Dreaming Of Real People/Places You Didn't Consciously Know About

[AnonyJ]

Because the phenomenon I am describing doesn't quite fit into the existing threads about dreams or dreaming, I thought I'd start one! Please do move or merge if you think otherwise dear Mods

Had a funny-weird dream this morning!

Me & Mr Joolz were flying to a Portuguese island called 'Santa Maria' on a smallish plane although it was mostly the usual dreamy nonsense (ie plane was the size of a living room, the flight took about 20 minutes and most of the dream was about chasing a bag of toiletries left at the airport) I distinctly remember the name of the island, that it belonged to Portugal, the mini island-style airport etc etc. plus arriving in broad sunshine even though it was (according to my dream-watch) about 2am. No tea or coffee in the dream hotel rooms apparently, what a shocker!

The weird thing is... on a whim I looked it up and Santa Maria is the southernmost island in The Azores, is a Portuguese territory and is known for its sunny and warm climate. I knew there was a group of islands called 'The Azores' and it was somewhere in the Atlantic but as far I knew, that was the extent of my knowledge. For some reason I had always thought they might be vaguely closer to the Caribbean, much further west. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_Island

Another one from a few years back - had a weird dream about the British royal family, but regarding the generation before. For some reason there was a 'Prince Humphrey' and even during my dream I kinda 'knew' there's never been a Prince Humphrey. Just for the shits and giggles I looked it up. There has been one, just the one, in Plantagenet times. I had no concious knowledge of him before my dream. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey,_Duke_of_Gloucester

There was also the time I dreamed about a castle named Castle something-or-other and it was a real place in France of all places, now a hotel, but I can't remember the actual name of it now (sorry).

Thoughts and similar experiences please!

(edited for typos)

 

[catseye]

Because the phenomenon I am describing doesn't quite fit into the existing threads about dreams or dreaming, I thought I'd start one! Please do move or merge if you think otherwise dear Mods

Had a funny-weird dream this morning!

Me & Mr Joolz were flying to a Portuguese island called 'Santa Maria' on a smallish plane although it was mostly the usual dreamy nonsense (ie plane was the size of a living room, the flight took about 20 minutes and most of the dream was about chasing a bag of toiletries left at the airport) I distinctly remember the name of the island, that it belonged to Portugal, the mini island-style airport etc etc. plus arriving in broad sunshine even though it was (according to my dream-watch) about 2am. No tea or coffee in the hote rooms apparently, what a shocker!

The weird thing is... on a whim I looked it up and Santa Maria is the southernmost island in The Azores, is a Portuguese territory and is known for its sunny and warm climate. I knew there was a group of islands called 'The Azores' and it was somewhere in the Atlantic but as far I knew, that was the extent of my knowledge. For some reason I had always thought they might be vaguely closer to the Caribbean, much further west. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_Island

Another one from a few years back - had a weird dream about the British royal family, but regarding the generation before. For some reason there was a 'Prince Humphrey' and even during my dream I kinda knew there's never been a Prince Humphrey. Just for the shits and giggles I looked it up. There has been one, just the one, in Plantagenet times. I had no concious knowledge of him before my dream. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey,_Duke_of_Gloucester

There was also the time I dreamed about a castle named Castle something-or-other and it was a real place in France of all places, now a hotel, but I can't remember the actual name of it now (sorry).

Thoughts and similar experiences please!

The trouble with these things is that unconscious knowledge can never be ruled out - like with 'recovered memories of past lives'. You may think you didn't know there was an island called Santa Maria or a prince called Humphrey, but you could have known it without 'knowing' it, if you see what I mean. It only takes one snippet on the news or a book you read in school. Dreams throw up all kinds of unconscious stuff.

 

[AnonyJ]

The trouble with these things is that unconscious knowledge can never be ruled out - like with 'recovered memories of past lives'. You may think you didn't know there was an island called Santa Maria or a prince called Humphrey, but you could have known it without 'knowing' it, if you see what I mean. It only takes one snippet on the news or a book you read in school. Dreams throw up all kinds of unconscious stuff.

