Merilyn Tunneshende

1999 I’ve spent a few days with Merilyn on a course, a shamanic course attuned to old school practices and dreaming techniques. She is one of the most energetic, skilful and experienced dreamers I have ever met, maybe the best ever. I have a wonderful respect for her, she’s amazing and the course was a fantastic one, I left feeling high from the work.

I was sleeping in a hammock at home because I wanted to know if it was true that sleeping in a hammock increases your dreaming ability through lack of contact with the ground, essentially your more floaty sleeping in a hammock.

Merilyn came to me in dreaming for the next few months teaching me about the intricacies of beginner dreaming, most of which I haven’t recollected as it was so far beyond me. I learnt many things which were new to me and belonged to other worlds, she reminded me of an Olympic ice skater, so graceful, fluid and powerful in dreaming.

I’m on the central line underground train going home from meeting a friend at the Tottenham Court Road area.

I come down the steps and enter the platform, I walk down the platform towards the information board, I want to know when my train arrives the West Acton train which finishes at Ealing Broadway. As I look up at the board a 20 something woman in low heels, knee length black skirt and white shirt tuts at the board, I feel like she’s tutting for my benefit. I walk past and she tuts again, at this point I have Merilyn Tunneshende in my head again and again and again. My fear system kicks in, I’m so scared I know it’s her but how? I walk down the platform and she follows, I enter the arrived train and she follows me in. I’m absolutely petrified what’s happening, she looks nothing like Merilyn but I know it’s her. I sit down and try to ignore her, I don’t even look over, I’m too scared. The young woman gets up and walks out two stops later and I feel better. At Marble Arch she walks back into the train carriage but this time she has an Afro, some teeth missing and is about 40. She sits opposite me and when I look over she shows me the worst set of teeth I’ve ever seen, she’s smiling with scary teeth. I can’t look over, the waves of nausea get stronger I know it’s her. I have no idea of what to do waves of discomfort get stronger and she’s still smiling at me, I know without looking.

She then gets up, I look over and she goes to take a step but blinks out of reality and reappears 2m further along almost at the train door exit, she blinks out again and never steps through the open door she is now waiting for me in another dimension, in fact she’s waiting for me where she invites me into that other dimension but I’m too scared, she has more faith in me then I have in myself. She doesn’t push the energetic invite and I’m glad it’s all over when she leaves me alone. This is my first introduction to the dreaming double, Merilyn a true master has shown me an aspect of dreaming I’d only ever read about, now I’ve been introduced I’m shaken. It would take me 10 years to become comfortable with the dreaming double through many more introductions.