Costumes and Literal Identification:
True to the *Fly-By-Night Club* sponsorship, there were plenty of winged creatures: birds, butterflies, even flying fish. One woman planned to come as a cat with retractable wings; another dreamt she rode a flying lion. Both reported similar emotions. For Victoria, the lion seemed to be getting angry; Ruth, the cat-woman, dreamt of a confrontation.

A space theme was prevalent: there were stars and a crescent moon. Also, an astronaut, Star Trekker, Super Hero and Rocket Man. An American dreamt of a woman in a Dutch cap. One of the participants was, indeed, a woman from the Netherlands. 2 people dreamt of a man named John (one of our participants was actually named John); 3 dreamt of a man named Paul (no one participated with that waking name). Although some people saw long gowns, the favorite costume was bloomer pants! Here are some variations on that theme: Chinese bloomers, Siamese, Afgani, Kozak dancer, belly dancer and baggy 19th century pants. (Two people had 19th century costumes.)

Symbols:
We always see other people through the filter of our own perception. The dreams pictured this as: mirrors, a card deck with moving faces and a woman's face smack in the middle of a kite. Apropos the sweet nature of American Halloween, one man dreamt of John Candy; another man pictured carrying candy inside his pocket and a 3rd man dreamt of getting candy with money from inside a candy machine. A couple of people commented about strange foreign-symbolic writing. Roger did send a dream in French. Best collaborative pun award goes to Ruth and Tony. Ruth dreamt of a "deck" (or pack) of Tarot cards. Tony dreamt of his laying his jetpack on a wooden "deck."

Locations:
Several people commented on the curved walls of their indoor surroundings. There were also large outdoor spaces for party-gatherings, including 2 camps. Although 3 ships were mentioned, most dreaming minds chose other vehicles for their night journey, like cars, trains, and, of course, beds!

Actions:
In my dream, I closely scrutinized a skirt costume; Melinda did the same thing (she was lucid and dreaming of me at the time). Ruth dreamt that she asked Melinda if she had dreamt up a lucid dream for the project and Melinda had replied that she did. True! The prize for closest harmony between dreams goes to Shirley and Country Girl:

Shirley: I was with a group of people and we were all strapped into this huge concentric circle. Like the inside of some amusement park ride. Suddenly we began to spin, we spun around and around so fast, we began to tilt up on our side. Then I saw this strange being standing to my left and he was spraying this mist stuff in the air. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was giving me "pure oxygen" to breathe because my lips were turning white and I was about ready to pass out. The phrase "centrifugal force" popped into my mind as I struggled awake. Whoa!

Country Girl: ...We were surrounded by a large crowd and there were a lot of beds around. Continuing to hum, I kissed him harder, backing him up against a pair of bunk beds. Then we were rotated at right angles from before and there was a double bed behind him instead of the bunk beds, as I began putting the rhythm off beat in syncopation...Now we were standing in the midst of all the beds, spinning. (Like in the movie Dirty Dancing - which, unbeknownst to me, was to air on TV the next day...) I couldn't say if I was one person, or two. My head was back and my hair flying out straight behind me as we spun around. The crowd continued to urge us on and the energy continued to mount. It was a hard, driving rock beat. Now I was now spinning, not upright, but with my body out parallel to the floor and my left arm pointing downwards, my fingertips as the pivot. I remember thinking that you aren't supposed to be able to do this, to spin this way. But I didn't care. Nothing existed but us and the music.

The queen of this year's Halloween Ball is Mary. She had resonance with the greatest number of other people's dreams: A single man who is an "astronaut" = Christopher's Star Trek costume and Tony's Rocket Man dream (However, both of those men are married!) A "briefcase" = Melinda's woman with briefcase "Video-taping" = Ruth's video. Mary also talks about a "man with dark brown hair, 5'7'" who is carrying some "locker doors." Ruth describes her Paul as "average height, dark-brown hair, very slightly receding hairline, nondescript." He's playing with a deck of cards. The platforms floating in air = Country Girls' beds & Shirley's circle. The army soldier with battle fatigues = Wow, what a hit with Cynnie's dream! Her Chinese bloomers resonate with several people, but the red vest and white shirt = Gerard's costume (Melinda also dreamt of "red and white," as did Lucky) Is the lumber = Christopher's "siding"? Is the alien craft = Tony's "Rocket Man"? The cut canvas = my dream of a torn chiffon skirt. The woman who says she's going to Hawaii = several of the project participants are planning to go to the ASD '98 conference in Hawaii. A man with light brown, chin length, poofy hair = In waking life, I have dark brown tint (over grey) hair, currently cut chin length. However, in my dream, I had an Afro. In the dream state, I am often perceived by other people (especially other mutual dreamers) as a dark haired man.