The Maya Realms
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- "In the drowsy dark cave of the mind"
- "Dreams build their nest with fragments"
- "Dropped from day's caravan."
- -- Rabindranath Tagore
Introduction: Speak to me of raindrops and I'll sell you a migraine. Breathe in my ear and I'll vomit forth rainbows in which all the wisdom of Greece can be heard. Confused? Get used to it. If you venture forth into the Dreaming, you must accustom yourself to contradictions.
You have already visited the Dreaming many times; perhaps the adventures you had there seemed beyond your control, or perhaps you have learned the ways of what mortals call "lucid dreaming," the art of moving yourself through the Maya with conscious deliberation rather than instinct. Maybe you have accomplished the astral visitation known as "hayimn," where your mind seems across the barriers of other sleeping minds and steps into a communal Realm. Or possibly the Fae have invited you on one their mad dances, intoxicating you just enough to share the wellspring of their nature. And, of course, you have read books. Many books. And in each book lie the seedlings of a dream.
You doubt me? Just look at the hordes who greet an author at his signings, at the millions who hang upon each installment of a fictional hero's escapades, no matter how contrived they may be. Visit a fantasy convention, and see the dozens, the hundreds, who mold their lives after the creations of Tolkien, Lovecraft, Stoker, or McCaffrey. Look at your own actions; in buying this book, you have consented to share our dreams.
This is the reason I chose to place my observation of dreams on paper. Not because other media cannot portray the Dreaming -- visual art and music convey the Maya's essence more potentially than the written word -- but because writing is dreaming. In the very act of employing a language, we bring the essence of creating into form. Writing is the lasting impression of that form.
Contents
The Origins of Dreams
Known Dream Realms and Sub-Realms
Ancient Realms
- Arcadia -- Fabled Realm of the Mythical Fae Lords.
- Burning Lands -- A place for the dreams of war.
- Ivory Tower -- A safe place of contemplation.
- The Nightmare Lands -- This is the land where nightmares gather.
- The Sea of Dreams -- The sea of dreams is the Maya Realm, the medium from which dreams and dream realms manifest.
Medieval Dream Realms
- Deniz Şehir (DE-niz Shah-here) -- The Middle-Eastern World of Dreams. If translated literally, it means the maritime city.
- Fortress of the Forgotten -- A pocket realm of the larger Asian dream-lands. A place often visited by Rambert the Merchant of Dreams.
- Isle of Zamhareer -- One such isle lies near the center of the Hyperborean Sea. The Isle of Zamhareer is know to those sailors who work the Hyborean Sea, as Cold Hell.
- Upside-Down Underground Forest -- A pocket realm of the Slavic dream forest.
Realms Yet to be Born
- Arda -- Tolkien's Middle Earth.
- Isola di Ombre (E-sol-aa D Ohm-brey) -- If translated into English, it literally means the Island of Shadows. The Island of Shadows is an isolated pocket realm set in the vast expanse of the Sea of Dreams.
- The Neverland Archipelago -- Where do children's dreams go when they grow up?
- Waterdeep -- One of the largest and most detailed settings in the Dungeons & Dragons genre (trademarked).
- Wonderland -- The land where Alice and the White Rabbit sojourn.
Sources
Mage the Ascension -- Beyond the Barriers -- The Book of Worlds -- pg.77-89
