I'm Done Staying Quiet About Migration

This is going to be a long post. I've been putting it off for months because I didn't want to be "that person" - the one who brings down the mood, who makes everyone uncomfortable, who gets accused of being a skeptic infiltrator or a concern troll.

But three days ago, I attended a memorial service for Marcus.

You might have known him as QuantumDreamer on the forums. He was 24 years old. He had been part of our community for two years. He was smart, curious, passionate about understanding the nature of consciousness.

He's dead now.

His family thinks it was suicide. The medical examiner ruled it suicide. But I know what really happened.

He migrated.

What Migration Actually Means

For those outside the community who might be reading this, let me be absolutely clear about what "migration" means in certain corners of the shared dreaming world.

Migration is the belief that you can permanently transfer your consciousness to a dream realm by dying. Not metaphorically. Not symbolically. Actually dying. Stopping your heart, ending your brain function, killing your physical body - with the belief that your consciousness will persist in Ethel or another persistent realm.

There is no evidence this works.

There is no mechanism by which this could work.

There is no way to verify that anyone who has "migrated" is actually alive in a dream realm.

What we can verify is that their bodies are dead.

How Marcus Got Recruited

Marcus was part of the mainstream Ammonite community for about a year before he started drifting toward the pre-Ammonite circles. (Some people call them Aethelians or Anastasians, but they call themselves pre-Ammonites, claiming they represent the "original" teachings before the community "went wrong.")

At first, he was just curious. He wanted to understand both sides of the debate about Ethel's nature.

Then he started talking about how the "other Ethel" felt more alive. How he'd met people there who seemed to have migrated. How they told him death was just a doorway.

I tried to talk to him. Other community members tried. We warned him about entity infection, about the dangers of these teachings, about the pattern we'd seen before.

He said we were closed-minded. That we were afraid of transcendence. That he wasn't going to do anything rash - he just wanted to understand.

Three months later, he's dead.

The Pattern

Marcus isn't the first. He's not even the first this year.

Since 2008, when the original factory deaths made the news, I've personally tracked at least twelve deaths connected to migration ideology in the English-speaking shared dreaming community. The actual number is probably higher - families often don't want to talk about it, and without knowing the person's online presence, there's no way to connect a "suicide" to our community.

Every single time, the pattern is the same:

• A curious dreamer encounters pre-Ammonite teachings
• They're drawn to the promise of "deeper" or "truer" experiences
• They visit the "other Ethel" and find it intensely compelling
• They meet the "goddess" or her devotees who tell them about migration
• They become increasingly isolated from physical life
• They start talking about death as transformation, not ending
• They die

And every single time, the pre-Ammonite community celebrates another "successful migration" while a real family buries a real body.

Why This Is Different From Religious Belief

Some people push back against my warnings by saying, "How is this different from any religion that believes in an afterlife?"

Here's how:

Most religions that believe in an afterlife don't encourage you to actively kill yourself to get there faster. In fact, most have explicit prohibitions against suicide.

The pre-Ammonite ideology specifically teaches that dying in a controlled, intentional way - often with specific techniques, substances, and dream states - is the path to transcendence.

This isn't "believing in heaven and being comforted by that belief while living a full life." This is "here are instructions for how to die properly so you can live in Ethel forever."

That's not religion. That's a suicide manual dressed up in mystical language.

What I'm Asking

I'm not asking anyone to stop practicing shared dreaming. I'm a shared dreamer. I believe these experiences are real in some meaningful way.

I'm not asking anyone to stop believing in the persistence of consciousness. That's a legitimate philosophical position that doesn't require anyone to die.

I'm asking you to be vigilant.

If you see someone drifting toward pre-Ammonite circles, reach out to them. Not to argue, just to stay connected.

If you see migration ideology being promoted, report it. The moderators on r/SharedDreaming and the Ammonite forums take this seriously.

If you yourself are drawn to these ideas - if part of you thinks maybe death really is just a doorway - please talk to someone. A friend, a therapist, a suicide hotline. Please.

The dream realms will be there when you die naturally. There's no rush. There's no urgency. Whatever the pre-Ammonites tell you about "optimal conditions" or "auspicious timing" is manipulation designed to push you toward an irrevocable decision.

For Marcus

You were my friend. I'm sorry I couldn't reach you.

Whatever you believed was waiting for you on the other side - I hope you found it.

But I don't think you did.

I think you're just gone.

And I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to make sure no one else follows you there.