Spells and Curses
"King Aroo", a surreal 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, as opposed to mere 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... I'm glad their brains are mush.
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.
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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... |
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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 |
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ARAGORN'S LIVER: by Wayan; 1983/1/29, a health-warning nightmare. I'm a hobbit in Silicon Valley, stalking Ring-wraiths down El Camino. But one of them's stalking me... CAUTION: VIOLENCE, HYPNOTIC GASLIGHTING |
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ARCTIC UNICORN: by Wayan; 1989/8/2, a self-flagging predictive dream I'm in a gypsy wagon that always creeps north; to break the spell, I need an arctic unicorn. Four days later, at work at the library, a new book appears: Nancy Luenn's Arctic Unicorn... |
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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! Struggle with the easy stuff; zoom through the hard stuff... |
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THE BATTLE FOR THE RAI DRAGON: by Rikutsu; 2015/12/6, a dream declaring change is ready at last In a corrupt world, a talisman called the Rai Dragon offers hope of real change-- IF it can be found, AND used by someone decent-hearted... |
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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 soupmix sends me upstairs to a secret wizards' lab. They've summoned a demon they can't handle: the furious Black Unicorn... |
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THE BLAMMOR: by Wayan; 1984/4/20, 4 linked private-eye dreams. I'm a Fast-Food Detective tracking down a kidnapper-sorceress. I find castles, monsters, magic carpets... and unexpected love. CAUTION: SEX |
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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 installed a new security system... |
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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 |
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CHIDI AND PONY-MISTRESS: by Wayan, 2019/9/25, a mysterious dream Ethics professor Chidi from The Good Place, painted purple, tells me he's in love with the Mistress of the Herd, a mix of Circe, Dr. Moreau & My Little Pony, who radiates spells of love & beauty... CAUTION: WEIRD IMAGERY, CRYPTIC, NUDE PONIES |
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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... |
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CROCODILE DREAM: by Patagia; 2015/10/5, a nightmare-poem on recklessness Closer I edge to admire their scales, the glint of their teeth, and shape of their tails. They cast a strong spell... |
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CURSE HER IN THE OAK: by Wayan; 2009/9/28, dream poem on an odd job; Dreamverse #56 I'm a girl in rural Victorian England working as the county's magical protector. I have my hands full: a gang of thievish orphans has holed up in an invisibility tree! Showdown at the oak... |
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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 the fear of curses fueled the witch hunts... CAUTION: DISTURBING IMPLICATIONS, IF TRUE |
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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 |
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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 |
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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... |
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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... |
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DINO FOR A NIGHT: by Wayan; 2017/7/9, a sci-fi-movie dream poem I'm turned into a small dinosaur and treated as a guard dog. But I meet a dino girl. We have fun, once we see it's a movie--they won't kill off the love interests. Hollywood rules make us invulnerable... |
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DON'T SETTLE FOR HALF: by Wayan; 2010/1/21; an advisory dream about dreaming Struggling to recall a magical dream, I suddenly get a single, simple image. ... |
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DON'T TREAD ON ME: by Herdis Bollisurdottir; c.1040, a psychic dream of a ghost with an agenda A ghost complains Herdis's grandma bothers her. Herdis wakes, tells Grandma, and they dig up the floor to find... |
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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... |
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THE EGG PROBLEM: by Wayan; 1990/3/2, digital painting of a magical dream. I'm an intellectual ballerina trying to stop zombies hatching from stone eggs, but I succeed only when I become a dragon using touch, scent and visualization to persuade the eggs... |
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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... |
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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? |
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EMBARKATION, or, THIS PORTAL COIL: by Wayan; 2013/8/28, a magical dream on dreams A spiral pillow-path leads to an astral portal. But creatures arriving and departing jam the same path! Squeeze by, hop over, apologize... flirt Wait, isn't this a dream-image of death & letting go? Then why's it look so fun? |
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THE ENCHANTED WOMAN: by Anna Kingsford; Feb. 1877, an epic prehistoric dream. Goaded by a green spirit of envy, an Ice Age sorceror kidnaps Adam's Eve, arresting human evolution... |
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ERODE THE MUTING CURSE: by Wayan, 2014/8/23, a dream of... health advice? The Fairy Queen curses me, taking away my language. Recovery often takes years, but I practice hard, and speak full sentences--the next day. The Queen is slipping... |
