Sunday, September 28, 2025

Nineteen years inside the sphere

I did another reading with my eyes shut experiment, sleeping for 45 minutes with an unknown Tarot card under my pillow and trying to identify the card using clues from my dreams.

I didn't get much dream content this time. The first hypnagogic imagery to appear was a vague glimpse of two figures, viewed from behind, with their hands raised as if in worship of something in front of them. I was still semi-conscious at this point, and my first thought was that this indicated the card was likely the Devil -- or, this second thought rapidly following the first, the Hierophant.


The imagery here doesn't really match what I saw in any direct way. The two figures in the foreground of the Devil card have their backs to the devil and are not raising their hands. The two monks on the Hierophant card have their backs to us and appear to be kneeling before the pope, but the pope is the one who has his arms raised. Anyway, these two cards came immediately to mind while I was still in the hypnagogic state, so I note them.

Later, in a deeper sleep state, I was looking at a floor plan.

"Where's the cage where they lie down?" I asked. "I can't see any place for it."

"It's inside the sphere," I was told.

The central room on the floor plan was circular, and in the center of it was a large sphere on a pedestal. Although the floor plan was just a simple line drawing without color, I understood that this sphere was made of some kind of black stone.

"Inside the sphere?" I said. "Isn't that bit excessive?"

"It's for sensory deprivation," the voice said. "They stay there for 19 years, getting used to it."

"Nineteen years? Who would volunteer to spend 19 years of their life in a state of sensory deprivation? Maybe you meant to say 19 days, or 19 hours?"

Before I could get an answer to that question, I woke up.


Based on that rather meager dream content, here are my ranked guesses as to the card under the pillow:

1. Judgement: People raising their hands as if in worship after emerging from tombs in which they have slept for years.

2. The Devil: My first hunch. It has a black background, and the chained captives are conceptually similar to the idea of people lying down in a "cage."

3. The Hierophant: Again, a hypnagogic hunch seems worth trusting.

4. Nine of Swords: A person who has just been lying down, with a black background that could be the inside of the black sphere. Even now, awake, she is covering her eyes, suggesting "sensory deprivation."

5. Four of Swords: A person lying down. A "worship" image in the background.

6. Ten of Cups: Two figures viewed from behind, with their arms raised.

7. The Sun: The number 19 was emphasized.

The card is still under the pillow. As soon as I've published this, I'm going back dans les bras de Morphée for another 45 minutes to see if I can get any more data, after which I'll update my predictions if necessary and then check the card.

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Nineteen years inside the sphere

I did another reading with my eyes shut experiment, sleeping for 45 minutes with an unknown Tarot card under my pillow and trying to identif...