beloved, which was sent to me by a friend. Since we had a "Lullaby for Grown-Ups" a couple weeks ago, it seems fitting to have a video named after the blog here as well.

This is the introduction of the film, meant to capture the mood of some of the videographer's dreams. I especially like the music and all the water images.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Andy McKee

Here's a smooth and mellow acoustic guitar lullaby. Andy McKee performs a song from his CD Dreamcatcher. McKee developed an international following after two of his performance videos were posted on the internet and went viral, achieving more than 17 million views. I hope you enjoy this amazing music.

Haunted Shadows

© Photographer: Edd Boyer

We must travel in the direction of our fear.
~ John Berryman

The flickering shadows cast by jack o'lanterns are part of the great fun of Halloween. The gorgeous image above of a local pumpkin carving competition captures the spirit of this wonderful nighttime holiday, where children are suddenly free to explore vast, new spaces in their own neighborhoods. They fan out, intrepid and costumed, finding both treasure and the opportunity for mischief.

As they move through the shadows, there is always the chance that they might encounter a ghost or other supernatural being, or so they might imagine. Whether the shadow might have a substance of its own, they don't consider, which is probably for the best.

But what happens when we brush up against something, or someone, in the dark? Here's a video of a true ghost story, as told by Nathaniel Thomas Powell, who describes the event:



Level-headed Boo's account couldn't be denied - someone met her on the stairs in that darkened house. Unable to depend on her sight, her sense of feeling informed her of another presence.

I think it's the same way when we become aware of the shadow within. Our conscious mind, like our vision, is what we usually rely on, the default method for taking in and processing information. But neither of these methods can help us understand the shadow, a void that we fear, imagining that it contains any number of terrors. But in reality, it holds the parts of ourselves we have rejected and buried. These fragments wait patiently to be acknowledged and brought back into our larger selves as we move, in fits and starts, toward wholeness.

It takes special days like Halloween to remind us of the reality of the shadow. They invite us to explore the dark, holding out an offer of not just tricks and treats, but of a new view of ourselves and reality.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Ane Brun

Well, things have come full circle for our "Lullaby for Grown-Ups" feature. In this video, Norwegian singer/songwriter Ane Brun's song is set to a spacy, fractal visual treat. I love the sound of this, and I think we all can appreciate the lyrics. And the name of the song? Lullaby for Grown-Ups.

Spooky.

Poetry - Antonio Machado

There's something about this time of year that makes me want to post poetry here. I was fortunate to find this video featuring a poem by Antonio Machado, as read by none other than Robert Bly, titled Last Night as I was Sleeping.

Some YouTube commenters took issue with the translation from the Spanish, especially the phrase, "marvelous error," which perhaps would be better translated as "illusion" or "vision." But the heart of the poem is there, I think, and it all works together (images, music, narration) quite beautifully.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Flying Saucer Attack

The mellow, space-rock music of Flying Saucer Attack provides our lullaby this week. The song, Suncatcher, features gentle vocals and a tranquil sound that was the hallmark of this British experimental band. Relax and enjoy this wonderful music!

Diversions for Insomniacs - Two Games

Sometimes the arcade style games are good for blowing off some steam. So here are two to try.

The first one, Nanotube, requires some agility to defend a circular structure from flying colored orbs (see image above). Be quick or you're done! One reviewer called this game "a satisfying treat."


The second game, Sproing, lets you smash the green balls with an anchored blue ball that you swing around. It's crazy fun and the music is great. Have a ball!

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Enya

The ethereal voice of Enya provides a soothing lullaby this week. The song is Evening Falls. I'm always amazed by musicians who stake out new ground, both musically and emotionally, then make it their own.

Enya has sold millions of albums, without regularly touring and sometimes taking years to release the next recording. Her fame even extends to the stars. No kidding - there's a minor planet named after her.

Night, the Beloved at One Year

Night, the Beloved is one year old today! Thanks for coming by to have a look or listen to a lullaby. It's great to have people visiting my blog, so I know I'm not just talking to myself.

To celebrate this anniversary, let me welcome you to the First Annual Night the Beloved Animation Festival! Here are some whimsical nighttime animations, just for fun.



The song is Nighttime by Petracovich. I know, the video just isn't long enough. But you can hear the whole song here.



This one is called Starless Night. Such a sweet little film about friendship. To learn more about the animator, check out his blog.



The Night Visitors, by British animator Richard Ollive, is a child's tale that features a night patrolman and his adventures, including a trip to Neverland. It's a wonderful fantasy, complex and beautifully illustrated.

Thanks again for visiting. May all your night journeys be filled with mystery and magic!

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Autumn Meditation

Apologies for the mid-week lullaby switch. I noticed that the previous lullaby, an audio file from ccmixter.org, had vanished. When I investigated, I got a message that I needed to install some software to even view the ccmixter home page. Too much work for a lullaby (plus, does that mean everyone viewing the blog has to do the same thing?). So we're back to a YouTube video, but it's a very nice one. Autumn Meditation is a traditional Chinese song. The images are of autumn scenery in Japan. Very lovely, and I hope you enjoy it.

Moon Garden

The first time I ever planted white flowers, some small spring bulbs, I was unprepared for the show those little blooms put on every day at twilight. They captured what little light there was and reflected it back with surprising brightness. Only later did I learn about the concept of a moon garden, also called a white garden or moon-viewing garden, where plants with white or pale blossoms are grouped together to create a luminous effect, both at dusk and during the full moon.

