Doors and Dreams

Over the last year or so I've noticed that when I sleep I tend to have more dreams (or at least remember more dreams) when I leave the bedroom door open. I'm saying door, my bedroom's in the attic, so it's more the door/lid above the stairs than a door in the traditional sense, either way it seemed worth making note of.

I've read that in Feng Shui windows and doorways are seen as portals or gateways for energy and that this in turn affects sleep and dreams. I'm not really sure I can buy into that but it's interesting non the less. The relationship between leaving the door open and remembering my dreams seems fairly well established to me from a personal point of view, as I've observed the correlation far too often for it to be mere chance (although Bayes' Theorem may have something to say about that). It's certainly happened often enough to arouse my interest anyway.

When it comes to dreams and nightmares, of course, there's always the tendency to look for supernatural explanations. However, the real explanation may be something much more prosaic. Maybe leaving the door open is creating a draught that's affecting my sleep, maybe it's simply the fact that leaving the door open is allowing more noise to enter my room. Then again, maybe it's the amount of light getting in the room that's affecting my sleep and dreams. Who knows? I guess I'll just have to watch and see if the correlation continues.

Swifts, Swallows (?) Flying Back and Forth

Just arrived home after a longish walk. Was cutting across a field when I noticed a low-flying, swooping bird that kept flying back and forth in front of me - always about 5 metres in front. I think it was a swift or maybe a swallow - I'm not too au fait with birds. Either way it had pointy features and kept swooping close to the ground. This is about the third or forth time I've experienced this sort of behaviour with these birds and I thought it was something worth making note of. It definitely seemed to be deliberately flying in relation to me, almost circling me at times. Why I don't know. A brief internet search turned up nothing. I live in North Yorkshire by the way if that helps with the birds identification.

Recently Read: The Celestine Prophecy

Just read The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield. I would describe it as a new age Da Vinci Code, although it was released in the 1990's before that book was published. It was an international bestseller so it must have been pretty successful at the time although I wasn't aware of it until I came across it by accident in Waterstones. The book is kind of a spiritual quest and it takes the reader on a journey through the 'nine insights' - insights revealed via a newly discovered ancient manuscript that concern the spiritual evolution of humankind. These insights deal with how humans relate to the universe, the earth and each other. One of the more interesting insights was the idea that coincidence plays a pivotal role in a person's life and that coincidences are not just random events but meaningful happenings with deliberate purpose (strange that I was reading it at a time when coincidence was (is) playing an interesting game in my own life). Anyway, it was a really good, thought-provoking book. A little bit wishy-washy and new-agey at times, but overall I'm really glad to have read it. Definitely a lot of food for thought. Recommended.

Shaving The Hair - A Dying Ritual

Over the last four or five years I've gotten into the habit of letting my hair grow long, then shaving it all off, then letting it grow long again. Normally I let my hair grow for about eight to twelve months before shaving it off. At that point it's generally fairly long - think Beatles Revolver era. Part of the reason I shave my hair is because I like having long hair but generally get fed up with it after a while. Another reason is that I'm simply too lazy to make the effort to go to the hairdressers. I also for some reason feel it's healthy to shave the hair off once in a while, don't ask me why.

Anyhow, the reason I mention this is because last night I watched the BBC Four documentary 'Roundhead or Cavalier: Which One Are You?' The basic premise of the show was that Britain is divided by two conflicting personality types, the puritanical Roundheads and the fancy-free Cavaliers. The Cavaliers were defined by "panache, pleasure and individuality", the Roundheads by "modesty, discipline, equality, and state intervention." The show also provided modern examples of these two personality types. For example, Boris Johnson was held up as a classic example of the modern Cavalier, whereas Ken Livingstone was judged to be more of a dowdy Roundhead. However, for all the political and social commentary in the documentary the general thrust of the argument seemed to revolve more around the length of a person's hair and style of their clothes than anything else. Laurence Llewelyn Bowen appeared on the show as a spokesperson for the Cavaliers - need I say more.

Anyway, this got me thinking about the relationship between hair length and personality, as from my own experience I do feel like a completely different person after I've shaved my hair off. I also look completely different too. Maybe it's simply a confidence thing or just a social attitude I've been brought up to have about long hair. It might also be that other people react differently to me depending on my hair length - that may in turn effect my general outlook. Whatever the reason I find it quite fascinating.

Whenever I shave my own hair I think of the story of Achilles shaving his head after the death of Patroclus in Homer's Iliad. For some reason shaving the head does feel like a ritual. I also think of the seasons and harvests, and the scything of the corn. It grows, it gets cut down, it grows again. It seems like a natural cycle. I'm sure there must be other examples of ritualistic hair shaving from history. It may be something worth keeping an eye on.

In any case, the 'Roundhead or Cavalier' documentary was excellent, in spite of my nitpicking, and I thoroughly recommend it. I also recommend the periodic shaving of ones head. Why choose either long hair or short hair when you can have both. A seasonal shift from long hair to short hair and back again. If there is a relationship between hair length and personality it may be the perfect way to freshen up the mind.

The Two Pence Piece Value

Normally at the start of each month I begin by making note of the value of the copper in a two pence piece and the copper/nickel in a five pence piece. However, I'm going to knock this on the head now - mainly because I'm starting to annoy myself. I'm still interested in the relationship between coins, metal values and inflation so I'll keep an eye on things, but in future I'll only post if I've got an opinion or some commentary to go with it.

I should also mention that last month was the first month I received 5p coins minted in 2012 in my change. They're magnetic, so I guess the government (or whoever it is that decides these things) has decided to switch from copper-nickel to steel. It's amazing how quietly this has happened. Not much mention of it in the media or in general conversation. I guess coins are becoming increasingly less important.

Redhead - Ian Cook

I recently read Redhead by Ian Cook. It’s a supernatural thriller and I would describe it as something of a cross between a Dan Brown novel and The Wicker Man. As the title would suggest the focus of the book is red hair and people with it. Given that I have a website about red hair it was right up my alley.

I really enjoyed the book and I would recommend it to redheads and non-redheads alike. It’s very visual and cinematic. In fact it would make a great movie - if there’s anyone from the British film industry reading I would buy a copy (it’s about time we started making esoteric, science-fiction again).

The story itself centres around a journalist’s investigation into the seemingly worldwide ritual murder of redheads that’s taking place. It begins in Carthage with visions of human child sacrifice and builds towards a dramatic climax amidst the Neolithic stones of Scotland - taking in ancient Egypt and Easter Island along the way. The book plays upon the palpable ‘otherness’ that’s often associated with red hair and ups the ante a fair bit. I’ll be really interested to see how the book is received by people who don’t have red hair.

And by people with red hair for that matter. It should be interesting.

John Wycliffe was a Teessider

I’ve just found out that John Wycliffe, the instigator of the Lollard movement, was a Teessider! He was born in Ipreswell (modern Hipswell), in North Yorkshire, not far from the river Tees. (Interesting to note that we helped give birth to the Reformation.) Wycliffe was also responsible for the first ever translation of the Bible into English.

I came across this little titbit when I was searching for links between Yorkshire and the Bible. Someone recently pointed out to me that Yorkshire folk speak in quite a biblical manner - thou hast, I tell thee, etc. Last of the Summer Wine is a good example - I tell thee Nora Batty! Anyhow, good to know that a local boy played such a big part in defeating the Antichrist. Long live Yorkshire.