ThirdGate - The Map is Not the Territory

Map of the Dreaming World

The object numbers are links to the map; by clicking a number, you can view the map. To return to your reading position, click the "Back" button. (site admin's note)

I tried to illustrate my map in Flash 5. I apologize in advance if anything is not entirely clear (I might have mixed up the numbers, saved in the wrong format, etc.). I managed to learn Flash from scratch in one day and drew the map under severe time constraints (exam session :)). In short, see for yourselves what came of it. If anything is wrong, I'll redo it. But everything should be OK.

Now, about the map itself: what is reflected in it is the result of reviewing Dreams over a period of about 2 years (since I started recording them). I began drawing the map about half a year ago. At first, I couldn't figure out the cardinal directions, trying to put "west" on the left and "east" on the right, then vice-versa (even though I immediately placed "north" at the bottom of the sheet). Then I got tired of it all and decided that it didn't matter which letter I put where (only to compare my map with others later, I put west on the right and east on the left, as it was on the general template, but now I understand that everyone gets confused with cardinal directions). In short, I drew the map often based purely on intuition. For example, if I feel that villages are in the bottom right of the sheet, that's where I draw them. I visually perceive them there (and another village, which is actually to the left of Moscow, I also see in the bottom right; as a child, I was even scolded for not knowing its real location). It's as if I already had separate pieces of a cognitive map that I was now transferring to paper, trying to connect them somehow.

I constantly update the map, especially because now, purely spontaneously (at any time of day, regardless of what I'm doing), very old Dreams suddenly surface in my memory. Now I can say for sure that there's a library on it, although I haven't drawn it yet, nor do I even guess where it might be. In short, I recall information about old objects, and (as if on purpose!) I start having Dreams about completely new ones.

Explanations to the Map (quite detailed :)):