With this concept in mind, I planted some containers last spring with flowers I thought would work well in a moon garden. Let's take a look at how this gardening experiment went.


The most dramatic plant was the cleome, which grew to about 4 feet and did well in its container. But it was spent by late July, so I cut it back. Still, a nice display from this annual. In the picture above, it's early twilight, so a blue hue has taken over the image (no red sky, because of some clouds on the western horizon).


A long-time favorite of mine is alyssum, which would work well in a moon garden as a low-growing plant. Not much daylight left when this picture was taken, but the alyssum still gives off a soft glow. I also like this plant because it attracts pollinating insects (good if I'm growing vegetables alongside the flowers) and because the house finches in my neighborhood nibble at the little blossoms. That's fun to watch, and the flowers are so small, you can't tell that something's been eating them.


The dianthus did very well, although it crowded out the dusty miller I planted in the same pot. Dusty miller is a lovely foliage plant with silver-gray leaves and is often featured in moon gardens.

The one disappointment was the moonflower vine, which grew very nicely during the summer, but even now hasn't produced a single flower. Since we may have frost tomorrow night, I'm not holding out much hope, so here's a random internet photo of a moonflower, which, I understand, opens only at night and has a marvelous scent.


There it is, then - the sum of my moon gardening efforts. If you have a green thumb and want to try your own moon garden next year, check out this website for more plants to try. Many of these plants are easy to grow and if you're short on room, you can always try my method and just go with a few containers.

Finally, the image at the top of this post comes from this GardenWeb forum, where a talented gardener has posted more images of her lovely moon garden. What a beautiful oasis to create, a sensuous place where the light of the moon is honored and celebrated.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Eva Cassidy

The late Eva Cassidy was known for the emotional depth and honesty she brought to her music. Here, she performs the classic Autumn Leaves. I have to say, I've never heard this song sung like this, with such poignancy and tenderness. Ever since I found this video, I can't stop watching it.

Twilight Time

© Mark Rasmussen | Dreamstime.com

Twilight drops her curtain down, and pins it with a star.
~Lucy Maud Montgomery

I was hoping to write a lovely post this evening, all about twilight, that wonderful and mysterious transition from day to night. But I've fallen victim to the first virus of the fall, so I'm going to make this more about the images than the words.

I will note, however, that the fall equinox took place earlier this week. I think there's something about the lengthening shadows of autumn that make twilight more impressive. Often the light takes on a golden tone, which can be very beautiful.

© Aleksejs Kostins | Dreamstime.com

Photographers aren't the only ones who are enamoured by the fading light of day and the dawn of night. Painters have long used twilight to convey different moods.

Twilight (1820) Caspar David Friedrich

In the image above, a dark and brooding mood accompanies the coming of night, as captured by Dutch artist Caspar Friedrich.

Twilight (1875) George Innes

The twilight of American painter George Innes takes on a more pastoral feeling.

Twilight comes and goes quickly. Often we look outside and it's already dark, especially this time of year. Take some time and see if you can catch of glimpse of this every-day mystery, which beckons us to welcome the night as it comes.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Jose Gonzalez

Singer-songwriter Jose Gonzalez provides the lullaby this week with his song Hints. His complex guitar work and low-key vocal style have earned him enough of a following that he has postponed pursuing his PhD in biochemistry to focus on his music. Seems like a good decision to me. Enjoy!

Diversions for Insomniacs - Samorost

Here's a curious game to help keep things interesting during any late-night, drowsy browsing you might be doing at your computer. Samorost 1 is essentially a puzzle game that gained popularity because of its unusual visuals and interesting music. Once you've mastered this game, try the sequel, Samorost 2. Good luck!

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Dead Can Dance

The changing seasons and the forces of nature are beautifully captured in this week's lullaby, which features images from the BBC's Planet Earth and the song Yulunga (Spirit Dance) from the group Dead Can Dance, whose distinctive style continues to occupy a unique place in contemporary music.

Dreamscapes - The Limits of our Dreams

© Leeloomultipass | Dreamstime.com

Our exploration of the dreamscape has come to an end, which is not to say that I won't revisit it at some time. After all these posts, it should be pretty obvious that I believe our dreams are a form of communication with our unconscious minds, which are willing to offer up information if we take the time to divine the meaning.

I used to regard this information as sacrosanct. Then, as sometimes happens, I came across something that challenged that idea. You might remember the Heaven's Gate cult - in 1997, a group of 39 people committed suicide over the course of three days, believing that they were ascending to "the level above human" and that their souls would be taken away in a spaceship. Director Sergio Myers made a film about this event, Heaven's Gate: The Day After. The entire film used to be up on YouTube; now, just the trailer is there. In the film, he interviews a surviving cult member, who says he was convinced to join the group because of a dream he had.

It's hard to think that someone's own unconscious mind would sell him out like that. How would he even know? Of course, this individual did survive the mass suicide, but still, if we can't trust information from our own dreams, where does that leave us?

I believe it leaves us in a place where we need to decide how much weight to give that deep part of ourselves. In a society where the influence of the unconscious is largely discounted, to discover that aspect of ourselves can be exciting and illuminating. But at the same time, those waves can be overwhelming, and it always comes back to finding the balance between the unconscious and conscious, contemplation and action, yin and yang.

