ABSTRACT 1998
Long term journaling:
The naturalist's contribution to dream study continues
A panel and open discussion
with
Bjo Ashwill, Kelly Bulkeley, Cynthia Pearson, Dennis Schmidt and Gloria
Sturzenacker.
At ASD-13, Dennis Schmidt chaired the first panel on long-term
journaling. The outcome was that many were provoked and intrigued by
the potential of the dream journal keeper to be a serious researcher.
The concepts and issues that emerge from this potentiality are still as
Dennis described them in his abstract in 1996:
"…In the tradition of the naturalists whose patient observations
prepared the ways to elegant understandings of physics, chemistry, and
biology, home journal keepers record and discover events and
regularities that astonish and enlighten, and that elude experimental
probing.
We do not all agree on exactly what are naturalistic methods of dream
study, or on which naturalistic approaches are the most fruitful, or on
how to evaluate our observations and our ideas.
Some of us focus on communities of dreamers, studying many dreams of
different dreamers, to see their relation to matters collective and
individual. Some of us study our own individual experience. Some of us
are focused mystically, or metaphysically, or both, seeking to
comprehend dreaming immanent in a reality transcending the apparent
waking world.
We differ in how we consider the dreams that we work with, and in how
we test our ideas to develop confidence in them, and in how much and
how we apply our ideas.
Yet our shared discipline of methodically recalling and recording our
dreaming, and attending to resonances of themes, has brought us to a
remarkable commonality: We have all found extended coherence in
dreaming. And, to a great degree, we agree on what that coherence is
like and how it appears.
This agreement is not reflected in the scholarly study of dreaming. It
is not just that scholarly students of dreaming don't share in the
agreement. To a dismaying degree, they ignore it, and the phenomena and
naturalistic methods that constitute the agreement.
Why is this? We will not be able to answer that question. Our purpose
rather is to raise the question. Toward that end, we will each speak
some about our own studies, our several approaches, and how we see them
illuminating not just ourselves, individually, but facets of our common
human existence that are not well illumined otherwise. It will be
apparent that, however we are looking, we are observing similar
extended coherence in dreaming.
Some factors in the academic neglect of these studies may also be
apparent. Long term journal studies do not seem adaptable to an
experimental paradigm. The phenomena appear only with long attention to
and intimate familiarity with the dreamer. Key events occur
sporadically, in the natural course of life. Apprehending the full
richness of the phenomena usually involves associative thinking and,
often, mystical thinking, more than rigorous thinking within a familiar
theoretical framework. And anomalous or "paranormal" occurrences are
integral in the extended coherence that we see.
The challenges presented by long term observations recorded in dream
journals are serious ones. Despite a perhaps natural wish to avoid
them, the broad agreement among many careful observers concerning
phenomena of radical importance in conceptualizing dreaming requires
that we accept the challenges. Scholar and journal keeper alike need to
recognize that the personal journal is a uniquely sensitive instrument
that may enlighten not only the individual dreamer but the whole field
of dream study."
At last year's conference, a number of long-term journalers met
informally and shared ideas about how to approach long term records.
This year, we hope to continue this cross-fertilization with a larger
audience, and prepare the way for discussing how we might, someday,
arrive at some agreement on how to capitalize on the commonalities of
our dream journal studies.
ABSTRACT
1999
Long Term Journal Keeping:
Why We Do It
A panel and open discussion
with
Bjo Ashwill, Kelly Bulkeley, Betsy Davids, Ed Kellogg,
Cynthia Pearson, Dennis Schmidt and Gloria Sturzenacker.
At ASD-13, Dennis Schmidt chaired the first panel on long-term
journaling. The outcome was that many were provoked to consider and
appreciate the personal dream journal as the fundamental instrument of
dream study. The concepts and issues that emerge from this appreciation
are still as Dennis described them in his abstract in 1996:
"…In the tradition of the naturalists whose patient observations
prepared the ways to elegant understandings of physics, chemistry, and
biology, home journal keepers record and discover events and
regularities that astonish and enlighten…
We differ in how we consider the dreams that we work with, and in how
we test our ideas to develop confidence in them, and in how much and
how we apply our ideas. Yet our shared discipline of methodically
recalling and recording our dreaming…has brought us to a remarkable
commonality: We have all found extended coherence in dreaming…
This agreement is not reflected in the scholarly study of dreaming. It
is not just that scholarly students of dreaming don't share in the
agreement. To a dismaying degree, they ignore it, and the phenomena and
naturalistic methods that constitute the agreement… [Yet] Scholar and
journal keeper alike need to recognize that the personal journal is a
uniquely sensitive instrument that may enlighten not only the
individual dreamer but the whole field of dream study."
