For the past year, I've had an interesting (and curious) thing happen: I've dreamed of various names, none belonging to people I know or recognize. Each and every time, the name is written out in my dream, and the dream's events may not necessarily related to the name. There is never a person connected to the name--just the name itself written out so I can see/read it in my dream. On occasion, I'll see a word written out, but usually it's only a name. The only exception to this is the word "Abraxas," which was written out in heavy black script (similar to Olde English font). Other than that, every time it's been a name I've read in my dreams...and I don't know why. This has been going on for about a year or so, and I'm puzzled as to what it means and why it's happening.

Here are a few of my guesses about this phenomena:

* These are character names I should be using in my fiction stories
* These are real people who are in some sort of trouble or need help in some way
* These are real people who have died/passed over and are trying to make their presences known through my dreams
* These are meaningless names/words that don't fit any of the categories above, and it's merely my brain reacting in a weird way to stimuli.
* Some other reason [insert reason here]

The first name I dreamed of turned out to be a real person in history -- one I'd never heard of before or studied while in school. I thought it was a fake name, but when I Googled it, turns out it wasn't. The name was Count Rothschild. He was quite an interesting fellow, with an interesting history. In fact, he was thought to be part of the Illuminati. The fact that he was a real person (and not some hoity toity name my brain dreamed up out of the blue) took me aback. Reading about him took me aback even more. You can read more about him here and here. Or you can Google the name and find out as much as you like.

I have no idea why Count Rothschild ended up having his name written out in my dream over a year ago, but why him, and why did all this begin a year ago? May mean something...may mean nothing. As humans, we always want to find meaning, or at least we believe there is some sort of meaning at the root of it all. However, that isn't always the case. After all, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar -- right?

Regardless, I find it fascinating and the question of why continues to linger. My practical side dismisses it as my brain's interpretation of the myriad of electrical activity going on when I sleep. The intuitive side of me believes there's some sort of meaning and/or symbolism to it all. The fact that these names are written out so I can read them is interesting, but makes perfect sense considering I'm more of a literary person than I am an auditory or visual person. The prevailing question I cannot shake is this, "Why now? Why did this begin only during this past year?"

At some point, I began to note these names on my Facebook wall just as a record in case I needed to go back and find them at a later time. Not sure why I would need to do that, but it seemed reasonable to start keeping track once seeing names written out in my dreams became something that happened more than once. Thing is, it doesn't happen on a scheduled basis -- it's not once a night or once a week. It'll happen one month and then there will be nothing for a couple of months...or a few weeks. It's random and there's no set pattern to it. Which, to me, makes it all the more intriguing.

Here are a few of the names I've seen written out in my dreams (I'd have to search for the whole lot on my FB history, though, because I didn't put them down anywhere else. Seems odd for a writer, doesn't it?):

* Count Rothschild
* Donna Buller
* Brenda Baker
* Joann Sutton
* Doug Dielman (yes, I see a couple names with alliteration in this list)


Finally, the most puzzling word I've seen written out was, of course, the word I referenced before: "Abraxas." If you're not familiar with what that word means -- and I wasn't until I Googled it the following day after the dream -- Abraxas has quite a few meanings/references, one of whom is a God who was higher than the Christian God or the Devil. Abraxas combines all opposites into one being, and the famous psychologist Carl Jung wrote a Gnostic treatise entitled The Seven Sermons to the Dead that referenced Abraxas as this all-powerful being that encompassed all opposites. As far as Gods were concerned, there was none higher. Depending the on the culture, Abraxas is seen as either a god or a demon.

Since I dreamed of the word Abraxas, I've been fixated on the name and the history/associations attached to the word. I've also taken things a step further and started outlining a story that involves Abraxas and all the mythological connections to its very meaning/symbolism. I can't go any further with my explanation, as I'd like to keep the details under my hat for now, but I'm showing a sneak peek at one of the cards I have planted firmly up against my chest. How Abraxas will show up in my writing remains to be seen...but I have some ideas on how I'm going to use this being/concept/symbol.

I feel so drawn and curious about Abraxas, in fact, that I have started a new email address (as of a week or so ago) that features the name: Abraxas1764 =at= gmail =dot= com. Yes, feel free to write me there as this will eventually become my new primary address for personal email, with the scribequill address used as secondary for both business and personal emails. It's time to shake things up a bit for 2012! The 1764 behind Abraxas refers to the date of my birth: the 17th day and the year (19)64. I would've preferred 1217, but it was taken. Apparently, the word Abraxas is a popular email ID. Who knew?

Also, before I get a ton of mail about it, I am aware that the group Santana released an album entitled Abraxas back in 1970 when I was a mere six years old. I didn't listen to Santana at six, and although I've heard certain singles on the radio over the years ("Black Magic Woman" is particularly kick butt!), I'm not a huge aficionado of Santana music and I've never owned the album. Carlos rocks and all of that, but my head was buried in new wave, alternative, punk, hard rock/metal and KISS music most of my life :-) However, thanks to my dream a while back, I have added it to my Last.fm playlist. I've also blipped it while DJing at Blip.fm.