Insufficient attention to the unconscious can keep us enslaved to old patterns we're not even aware of. Too much attention and we can find it hard to move forward. Our dreams may guide us, but in the end, our lives are ours to live.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Los Kjarkas

From time to time, I like to include world music in the lullaby line-up. But I recently realized that I had neglected the entire continent of South America. So here is a wonderful video of Los Kjarkas, a Bolivian band, featuring their song Maria Amanecer. Los Kjarkas has been making music for more than 30 years, toured worldwide, founded two music schools and sold more records than any other band in South America. It's easy to understand the success - this is complex and beautiful music. Enjoy!

(About the quote at the end of the video - I don't speak Spanish, so I tried running it through a few online translation programs. There's a reason people make fun of these - it came out a garbled mess. I'm afraid you're on your own.)

Dreamscapes - Bridge

© Kris Vandereycken | Dreamstime.com
Image processed in Adobe Photoshop

Building bridges, burning bridges, crossing bridges - bridges provide not just a common metaphor for life, but for dreams as well. Bridges can hold positive connotations, such as uniting people and places, but they also have darker aspects, including gephyrophobia, or the fear of traveling over a bridge.

In dreams, a bridge will often represent some transition for the dreamer. How secure the dream bridge appears may indicate whether the path the dreamer is taking seems safe or fraught with peril. A dream bridge over water might mean the dreamer is dealing with emotions or the unconscious.

I've had more bridge dreams than I can count. They are all similar - I'm driving a car that is going up a very steep bridge, the kind you see near harbors that are built as high arches to allow ships to pass under them. The apex of the arch is so high, there are clouds at the top. In a related dream, I'm on a raised highway and need to take a ramp onto another highway, but the ramp is impossibly high, suspended in midair by nothing.

All of these dreams were scary, although I wouldn't call them nightmares. What was going on for so long in my waking life that I kept dreaming of driving into the clouds? The answer came when, after years of fairly heavy-duty spiritual questing, I walked away from my spiritual practice. I had concluded that it simply wasn't helping me. Shortly after, I had a dream that I drove down off a high bridge, back to solid ground. I ended up in a construction zone, but the feeling in the dream was one of relief. Time to come back to earth. Some type of work still needed to be done, but it wasn't going to happen up on the bridge to the sky.

I retain an interest in the spiritual, but no longer feel the need to beat myself up with ill-advised spiritual techniques. It's not very often that a construction zone looks so good.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Madeleine Peyroux

We're in the middle of the last unofficial weekend of summer; it's still warm, but the days are growing noticeably shorter. It's time to say goodbye to the summer of 2008, and what better way than the song Summer Wind, performed here by jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux. The images are paintings by Winslow Homer and Maurice Prendergast; they call to mind summers from a bygone era. Stay cool and enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!

Summer Nights, Flecks of Light

Summer nights are vanishing, even as I type. Before they're completely gone, I wanted to give a nod to fireflies, whose lovely show each year never fails to mesmerize.

This year it seemed like we had more fireflies than usual. In the picture above, I was able to capture several of the buggers while they were still in the lawn at twilight, before they started flying around.

Here's a much better image from someone who knows how to take this kind of picture:

I actually found this image on the website for the city of Kitakyushu,
Japan, which is using its firefly population as an indicator of environmental health. It hopes to become the "World's Best Firefly City."

However, it faces stiff competition from Malaysia, where tropical fireflies congregate on trees along a river and then, amazingly, synchronize their flashes:

You can take a boat tour to see this natural wonder, which is used as a navigation aid by local residents boating along the river.

As beautiful as fireflies are, there's something you need to know. Some (not all) species of firefly engage in deception. Males of one species will imitate the mating signal of males from another species to attract females of that species. Why? Because they're hungry. That's right. The unwitting female ends up as a meal. And female fireflies are not above this behavior either. I think that's a little more cleverness than I like in my insects.

One final insect-related phenomenon, which I like to call, "Turn off the porch light!" It's about all those poor nocturnal insects attracted to our electric lights, thinking they're the moon. There's not a lot we can do, except dash in and out of our houses to avoid them.

But here's a more positive take on the porch light issue, featuring a really lovely green luna moth. If you're especially squeamish about insects, you may want to skip this video and take comfort in the fact that they'll all be dead soon, at least in northern climates.



Enjoy what little is left of summer, try to be tolerant of our insect friends and have a great holiday weekend!

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Ulrich Schnauss

This week's lullaby features ambient music from German artist Ulrich Schnauss, paired with the "Cloudscapes" sequence from the film Koyaanisqatsi. The song is Nothing Happens in June. I have to say, I think this is some of the best electronica I've come across - bright and fresh, yet smooth and mellow, and fitting the images perfectly.

Diversions for Insomniacs

A sleepless night seems like the perfect time to survey the wonders of the internet, particularly the flotsam and jetsam that drifts by as we surf the web.

So here are some utterly pointless websites, presented for your amusement:

- Feeling sleepy? You couldn't ask for anything more.

- Kirby dances for you! Kirby just needs some music to go with the dancing.

- Golems of Light are on the move. Thanks to Cliff Pickover for this one, whose main website, Reality Carnival, has been the source for more than one Diversions for Insomniacs.

- Dancing Parabolas. Finally, an animation with music worthy of the dancing.