At the 1997 conference, a number of long-term journalers met informally
and shared ideas about how to approach long term records. In 1998, we
held a panel session to continue our cross-fertilization, discussing
how our individual interests are reflected in our record keeping.
The objective for 1999 will be to showcase the compelling reasons each
of us has for doggedly maintaining our dreams records over the years,
and to expand on our subject by featuring more speakers.
Bjo Ashwill will describe her software program, "DreamSpinner," and
present specific Universal Dream Themes and note how they changed over
time in her series of over 3400 dreams. Kelly Bulkeley will reflect on
the value and importance of the dream journal as the basis of the
scholarly study of dreams. Betsy Davids will discuss dream journaling
as part of a writing practice and as a laboratory for an emerging
literary genre of the dream. Ed Kellogg will draw on his years of dream
recording and indexing to illustrate how one can uncover the greater
treasures of information made accessible through long term journaling
Cynthia Pearson will describe how starting a database for her dream
records led her to discover intricate synchronicities, called
"arabesques," extending through time. Dennis Schmidt will summarize
some of his experiences of prolonged coherence in dream records
spanning nearly three decades. Gloria Sturzenacker will outline what
she calls the "magic, proof that there's much more going on than we
realize, in ways we can't explain" as well as the "practical magic" of
extended journaling, where "a lot of this stuff actually works out!
Answers come, etc."
Whatever facet we focus on during our panel presentations, our ultimate
objective remains constant-- to stress the importance of journal
keeping, and to highlight the unique and invaluable instrument that is
the dream journal.
ABSTRACT
2000
Long term Journal Keeping:
Taking Stock and Looking Ahead
A panel and open discussion
with
Peggy Coats, Cynthia Pearson, Richard Russo, Dennis Schmidt and Gloria
Sturzenacker
At ASD-13, Dennis Schmidt chaired the first panel on long-term
journaling, framing and exploring the personal dream journal as the
fundamental instrument of dream study. The concepts and issues that
emerge from this appreciation are still as Dennis described them in
1996:
"…In the tradition of the naturalists whose patient observations
prepared the ways to elegant understandings of physics, chemistry, and
biology, home journal keepers record and discover events and
regularities that astonish and enlighten…Scholar and journal keeper
alike need to recognize that the personal journal is a uniquely
sensitive instrument that may enlighten not only the individual dreamer
but the whole field of dream study."
At the 1997 conference, long-term journalers met informally to compare
approaches to long term record keeping. In 1998, we held a panel
session to continue our cross-fertilization, discussing how our
individual interests are reflected in our record keeping. In 1999,
panelists focused on the compelling reasons each of us has for doggedly
maintaining our dreams records over the years.
In 2000, in keeping with the conference theme of “Millennial Dreaming,”
panelists will reflect on what we have learned from the practice of
keeping long term dream journals, and what we look forward to exploring
in the future. Peggy Coats will focus on how the development of a
computerized journal-keeping system has aided in discovering
correlations between the evolution of personal dream symbols and
underlying patterns of personal history; and how attention to these
patterns and symbols has created a bridge between technology and being,
serving as an impetus for dream explorations in cyberspace.
Cynthia Pearson will reflect on the study of her own journals and of
journal keeping in general, and speculate on the advances and frontiers
that journal keepers may address in the future, such as: applying the
findings of brain research to our dream records; discussing the
limitations of language in accounts of fantastical dream experiences;
and evaluating our experiences with synchronicity and “hidden stories.”
Richard Russo will discuss how keeping a long-term dream journal has
enriched both his creative life and his personal dreamwork. In an
approach analogous to that of the art historian, individual dreams are
understood and appreciated in the broader context of the dreaming
psyche's entire body of work, and provide a rich source of creative
inspiration. Dennis Schmidt will provide an assessment of where he
stands in his dream studies thirty years along -- what is clear, what
is not clear, and what prospects he sees for extending clarity at the
edges of what is clear and into what is not clear.
Gloria Sturzenacker will discuss how some long-term journal keepers
have witnessed an intricate “magic” connecting dreams and waking life.
This web of synchronistic meaning is extended through time and among
people in a way that defies a mechanistic understanding of cause and
effect. Believing this phenomenon to be the growth tip of human
evolution, she will speculate that long-
term journal keepers are developing future technologies that can help
save the planet.
Whatever facet we focus on during our panel presentations, our ultimate
objective remains constant-- to stress the importance of journal
keeping, and to highlight the unique and invaluable instrument that is
the dream journal.
