The Republic of Dreams

If a man could pass through Paradise in a dream, and have a flower presented to him as a pledge that his soul had really been there, and if he found that flower in his hand when he awoke, — Ay! — and what then?

—Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Bienvenue! Welcome! with warmth to the Rêverian Republic. Rêves is a nation overwhelmingly rich in places and things to be seen. Its cities and countrysides overflow with sites and institutions redolent of historic, intellectual, and artistic tradition. In fact there are few areas not commemorated by an artist's inspiration, a philosopher's wit, or a poet's insight.

Rêves (pronounced rev) is an island republic located in the Mid-Atlantic, somewhat south of Bermuda, between the Sea of Clouds and the Sea of the Unseen. By a majority vote of its citizens, the Republic can render itself visible or invisible, accessible or inaccessible, to the rest of the world.

The Republic guarantees freedom of thought, word, and action, as well as all of the myriad particulars of the poetic vision, to its citizens and visitors. The Rêverian culture, government, and traditions are those of bardic democracy, which is governed by poets, who draft exceptions to the rule.

The official language of Rêves is poetry, and all Rêverians are multilingual, and will understand any language you happen to speak. French, however, is the diplomatic language of choice, a nod to the rest of the world.

The population of Rêves is composed of artists, dreamers, and eccentrics who have an instinctive dislike of the narrow limitations of common sense. This is characterized by a passionate yearning toward the vague, the mystic, the invisible, and the boundless infinity of the realms of the imagination. They love love, youth, old age, beauty, splendor, wisdom, generosity, music, song, the feast, and the dance. They practice mischief as much as poetry, and are keenly aware that there is much in life that no ordinary logic explains; as citizen Yeats wrote, "How do we not know but that our own unreason may be better than another's truth?" A visitor once asked, "How many festivals are there in a year?" The answer was 361, an average of one festival per day (the Rêverian calendar is lunar, with thirty days in each month), though on some days festivals are augmented by feasts, ceremonies, and other celebrations.

The principal city and capital of Rêves, Polis Poeton (city of poets), is divided into quadrants surrounding Lake Eros. The River of Innocence enters Lake Eros from the west and the River of Dreams flows out eastward into the Sea of Clouds.

Each district of Polis Poeton has its own flavor, particulars, and erratic spiritual features. It is a city of contrasts, the old and the new, the familiar and the exotic. A walk through the city can take you from the charm of a Victorian neighborhood to the mystery of a North African bazaar. Paris and Berlin, not in replica but as they actually are in the imagination, are there to be found by those who seek them.

"Swarming city, city full of dreams, where the specter in broad daylight accosts the passerby," wrote Charles Baudelaire of Polis Poeton.

Accommodations vary, from the elegance of the Hotel Prince of Clouds overlooking Lake Eros to the intimate Hôtel des Eccentriques on Wombat Strasse. Attractions and entertainment are plentiful. The night is alive with clubs, cafés, and theaters. Recommended are the Incomparables Club on the Boulevard Raymond Roussel, and Madame de Ricochet's Salon at the intersection of the Avenue of Quivers and Shudders and Sweet Tongue Lane. The Perpetual Public Flea Market, located on Moongate Road, is unlike any market found anywhere. One can find everything from glass nails to storytelling starfish and singing statuary. While at the market, be sure to visit the stall of Illusions and Fables, where magicians perform and relate tales from The Book of Tormands (the Rêverian book of sagas, myths, fables, and philosophies). Rêverians see this book, as they see all books, as a sacred source of magic, knowledge, and wisdom. Not to be missed is the Statue of Mirrors in the Botanical Gardens in the Park of the Nine Enigmas. (In Rêverian mythopoetry, the Nine Enigmas refer to Chance; Desire; Love; Magic; Mischief; Mystery; Time, the right and left-hand aspects; The three permanent clouds over the State of Mystère; and The heavy little box and the identity of the First Ones.)

Rêves enjoys a wide variety of temperature and atmospheric conditions that are most invigorating. In any of the various regions of the island, one can find the particulars of any of the four seasons. All meteorological manifestations occur, always locally (in miniature, as it were), within the passage of a single week. This means a hurricane can brew in your hotel's swimming pool, move out onto the street, and play itself out before advancing a block. Yet while the climatic conditions of Rêves are limitless, they can most accurately be described as temperate and as such do not always necessitate the wearing of garments. The custom of nakedness among Rêverian youth is not universally practiced but is accepted by the entire populace. When visitors encounter young citizens in a state of undress, they should delight in the aesthetic experience and remember they are in Rêves. The flora and fauna, culture, and climate vary from the mountains in Désir to the plains of Mischief and the coastal regions, with their spectacular views and inviting white sand beaches.