- Zombo.com. (Absolutely turn your speakers on for this one.) Zombo.com represents the pinnacle of useless websites, and is possibly the oldest such site, having been created in 1999.

Remember, for each of these sites, someone is paying for server space to keep it going.

To discover more websites like these, visit PointlessSites.com.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Zero 7

Time for some cool music for a hot summer's night. The song is Destiny, by Zero 7, featuring Sia Furler and Sophie Baker on vocals. So smooth, so gorgeous - it's music that washes over you, leaving you relaxed and refreshed.

Dreamscapes - Lucid Dreaming

© Leeloomultipass Dreamstime.com

As a child, I had a series of dreams in which I worked in a shop. I can't remember now what was being sold, but whatever the merchandise was, it was displayed in glass cases. My job was to keep the cases clean.

The boss, unfortunately, was a mean man. I didn't want to work in the shop anymore. Then a solution presented itself. There was a lantern, and if I held it up, I would awaken from the dream. Somehow I knew I was dreaming, and I knew what to do to come out of the dream.

Lucid dreaming, or the awareness that one is dreaming and can even control the dream, is pretty much the exact opposite of a nightmare. In fact, a 2006 study showed that people who suffer from nightmares benefit from lucid dreaming techniques.

Which implies, of course, that lucid dreaming can be learned. That sounds pretty cool, until you start to look at some of the methods. One procedure is to go to sleep normally, wake up six hours later, think very hard about lucid dreaming for an hour, then going back to sleep. It seems like a lot of work if you just want to experiment. Those with nightmares may find it worth their while, though.

Also interesting is the idea of reality testing. What if you think you might be dreaming, but aren't sure? According to the Wikipedia article on lucid dreaming, you could:

• Pinch your nose and see if you can breath without using your mouth.
• Stick your finger through the palm of your hand.
• Flip on a light switch (the light level shouldn't be affected).
• Look in a mirror. "(In) dreams, reflections from a mirror often appear to be blurred, distorted, incorrect or frightening."
  

Well, if the reality test is scary, what good is that? I've had dreams where I looked in a mirror; the results were mixed. In one, my eyes changed color (nice!). In another, my one eye appeared to be corroding away (not so nice).

But of course, if that last dream had been lucid, I suppose I could have done something about my health issue. It does seem that, for whatever ability we have to control our dreams, even lucid dreaming has its strange aspects. It may yield more vivid imagery and a feeling of giddiness, but it's still part of the noctural dreamscape, a strange reality that will always contain mysterious aspects.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Moving Fractals

After that trip to Winkie's Diner last week, I managed to find what I think is an especially mellow, relaxing lullaby. Videographer David B. Davis created this lovely film, Moving Fractals, and also composed the music. Fractals are geometric shapes with parts that are similar to the whole. They make for beautiful art - in this case, wispy, ethereal colors that dance against the darkness.

Dreamscapes Bonus Post - Mulholland Drive

Well, I couldn't go completely reductionist on you when it comes to nightmares. So here's a scene from David Lynch's extraordinary film, Mulholland Drive. A man tells his friend about a nightmare he had, and suddenly he's in the dream, living it out. If you haven't seen this film, let me tell you, this is scary. Seriously. Proceed at your own risk. Because it's so scary. Maybe watch it during the day. That'd probably be best. Okay, I'll stop now.

(It's scary!)

Dreamscapes - Nightmares

Nightmares, the darkest manifestations that our psyches have to offer, seem to provide a kind of perfect storm for the experience of fear, even terror. Common themes include being chased or attacked, drowning and falling. Some nightmares tend toward the apocalyptic, featuring natural disasters, warfare or fire. They have been fodder for literature, paintings and film.

One in two adults suffers from an occasional nightmare. There seems to be some debate about whether nightmares have any value for the dreamer, as far as addressing some problem in waking life. Common causes for nightmares include anxiety, trauma or some sudden change, like the death of the loved one.

But there are other causes that might lead us to take a more reductionist view of nightmares. Some medications actually cause nightmares as a side effect; withdrawal from some substances (such as alcohol) can also trigger difficult dreams. And sleep disorders and sleep deprivation can make nightmares more frequent.

So where does this leave us? Perhaps at a point where we come up against the limits of the help we can receive from the unconscious mind. One of the tricks to introspection is knowing when to come up for air. If nightmares persist, despite an effort to understand them, determine their meaning and incorporate that meaning into daily life, it may be time to see a doctor for an evaluation.

Which is not to say that their imagery can't be useful for creative endeavors. It's just about getting a decent night's sleep on a regular basis.

For myself, I will sometimes have dreams from which I wake up frightened, but they don't generally rise to the level of a nightmare. The one dream I had like that was a long time ago. I finally got the interpretation, about 20 years later. The complexity of the situation prevents me from getting into it here. Was it worth the wait? Well, it was an explanation for an event I would not have otherwise understood. That's about it, though. I've gotten a lot more information from my regular dreams, so that's where I tend to focus. It sounds strange to say, given that we're talking about dream interpretation, but it's really about applying a little common sense.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Satie

This week's lullaby is an interpretation by classical guitarist John Williams of Erik Satie's Gnossienne No. 1, set to water images. The music seems to have the quality of a tune drifting by on the warm air of a summer's evening, the source of which is not immediately evident. To follow it is to enter into mystery, and possibly adventure, in and among the side streets of Paris.