ABSTRACT
2001
The Odyssey of Long Term Journal Keeping
A panel and open discussion
with
Kelly Bulkeley, Jean Campbell, Peggy Coats, Ed Kellogg, Martha Peacock,
Cynthia Pearson
At ASD-13, Dennis Schmidt chaired the first panel on long-term
journaling, framing and exploring the personal dream journal as the
fundamental instrument of dream study. The concepts and issues that
emerge from this appreciation are still as Dennis described them in
1996: "…In the tradition of the naturalists whose patient observations
prepared the ways to elegant understandings of physics, chemistry, and
biology, home journal keepers record and discover events and
regularities that astonish and enlighten…Scholar and journal keeper
alike need to recognize that the personal journal is a uniquely
sensitive instrument that may enlighten not only the individual dreamer
but the whole field of dream study." Since then, long-term journalers
have met at each ASD conference to describe our approaches to long term
record keeping and continue our cross-fertilization.
In 2001, panelists will present their reflections of their personal
dream odysseys. Kelly Bulkeley will discuss the values and limitations
of using the Hall and Van de Castle content analysis system to enrich
long-
term dream journaling in "Content Analysis as a Dream Journaling Ally.”
If used carefully, content analysis can serve as a point of departure
for detailed qualitative investigations of dream patterns over time,
and it can also provide an excellent basis for comparing one's own
dreams with the dreams of others.
Jean Campbell, who claims to have slept through syllogisms as a
doctoral student in philosophy, will present “A Layman Looks at Fuzzy
Logic.” She will describe discovering the friendly warmth of Fuzzy
Logic as a way to work with dreams. In “The Computer as an Instrument
of Discovery,” Peggy Coats will focus on how the development of a
computerized journal keeping system has aided in discovering
correlations between the evolution of personal dream symbols and
underlying patterns of personal history; and how attention to these
patterns and symbols has created a bridge between technology and being,
serving as an impetus for dream explorations in cyberspace. What
compels some people to keep up the time consuming practice of long-term
dream journaling for decades, and even for lifetimes? In “Long-Term
Journaling as an Individuation Process,” Ed Kellogg will argue that the
answer lies in the fact that the work - recording dreams, rereading
them, indexing them, acting on them, etc. - in itself accomplishes a
kind of deeply satisfying healing
-individuation process that brings about a kind of spiritual
integration and growth that no other activity provides. One advantage
of long term journal keeping is the ability to trace a dream symbol
through time. In "The Hauntings of Long Term Journal Keeping," Martha
Peacock will trace the dream image of a haunted house that over the
years has become less haunted, and discuss the psychological unfolding
represented by the archetypal image of "house."
Cynthia Pearson will moderate the panel, and facilitate discussion with
audience members following the presentations.
Whatever facet we focus on during our panel presentations, our ultimate
objective remains constant-- to stress the importance of journal
keeping, and to highlight the unique and invaluable instrument that is
the dream journal.
ABSTRACT
2002
Dreaming Before and After 9/11:
Journal Keepers Report
A panel and open discussion
with
Kelly Bulkeley, Jean Campbell, Ernest Hartmann, Cynthia Pearson, Gloria
Sturzenacker and Robert Waggoner
At ASD-13, Dennis Schmidt chaired the first panel on long-term
journaling, framing and exploring the personal dream journal as the
fundamental instrument of dream study. The concepts and issues that
emerge from this appreciation are still as Dennis described them in
1996: "…In the tradition of the naturalists whose patient observations
prepared the ways to elegant understandings of physics, chemistry, and
biology, home journal keepers record and discover events and
regularities that astonish and enlighten…Scholar and journal keeper
alike need to recognize that the personal journal is a uniquely
sensitive instrument that may enlighten not only the individual dreamer
but the whole field of dream study."
Since then, long-term journalers have met at each ASD conference to
discuss long term record keeping and continue our cross-
fertilization.
In 2002, panelists will report on their observations of dreams that
were recorded before and after the terrorist attacks of September 11,
2001.
Dream journals provide a unique window into people's emotional
responses to a collective crisis like the attacks of September 11. In
his presentation, Kelly Bulkeley will draw on his own journal work as
well as the journals of several research volunteers to focus on the way
that dreams weave personal life issues into the broader social concerns
about terrorism, war, and violence.
When Jean Campbell first began encouraging people to post to the
Internet their dreams about the 9/11 disasters, she was convinced the
initial responses would be precognitive. They were. Her second impulse
was to invite skilled dreamers from around the world to join in an
online dream dialogue, The World Dreams Peace Bridge. The result has
been a model for group dream journaling.