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FAERIE: by Wayan; 1995/7/18 & 95/8/6: 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...) |
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FALCON AND FÜHRER: by Miriel; 1985/7/31, an epic flying/transformation dream A mysterious "Führer" hypnotized all my companions. So I become a human-sized falcon and hunt him... |
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FAMINE: by Marilyn Stablein; 1968, a dream while visiting Nepal... for six years Famine in the monastery. We add weather charts, leather laces and walking sticks to the menu. Even the ghosts are hungry... |
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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... |
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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? |
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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... |
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A HAUNTED HOUSE INDEED!: by Anna Kingsford; 1887/4/12, an epic ghost dream I was warned about soul-devouring art in the haunted house, but I didn't expect to find an entire art salon... CAUTION: ABSORBING ARTWORK |
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THE HEDGEHOG DISPENSARY: by Wayan; 2004/10/2, furtopian watercolor 12-page dreamcomic (or text + pics) A rabbit shaman makes his student drape dead hedgehogs round her neck til she bleeds. How to free her? CAUTION: FURRY NUDITY, ABUSIVE MENTOR |
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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... |
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HISTORY DEMANDS PURPLE: by Wayan, 2020/2/18, a dream warning old abuse still harms me I'm in a palace spinning a purple royal gown for... a non-princess! And the silk's spinning out of my fingers. What am I, a spider? Turns out it's a spell making anyone encountering a teenage girl here re-enact a royal investiture from centuries ago... CAUTION: ABUSIVE THERAPIST (non-graphic) |
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HOMEBOUND: by Sunshine; 2015/3/21, a dream posing an ethical dilemma Elves are making humans grow tree-doors back to Faerie. But are they invasion-scouts, or just going home? CAUTION: GUNFIGHT, MIND CONTROL |
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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... |
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I DREAM OF... ME: by Linda Medley; 1990 or 91, a dream-comic, the seed of Castle Waiting I wake in a hobbit-hole. My love looks worried. What's wrong with me? A badger takes me to see wizard Sean Connery, who gives me feathers to eat, and I become... |
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IGNORABLE DRAGON: by Wayan; 2019/4/13; a dream of brain-unwashing Out my window, a dog is fighting a snake. A dog with bat wings. A dog big as a horse. A griffin! Big as a bus now. A dragon! What spell made me mistake THAT for a dog?... |
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ISLAND LOVERS: by Sunshine; 2015/9/14, a horror-film dream gone soft? They sneak off from a party to have a thresome, but monsters try to harvest their organs! Inept monsters... CAUTION: SEX (OFFSTAGE) |
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KARMA AND HER SISTERS: by Emily Joy; 2006/12/27, a sexy dream that turns 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 |
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LIZARD OR WIZARD? Or, ARACHNOLYPSE by Wayan, 2021/2/10; a cynical magical dream An idiot wizard lures car-sized spiders into town. I find a spellbook that repels them, but have to hide it so my community college professors, Gandalf & Saruman, don't take it. For I'm no wizard, just a lizard... CAUTION: HUGE SPIDERS, HUGE SELLOUTS |
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MAHAKALA, MOZART, AND THE CRIPPLED BIRD: by Wayan; 1985/4/17, a dream on facing shadows The Christian God vs Mahakala, Buddhist god of right anger! War in Middle Earth, as Pink Floyd sings... |
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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... |
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MUTISM'S PENUMBRA: by Wayan, 2019/9/9, an otherworldly dream of a curiously familiar malaise In a world of wizards, many have gone silent. They seem to forget speech exists. A toxin, a disease? But what explains people's calm as more go mute? No, it's an insidious spell--with a penumbra making us take its spread for granted... CAUTION: IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR WORLD |
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MY LIPS ARE SEALED: by Wayan, 1989/6/3, a moody, psychic, epic, 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 this for old age! Then, in real life, my dad wakes up from a nap paralyzed... |
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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? |
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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? |
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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 |
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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 |
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THE ONI PLAGUE: by Wayan; 2018/2/2, a dream implying our leaders are sociopathic Humans and elves like me can get along, but not oni (Japanese demons)--they'll hurt anyone for gain... CAUTION: POLITICAL BITTERNESS |
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ORIOLE GIRL: by Wayan; 1992/1/23, psychic dream told as illustrated poem. While conducting a census of fairies in Golden Gate Park, I fall in love with an abused oriole-girl, and we try to heal one another... CAUTION: AWKWARD SEX |
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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 |
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PIXY CONCUSSION: by Wayan; 2006/3/11, a diagnostic sex-dream comic, 9 p. (or illus. text) Janet's obsessed with a creepy guy till her pixy friend Kay decides to "knock some sense into her cunt"--literally... CAUTION: LANGUAGE, NASTY LOVE SPELL, PIXIE NUDITY |