Dreamscapes - Animals

Three Wolves, © D. Loren Champlin

It's not surprising that many people dream of animals. Humans have co-existed with animals for millenia, as both predator and prey, so it's only natural that they would make their way into the human dreamscape.

When an animal appears in a dream, its meaning depends on the dreamer and its association with that particular animal. Pet owners often dream of their pets; there might not be much more to such a dream, unless there is some anxiety about the pet's behavior or health.

A wild animal, on the other hand, can symbolize the dreamer's latent emotions that are too powerful to be dealt with by the conscious mind. How the dreamer interacts with the beast can be revealing. Is the dreamer chased by the animal? Some aspect of the dreamer's self is threatening. Or can the dreamer subdue or control the animal? This more positive outcome may indicate a willingness to deal with whatever is rattling around in the unconscious mind.

Not long ago I dreamt I was living in the upstairs flat of a home (there's that house theme again). I had a dog, which I don't in waking life. At first, I was worried that I wasn't taking good care of the dog - when was the last time I fed it? But it seemed perfectly happy.

Then I looked outside, down into the backyard, where I saw a shocking sight: the two dogs that belonged to the downstairs neighbors were lying in the yard, dead, having been severed in two. The neighbors knew about this, but didn't seem especially concerned.

This extraordinary image occupied me for quite a while the next morning. When I considered the idea of a dog representing loyalty ("man's best friend"), it began to make more sense. I had shared some positive information with an individual just the day before, then received an unwarranted and surprisingly negative response. It occurred to me that I might be better off taking that person out of the loop. Whatever hesitation I may have had was dispelled by the dream, which seemed to indicate that my loyalty to that person (and his loyalty to me) had been severed.

I don't want to come across as petty or as someone who demands unquestioning loyalty. Obviously there was some additional history there. Still, why such an extreme image? Dreams often exaggerate to make a point, which, in this case, seemed to be that enough is enough.

The animals that make their way into our dreams are there for our consideration, whether they are playful, baring their teeth or lying dead in the yard. Like the other dream symbols, they can offer both guidance for daily living and the opportunity to delve ever deeper into the pool of the unconscious.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Christina Lux

German singer/songwriter Christina Lux provides this week's lullaby with her song, Coming Home at Last. I really like this song for its intimacy, honesty and sense of a difficult road traveled, followed by a time of rest.

Diversions for Insomniacs #9

Credit: Hubble Heritage Team/ESA/NASA

Still sleepless? Why not make use of that time? You could even contribute to science. The folks over at Galaxy Zoo need your help. They use thousands of volunteers to categorize galaxies so astronomers can better understand the cosmos.

Their web site explains: "The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is taking images of a large portion of the sky and will eventually find a million galaxies. With such a large number of galaxies, astronomers can finally begin to understand how they form and evolve by comparing various populations to each other with large enough numbers to draw real conclusions about their origin.

"But out of these million galaxies, how do we know which are spirals and which are ellipticals? The answer is simple: look at them! Indeed, until now galaxies have been classified by visual inspection of their images. And in fact, technology is of little help here. It turns out that the human brain is far better than a computer at recognising the patterns that divide ellipticals from spirals. ... There are just too many galaxies for even the most dedicated of astronomers to look at. We need thousands of people to inspect galaxy images and to classify them as spiral or elliptical."

The first phase of Galaxy Zoo is completed, but they're gearing up for phase two, where volunteers will look at images of merging galaxies. So sign up and use your stargazing abilities for the good of science.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - The Dead Texan

Here's an engaging video creation from The Dead Texan, an artistic duo that features musician Adam Wiltzie and video artist Christina Vantzos. Curious images interplay with soothing ambient tones. The song is Aegina Airlines.

Dreamscapes - House

Van Gogh, The Parsonage at Nuenen by Moonlight

When I first started recording my dreams, the first pattern that emerged was the setting of a house. I found myself in a friend's house or a stranger's house, a childhood home or a boarding house, dormitory, condo or hotel. The action varied - there were people I knew or didn't know, various activities and conflicts. But the theme was undeniable.

The most common interpretation for this dream symbol is that the house represents ourselves. Different rooms in the house are different aspects of the dreamer. The basement is the unconscious, the most hidden part of a person, where we shove things to get them out of the way, then forget about them. Cleaning out the basement in a dream could indicate a time to sort through the past and its effects on the present. The upstairs may represent the rational mind, while persistent dreams about the bathroom might indicate a need for emotional cleansing.

To dream often of a childhood home may mean that there are unresolved issues, as is the case with other homes from the dreamer's more recent past.

For a long time, my dreams took me to so many different types of houses, it was hard to get a handle on what was going on. Sometimes I would be in a place, then realize that, for some reason, I could no longer live there. Then I would remember I had another home to go to. In the final dream like this, I was actually able to recall, in the dream, my current address (although not without some difficulty). I also had one dream where I found myself in a home that I clearly understood to be my own.

I still travel to different dream houses; but it's nice when the unconscious gives us a nod that we're headed in the right direction - slowly, gradually, eventually finding our way home.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Sam Clemann

This week's lullaby is an improvisation on the Navajo native flute by Sam Clemann, accompanied by images of the Grand Canyon. He writes, "I was inspired by the story of Kokopelli leading his people, the Hopi tribe, through the Grand Canyon. It is said that the sound of his flute could be heard reverberating in all the canyons." This is a lovely, meditative piece. I especially like it for its warmth and depth of spirit.