Ernest Hartmann has been studying dreams after trauma for many years,
and sometimes has been fortunate enough to obtain dream series before
and after trauma from the same persons (dream journalers). The most
important finding so far has been that the central images of the dream,
which capture the underlying emotion (called "Contextualizing Images")
are judged as more powerful in periods following trauma. (See for
instance Hartmann E., et al, Dreaming 11, 115-126, 2001.) This work
will be summarized and discussed, as well as early results from a new
study systematically investigating dreams from dream journalers before
and after 9/11/01, since we all experienced a trauma on that date.
Cynthia Pearson will moderate the panel, and facilitate discussion with
audience members following the presentations.
Guidance and insight are two of the treasures that long-term
journal-keeping unearth. Gloria Sturzenacker, former editor of the New
York City Fire Department's training magazine, will trace the ways her
dreams have provided direction for a continued life mission with the
fire service, emotional healing to clear the way, and gentle processing
of the aftermath of 9/11.
Long term dream journalers often record dreams that precognitively
suggest future events. In his presentation, Robert Waggoner will
outline a number of apparently precognitive dreams about the Sept. 11th
tragedies and their concurrence with the personal and mass events that
unfolded. The presentation will include hints to aid dream journalers
in assessing their possible precognitive dreams beforehand.
Whatever facet we focus on during our panel presentations, our ultimate
objective remains constant-- to stress the importance of journal
keeping, and to highlight the unique and invaluable instrument that is
the dream journal.
ABSTRACT
2003
Getting the Dream Down and
Following Where It Leads
A panel and open discussion
with
Bjo Ashwill, Sandy Ginsberg, Ed Kellogg,
Linda Magallón, Cynthia Pearson and Gloria Sturzenacker
At ASD-13, Dennis Schmidt chaired the first panel on long-term
journaling, framing and exploring the personal dream journal as the
fundamental instrument of dream study. The concepts and issues that
emerge from this appreciation are still as Dennis described them in
1996: "…In the tradition of the naturalists whose patient observations
prepared the ways to elegant understandings of physics, chemistry, and
biology, home journal keepers record and discover events and
regularities that astonish and enlighten…Scholar and journal keeper
alike need to recognize that the personal journal is a uniquely
sensitive instrument that may enlighten not only the individual dreamer
but the whole field of dream study." Since then, long-term journalers
have met at each ASD conference to discuss long term record keeping and
continue our cross-
fertilization.
In 2003, panelists will discuss techniques that help to make dream
records more true to the experiences they describe, and address how
their observations about dreaming have influenced their world views
Bjo Ashwill will pose the question, “What Do We Really See in Our
Dreams?” Often we say in our narratives that the scene was “sort of” a
familiar kitchen, back yard or office. But “even a building I describe
in my narrative as my home is often missing many details and is not
accurate,” Bjo notes. She has been attempting to create digital graphic
images of dreams that are exact in terms of the dream
architectureincluding landscapes, buildings, and objects. She will
discuss these efforts, and share her theory that dream images are
efficiently economical, making the various points of the dream with
selected parts. In "Harvesting the Fruits of Dreaming Through
Documenting,” Sandy Ginsberg will describe how the journey along her
life's path has had quite an unfolding nature lately. Decisions about
her life events have always been well informed by her dreaming. Now,
more than ever, the nature of documenting her dreams has given further
depth to her understanding of the richness of the messages from her
dreaming.
In “Next Stop: The Twilight Zone,” Ed Kellogg will discuss how, sooner
or later, long term journalers experience dreams that do not fit into
the usual categories. Realizing the limitations of our conceptual
frameworks can take awhile, because in dreams we "see what we expect to
see,” identifying what we experience in terms of the familiar objects
and processes of waking physical reality. And after having written down
a dream, even experienced dreamworkers may forget that they no longer
work with a dream as such, but with a dream report, a subjective
abstraction made of words. But what happens when a long term journaler
decides to focus on the dream as such, and to describe what occurs in
as unbiased a way as he can? In the author’s case, it soon became clear
that he’d crossed over "into a land of both shadow and substance, of
things and ideas . . . The Twilight Zone.”
In describing “The Picture Journal,” Linda Magallón will explain
that she didn’t have to be an accomplished artist to start a picture
journal her first illustrations were images cut from magazines. From
those simple beginnings came further creativity: graphic arts, poetry
and, most importantly, brand new dreams. She discovered that a picture
journal isn’t just a record of past pillow programs; it’s eye candy
that inspires future flights of fantasy.
