Thursday, May 29, 2008

The Secret World of Og


I used to have two recurring dreams when I was younger, but haven't had one for about 6 years now.

The first one involved a big open clearing with a big, dark body of water with a wall blocking the other side of it. I would swing on a vine into the clearing and end up in the water, but was always scared of what lay beneath the surface. The closer toward the wall I went, the deeper and darker and scarier the water became. There were sharks once, eels often, slimy things, and sometimes a boat came to rescue me. I always seemed to wake up around this point.

The second was a dream where I would find a particular place on the carpet in my parents room and jump or dive or dissolve into it and go to a whole different place beneath the surface, crawling through tunnels to get there. Sometimes I would climb through a tiny vent to get to this world below, too. Once I was down there, I was in a beautifully ornate, old house, rich with fabrics and texture and patterns on almost every surface. I don't remember what exactly happened when I would go to this house through the tunnels, and never saw the outside of it.

This second dream reminds me of one of the most vividly remembered books of my childhood, The Secret World of Og. There is undoubtedly a connection between the recurring dream and that Pierre Berton book. I saw the illustrated copy with the original cover I remember at Chapters a few weeks ago. I think my imaginative climax peaked while reading this book. I wish I could go back to that place.

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