As an unrepentant logophile (lover of words), I’ve assembled a list of unusual, obscure, or simply charming-to-me words. Ludic is defined as “playful, in an aimless way,” and that’s my plan for approaching this a-to-z challenge—keeping my feet on the joy trail and meandering wherever the daily word takes me.
S is for…
sweven – (n) vision seen in sleep; dream. Obsolete, from Old English, first known usage 1150.
The Dreaming/Sleeping Goddess – isn’t she beautiful? I’ve had her for decades. The original two clay figures were found in Malta in the Hypogeum – one of the 9 remaining (of 40) goddess temples there. The figures are dated between 3000-4000 BC.
I’ve been interested in dreams since I was a child. I have always been a prolific dreamer, fascinated by them and recording them since adolescence. My interest is so great that I actually considered doing my Master’s degree work on lucid dreaming, although eventually, I moved in another direction.
I take great delight in my sleeping mind’s theater, and since I record my dreams, I always make a point to title my nighttime adventures. Bonus points: I then have the added amusement of seeing what kind of Dada-esque poem is created when I list out the titles. For example, here are just a few of my recent nocturnal engagements:
- Not the Proper Place to Leave the Ladder
- What Crazy Thing Did I Ask For?
- Mailbox Haul includes Polish Man’s Suit
- Orange & Green Feathers on my Legs
- Hidden Room & Demanding Guests with Raisins on a String
- Busted as Incompetent Spies
- Strange Eggs
- Uniform Prototypes and Surgically Removed Eyebrows
- Awkward Nudist
- Outing the Bagel Eater
Now tell me, does that make you wish you had access to my brain, or are you ready to back away gingerly?
In case you’re undecided, let me share a recent dream snippet. I may have been overly influenced by thinking about parties and celebrations and reading Greek mythology but I had a perfectly marvelous fun time at:
Pandora’s Pinata Parade
As Empress, it was my job to create a parade in celebration of all things wonderful in the world. (Ah, I like a good dream wherein my Empress qualifications are recognized!) So I created my version of a Trojan Horse – a gigantic pinata filled with all manner of wonderful things that would come popping out at parade time. And as Pandora has been, in my mind, scapegoated for far too long with responsibility for releasing all the evils on Earth, I wanted to do my part to lift her spirits and change the story. Therefore, I put her in charge of opening the trap door on the pinata at the right moment and releasing all the wonderfulness amidst much delight and cheering from the crowd. I especially liked the shooting stars that erupted, leaving behind as they ascended, little trails of chocolate stars for us all to eat. And then there were the tiny seashells that you put in water and out popped gorgeous little flowers; library cards for everyone with unlimited privileges; and little knitted balls for tossing that turned out to be rolled-up socks in delightfully wild patterns. There was much singing and laughing, and when people danced, they found they had strings of bells on their ankles. The whole affair was quite a happy success.
I have always believed dreams are much more than random firing of brain synapses sorting through the waking day’s flotsam and jetsom, a belief many people hold. I genuinely delight in the endless array of gifts that arrive during sleep time. The messages, conundrums, puns, puzzles, wacky characters, visits from beloveds no longer in this world; the fantastic, the improbable, the mystical, the ordinary, the skewed, the recurring, the sublime. The lucid experiences, the flying adventures, the mutual dreams. I delight in my dream ability to sing and dance in ways I don’t seem to be able to replicate in my waking states; and dreams show me things that are luminescent. Dreams help me open to receive messages that my waking consciousness isn’t quite able to hold. They inspired me. They help me know myself more fully. They delight me with the joy of learning this soul language, and the fact that they’re always adding new words to the vocabulary and then demanding I write my own definitions because, after all, we both know the only dream dictionary worth using is the one we write ourselves. Dreams have given me a deep and sacred practice that I’ve been exploring since I was a child; given me fodder for countless journals; piqued my curiosity about countless things, and led me to deep connections with other dreams. They’ve given me laughter, and bizarre and astonishing images that I rush to capture sketches of so I won’t forget. Dreams are magical, and never stop sending me these secret messages; these nightly tickets to the best theater ever; treats I enjoy as they are unfolding and then again when I consider them upon wakening. Dreams challenge us to know ourselves better. They invite us to learn a richly expressive, oh-so-beautiful private language. They invite us to remember, in the most simple way, that we are so much more than we often experience ourselves as in our often-limited vision of ourselves.
I believe there are private dreams, and there are dreams we dream for the collective, but no matter which, I love this quote by Marsha Norman:
“Dreams are illustrations…from the book your soul is writing about you.”
What about you? Are you as fascinated by dreams as I am? Look forward to closing your eyes and seeing what’s playing at your night theater? Do tell – you know I’d love to hear.
I am fascinated by dreams although I don’t remember them as well as I would like to. While I’m in them, I often don’t want to leave. Weirdly, eating a piece of cheese before bed seems to make me dream more vividly–probably not very healthy though. I do love your sleeping goddess. It’s interesting how peaceful and centering it is to watch someone sleep: a baby, a child, a cat, a loved one.
That’s amusing about cheese-induced vivid dreams. I agree, there’s something precious about watching someone sleep. It elicits some kind of tender response in me, as though I want to be protective, as they’ve turned themselves over to the Sandman.
Ah, dreams. I have icky dreams sometimes. Creepy dreams. Disconcerting dreams. Then I awake with a weird feeling that I have to shake off. Glad you have dreams that make you happy.
Disconcerting is a great description of those kinds of dreams, Liz. Here’s wishing you have far fewer of those, and lots more feel-good ones.
You do have oddly weird dreams – I’m fascinated by them and by how much you retain when you wake. Sadly, I remember very few of my dreams but the ones I did get to recall were pretty strange.
Have a lovely day.
There are some things you can do to remember your dreams more. I knew from an early age dreams were important to me, so I trained rather extensively. Dreams are certainly best recalled immediately afterwards, and I learned to write them down in the dark, with my eyes closed. It’s possible to do this by using your non-dominant hand to judge where on the page you’re writing with the other, so you don’t end up overlapping lines of writing and being unable to read anything. I did that for a number of years, and now I no longer have to, as I automatically remember. Lying in the same position as when you were dreaming helps keep you in that same “state” and can help with recall. And suggesting to yourself before you fall asleep that you’re going to remember a dream can be surprisingly helpful as well.
Wishing you a lovely day as well, Lissa, and a night filled with delightful dream adventures.
Sounds like you’ve had some interesting dreams — I especially like the one about the spies. My dreams are as vivid as the books I write (some were inspired by dreams!) and I know something’s off if I’m not the protagonist or if I’m not dreaming in colour…
Ronel visiting for A-Z Challenge Set: Lord of Chaos and Disorder & My Languishing TBR: S #AtoZChallenge2025 #Books #Bookreview
It delights me beyond measure, Ronel, to hear your dreams have inspired some of your books. I celebrate when the waking self and dreaming self are so consciously connected and playing together. That’s true magic.
I love dreams so much! Ever since childhood, like you. I used to write them down and answer questions about them when I woke up, so even now I can still vividly remember some of my dreams like I’m watching a TV show! I wanted to study them in college but realized it was more of a personal interest. Sadly I haven’t put much stock in my dreams yet because I wake with an alarm and then just go go go! I’d love to get back to it; your post inspired me!
– Allison
https://lightningflashwriting.blogspot.com/
All of this is wonderful: the word sweven, the sleeping goddess, the titles of your dreams, the new opportunity for Pandora, your selection of piñata gifts… Keep up the excellent dreaming!
Thanks, Anne. Dreams are such wonderfully rich treasure mines, aren’t they?