Premonition
I dreamed the water ran out, then I woke up and it did. Spluttering, a strange gasping sound, then nothing.
A reminder. I am not as prepared as I should be.
This week, fragments of beauty from a friend in the north, words against certainty, help for nocturnal distress and an unexpected push to leave my home of four years.
Imaginal skill as medicinal pill
It turns out you can change nightmares and months of repetitive anxious dreams with just a few concerted days of a simple imagery-based technique from a 1990s book with an exceedingly ugly cover. I bought it for a dear one but thought I should try it myself first. An experienced ‘dreamer’, with decades of recording and exploration of dreams behind me, I had not heard of this book’s approach. I had stuck mainly to not interfering with my inner ‘dream forest’, seeing lucid dreaming, for instance, as akin to cutting down rainforest to sow soya - reaping more of the waking mind and its usual desires and addictions.
This is different, and when I am sure of the results in a month or so, I’ll share it here. But for any of you who suffer nightly, weekly or regular nightmares, as several of my friends and loved ones do, then here are the details1 so that you can find yourself a second hand copy now. The first 150 pages are pretty dated and spend time respectfully explaining things to die-hard Freudians. You can start right in with the practical methods if you are suffering, as the cultural context has really changed and few of us have the money for a decade of analysis once, let alone four times, a week.2 As with so many things, answers, cures and remedies have been found before, even thousands of years ago. Yet somehow they have failed to gain traction in the culture, or been overpowered by those who would peddle expensive drugs instead of simple, properly studied, basically free, methods. This was a recurring theme in James Nestor’s Breath and is certainly the case with this book.
I will report back when I feel I have a good overview and something useful to add.
I totally agree with everything you said
How do you get your hit of ecstasy? Hallelujah? Sex? Actual, old school MDMA. Being right?
That last one, so tight fitting and gorgeous, like zipping up a new wetsuit and diving into the sea. Tiny little fingers of cold truths other than your own favourite ones creep in at the neck but are soon warmed up and you feel cosy again. Buoyant, sleek, impervious: wonderful! You need never feel uncomfortable again.
Looking back at the luxury flats along the clifftop. A lovely colour, a fine bit of painted woodwork. Minds, painted shut.
To the back teeth
Britain is an archipelago of over 1000 islands, almost all of which are vulnerable to erosion or partial destruction by the sea and climatic forces. This applies just as much to the ‘mainland’ as to any of the small isles offshore. It is a fact of life and with care, some useful signage and keeping our wits about us, ordinary people have been happily walking along the edge since the last Ice Age, there are hearth-sites to prove it. Lulworth Cove beach half fell-in a few months ago and the public can still go there. No one has been hurt.
The place which is my haven, and is just as precious to hundreds of other locals, has just been closed, for no good reason3, for an indefinite number of months, in the most high-handed and untimely of ways. I am simultaneously sad and furious. There’s nothing I can do about it apart from write emails, as I am not a landowner. A few months ago I asked ‘where is the hidden serfdom?’. Well, here it is. The Crown Estate4, the rent-extorting arm of our ridiculous monarchy, enforced by paid-up jobsworths who love their little bit of clip board power have caused one unequivocal result: I now cannot see any way to rest my head, renew my sanity and see my nearest and dearest in a way that doesn’t cost me a fortune. It is time to leave Dorset and move ‘up north’ to be with my partner sooner than I thought. On Wednesday I will go and say goodbye to the spring I tend and let it know I will be back as soon as thoughtless officialdom allows.
For a little longer I must sit with grief of various hues, thanks for your patience. This week, recent audio Substacks by
and have been a great help. Go well, all.
This week’s good thing: As I previously mentioned in Notes this week, at last I can welcome The Dark Mountain Project to Substack. Go and read the unique writing and enjoy the visual art that is already online, curated by DM editor Charlotte Du Cann. There are already essays up by founders Dougald Hine and Paul Kingsnorth, a piece from the ARK book by me and great poetry by Emerging Hermit Em Strang.
Many of us write regularly about the need for real writing, genuine art (and music) unspoiled by AI. I am happy to be able to commend 15 years’ worth of just that: engaged, deeply thoughtful, often beautiful work, some brand new, some of which has been published in the limited edition books or on the Dark Mountain website. Sign up for their regular monthly newsletter, which is free, or delve into the treasure trove which will be formed for paid subscribers week by week on the Substack. I don’t know anywhere else that has such a rich archive of great art and writing that has not yet been shared online.
Paid subscriptions will also help create the real-life Dark Mountain books, and full disclosure - I am part of the editing team for the next one, an edition dedicated to the visual side of the project, the artists and the Uncivilised Art we’ve made. DM has been a real home for my art and writing for a decade, long before Substack existed. I hope you enjoy digging in, too.
Conquering Bad Dreams & Nightmares by Krakow & Neidhardt ISBN 0425132110
And if you do have the money for that, and are still suffering nightmares regularly, you should probably ask your therapist for a partial rebate.
The rockfalls in question were in January 2024. Works and assessments could have been done in the winter when no one would have been disturbed.
There seem to be reasonable clinical trials to back up Kakow & Neidhardt.
It will be interesting to get your report.
I have had good experience with another ritual creating protected space from valued personal experience / people / living world. Best wishes for your move. I daresay something of good Dorset will be sufficiently portable to carry north. It would be great to be able to put a protective spell round that which we must leave behind!