Sleep is one of my favourite pastimes, although it's probably better to describe my pleasure as falling asleep. I love those moments just before I drift into unconsciousness, when I am neither awake nor asleep. After a hard day of work or play, and if I'm not worried or upset about anything, I look forward to retiring to my bed, so that I can experience that delicious feeling of floating between the realms of wakefulness and slumber. While my body drains of its tensions, my mind wanders freely in the space in-between. Visions appear, even when my eyes are open and I'm staring at nothing in particular in the semi-darkness.
These visions are known as hypnogogic hallucinations, (from the Greek words hypnos for "sleep," and agogeus, meaning "guide.") The hallucinations experienced when one transits from sleeping to waking are called hypnopompic. I've experienced both these transitory states for as long as I can remember. I'm in good company. William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Edgar Allen Poe, Lewis Carroll and Carl Jung are just a few individuals who explored this state and used it as a source of inspiration for their writing. (I wish I could cite a famous female artist, but my research hasn't turned any up!)
The semi-conscious state of falling asleep is the only time I really enjoy a "sinking" feeling, both physically and mentally. I swear I can feel my bedclothes fold around me, as if protecting me while I fall deeper into sleep. These ideal conditions for fabulous sleeping don't always happen, because I am subject to stresses and worries just like everyone else, but whenever I hit the sack feeling pleasantly drowsy, I look forward to the safest, most natural trip down the rabbit hole I can imagine. Strange, inexplicable, and beautiful images float before my eyes. Sometimes I forget that I'm hallucinating, and will sit up in bed and try to grab the illusive visions before me, especially if they appear to be at least a little "normal," such as a bird that has flown through a window and flutters about the room. However, seeing dozens of tiny spiders crawling across my pillow in the wee hours of the morning can be a little alarming, to say the least. Those sort of visions have a way of bringing me back to full consciousness very quickly. So I collect myself for a moment, shake off the cobwebs, and lie back down for another late-night show.
These in-between states are just a prelude for what's to come. The night is still ahead of me, and with it, dreamtime. But that's a topic for another time. Until then, I wish you sound and restful sleep, and a magical journey arriving there.
-G.P.