Cynthia Pearson will moderate the panel and facilitate discussion with
audience members following the presentations. She will also discuss
“Aspects of the Dream,” with apologies to E.M.Forster. In his Aspects of the Novel, Forster
defines story as "a narrative of events arranged in their time
sequence." When she began to write fiction several years ago, Cynthia
gradually noticed that the notion of story has been a pervasive
influence in her efforts to record dreams. This “narrative imperative”
can be a stumbling block to accurate dream reporting, but it also
provides structure for observations of long-term coherence between
dreams and waking life.
Reminded by ASD's PsiberDreaming Conference just how powerful a force
dreaming is, Gloria Sturzenacker entered a time of "spiritual
emergency," torn between two ways of being. Two dreams ensued, one for
each side of this duality. Following the dreams has been a research
process that combines the intentional and the serendipitous. Getting
down the research results has produced a record whose own form evokes
the potential resolution.
Whatever facet we focus on during our panel presentations, our ultimate
objective remains constant-- to stress the importance of journal
keeping, and to highlight the unique and invaluable instrument that is
the dream journal.
ABSTRACT
2004
What I Have Learned from My Own Dreams
A panel and open discussion
with
Jean Campbell, Joan Harthan, Curt Hoffman,
Bob Hoss and Ralf Penderak
At ASD-13, Dennis Schmidt chaired the first panel on long-term
journaling, framing and exploring the personal dream journal as the
fundamental instrument of dream study. The concepts and issues that
emerge from this appreciation are still as Dennis described them in
1996:"…In the tradition of the naturalists whose patient observations
prepared the ways to elegant understandings of physics, chemistry, and
biology, home journal keepers record and discover events and
regularities that astonish and enlighten…Scholar and journal keeper
alike need to recognize that the personal journal is a uniquely
sensitive instrument that may enlighten not only the individual dreamer
but the whole field of dream study."
Since then, long-term journalers have met at each ASD conference to
discuss long term record keeping and continue our cross-
fertilization.
In 2004, panelists will reflect on “What I have Learned from My Own
Dreams,” providing a sampling of empirical observations from people who
have recorded and studied their dreaming for a considerable span of
time.
After a few years of dream journaling, Jean Campbell began reading over
her accounts to look for possible dream themes. In “Finding My Body in
Dream Journaling,” she will recount her discovery that many of her
dreams took place in the same few locations: the inlet, the school, the
headlands. It was not until she began training in DreamWork/BodyWork
that she realized these and other locations represented areas of her
body.
In “Minding the Message of the Dream,” Jo Harthan will describe how
recording her dreams led to recognizing the intuitive self and the
leading role it plays in shaping dreams and portraying the psychic
reality of the activities of the ego. She will use specific examples to
illustrate the dangers of ignoring these dream messages and also show
how they subsequently guided her into making the right choices.
Curtiss Hoffman and Bob Hoss will team up to present “Color Content:
Significance for Long-term Dream Journaling.” The first author will
discuss maintaining his dream records on a customized database for 11
years, allowing for easy research on many properties of his dreams
including color. The second author will present results from a sampling
of dreamers and their journals to compare the relative content
differences. A Luscher color test treatment will be applied that
suggests a connection between personality and color content. Together,
the presenters will discuss the results of a study of colors over time
in a sampling of one dreamer's long term journal.
Ralf Penderak’s presentation will describe how “Wake Induced Lucid
Dreams (WILD) Helped Me Deal with My Fear of Death.” He will describe
his emotional challenges as a nurse working with terminal patients; his
long standing intellectual interest in consciousness, NDEs and
reincarnation; and his practices of meditation and lucid dreaming. With
WILDs, he has found a more reliable means for dream experimentation,
and a path to the “peace and unity in transcendence, in letting go of
myself” and the fear of dying.
Cynthia Pearson will moderate the panel and facilitate discussion with
audience members following the presentations.
Whatever facet we focus on during our panel presentations, our ultimate
objective remains constant-- to stress the importance of journal
keeping, and to highlight the unique and invaluable instrument that is
the dream journal.
ABSTRACT
2005
Inspirations and Epiphanies of Dream
Journal Keepers
A panel and open discussion
with
Sheila Asato, Curtiss Hoffman, Linda Magallon, Bob Van de Castle and
Tjitske Wijngaard
At ASD-13, Dennis Schmidt chaired the first panel on long-term
journaling, framing and exploring the personal dream journal as the
fundamental instrument of dream study. The concepts and issues that
emerge from this appreciation are still as Dennis described them in
1996:"…In the tradition of the naturalists whose patient observations
prepared the ways to elegant understandings of physics, chemistry, and
biology, home journal keepers record and discover events and
regularities that astonish and enlighten…Scholar and journal keeper
alike need to recognize that the personal journal is a uniquely
sensitive instrument that may enlighten not only the individual dreamer
but the whole field of dream study."