I know, I am fascinated by that more than any 'woo' factor - I guess every tiny bit of information we've ever read or seen or heard is stored away in the grey matter somewhere and it sometimes manifests in our dreaming hours. Why this should happen is an excellent mystery!

 

[gattino]

Actually i wonder what and how much evidence there actually is for the claim everything glimpsed and heard is stored unconsciously in some vault in the brain, ready to be retrieved. As an explanation its most often asserted during alleged/purported cases of past life memory but also any other anomalous display of information. Being so accustomed to hearing it and feeling it logical and sensible to suppose its true when the alternative is "paranormal", ive never heard anyone stop to ask if it IS true. I mean what distinct evidence is there for such a mental function outside of offering it as an explanation for these fortean topics? Has it been tested? How?

I'm not saying it hasn't or that it isn't the case. Just wondering if there's anything to it beyond the confident assertion that it must be so.

 

[EnolaGaia]

I think the more likely explanation concerns juxtaposition of names / words to serve an immediate purpose in a dream.

Within the last few days I had a dream in which I was holding an envelope with address "windows" and recognized it was addressed to me as a bill for which I was responsible. When I examined the printed letterhead on the envelope it read "(MyTown; current town of residence) Electric Company." I proceeded smoothly within the dream with this object being identified as my electric bill. However ...

My power provider in the current "MyTown" has never been named "MyTown Electric Company." Why jump to the conclusion I was channeling unconscious knowledge that there are multiple "MyTown Electric Companies" in multiple other states, as well as multiple electrical equipment manufacturers and electrician services with that name?

The mind and memory rely on associations, and while dreaming mine improvised a working title for a party whose significance in the dream context lay in its perceived relation or role, not its formal name or identity.

 

[catseye]

Actually i wonder what and how much evidence there actually is for the claim everything glimpsed and heard is stored unconsciously in some vault in the brain, ready to be retrieved. As an explanation its most often asserted during alleged/purported cases of past life memory but also any other anomalous display of information. Being so accustomed to hearing it and feeling it logical and sensible to suppose its true when the alternative is "paranormal", ive never heard anyone stop to ask if it IS true. I mean what distinct evidence is there for such a mental function outside of offering it as an explanation for these fortean topics? Has it been tested? How?

I'm not saying it hasn't or that it isn't the case. Just wondering if there's anything to it beyond the confident assertion that it must be so.

I think I fleetingly read a disclaimer about 'everything we've ever seen or heard' being stored. Apparently the brain picks and chooses and tends to store things that are perceived to be 'important', whilst discarding the rest. You probably wouldn't retain the 54th time you dusted the shelves, for example, but you WOULD have a memory if you'd found something important or unexpected whilst dusting.

But who knows WHAT the brain decides is important?

 

[EnolaGaia]

There's a key difference between two fundamental aspects, dimensions or types of memory. These are commonly circumscribed as "episodic memory" (the tape recording of raw / actual experience) versus "semantic memory" (the edited / summarized digest of things distilled or generalized from that voluminous archive).

A shocking amount of "raw footage" is retained in the raw recording. Having experienced the TLR (Total Life Recall; "life flashing before one's eyes") effect more than once, I can assure you it all seems to be in there somewhere. However, we don't consciously operate with reference to the raw footage in everyday life or conversation. Our internal dialogues are operating by reference to the derived summary rather than the raw footage.

It is this derived digest of experience (and reflections on experience) that is dynamically created, extended and revised while we sleep and dream. I believe most dreams represent the semi-conscious mind's interpretation of what's fleetingly apprehended while passively eavesdropping on one's own memory maintenance / remodeling processes. The dreaming mind is weaving scenarios to accommodate whatever is overheard from the memory repair shop (i.e., making sense of whatever associations are being triggered).

It's therefore no surprise that this spontaneous scenario-building would use bits and elements consistent with knowledge and / or past experience. It's a realistic sketch / simulation because it's faithful to experience and understanding, not because it's accurate with regard to "reality."

 

[Ogdred Weary]

A shocking amount of "raw footage" is retained in the raw recording. Having experienced the TLR (Total Life Recall; "life flashing before one's eyes") effect more than once, I can assure you it all seems to be in there somewhere. However, we don't consciously operate with reference to the raw footage in everyday life or conversation. Our internal dialogues are operating by reference to the derived summary rather than the raw footage.