"Fortress" - a very unpleasant place. It looks like a small, very ancient, massive temple, an old fortress, etc. In short, something very massive, ancient, and right on the edge of the sea. You can enter freely, but exiting… Instantly, a wild number of all kinds of ships, submarines, in short, all sorts of floating nastiness, appears from the sea and begins to fiercely shoot at me (with lasers, huge stones, etc.). They have no intention of retreating! And if they weren't enough, a man who hangs out near the fortress helps them. He also attacks me with various lightning bolts and so on. And all this against the backdrop of a dark, raging sea and almost complete darkness. The man is quite easy to deal with. What to do with the guard-ships, I don't know yet; I just ignore them, they only scare me with their appearance. The most interesting thing is that an artifact is hidden inside the fortress. Sometimes it's a special sword, sometimes a greenish sphere. As soon as I deal with the guard and reach the place where the artifact lies, the ceiling starts to lower, the walls move, columns fall, etc. That's when I try to escape. I've never managed to take what I came for. And the man rejoices, positively glowing with happiness, the scoundrel… The contents of this fortress are now associated for me with this: there's a children's film ("The Neverending Story," I think), where for every wish a boy made in a fairy tale land, one memory was taken from him, and all his memories were stored in a huge fortress in the form of many spheres. I once saw mountains of spheres inside this fortress; I even tried to take a few, but that man took them back. I wonder what will happen when I reclaim my memories…
Well, this is the guard itself – the ships that sail in from the sea.
This is the dark part of the sea. It's very bright and sunny only very close to the shore and in the south of the sea. The further from the shore, the darker it gets + a lot of special effects appear (flashes of light, many lightning bolts, including ball lightning, thunder). Once I flew from the shore deep into the sea, reaching the lightning. I don't remember what happened next. + somewhere in this dark part, there's a ship or submarine (a huge rusty iron vessel, floating aimlessly in complete darkness) that is constantly sinking. I've never escaped from there; I'm like in captivity on this ship.
This is my "place of rest" = paradise. It exists only in my imagination. I invented it for myself even before I knew about mapping methods. And when I drew the map, I wondered: where is "paradise"? I don't remember such a place in my Dreams, but the "place of rest" perfectly fit into the South-East corner :). Here there are high mountains, a waterfall (healing) – a mountain river that flows into the sea. A suspension bridge leads to the eastern part, going into a small pass in the mountains. The most interesting thing is that in my imagination, I thoroughly worked out the western part, but the part after the bridge I left empty. In Lucid Dreams, I keep trying to get to this place, but I can't. I only see a dark, milky sea. Attempts continue…
– a waterfall, huge and raging. When I feel bad, I imagine bathing in it. It helps.
– an area of caves in low mountains. If you climb into them, you can wander for a very long time through various labyrinths, which will eventually lead to an artifact (I see it as a glowing stone). I haven't taken it yet, only seen it.
– "the game." An area clearly bounded on three sides. The meaning of being here: to get to area 8 through all sorts of obstacles (I see it as a reddish building with many labyrinths; its structure is generally strange). Once I saw this area as a reddish desert, the only exit from which led to huge concrete structures floating in the darkness (I got into a crystal labyrinth and barely escaped – you can read this Dream on dreamer.ru). Only now am I remembering something about this area.
– I vaguely remember what this building is. It doesn't inspire trust, always reddish in color and with labyrinths. Someone else is also hanging around nearby…
– "ancient lands." Various ancient civilizations, etc. A very pleasant place, the inhabitants are friendly, they tell and show everything themselves… They might give you something.
– "ancient city" – a small medieval town with narrow streets, a small town square, and many markets. Sometimes not very hospitable.
– "Sherwood Forest" – a small forest, inhabited by creatures who don't want to communicate with the outside world. Here I find either monkeys led by Hanuman, or runaway Irishmen. They calmly accept me into their ranks, very hospitable. Area 12 – labyrinths – ends in this forest. It is located not far from the "fortress" (1). You can easily escape into this forest from the guard-ships.
– an area of labyrinths, which for me is represented by five-story buildings. They even appear sometimes in the forest (11). They stretch all the way to the north.
This area begins from my house with beautiful gardens, then (further east) it resembles a park (various trees), and ends with an excursion area. A small forest leads directly to a "resort town" on the beach by the sea.
"Caves." This area is right next to the gardens. It's usually fenced off, heavily guarded (dogs, armed guards…). It's located much lower than the gardens, with many passages and tunnels leading underground. I often feel that treasures and such are buried here. The excursion area partially extends here – this area can be shown (though I always arrive at the wrong time and enter "illegally," and the guards catch me). A very interesting place; I want to explore it in the future.
Well, this is an area of forest and small fields. Very similar to reality (I live in Krylatskoye, and these are the forests by the velodrome). Houses are occasionally found here. Nothing particularly interesting here…
– barrier: a very wide river, a very deep concrete ditch, etc.
– "resort town," specifically the beach area. Usually with mountains of yellowish sand, a cold sea. Few people, the water can be not very clean. Very bright, always sunny. Sometimes money is demanded to enter here. Once I noticed a small island nearby. I'll explore it sometime…
– a huge road, starting from the "fortress" (1), runs right through the center of the town. In the very center is an area of huge, luxurious hotels. I often visit one of them (such luxury, words fail me). A hospitable place. The most interesting place in this area is the hotel itself. Several times I've ended up here directly from my house.
– pier. The pier area is a continuous labyrinth of houses, which also belong to the "resort town."
– grassy pavement, small islands, etc. Here begins the most terrifying area on my map, extending to the North-East.
– this is again near my house, the velodrome area, small mountains (here I'm either skiing or cycling..). Nothing particularly remarkable.