Inter-Rêves travel is easy, and it can begin at any hour of the day or night by railway, dirigible, aeroplane, or a convertible motorcar. One can begin on a summer day in the capital and spend a winter evening in the provinces in a matter of hours, without concern for cost or time.

The Oneiro (Greek for "dream") is the denomination for coinage and currency in Rêves. The possession of this currency provides one with the means to exchange goods, services, and dreams. Literacy and cultural participation are universal on the island of Rêves. Books, works of art, and musical recordings are the gifts of choice for any occasion. The nation's wealth and resources are evenly distributed. Its society is remarkably egalitarian and free of any sort of crime. However, Rêves is not a utopia, but a topospoetic.

While the Republic is a modern nation, its multiethnic traditions are woven into the fabric of its society. The islanders practice a trancelike state of awake dreaming called "Droomall." In this state they describe themselves as moving into a realm in which the mind and the spirit flow outward into the natural immensity of things. The practitioner's privilege of solitude is sacrosanct and is protected by law and custom.

Rêverians are descended from a race older than that which now dominates the globe, and are born and found in all the many lands of the world. In appearance, there is scarcely a perceptible difference from the general populace in which they are born, but they are marked by having an exceptionally fertile imagination verging on hallucinations. Their sense of humor is eccentric and at times sardonic. In these ways they identify their true nature and origin. On the island of Rêves, they consider themselves a tribe of artists, dreamers, eccentrics, poets, and tellers of tales. Foreign-born Rêverians have the right of gaining citizenship by establishing their essential character on Rêves, or by providing appropriate documentation to a Rêverian embassy or consulate.

"We are all inventors, we are all dreamers, mutually creating and dreaming each other and telling each other our dreams." And then he asked, "Are we the one that is dreaming or are we a part of someone else's dream?" — The Book of Tormands, Vol. III, Chapter 2

Of the 53.9 million Rêverians dispersed throughout the world, perhaps fewer than many live permanently on Rêves. While Rêverians consider themselves a single race by imagination and tradition, they take pride in their variations of color, height, and foot size. Rêverians are especially fond of the following quote from The Book of Tormands: "The new moon and the full moon are both completely the moon. But who could love the moon as much if it did not change?"

Rêves claims to be the oldest continuous republic, but because it remained isolated (hidden) until 1928, this claim is often ignored in conventional histories. The Rêverian Republic began at about 700 B.C. O.T. (ordinary time) along the shores of the Adriatic when the poet Anrig the Great discovered that the truth of dreams could form the basis of a new society.

The history of the island between 9 A.D. and 1522 O.T. remains a mystery. According to archaeological records, the island was vacated sometime between 1360 and the arrival of the second Rêverian settlers. The most convincing theory suggests the Rêverians lost track of time, since they calculated things by the shape of clouds, by shadows, by the flight of birds, by throwing bones over their left shoulders, and by every kind of trick and game of chance that you could put a mind to. The second wave of immigrant Rêverians, who were fleeing the rationalist excesses of the Renaissance, arrived on the island in 1522 and immediately revived its traditions while blending many new elements into island life, including the extensive use of dream collectors and the practice of Droomall.

Recently discovered documents in which the original Rêverians referred to themselves as "Randomites" suggests a connection with the Randomites, a society of nonlinear thinkers active in the 1920s. Their membership was international, as was their persecution and suppression by linear thinkers of the period. By 1938, nothing more was heard of them and all traces of their activities had vanished.

Because the island lies in proximity to trade and travel routes, occasional military expeditions attempted to conquer the Republic. None of these forces was ever successful, and none ever returned to its home country. It now appears that these armies were absorbed into the general population; coming to conquer, they were conquered. The Sūreté Nationale, the Rêverian police, is a small force, about twenty; the exact number is unknown. Qualifications include a repulsion to belonging to any military or quasi-military organization. Its chief function is to prevent the unlawful interference with dreams.

In the 1880s, the Republic began to experience a period of internal strife caused by a band of citizens who, under the banner of common sense, sought to impose their collective dream on the entire nation. The "Unpleasantness," which lasted until 1889, when poetic order was restored, is referred to simply as "The Bad Dream." Established after the Unpleasantness, the Républicain Garde exist as guardians of the dream; provide a reason to dress up, have parades, and express patriotic feelings; perform ceremonial duties for official occasions; and perform sundry other domestic activities.

Between 1900 and 1923, countless numbers of Rêverians established themselves as operatives for the Republic internationally, committed to keeping the flame of the imagination alive and sabotaging the preponderance of linear thinking. They continue to meet with only limited success.