Attendees of the November 19, 2015 Oneironauticum were David Arnson, Richard Russo, Nat, Spoon, Bill, John, Stacy, Dan Sack, Dr. Ellis, Anne Tara, Brad, John, Lesley Freeman, Katherine, Rebecca, Bill. For this Oneironauticum, we worked with binaural beats. Although they’ve been around since the 1970s, binaural beats are currently undergoing a resurgence of interest thanks to the proliferation of phone apps that provide the experience....

It’s midnight in a warehouse space in downtown Los Angeles. Instead of bouncing to a DJ, a couple dozen strangers snuggle down into sleeping bags piled and prepare to listen to a different sort of music. Somnium is a seven-and-a-half-hour composition by Robert Rich, specifically designed to optimize the dream experience. I hit play and climb into my own cozy nest. At the same moment, people around the world do the same, preparing to listen to the track in their own bedrooms. Tonight, we’re an intimately connected community of dreamers.

This Oneironauticum was part of the Psymposia conference held in Montreal. I gave a talk on working with oneirogens and cultivating the practice of Liminal Dreaming. Psymposia is a new event production company and network that focuses on use of psychedelics. Compared to organizations/conferences with similar focus, such as the Women’s Visionary Congress or MAPS (Multi Disciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies), the crowd was young....

I get a sense of reality shifting, feel as if it is coming undone. I hear the ping of metal fasteners, see that dark panels of sky are sliding aside to reveal bright light behind them, look down at my arm and notice that the hair on it is no longer attached and that it’s losing its shape. I hear distant voices, strain to understand them and know that they are the mechanics of the universe. Bolts and springs, some of them incredibly tiny,...

SOUND RECORDING. CLICK IMAGE TO PLAY: I tried to capture a recording of a hypnagogic state for seven months with a voice activated recorder by my head when I napped or fell asleep. I kept trying to narrate the state and I knew I was close, but every time I tried, I woke myself up. I finally captured this one. I’ve been trying for a long time to record another one, but it’s very hard to do....