Meet Gerard Culpeper

Gerard Culpeper is a pastry chef. He is a pleasant-looking fellow – you know the type, neither handsome nor plug ugly. His skin is clear and smooth and his dark hair clean and well-cut. He's of medium height, around 5'10", and moderately well-built. He's no Mr Universe (how do those muscle-bound men manage to move?) but he's not flabby. I imagine he follows an exercise régime of some sort probably involving walking or running, perhaps cycling or rowing, all of which activities must be pursued in a gymnasium since he works long hours and often does not leave his place of employment before dark falls. I can't see him playing squash or badminton or any team sports since he spends his working days in close confinement with many other people and needs the relaxation of being solitary for a while. He's about 35 years old and though he is well-known to his colleagues and well-liked if not popular, for some reason his name escapes them. He thinks it is because he is a quiet sort of chap, a listener rather than a talker but so tired has he become of being called Jack or Jim or Colin that he has taken to wearing a badge with his name printed neatly on it.

GERARD CULPEPER

Pastry chef

How do I know him? The truth is, I don't. Gerard Culpeper sprang fully-formed into my consciousness as I woke this morning. Why he should have chosen me as his channel of communication I do not know. I have never met anyone called Gerard or Culpeper, though of course I have heard of Culpeper's Herbal. (Culpeper's Complete Herbal, written by Nicholas Culpeper and published in 1653.)

Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

I frequently encounter odd characters in the moments before I'm quite awake but rarely remember them. To the best of my knowledge I never see the same 'person' twice. Do you?

Dreaming

 

Dreaming

‘We are all made of dreams, and our life stretches from sleep before birth to sleep after death.’

Prospero, The Tempest

Shakespeare

Everyone dreams. It is claimed that dreaming is important, an opportunity for the brain to process the experiences of the day.

Sometimes it is an escape. When interviewed after release, a concentration camp inmate said she had had beautiful dreams while incarcerated, but when she was free once more, the wonderful dreams no longer came to her.

There are five common categories of dreams. The sort that reflects our daily life is the most usual type. In them we may transcend reality and allow our imagination free play.

Daydreams occur when the dreamer is fully awake but mentally engaged in another situation. I’m not sure I would say that these are actually dreams, but what do I know?

The lucid dream, in which the dreamer thinks him or herself awake and participating and able to control events, is a strange, somewhat unsettling event. It is similar in some ways to the ‘false awakening’ dream, when the dreamer thinks he or she has woken up but is in fact still dreaming.

Occasionally, people have nightmares, and these can be very frightening. They usually occur in the early morning. Night terrors are similar, but involve screaming, intense fear and thrashing as if to escape bonds or restrictions.

Sometimes they happen at the same time as sleepwalking. Sleepwalkers can get up, walk around, even appear awake, for their eyes are open, and they can hold simple conversations. They can be led gently back to bed without further disturbance. It is a very odd experience to be with a child who is sleepwalking, for the child is in the present physically, but the mind is elsewhere.   

Sometimes dreams recur frequently. One of mine involves me being late for work, or simply not turning up. Another has me worrying about exams.

Sometimes, dreams are so vivid that they can be recalled years later. As a child, I dreamt that I was flying, and was positive for many years that I could actually fly. I remembered the sensation of flying under my own power.

 Apparently, it is not uncommon for dreamers to think thus. My youngest daughter had a friend at university who had been similarly convinced of her ability to fly. Even faced with irrefutable science, we tend to continue believing that which makes us content.

A dream I had in 2009 has remained with me. I ‘met’ a man, who sprang fully formed into my consciousness on waking. He was a pleasant-looking fellow, neither handsome nor plug-ugly. His skin was clear and smooth, and his hair was dark, clean, and well-cut. He was about 35, of medium height and build, and appeared reasonably fit. It was apparent that he followed an exercise régime of some sort, probably involving running or walking, or maybe cycling or rowing. He was not a man to play team sports because he spent his working days in close proximity to other people and wanted time and space to himself at the end of the long working day.

He was a quiet man, and though he was well-liked by his fellow workers, they could never remember his name. He thought it was because he was more of a listener than a talker. Eventually, he grew so tired of being addressed as Jim, or Bob, or any other name that came to his co-worker’s lips, that he decided to wear a badge with his name printed neatly on it.

Gerard Culpeper

Pastry chef

I have no idea why he chose me as his channel of communication. I have never met anyone called Gerard or Culpeper, though I have a copy of Culpeper’s Herbal (Culpeper’s Complete Herbal, written by Nicholas Culpeper and published in 1653.)

I frequently encounter odd characters in the moments before I’m quite awake, but rarely remember them. I never see the same ‘person’ twice.

