Beyond the Fourth Wall

xaxnar · Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 5:06 am Post subject: Flight School

One of the things coming up on the trip is an attempt to see if the centaur's leader Orion can help Alex rediscover his flying ability in Dreamland. That got me thinking, especially after hearing a story on the radio a few days ago.

Flying is supposed to be a common element in many dreams, or so I've seen as conventional wisdom. It goes back to even before people developed technology to fly. But is this actually the case?

A story on NPR told of a man who has vivid hallucinations even though he is blind. He could once see but lost his vision over time. That left a portion of his brain idle.

Gliphon · Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:18 pm Post subject:

I did fly in my dreams... years ago. and then it was just flying around my house.
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bkev · Major Character Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Posts: 299

I fly like I'm doing the breastroke or something... so yeah, it's not all that exciting when I get to. And usually these are short-lived.

John Theta · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:28 am Post subject:

Most of the times when I fly I have no control over the flight path, but I do get a strong feeling of motion and vertigo.
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Nev · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:48 pm Post subject:

I used to fly to school in my dreams--I'd wake up and walking to school felt like a Herculean effort after the sensation of flying. And once I remember taking a flying leap off of a steep hill or something, and I just kinda floated there instead of falling on my head. So very fun.
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Bezman · Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 5:07 pm Post subject:

The last flying dreams I can recall are some 6 months old or so, but I've had them earlier too.

Its like I'm walking, in any dream, then I get the sensation that "I don't have to put my feet down." I can just take a step, and float through air for any distance I want, before I need to put my other foot down again. It is a very relaxing feeling, to just float like that.
And no one seems to notice it much, either. And when I choose to show them, that just look sceptically and do not comment upon it.

Sometimes, I can expand it to real flying (or rather floating). I can't fly as high as I want all the time, so sometimes I get hindered by treetops of rooftops, and have to struggle to get past (or around). Not flying with full control, you could say, but still flying.

I can also recall an earlier flying dream. I was on my air matress, floating on the sea, when I suddenly realised it was a magic air matress Laughing

It could fly me around, much like some kind of hoverboard. I flew as much and high as I ever wanted, but at ONE time, I accidently (?) put it at a 90 degree angle (bottom of it facing due left), and it fell like a ROCK from about 30 meters /100 ft to about 1 meter/3 ft above the water, where it finally straightened out again. That was a bit scary, but I remember it being more of a "oops, that was close. I'll have to remember not to do that again." experience than a fright. So I just kept flying around and having fun.
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John Theta · Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:13 am Post subject:

The earliest flying dream I remember is also the earliest nightmare I remember. Given some of the details, I had to have been between four and six. I was wrapped up in a sheet or something, and flying through the house in a predetermined flight path I couldn't control. Sometimes it would pass through walls or ceilings, and that was no problem; I'd just go through them like they were air. Also, I was a vampire. I didn't feel any different, but I just knew that I was. I'm not even sure where I even was exposed to the concept of a vampire at that age; I think all I knew about them was that they were evil monsters. Because I couldn't control the flight path, I was afraid of running into someone, because of being a vampire. Then the worst possible thing happened: I flew into a room and my mom was sitting there. She looked up and saw me flying down through the wall, up near the ceiling, and she knew that I was a vampire, and I knew that I was going to kill her because that's what vampires did, and I couldn't stop it. That's where I woke up.
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Caldazar · Supporting Role Joined: 29 Dec 2007 Posts: 109

wow...maybe the freudians should keep their yearly conference here. Seems like they'll have plenty of material to work with =p Oh and don't think I've ever flown in my dreams...well, unless you count throwing yourself down a rooftop headfirst flying (and no I'm not suicidal).

Bre · Guest

I've flown in my dreams. The last time I remember it was several years ago. But, actually I was somebody else when I did it. It's kind of like watching a movie, except whenever the focus of the movie changes, that's me. I hate those dreams, especially when I become a male. Yuck! Embarassed

But when I was young dreamed I could fly myself and would wake up convinced that I had just proven to myself I could fly, so I really could. Wink

Good thing I never tested the theory.

Katryniana · Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:50 am Post subject:

I've only had one dream in which I could fly...it was only about a year ago... and it was so awesome!
I was riding the wind currents around all these rocky valleys, kind of like hang-gliding (or what I imagine hang gliding to feel like anyway).
The reason it felt so great is that it felt so aerodynamically realistic... if humans could fly, I'm certain that that's how it would work Smile

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xaxnar · Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:19 pm Post subject: Numbers and Astronauts

Interesting. Looking at the small sample of poll answers, it seems like most people responding to this topic have had dreams of flying.

I wonder what it's like for the astronauts aboard the space station? They spend months in zero gravity, sailing back and forth. (I remember seeing some video from the old Skylab where one astronaut actually tried 'flying' by flapping some cardboard panels.)

When they return to earth, do they still fly in their dreams?
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David · Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 7:19 pm Post subject:

I can't remember ever flying in my dreams... I do remember falling though... flying would be most useful in those situations Smile

I'll have to try to remember to give it a shot next time I have a lucid dream

Kargoneth · Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 3:54 am Post subject:

It wasn't so much as flight as floating. When I would tense up all my muscles, I would begin to defy gravity, but I wouldn't move any direction but up (very slowly at that)

John Theta · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 11:01 am Post subject:

Sometimes I can float just above the ground and move about much faster than I could running, just by thinking what direction I want to go.
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Diamond_Brighteyes · Bit Part Joined: 08 Apr 2008 Posts: 8

I've had some dreams of flying, the annoying part was that I didn't think of it as "flight", I called it "leaping", because I guess it was more like uber-extended jumps than actual flying, though I could get around 30 feet up for around....I'd say 45 seconds to a minute, and could stay up longer by flapping my arms. So I dunno. Though I remember using it for a specific purpose on two occasions: In one, I was trying to escape, and the second, I was spying on a pirate ship. In the first, the ability to 'leap' was either exclusively mine or extremely rare, and in the second, rare but not unheard of. At least, so it seems from my memories of thought processes while in the dream. Laughing

Guest · Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:20 pm Post subject:

I had that once, my back felt really cold doing that. It was also really, really scary

Hylianmedli · Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:14 pm Post subject:

My two most common dreams are flying, or that I'm in a supermarket, or that I'm flying in a supermarket. Laughing

Depending on the dream, varies how I have this ability to fly. I've had to flap my wings, I've had a magic kite, magic frisbee, magic pole (Don't ask) or all I had to do was inhale deeply.
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Garwain · Guest

My flying dreams are always the same. I start sitting on the ground, legs straight and togheter and then all the sudden, by means of sheer willpower, I start levitating. After some practice, i can move sideways, or rotating motions. The altitude is rather limited to maybe 30-40 meters. I guess my willpower isn't strong enough. And when I master the basics of flying, I start cruising around in wonderfull landscapes. Through valleys and sometimes even WoW sceneries.

My brain can use images from really higher up because I have been flying in a plane before. But it seems that at my low flight level, it isn't too hard to imagin the decor. I never flew over water though.