Oneironautics () refers to the ability to travel within a

dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

on a conscious basis. Such a traveler in a dream may be called an oneironaut.

Within one's dream

A lucid dream is one in which the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming. They are able to exert some or a complete control over the dream's characters, narrative and/or environment. Early references to the phenomenon are found in ancient Greek texts.

Within the dream of another

The idea of one person being able to consciously travel or interact within the dream of another person, known variously as "dream telepathy", "telepathic lucid dreaming" or "telepathic dreaming", has been explored in the realms of science and fantasy fiction; in recent works, such an interaction is often depicted as a computer-mediated

psychotherapeutic Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome prob ...

action, as is the case in '' The Cell'', and ''

Paprika Paprika ( US , ; UK , ) is a spice made from dried and ground red peppers. It is traditionally made from ''Capsicum annuum'' varietals in the Longum group, which also includes chili peppers, but the peppers used for paprika tend to be milder an ...

'', as well as through the direct intervention of another sleeping person, as in ''

Inception ''Inception'' is a 2010 science fiction action film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who also produced the film with Emma Thomas, his wife. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by infiltr ...

'', '' Dreamscape'' and ''

Waking Life ''Waking Life'' is a 2001 American experimental adult animated film written and directed by Richard Linklater. The film explores a wide range of philosophical issues, including the nature of reality, dreams and lucid dreams, consciousness, the ...

''. The concept is also included in the fantasy series ''

The Wheel of Time ''The Wheel of Time'' is a series of high fantasy novels by American author Robert Jordan, with Brandon Sanderson as a co-author for the final three novels. Originally planned as a six-book series, ''The Wheel of Time'' spans 14 volumes, in a ...

'' as an ability " dreamwalkers" are able to use. A trope in such works of fiction explores the ramifications of whether the sleeping protagonist should enter the sleeping brain of another as opposed to allowing another individual to enter one's own brain; the entering of another individual's brain often results in unpleasant surprises, depending upon the mental state of the host or the preparedness of the guest.

Roger Zelazny Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for ''The Chronicles of Amber''. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nomin ...

's 1966 sci-fi novella ''

The Dream Master ''The Dream Master'' (1966), originally published as a novella titled ''He Who Shapes'', is a science fiction novel by American writer Roger Zelazny. Zelazny's originally intended title for it was ''The Ides of Octember''. It won the 1965 Nebul ...

'', which applies computer-mediated dream telepathy in a psychotherapeutic setting, focuses on the protagonist's growing struggle to keep his balance as he enters the brain of a fellow psychotherapist who is blind, and subconsciously destructively hungers for the visual stimuli upon which dreams largely depend.

References

{{Dreaming Dream Telepathy Spirituality Subcultures Oneirology

Within one's dream

Within the dream of another

See also

References