Fire in the Sky

© Rui Vale De Sousa | Dreamstime.com

Time has gotten away from me this week, so I'll pick up the dream posts again next week. In the meantime, I thought I'd consider an awe-inspiring natural display that can also sometimes disturb sleep.

Last night strong thunderstorms moved through the area. Summer is a great time to see some spectacular lightning. I have to say, though, I could have done without the very loud thunder.

© Andra? Cerar | Dreamstime.com

I have been known to sleep through heavy storms, but not last night. Having a skylight in the bedroom lets the lightning's illumination reach me directly. Then I have to consider whether the storm is severe, which would require me to take shelter. Usually I consider the possibility, then just stay in bed.

© Rui Vale De Sousa | Dreamstime.com

Because my home is at the top of the hill, I have a long view to the south. If there is bad weather in that direction, I sometimes wait until nightfall and watch the lightning dance across the sky. Very impressive.

© Jerry Horn | Dreamstime.com

I hope you like these images of night lightning. I think the secret to these shots is to have a high vantage point. It's still not an easy shot. Here's
one final lightning image from a photographer who tried for years to get a good lightning picture. It wasn't taken at night, but I love the three bolts and the mall in the foreground - humans can make as many changes to the landscape as they want, but nature will continue on as it always has, and will always have the last word.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Elliott Smith

The extraordinary music of the late Elliott Smith has the ability to move listeners on a profound level. Dark themes are somehow transmuted into comfort and acceptance. The song is Independence Day, and the images are of Smith. His tragic death at the age of 34 is still felt by his many fans.

Dreamscapes - Water

If there is magic on the planet, it is contained in the water.
~ Loren Eisley

Most people who remember their dreams, even if only occasionally, will have a memory of a water dream. The symbolic power of water, that essential element, is immense. It flows into our dreams to reveal the symbiosis between our conscious minds and our emotions, or even the contents of the unconscious mind, the unexplored terrain that houses either repressed traumas, the wisdom of humanity, or both (depending on who you read).

As it related to emotions, water in a dream can evoke calm and relaxation (a babbling brook, a fountain, a beautiful waterfall) or, perhaps more commonly, anxiety and fear (flooding, drowning, a tidal wave, a raging river). Turbulent waters can mean that the dreamer feels out of control in waking life. A tidal wave (a dream I used to have with some regularity) can signal a time of emotional upheaval or unusual stress. I'm happy to report having made it through that time, and that the tidal waves have since subsided.

But within my own dreams, water has also played a role in places that I visit again and again. There is a tree-lined brook I frequent. There isn't any strong emotion associated with it - it's just a lovely place to go. There is also a waterway lined with carved stone that looks like something from a medieval city. No one goes swimming in it because of strong currents. There is an implication that people have drowned there.

These dreams about specific places are harder to interpret, in that they don't seem to directly relate to anything going on in my life at the time of the dreams. So they remain mysterious destinations of my dreaming self, scenes for me to puzzle over, then accept as part of the dream landscape that offers clarity one night and enigma the next.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Kings of Convenience

It's been quite a while since this blog was graced by a performance from the Kings of Convenience. So here's a wonderful rendition of their song, Winning a Battle, Losing the War. I love their quiet, thoughtful music. Don't be surprised if they turn up again at some point in the future.

Diversions for Insomniacs #8

Maybe you've seen the YouTube video of the game, Crayon Physics. And maybe you wished you could play it, but they only have the prototype game available right now, which doesn't have the same level of functionality as the game in the video.

Fortunately, there's Magic Pen, a fun, interesting and frustrating game based on Crayon Physics. The object is to move the red ball so that it rolls over the red flag. It won't move on its own - it needs to be put in motion using shapes you draw. It also might need a path to reach the flag. You get the idea.

I got through level 4, but only by using a cheat. Even then, it took several tries to get it to work. If you like basic physics and a challenge, give it a try.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Martin Fabricius

This week's lullaby is a vibraphone solo from Danish musician Martin Fabricius. The song is So You Say. He takes a complex arrangement and makes it look easy. I really like this for its sparkling, energetic sound.

Dreamscapes - The Midnight Sun

David Scott, Puck Fleeing from the Dawn, 1837
(National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh)

This week marks the summer solstice, the shortest night of the year in the northern hemisphere. Given that I live in a northern latitude and blog about the night, it's probably pretty obvious that I've never been a big fan of these long days, when the light lingers as late as 10 o'clock in clear weather. I don't have a good explanation for it - just a vague sense that the day should somehow not last so long, that no good can come of it.

Which perhaps explains why the midnight sun has, from time to time, made an appearance in my dreams. I've never seen the midnight sun - I don't live that far north, and never have. But in this recurring dream, I am standing in a familiar place, a room, and I look out the window. The sun is in the western sky, but nowhere close to setting. I observe it calmly, but then remember that it's three in the morning, and the sun should not be shining. The dream ends; the overall effect is unsettling.

What is the interpretation of the dream? That something related to that room (my associations with it) requires illumination of an uncommon sort; otherwise, I might not accept what is revealed. Has that actually happened in real life - has some insight has been given? Yes, but there may be more to come. It's hard to tell for certain. Such is the elusive nature of dreams, especially ones that call into question established patterns of thinking.