– "park." Usually fenced, divided into squares. Very beautiful (though the "gardens" – 13 – are cooler), with fountains and so on. I rarely visit here; usually, someone brings me. I haven't explored much here. Between the park and area 15, there are often some wars, many trenches…
– "road to the clouds" – an area near the road by my house. From here, you can climb directly onto the clouds. Once I saw a lot of fog on them and entrances to different worlds. A very interesting area, still exploring…
– this is my house. From the road next to it, you can reach the cloud level and the lower level through sinkholes in the ground. Underground here is a huge network, similar to a railway, which allows you to reach any part of the city in seconds. A very curious area, I'll explore it later…
– school/institute. Nothing remarkable here. I'm constantly late for lectures, get expelled, reprimanded. However, I noticed a rather large library here; I keep wanting to get into it.
– "tall building." Sometimes it's a huge, gloomy house with a creaky elevator, sometimes a "TV center," sometimes a space center. I've actually started to distinguish levels within it. There's a level (the lowest) – the metro. There's a level = "secret files": secret laboratories, unimaginable experiments, everything is greenish. There's also a "daggerfall" level (I played too much in my time, now it appears in Dreams) – huge damp labyrinths with many demons. There's a "studio" level (I worked at a TV center, and now I have an entire level with studios, Ostankino corridors…). The center, the axis of the entire building, is a staircase with an elevator (which transports you to other levels). You can also get to the hotel in the "resort town" from here, by elevator. Sometimes this same building appears near a lake.
– "market." Not particularly pleasant. Lots of junk. The "tall building" can be seen nearby.
– a wide highway, leading directly from the "tall building." Above the road is a wide bridge. It also appears above the road leading from the "fortress" (1) near the sea.
– "pool." Sometimes empty. I haven't explored it much yet.
– "dome" – an incomprehensible something. Either a dome-shaped building, or simply a dome forms from the air if you enter this place. I get the impression that it's some kind of trap; I don't like this place.
– ordinary forests and fields. A little further north, almost by the mountains, is a dense coniferous forest. The closer to the east, the more swamps and water, in general, are found.
– "swamps" – the most terrifying thing on my map. When I'm in this place, I have the feeling that time is completely unknown, more like a prehistoric period. I feel like I'm about to meet a dinosaur. All around is water, immeasurable depth, no bottom at all. The surface is a thin, swaying platform of marsh grass, small trees. Wild predatory fish live in the water. Their bodies constantly flash here and there… Very toothy, they want to devour me. If you deal with one, another swims up. The swamp area extends all the way to the area of five-story buildings (12). The "dome" also borders it. In short, so much evil lives in this water and swamps that it's better not to go there – you'll be devoured.
– a hotel in the mountains far to the north. Usually, it's small and cozy, situated low on a mountain. The owner is a perpetually dissatisfied man, very inhospitable, always trying to send me away.
– a very fast mountain river, right under the hotel. The northern mountains themselves are very high, with snow caps. I've never been beyond the hotel area. There's also a river near the village in the west. I didn't write a number there, but on the map, it's clear that it's a river.
– "villages." Several villages that fit into a general pattern. In general, I visit here very often. I could easily draw a detailed map of this place. Maybe I will later.
– "disaster zone": most often a thunderstorm coming from behind the forest, lightning (ball lightning also occurs), hurricane, etc.
– lakes
– "prison," which sometimes appears near the village as a pioneer camp, sometimes a military camp where I'm a recruit, etc. Everyone here is very strict, they don't like it when I do what they forbid.
– a castle, sometimes ruins, sometimes several castles. A very good place. Here I feel at home.
– a valley, with many small ponds and villages at its bottom. It feels like a very good place, but I've only seen it from above, from a bird's-eye view. In general, I often see the entire South-West area from a great height, flying over it. Once, instead of a castle, there was a flying city here, another time – whimsical golden structures in the clouds.
– a ditch, i.e., an obstacle between the city and the area with the castle and prison.
– a wide alley right next to the lake near the tall building. Many incomprehensible personalities often hang out here. It is here that "the end of the world," "the final battle," etc., occur. In short, the alley of exploits.
– and this is actually the lake near the road. It surrounds the tall building.
– industrial district, also known as the "lower city." Endless construction sites, lots of rubbish. A very unpleasant place. Dirty and disgusting. A road runs between this place and the barrier (41).
– this is an outbuilding, a house on the outskirts. Usually, some farmer lives here, breeds horses, and various livestock.
– well, this is the city itself. There are many ordinary houses, roads, etc. Somewhere here there is a metro (one exit is definitely by the reservoir), but I don't yet know exactly where it's located. It has an overground and an underground part. A particularly unpleasant place is the "Kiyevskaya" station (such a labyrinth, I've never been able to get to the station I needed).
– a railway, leading from the edge of the village to the city. Sometimes it's the Moscow Ring Road (MKAD). You can quickly get to school and home on it even without a train.

Besides the above, somewhere on the map there is a library: huge, like the Lenin Library, it has 2 floors of books, the rest (about 14 floors in total) are research floors (various professors wander around). The upper floors are off-limits, but you can arrange to help with some research – then they will gladly let you in. I don't know where it is: sometimes it's in the institute, sometimes in the castle. But I feel it's a separate building.

Also on the map (I think in the area of the ancient lands) there is an abandoned district: many huge concrete structures, incomprehensible radars, wires. Everything built by a very developed civilization that disappeared to an unknown place.

The most unexplored area is the North-East of the map. It's not just swamps there!

I also have one more thought: places created in imagination can certainly be placed on the map. For me, this is the "place of rest" in the South-East. Regarding the funnel in the North-West, which many have mentioned. I don't remember one, but recently I looked through my drawings and came across a drawing of a huge black-blue funnel. I remember that one evening I sat down and drew it completely spontaneously. I don't know why. But it is clearly also on my map.