Reality Begins in our Dreams

Fantasies have always been necessary to the human mind. Everywhere we look in history, at every time, in every clime, in every culture, make-believe plays a part. And in many cultures make-believe is no less real to the people than what we call reality. In our culture we have fantasy novels and films and Halloween and Santa and our culture is full of make believe which is actually part of our truth. Good fantasy novels are a celebrated part of our literature and play various roles in our daily lives, helping us to get through the day and giving our minds something enjoyable to work with.

I have heard it said that the human race is quite novel among the various races that populate the Universe because we have the capacity to dream. What effect our dreams have on the Universe I have no idea, but it certainly is an interesting talent, especially as our fantasies often produce in reality what we were previously only dreaming about. Inventions that first appeared in good fantasy novels like those of the writer H.G. Wells have materialized and become part of our industrial and technical culture.

In Gahan Hanmer’s novel The Kingdom on the Edge of Reality, a very wealthy man fantasizes a kingdom isolated in the Canadian wilderness and then goes ahead and creates it. A good deal of trouble goes into its creation but the dream sustains his endeavor and he accomplishes what he set out to do. His kingdom operates successfully taking nothing from the modern world, no machines, no electricity, no firearms, no pesticides, no modern medical establishment or legal establishment. In all ways it mimics the medieval kingdoms of the past and no one there misses the modern era in the slightest. Perhaps this good fantasy novel will someday materialize into reality.