Dreams serve as bellweathers, challenging us to change course or give up beliefs that no longer serve us. Clarity can be hard-earned, and we might not like what we come to see, but our dreams can point the way through and forward, the path to new frontiers.

Finally, a note about the image: Puck, from A Midsummer Night's Dream, flees the coming dawn. In the final scene of the play, he says:

And we fairies, that do run
By the triple Hecate's team,
From the presence of the sun,
Following darkness like a dream,
Now are frolic.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Diatonis

In keeping with the topic of dreams, here is a beautifully ethereal video by Diatonis of their song, Aurora. It combines electronica of surprising depth with hypnotic imagery of primal elements - air and water, sky and sea. I hope you enjoy its fluid beauty.

Dreamscapes - An Introduction

© Mel Gama | Dreamstime.com

Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.
~ Carl Jung

The Epic of Gilgamesh, possibly the oldest written story in existence, tells the tale of the warrior-king Gilgamesh and his exploits. Believed to be as much as 4,000 years old, the epic includes several of Gilgamesh's dreams, which are interpreted first by his mother and then by his friend, Enkidu, who tell him that the dreams, while disturbing, are favorable omens.

Our dreams may portend the future, serve as messages from God or reveal the workings of our unconscious mind. They might fuel creative endeavors or evaporate with the first light of day. They may mystify, terrorize or amuse us. They are a fundamental part of who we are, as individuals and as part of humanity. To learn the language of dreams is to enter an alien land, a far country, where, in some strange way, there is information that we have hidden from ourselves waiting to be discovered and deciphered and integrated into our conscious lives.

Dreams speak to us in symbols that have specific meaning to the individual and broader meaning related to universal themes. As we delve into these symbols, I'll be drawing on the work of Carl Jung and others to provide some insight into their meaning. Jung's view of the unconscious mind, as revealed by dreams, was complex and fascinating. The idea of the collective unconscious was his, what he called "a reservoir of the experiences of our species." Consequently, we all draw on dream symbols that are common to humanity, while at the same time assigning personal meaning to aspects of our dreams.

To get things started, consider some dreams of famous people and the impact they had. Well, I guess the new golf swing Jack Nicklaus dreamed mostly just affected him. Our unconscious mind can help us solve problems, but let's not limit ourselves. There's a lot more going on in those depths. I'll meet you there.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Carly Simon

Let's go down to the gazebo for a visit with the wonderfully talented Carly Simon. Here, she celebrates a lovely summer night with Quiet Evening. I like the bossa nova feel of this song, smooth and mellow. It's a nice reminder to take a little time for ourselves now and then.

Deep Space Inhabitants - Dark Matter

Credit: NASA/ESA/M.J. Jee and H. Ford (Johns Hopkins University)

Much like black holes, dark matter suffers from a lack of visibility. It may make up almost all of the mass in the universe, but it doesn't emit or reflect light or other forms of radiation.

So what is the evidence of its existence? Astronomers infer its presence from gravitational effects on visible matter. In the Hubble Space Telescope composite image above, you can see an ethereal ring of dark matter in a galaxy cluster. How is that possible? Light from more distant galaxies is bent by the galaxy cluster. By observing those distortions, astronomers can map them and determine how the dark matter is distributed.

Credit: NASA/ESA/C. Heymans (Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver)/M. Gray (Univ. of Nottingham, U.K.)/M. Barden (Innsbruck), the STAGES collaboration, C. Wolf (Oxford Univ., U.K.)/K. Meisenheimer (Max-Planck Inst. for Astronomy, Heidelberg)/COMBO-17 collaboration

Another composite image shows clumps of dark matter around a galaxy supercluster.

There's got to be some frustration for astronomers in not being able to see most of the universe, of only being able to infer it. Then again, the vast majority of knowledge we receive is indirect. Any new item I read or view is inferred, in that I'm not there to witness the event. Even knowledge of other people is second-hand. We have to trust they're being honest when we ask what they're thinking or feeling.

The hardest thing to accept, though, is that even with ourselves, direct knowledge of the psyche is hard to come by. We have our habits and compulsions, our little ways, but self-knowledge is largely intimated, and true insight is rare.

But the night has not left us without resources. So I'll be turning my attention from the night sky and toward the inner landscape as revealed by our dreams. Stay tuned.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Durufle

It's the time of year for spring concerts offered by choral groups. This is a lovely video of a mixed chamber choir performing Durufle's arrangement of the medieval hymn, Ubi Caritas. No identifying information of the choir was provided by the video poster, so we will have to enjoy their work even as they remain anonymous.

Deep Space Inhabitants - Black Holes Revisited

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A couple of weeks ago when I wrote about black holes, I neglected to mention what happens when things get sucked into a black hole. So here's author Neil deGrasse Tyson explaining that process to Jon Stewart in an interview from 2007. Tip of the night: Avoid black holes.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Staffan Svahn

YouTube comes through again with another gifted acoustic guitarist. Staffan Svahn has posted more than two dozen videos of his original compositions. This song is Mockingbird and Traffic, a reference to the two biggest contributors to background noise when he's trying to record his videos. That's pretty cool, turning frustration into such a great song. I've got to learn that trick.