Since then, long-term journalers have met at each ASD conference to
discuss long term record keeping and continue our cross-
fertilization.
In 2005, the theme will be “Inspirations and Epiphanies of Dream
Journal Keepers,” a sampling of observations, techniques and
applications from people who have recorded and studied their dreaming
for a considerable span of time.
In “Visually Based Methods for Recording Dreams,” Sheila Asato will
describe the highly visual and emotional state of awareness of dreaming
and the challenge of bringing that into the world of words and linear
thought. She will outline how using Healing Collage and symbol cards
allow her to retrieve dream content before beginning the process of
translating it into verbal form. Curt Hoffman will present “The I
Ching: A Tool for Dreamwork,” describing his relationship with this
ancient oracle and exploring the ways in which its elements appear in
dreams, both his own and those of other people he has corresponded
with. He finds applying the I Ching to his dream work provides both a
diagnosis of the current situation and, through change lines, a
prognosis of the future; and that respectful attention to the messages
of the oracle provides a useful guide for dealing with difficult
passages in life. Linda Magallón presentation, “The Quote
Calendar,” will detail a supplement to her dream journal that she’s
created with quotes taken from her dreams and hypnogogia. The quotes
are ones she’s found particularly interesting, even humorous, and she’s
found that they not only bring back fond memories but also intrigue and
inspire. When Bob Van de Castle was diagnosed in the summer of 2003
with cutaneous angiosarcoma, a type of cancer that attacks the blood
vessels and connective tissue and is associated with a very poor
prognosis, he turned to his dreams to investigate what he could learn
there about his medical situation . He will share some of those dreams
and the more favorable messages that these "dream scans" offered him in
“Using Dreams as a Compass to Chart a Course in Combating Cancer.” In
the course of long term journaling, there may come a time that you want
to concentrate on dreams about a particular life event. This was the
case for Tjitske Wijngaard when she first heard she was going to be a
grandmother. In “Nine Months of Dreaming,” she will sketch the process
of collecting her own ‘baby dreams’, those of the parents-to-be and
those of the other grandparents-to
-be. She will also dwell on the kind of dreams these dreamers had, and
compare the dreams that were dreamt for the first and second
grandchild.
Cynthia Pearson will moderate the panel and facilitate discussion with
audience members following the presentations.
Whatever facet we focus on during our panel presentations, our ultimate
objective remains constant-- to stress the importance of journal
keeping, and to highlight the unique and invaluable instrument that is
the dream journal.
ABSTRACT
2006
Dreams and Guidance: Journal Keepers
Report
A panel and open discussion
with
Sheila Asato, Joan Harthan, Curtiss Hoffman, Janet McCall and Gloria
Sturzenacker
At ASD-13, Dennis Schmidt chaired the first panel on long-term
journaling and framed the personal dream journal as the fundamental
instrument of dream study. His comments in 1996 served as a mission
statement: "…In the tradition of the naturalists whose patient
observations prepared the ways to elegant understandings of physics,
chemistry, and biology, home journal keepers record and discover events
and regularities that astonish and enlighten…Scholar and journal keeper
alike need to recognize that the personal journal is a uniquely
sensitive instrument that may enlighten not only the individual dreamer
but the whole field of dream study." Since then, journalers have met at
every IASD conference to discuss long term record keeping and continue
our cross-fertilization.
In 2006, the theme will be “Dreams and Guidance.” In “Healing Collage
& Dreaming – Surprising Connections,” Sheila Asato will describe
guidance that came in the form of unexpected associations between
visual images in her collages and metaphors in her dream journal. These
were not obvious until she looked at the visual imagery and the verbal
text together, and then she discovered new and surprising connections
that helped her attain both academic and creative objectives.
Joan Harthan will review a selection of dream divination techniques,
past and present, in her paper, “Divine Comparison.” Starting with
bibliomancy and progressing through such methods as tarot cards, dream
cards and dream oracles, she will be comparing the results of applying
these divinatory methods to her own dreams.
Studying his own and others’ dream accounts, Curt Hoffman has sought to
learn whether dreams during the Mercury retrograde period contain
classic Mercury retrograde elements, including communication problems,
travel restrictions, and difficulties with finances. In “Mercury
Retrograde and its Effects on Dreaming,” Curt will report on his
findings.
Janet McCall has been recording and illustrating her dreams for years.
