Tel'aran'rhiod

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tel-AYE-rahn-rhee-ODD

General

Tel'aran'rhiod, or the World of Dreams is a world that is both of the world and apart from it, possibly lying between the weaves of the Great Pattern. Most people cannot enter it deliberately, though many touch it briefly, for just a few moments. there is a danger to those who do, as wounds taken there will still exist when the person wakes; a person who dies there dies in truth. Permanent features, such as the landscape and buildings, are mirrored exactly, but transient ones, such as papers, or the position of a table or chair,flit in and out of Tel'aran'rhiod (The World of Robert Jordan's the Wheel of Time, Chapter 23).

Dreamwalkers

Some people have the ability to enter Tel'aran'rhiod at will. These people, Dreamwalkers, are not necessarily able to channel, but their abilities to shape reality while in the dream can be as powerful as any channeling. Dreamwalking is closely related to Dreaming, the ability to have prophetic dreams. Dreamwalkers are also about to find other people's dreams, enter them, or to pull them out of the dream and into Tel'aran'rhiod (The World of Robert Jordan's the Wheel of Time, Chapter 23).

Entering in the Flesh

It is also possible to enter Tel'aran'rhiod via a gateway, though the Aiel believe that entering in the flesh is dangerous. When there, a person's control is somewhat limited, but their ability to draw on the One Power is greater (TFoH, Ch. 55)

Quotes

There is a world that lies within each of these others, inside all of them at the same time. Or perhaps surrounding them. Writers in the Age of Legends called it Tel’aran’rhiod, “the Unseen World.” Perhaps “the World of Dreams” is a better translation. Many people – ordinary folk who could not think of channeling - sometimes glimpse Tel’aran’rhiod in their dreams, and even catch glimmers of these other worlds through it. Think of some of the peculiar things you have seen in your dreams. But a Dreamer, child - a true Dreamer - can enter Tel’aran’rhiod (Verin to Egwene, The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 21)