What dreams do you remember? Do you have recurrent dreams? If you have pets, do they dream?  Ours certainly do!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

ABC Wednesday Round 6 C

C is for Catherine, Catherine and Catherine, variously spelt among others as Catharine, Katharine, Katherine, Katheryn – spelling wasn't standardised in Tudor times . . .
Henry VIII had six wives, three of whom were called Catherine. British children learning about the Tudors are taught a mnemonic to remember the order, names and fates of the unfortunate women chosen to be taken in marriage by the ever-fascinating King of England who reigned from 1509 until his death in 1547 at the age of 55, an advanced age for that time. The mnemonic runs, 'Divorced, beheaded, survived, divorced, beheaded, survived.' Of the three Catherines, one was divorced, one beheaded and the last survived.
Catherine of Aragon, the Spanish princess, was first married to Henry's older brother and after his death to Henry. After 24 years of marriage and only one surviving child, a daughter, Henry, desperate to father a living son and heir, sought to annul the union and, refused permission by the Pope, effectively founded the Church of England over which he assumed supremacy. Anglicans are commonly known as Protestants. To this day the reigning sovereign is recognised as Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
Catherine of Aragon refused to accept the annulment and considered herself the King's rightful wife and Queen until she died in 1535.

This Royal Doulton figurine of Catherine of Aragon was designed by P Parsons and issued in 1990 in the series 'Six Wives of Henry VIII'
Henry's second Catherine, his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, was probably in her early twenties when Henry noticed her at court and became enamoured. They were married in 1540 when Henry was around 48, corpulent and increasingly afflicted by various ailments, including a festering ulcer on his leg. Henry's frantic urge to produce a son who might be stronger than poor Edward had led him to suppose that a young woman could have a better chance of delivering a healthy boy. Catherine Howard was repelled by her husband's marital advances and sought light relief with the younger male courtier Thomas Culpeper. Ultimately, she was accused of treason – meaning adultery, which she never admitted – and was beheaded in 1542.

Catherine Howard, issued in 1992
The last Catherine, Catherine Parr, had already been married and widowed twice by the time she caught Henry's eye. Although she had wished to continue a relationship with Sir Thomas Seymour it was impossible to refuse the King's will and Henry married her in 1543. When he died in 1547 she married for the fourth and last time to her chosen love, Lord Seymour of Sudeley, the former Sir Thomas Seymour. She died of puerperal fever a year later aged 36, six days after giving birth to a daughter.

Catherine Parr, also issued in 1992

Who would be a King's wife?

Thank you to the organisers of this meme for hosting this meme. To see more Cs please click here.

Dreaming

                                                    Dreaming

Last night I had the strangest dream – where have I heard that (sung) before? As with most (of my) dreams, there was no logic to the sequence of events. A series of problems was presented and no answers were forthcoming. I met people I hadn’t seen for years, who were in fancy dress as teddy bears. I went into a lift with half a dozen others but which further people couldn’t access, so it was secure in a worrying sort of way. With no money or credit cards I had no means of paying for travel home and as I had forgotten my mobile ‘phone I was unable to contact anyone. I woke up feeling slightly mystified but neither relieved nor upset. It’s unusual for me to remember my dreams in much detail, but this one will remain with me for some time. Gerard Culpeper was another vivid dream, here.

Apparently, humans dream for about two hours every night and the dreams may be as short as five minutes or as long as twenty. They occur during the REM (rapid eye movement) phase of sleep when the brain is more active. Some people claim that they never dream but perhaps they simply don’t remember.

Events that have been experienced during waking hours are processed through dreaming. Research has shown that creativity and problem-solving skills are enhanced while dreaming, and memory and learning are strengthened.

Some dream themes are very common and experienced by a multitude of people. They include being chased, being naked in public, being able to fly and pregnancy. I wonder if any men have dreams about pregnancy?

One familiar dream is about falling. Whenever I have that dream I wake up with a start just before the fall finishes. Awakening is accompanied by a pounding heart and a sense of relief.

A recurring dream is of being late for work. There was always a stressful element to travelling to work – perhaps there is for everyone. The more one has to rely on other people, the more anxiety is created. Will the train be on time/running?  Will the bus break down? Will the traffic jam ever ease?

Some dreams are pleasant and provide a cushion against hardship and deprivation. One lady who had been in a hellish concentration camp during the war dreamt constantly of beautiful, tasty meals. Once she was free, she never had that dream again.

Sometimes, people are aware that they are dreaming and may even be able to exert some control over what is happening. This is known as lucid dreaming and has been studied since ancient times. Aristotle said, “often when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream.” Such an experience occurs quite frequently and is not usually frightening, unless it is during a nightmare. Research suggests that half of all people studied have had lucid dreams at least once in their lifetimes but only a small percentage have them regularly.

   Dogs and cats dream. A dreaming cat twitches whiskers, paws, tail, and other muscles and may emit little noises, perhaps experiencing again the thrill of the chase. A dreaming dog twitches all over, ‘runs’ and howls or barks. It can be very noisy at night if dogs, cats and humans are all engaged in reliving the day’s events as they sleep.