Monday, April 12, 2010

Tel'aran'rhiod and Ter'angreal

No one, except 'Wheel of Time' lovers would understand the title of my blog post. Let me explain, to provide some context to this short post:

Tel'aran'rhiod- in the book series refers to the 'World of Dreams'. Some people visit this place unknowingly when they dream, but those who are Dreamers, Wise Ones, those who can wield the One Power, and wolves, can all consciously go there. Meaning, they can schedule going to sleep in order to access this world. Here, what happens can affect you as it would in the waking world. You can also talk to people in lands far away or go to places you would otherwise have no access to.

Ter'angreal- objects made during the Age of Legends by male and female Aes Sedai together. They are made for special purposes. The White Tower uses one to raise a novice to Accepted and Accepted to Aes Sedai. The candidate crosses the arch 3 separate times and is taken to different variations of her life, at different points in time. The test is for her to overcome whatever version of her life she falls into and return to the real world. She is supposed to want to become Aes Sedai more than anything else and to know that the path to that becoming is not an easy one, the requirements unforgiving, and thus requiring strength and dedication. It is a very powerful object, and sometimes the women who go through the test don't come out. Some Aes Sedai think it's because they find a version of their life within the arches that they would rather live and so decide to stay.

Why the mention of these two very fictitious objects?

Well, last night I had a dream. And for the first time in a while, I didn't want to wake up. When I woke up after my alarm went off, I made a conscious effort to go back to sleep and return to the dream. Sometimes, you can do that. It was just a normal dream with a guy and a girl being sweet to each other. Of course, I was the girl. The guy, I don't know who he was. I just know, I loved the feeling of being cared for and being secure that I had in the dream. So much so that I wanted to 1. go back to the dream when I woke up, 2. stay in that place, at least for a while longer. Hence the reference to the Robert Jordan books.

My subconscious is making me cry.