Diversions for Insomniacs #7

Rodin's The Thinker

Sometimes insomnia is driven by a steady stream of thoughts that can be hard to shut off. These thoughts can be mundane, a reflection of everyday anxieties, but from time to time they take on a more existential flavor - "Why am I here?" "What is the purpose of existence?"

Wouldn't it be nice if you could get an answer to these tough questions from a trained philosopher? Well, you can, at the
Ask a Philosopher! website. This service, offered by the International Society of Philosophers, has answered thousands of questions since it began in 1999. Check the archives to see if your burning questions have already been answered. If not, submit them and gain some insight into what's been keeping you awake at night.

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Israel Kamakawiwo Ole

Perhaps you're one of the 7.4 million people who have viewed this video of Israel Kamakawiwo Ole's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World. If so, here's your chance to enjoy it again. If not, here's your opportunity to view a classic, with its wonderfully jumbled up lyrics and Ole's sweet, soulful voice. It's a simple, lovely video that has touched so many.

Deep Space Inhabitants - Black Holes

Credit: X-Ray: NASA/CXC/D.Hudson, T.Reiprich et al. (AIfA);
Radio: NRAO/VLA/NRL

The true magnitude of the weirdness of deep space becomes clear when you start to think about things like black holes. Most garden-variety black holes are remnants of supernova explosions that collapse in on themselves. They reach a point of zero volume and infinite density, from which no light can escape.

So how can there be pictures of black holes? It works if you can capture signals other than light. It also helps to target supermassive black holes, which are thought to exist at the centers of some galaxies.

The image above is a composite of x-ray and radio signals and reveals a binary black hole. According to the information on this image, these objects are "surrounded by multimillion degree x-ray emitting gas, and blasting out jets of relativistic particles."

Composite Image Credit: X-ray in red - NASA/CXC/S.Allen (Kavli Inst., Stanford) et al.;
Radio in blue - NRAO/G.Taylor (VLA);
Infrared in green - NASA/ESA/W.Harris (McMaster Univ.)

Another composite image, this one including infrared, shows material that fell towards a supermassive black hole, then was blasted back out. The blue regions are radio-emitting bubbles that measure about 10,000 light years across.

I like the idea of using different signals to image black holes. When one way of seeing fails, try another. The persistence of astronomers has revealed extraordinary processes where powerful energies swirl around regions of nothingness. These processes allow us to see the cosmic dance of creation and destruction that otherwise would have been hidden by the void of space and of the black holes themselves. Kind of makes me wonder what else we might be missing for fear of the dark...

Lullaby for Grown-Ups - Curtis Mayfield

This week's lullaby is a wonderful performance of the classic R&B song People Get Ready, performed by Curtis Mayfield, the song's composer. This is a clip from the TV show Night Music, which aired in the late 1980s. I mention this to explain the credits that start running toward the end of the clip. That's Taylor Dane singing backup and David Sanborn on the sax. I hope you enjoy this poignant, lovely performance.

Deep Space Inhabitants - Nebulae

Credit: NASA/ESA/HEIC/The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Acknowledgment: R. Corradi (Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes, Spain), Z. Tsvetanov (NASA)

Deep space nebulae - the eye candy of astronomy. These clouds of space dust, plasma and hydrogen are some of the most beautiful objects in deep space. The image above is of the Cat's Eye nebula, which is actually a dying star. If you've noticed a similarity between it and Sauron's eye from the Lord of the Rings movies, you're not the first. It wasn't the only nebula I found that looked like an eye. I'll end this post with another one.

Credit: T.A.Rector (NOAO/AURA/NSF)/Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA/NASA)

Perhaps more familiar is the Horsehead nebula in the constellation of Orion. I remember this nebula from school, so we've had pictures of it for a while. This one is from the Hubble Space Telescope, as are all the images here. It's a wonderful thing when science and art converge.

Credit: NASA/ESA/The Hubble Heritage
(STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration
Acknowledgment: J. Hester (Arizona State University)

The delicate colors of the Veil nebula, above, are the remnants of a supernova explosion.

Credit: NASA/ESA/J. Hester and A. Loll (Arizona State University)

The same is true of the Crab nebula - it's also the remains of a supernova. Its blue glow comes from a neutron star at its center. According to the news release for this image, "The blue light comes from electrons whirling at nearly the speed of light around magnetic field lines from the neutron star. ... A neutron star is the crushed ultra-dense core of the exploded star."

Credit: NASA/ESA/J. Hester (Arizona State University)

Nebulae aren't always about star deaths. They can also be places of star formation. The Omega or Swan nebula, above, is a complex structure, with ultraviolet radiation interacting with hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur. The radiation is coming from young stars that aren't quite in the image.

Credit: NASA/ESA/M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA)/
The Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team

Another region of star formation is the Orion nebula, only 1,500 light years from Earth. Thousands of stars are being born in this beautiful chaos.

Credit: NASA/H. Ford (JHU)/G. Illingworth (UCSC/LO)/M.Clampin (STScI)/
G. Hartig (STScI)/The ACS Science Team/ESA

Finally, we have one more image of the Omega or Swan nebula. This is the other eye I saw - notice the red half-circle to the right of and below center. Notice also the red arc to its right. Then imagine some reclining being and that's its eye, with a red eyebrow. Not as scary as Sauron, but still not someone I'd like to have an encounter with anytime soon. Nebulae are gorgeous, until you start finding stuff in them...