So there you go! For what it's worth, I'm not sure of the reason behind all these words/names showing up, written out, in my dreams, but if nothing else, I'm going to mine it and use those strange nuggets in my writing life. Why not? What an interesting resource to have, after all. Life never ceases to amaze, and who can understand the rhyme or reason of it all? Not me, that's for sure!

In January, at the start of a new year, many people want to recap the previous year. Sometimes it'll be a narrative about what they learned and accomplished. Other times it'll be a bullet list of some sort. I'm not doing either. Why? Because 2011 wasn't one of my favorite years, and I'd rather look forward, not back. The past several months of 2011, in particular, sucked. On a lot of levels. Just gonna be honest about it. As far as 2011 is concerned, I'm OVER it. I don't want to look back on it, I don't care to analyze it and I don't care to rehash the damned thing. It's over, it was what it was and that's all there is. Finis.

Now, onward to 2012. Resolutions, you ask? Goals, you ask? No, I'm not going to engage in the process because I don't want to put false pressure on myself or foist expectations on my shoulders that I may or may not meet. Most of the time, resolutions are doomed to fail. Then you get nothing but a big ball of guilt stuck in the middle of your chest -- or your throat -- enough to choke on. Not doing that to myself. This is the year of anti-resolutions for me. This year I will simply live, do and be. Who knows what will come out of it, but I guess we'll know at the end of this year...right?

2012: Just BE yourself & DO what you will. What's meant to happen, will.

The reveal from our investigation of KKTV's studio will be broadcast this Friday, October 28th, on the morning show with John Harding. Paul and I will be in the studio from 6 a.m.-7 a.m. Please tune in, if you can, or view it later online via the KKTV website (kktv.com—they usually put it up later in the day). Thanks again to John Harding and KKTV, as well as the C.S.P.A. team members who investigated. All of you rock! ;)

Wow! As usual, October proves to be an interesting and busy month for us (and i felt worn out BEFORE we even got to this month!) This Halloween, October 31st, proves to be especially cool because on that afternoon Paul & I will be officiating a friend's wedding! We are both ordained clergy (and have been for a while), but this is the first time we've presided over a wedding together. ;-)

Flyer for this Friday's presentation at the Woodland Park Library. Admission is *FREE* to the public. Join our team members from C.S.P.A. from 7-9 p.m. for an evening all about the paranormal ;-)

http://www.scribequill.net/archives/SQSpringSummer2011.pdf

It's official! The ebook version of Sun Signs for Writers has been approved for the premium book catalog and is now available! Grab my book for only $1.99 at #smashwords http://t.co/eg8xhL9

Sun Signs for Writers, an Ebook by Bev Walton-Porter
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/76044

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Sun Signs for Writers is a unique and fun guide that brings together the creative worlds of astrology and writing for an instructive guide that any writer can benefit from.Packed with exercises designed for each sign's tendencies, as well as examples of famous writers and their signs, Sun Signs for Writers will help writers of all genres — and astrological signs — improve their skills.


Or, if you prefer, you can still purchase a print copy of Sun Signs for Writers HERE

Because I'm insane, I just started a Nocturnal Musings blog at Tumblr. I think this one's gonna be more on the personal side. I mean, I'll still blog about writing and editing (how can I not?), but I'd also like to use it to blurt out ideas, thoughts, random stuff from daily life. We shall see how it develops.

If you have a blog on Tumblr, let me know and I'll gladly follow you. :)

For my personal blog at Tumblr, visit http://elementalmuse.tumblr.com

I took the Multiple Intelligence Inventory, and my top three results were linguistic (no surprise there!), Intrapersonal and Music. Clearly, linguistics is the winner by a landslide. Then again, I'm a writer and an editor, so that makes sense.



Profile for user 823004:

Linguistic 47

Mathematics 29

Visual/Spatial 30

Body/Kinesthetic 24

Naturalistic 31

Music 35

Interpersonal 23

Intrapersonal 45



Here's how they stack up. I'd say it's dead-on as far as accuracy for who I am (or perceive myself to be):

Linguistic Learner

likes to: read, write and tell stories.
is good at: memorizing names, places, dates and trivia.
learns best by: saying, hearing and seeing words.

Musical Learner

likes to: sing, hum tunes, listen to music, play an instrument and respond to music.
is good at: picking up sounds, remembering melodies, noticing pitches/rhythms and keeping time.
learns best by: rhythm, melody and music.

Intrapersonal Learner

likes to: work alone and pursue own interests.
is good at: understanding self, focusing inward on feelings/dreams, following instincts, pursuing interests/goals and being original.
learns best by: working alone, individualized projects, self-paced instruction and having own space.

Source: http://www.ldrc.ca/projects/miinventory/miinventory.php?eightstyles=1



Here's the link for the test:

http://www.ldrc.ca/projects/miinventory/miinventory.php

Thanks to Lyn Goodnight for pointing me toward this test, and others!