I'm curious about this EG, Alan Moore (of comics fame) has decided that time is a fourth dimension and we repeat our lives ad nauseum. An idea that I, and do doubt many others, find chilling. I'm not sure if we are all instantly "reborn" the moment we die or if we have to "wait" for the death of the universe and everything to reset, we would be oblivious any and I presume the situation would ultimately be no different.

I recall hearing a talk where he used examples from nurses where a patient's NDE was viewing a huge "wall" of images moments of their life - their life flashing before their eyes. He said that his relatively common though I don't think I've heard of these types of NDE prior to your comment. Can you expand a little on the experiences and their context?

 

[EnolaGaia]

... I don't think I've heard of these types of NDE prior to your comment. Can you expand a little on the experiences and their context?

There are multiple types of events that have been called "near death experiences." There's the "out-of-body experience upon becoming clinically dead" experience in which one floats or flies separate from his / her body and can view it from a third person perspective. There are also multiple versions of the "going-to-the-light" experience upon or immediately following death, in which the newly deceased progresses to a portal or transition point involving bright light before being summoned or sent back. These are the types of experience most commonly called "near death" nowadays.

Fifty or more years ago the most common experience described as "near death" was a spontaneous perceptual replay of one's life history - the "life flashing before one's eyes" event (aka panoramic life review; total life recall). I've experienced the TLR phenomenon 3 times, reaching its conclusion / culmination in two of the three incidents.

I've described these experiences and / or answered questions about them in these three threads from years ago:

The Disappearing Story
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/58490/

Life Flashing Before One's Eyes (Total Life Recall / Replay; Life Review)
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/9104/

My Life Flashed Before My Eyes!
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/my-life-flashed-before-my-eyes.23270/

The relevance to this thread lies in the notion that our episodic memory (the "raw footage" of life experience) remains archived but beyond the reach of routine conscious access. It is the condensed and edited digest of this raw footage that we engage in thinking during the day and "overhear" during its editing / updating in our sleep.

 

[Amergin]

I'm curious about this EG, Alan Moore (of comics fame) has decided that time is a fourth dimension and we repeat our lives ad nauseum. An idea that I, and do doubt many others, find chilling. I'm not sure if we are all instantly "reborn" the moment we die or if we have to "wait" for the death of the universe and everything to reset, we would be oblivious any and I presume the situation would ultimately be no different.

I recall hearing a talk where he used examples from nurses where a patient's NDE was viewing a huge "wall" of images moments of their life - their life flashing before their eyes. He said that his relatively common though I don't think I've heard of these types of NDE prior to your comment. Can you expand a little on the experiences and their context?

I recommend you have a look over the ideas of Anthony Peake. He is very much a champion of the “eternal return” concept. See:

https://www.anthonypeake.com/reincarnation-vs-the-eternal-return-as-an-evolutionary-concept/

And check out his very curious book:

https://www.anthonypeake.com/produc...ordinary-science-of-what-happens-when-we-die/

 

[AnonyJ]

I now make a point of looking up any names or words that linger after dreaming and waking since posting the OP.

One notable was (for what reason I know not) 'Mithridates' who/which is apparently:

A series of kings in the Persian and Greek spheres
A remedy for poison
The title of several 17th & 18th C. plays/operas concerning the above
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridates

I have no idea why the word intruded into my dreams and although I had heard of Mithra(s) I had no conscious knowledge of Mithridates.

 

[escargot]

I now make a point of looking up any names or words that linger after dreaming and waking since posting the OP.

One notable was (for what reason I know not) 'Mithridates' who/which is apparently:

A series of kings in the Persian and Greek spheres
A remedy for poison
The title of several 17th & 18th C. plays/operas concerning the above
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridates

I have no idea why the word intruded into my dreams and although I had heard of Mithra(s) I had no conscious knowledge of Mithridates.

I once had a dream about a three-headed snake. Seems it was a mythological guardian of the Underworld, associated with Cerberus.