By doing so, she has developed her creativity, found her intuitive
voice and obtained guidance that has enriched her life. In “Dream
Journaling: Guidance and the Creative Process,” she will discuss how
her dreams have taught her how to know when she is getting sick, helped
her to obtain solutions for problems and ideas for new projects, and
enabled her to work through personal loss and grief.
In "Dreams That Tell You Where to Go," Gloria Sturzenacker will narrate
some of her adventures in following dream guidance. Dreams often
contain signposts to guide inquiry and action – the odd element that
raises curiosity enough to research a new topic, the hunch that comes
with awakening, the echo of a corresponding event in waking life. While
frequently puzzling, these signposts can be laser-accurate, even when
the route they point to twists and turns.
ABSTRACT
2007
Creativity and Curiosity in Long-Term
Journal-Keeping
with Sheila Asato, Linda
Magallón and Gloria Sturzenacker
At the 13th Annual IASD Conference, Dennis Schmidt chaired the first
panel on long-term journaling and framed the personal dream journal as
the fundamental instrument of dream study. His comments in 1996 served
as a mission statement: "…In the tradition of the naturalists whose
patient observations prepared the ways to elegant understandings of
physics, chemistry, and biology, home journal keepers record and
discover events and regularities that astonish and enlighten…Scholar
and journal keeper alike need to recognize that the personal journal is
a uniquely sensitive instrument that may enlighten not only the
individual dreamer but the whole field of dream study." Since then,
journalers have met at every IASD conference to discuss long-term
record keeping and continue our cross-fertilization.
In 2007, the theme is creativity and connection. In “Dreaming – The Ki
to Creative Transformation,” Sheila Asato will describe guidance she
received for her master’s degree thesis that came in the form of
unexpected associations between her watercolor paintings and dreams.
These connections were not obvious until she looked at the visual
imagery and the verbal text together, and then discovered new and
surprising connections that helped her complete her master’s degree
thesis in Human Development.
Continuing her exploration of dream journals and creativity in past
presentations, Linda Magallón provides "Hope For the Dream Art
Underachiever." She tracks the steps she took to surmount creativity
avoidance, from sketchy scratches in her journal to more elaborate
projects such as the collages she did as targets for an IASD dream
telepathy contest and the "Computer Cafe" web pages she created for an
IASD conference. Gloria Sturzenacker has appeared on this panel more
than half a dozen times since discovering that she shares with Dennis
Schmidt and Cynthia Pearson a research interest in the "long-term
coherence" that often reveals itself in long-term journal-keeping,
especially when the dreamer follows her curiosity about odd dream
elements. However, she has increasingly found "long-term" to be an
inadequate description. Working with a handful of dreams, she’ll trace
connections that also go wide and deep.
Year after year, the ultimate objective of the long-term
journal-keeping panel remains constant – to stress the importance of
journal keeping and to highlight the unique and invaluable instrument
that is the dream journal.
ABSTRACT
2008
Recording Our Dreams as We Age: A Long
Term Journal Keeping Panel
with
Marcia Emery, David Kahn, Art Funkhouser, Ernest Hartmann and Bob Van
de Castle
When the first panel on long-term journal keeping met at ASD-13, chair
Dennis Schmidt noted: "…In the tradition of the naturalists whose
patient observations prepared the ways to elegant understandings of
physics, chemistry, and biology, home journal keepers record and
discover events and regularities that astonish and enlighten…the
personal journal is a uniquely sensitive instrument that may enlighten
not only the individual dreamer but the whole field of dream study."
Since then, journalers have met at every IASD conference to discuss
long term record keeping and continue our cross-fertilization.
In 2008, the theme will be "Recording Our Dreams as We Age," a subject
that excited a great deal of response when it erupted on the IASD
board's list serve. With this panel, we hope not only to stress the
importance of journal keeping, but also to promote and foster it
throughout the life span.
In "Changes in the Aging Brain," David Kahn will review pertinent brain
research, including the changes that occur in the normal aging brain.
Recently, diffusion tensor brain imaging has shown that there is a
large scale reduction in communication between front and back regions
of the aging brain. Does this normal change affect our dreaming as we
age? If so, how? It is also interesting to speculate on the reduction
in communication between front and back regions of the brain during
dreaming in general.
Ernest Hartmann will discuss changes in his own dreaming over the
years. He will also present the results of a survey he is doing of
frequent dream recallers -- including especially dream journalers and
other members of IASD aged 50 and over.
In "An Octogenarian's Observations about Personal Experiences with
Dreaming Over His Life Span," Robert Van de Castle will report on
reviewing his personal transcripts (from laboratory awakenings in 4
different sleep laboratories) as well as his personal dream journals to
learn whether his dream recall has changed over a period of 4 decades.