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POKER WITH A DEMON: by Wayan; 1980/8/15; a comic predictive financial dream. I'm authorized to play high-stakes poker with a scary-looking but rather nice demon... |
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PSYCHIC CAT: by Scott Bartell, art by Jesse Reklaw; pre-2000; a comic dreamlet Our neighbors keep dropping by with gifts and favors for our cat. Why? He'd gained magical powers by amassing 10,000 dead mice... |
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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 |
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SCROLLS: by Chris Wayan 1989/2/17, & Mark Varitz 1989/2/18; parallel dreamlets CHRIS: I find what may be a magic potion, if it has a scroll hidden in the liquid... MARK: I'm underwater. Spirits dance around me, on top of sunken scrolls... |
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THE SELL-FISH WITCHES: by Wayan; 1983/6/29, an epic corrective dream My sister and I are runaways, developing psychic powers. A cult of fish-selling witches wants to use us... CAUTION: SIBLING INCEST, SPELL ABUSE |
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SELL THE GODS, AND RAISE HELL!: by Wayan; 1994/1/26, a dream riddle. Reactionaries smash a paper. To rebuild, the editor must sell the sacred tiki carvings! But gods don't LIKE being sold... CAUTION: MORAL QUANDARY |
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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 undo his changes! Who's sabotaging him? Or... WHAT? |
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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 |
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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 fairytale kiss... |
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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? |
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STOP ME!: by Wayan; 1994/2/22, a nested nightmare on guilt for simply feeling I kill with an angry wish, just pointing my finger! No one sees, but I secretly pray others will stop me before I snipe again. Yet when I meet a telepath who can see my guilt, I start to wonder just what my crime was--beside guilt itself... CAUTION: VIOLENCE, GUILT |
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SUMMONING SHADOW: by Jo Equinity; 2006. Three meditative paintings apparently cause a miracle. I had to sell my horse Shadow, but I missed him so much I painted him. As I finished, a strange impulse led me... |
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SWAN: by Wayan; 1995/4/8, a transformation dream; 3-page dreamcomic (or as ill. text) I wake amnesic in a cabin in Alaska, in a dress printed with self-putdowns. I track down the wizard who cursed me. He turns me into a swan! Worse? No! His first curse was on a human being, and now I'm a bird. My mind is free!... |
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TARDIS GAZEBO: by Wayan; 1993/2/17, a 3-page digital dream-comic Solve a pictographic riddle and you can fly, shapeshift, work magic! But someone doesn't want us solving dream-riddles... |
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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: INTERRUPTED SEX |
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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 |
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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... |
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TWO WITCHES: by Melissa McClanahan, 2013/9/8, a short painted dream-comic Two witches, maiden and crone, ride a flying monster made of two magically fused trolls. But I know somehow that the two are really just aspects of a single powerful sorceress... |
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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?... |
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THE UNICORN MASK OF IGNORABILITY: by Wayan; 2009/10/13, a predictive dream; Dreamverse #59 My family home's invaded by ancient Egyptian architects. So I put on my unicorn mask and eavesdrop on their plans... |
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VOTERS GONE CRAZY: by Thomas Madden, c. 2009/2/5; a political nightmare It's election time in Europe, but voters have gone crazy. Nazis invade England. In my library, Sarah Palin rots... CAUTION: POLITICS GONE WACKY |
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THE WHITE DEER, RE-ENACTED: by Wayan; 2009/3/2, a parabolic dreampoem. I'm living in an England rendered in chalk. We wander the woods with butterfly nets, ritually hunting the White Deer--if that's what they really are... |
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WILD MAGIC: by Wayan, 2018/1/8, a dream on finding a place A teacher drafts me into her magic class to shake up her sheltered wizard-wannabes. My magic's wild, ignoring spells and rules. I don't think I realized how wild... CAUTION: NUDITY |
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WITNESS IN THE FIELD: by Wayan; 1985/7/8, an apparent predictive nightmare DREAM: I witness a murder on a farm. So I hide in the fields as assault-gun bullets fly... NEXT DAY: I go see a love story set on a farm. But suddenly killers show up to eliminate a witness to a murder. Assault rifles in the cornfields... CAUTION: VIOLENCE & APPARENT E.S.P. |
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THE WIZARD'S HORSE: by Wayan; 2018/9/3, a magical dream about... toxic waste? I'm a wizard's horse, trying to warn him about a toxic spell on a roadside corpse... Wake into a second dream, but try to return to being a dream-mare and warn my rider... And then wake to realize my Nightmare was warning about a home-renovation project! |
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YOGA SAINT: by Wayan; 2010/12/4, an incubated, disturbing diagnostic dream I dream I meet my headaches! An ascetic yogi who punishes jokers, flirts and cynics for worldliness... |
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