Some observations about dream content over 30 years of journaling will
also be presented. In "Dreams and Aging," Art Funkhouser will cite
research showing how the themes of our dreams, along with daily
concerns, change with age: fewer nightmares; less frequent aggressive
dreams; a shorter average length of dreams; and, less frequent dream
recall. But while the latter two can be partly explained by the fact
that memory no longer functions as well as it used to, the largest
drop-off in dream recall occurs at a relatively young age, suggesting
that other factors must be involved. Once a prolific dreamer of
primarily precognitive dreams, Marcia Emery has found herself
struggling to reel in even fragments from the dreaming pool. In her
presentation, "Cracking the Case of the Disappearing Dreamlife," she
will share her thoughts on what has caused this deficit and what she
has been learning about how to hook her dreams again.
Cynthia Pearson will moderate the panel and facilitate discussion with
audience members following the presentations.
ABSTRACT 2009
Long Term Journal Keeping: Living and
Learning
with
Patricia Garfield, David Ginsberg, Sandy Ginsberg, Gloria Sturzenacker
and Robert Waggoner
When the first panel on long-term journal keeping met at ASD-13, chair
Dennis Schmidt noted: "…In the tradition of the naturalists whose
patient observations prepared the ways to elegant understandings of
physics, chemistry, and biology, home journal keepers record and
discover events and regularities that astonish and enlighten…the
personal journal is a uniquely sensitive instrument that may enlighten
not only the individual dreamer but the whole field of dream study."
Since then, journalers have met at every IASD conference to discuss
long term record keeping and continue our cross-fertilization.
In 2009 the theme will be "Living and Learning," featuring
presentations by journal keepers who have learned things from their
dreams they would not otherwise have known. In "Dreams of a Lifetime:
Highlights from A Sixty-Year Journal," Patricia Garfield will ask, "Can
long term dream journaling support life’s outstanding transitions?" At
age fourteen, she made her first entry in a sixty-year dream journal,
April 15, 1949. In this paper, Garfield will cite seven life-changing
dreams from different stages of existence (schoolgirl, maiden,
wife-mother, lover, worker, spiritual seeker, widow) and discuss their
repercussions.
Husband and wife team David and Sandy Ginsberg will present "Dream
Journaling in Relationship," describing how living together has
provided a wonderful opportunity for dreamworking. When couples attend
to their dreaming by journaling, they can be exceptionally helpful to
one another when it comes to understanding dreams, and enhance their
opportunities for a deeper appreciation of their dreams, their
relationship and their inner lives. Dave and Sandy will share thoughts
about their journaling over the years, and examples which illustrate
the value of actively using their journals together.
In "Dream Words, Dream Meanings," Gloria Sturzenacker will describe how
long-term journal-keeping allowed her to discover a meaning thread
connecting three dreams widely spaced across time. Each contained a
different foreign word that, pursued out of curiosity, led to a deep
spiritual meaning.
Robert Waggoner will present "Abyssinian Dreams: What My Cat Taught
Me," relating how his precocious Abyssinian cat, Penny, appeared in his
dreams and made requests of him. When Robert acquiesced to these
requests, he began to re-think the possibilities of animal
communication. Thus began a new level of experimental interaction with
his cat and a new respect for animal life forms.
Cynthia Pearson will moderate the panel and facilitate discussion with
audience members following the presentations.
ABSTRACT 2010
Long Term Journal Keeping: Quest for
Enrichment
with
Cynthia Pearson (chair); Sheila Asato M.A., EIC; Jean Campbell M.A.;
Joan Harthan, Ph.D., and Gloria Sturzenacker, M.S.
When the first panel on long-term journal keeping met at ASD-13, chair
Dennis Schmidt noted: "…In the tradition of the naturalists whose
patient observations prepared the ways to elegant understandings of
physics, chemistry, and biology, home journal keepers record and
discover events and regularities that astonish and enlighten…the
personal journal is a uniquely sensitive instrument that may enlighten
not only the individual dreamer but the whole field of dream study."
Since then, journalers have met at every IASD conference to discuss
long term record keeping and continue our cross-fertilization.
In 2010 the theme will be "Quest for Enrichment," featuring presentations by journal
keepers who report not only on how recording dreams has enriched their lives but
also on ways they have learned to enrich their journal-keeping. In "Pausing at
Midlife – Embodying Dreams in the Book Arts," Sheila Asato will explore
whether It is possible to embody dreams within the book arts and how journals
might hold dreams in a way that is true to their original nature. She will also
share her new body of work. Jean Campbell will present "The Benefit of the Internet
to Long Term Dream Journalists and Researchers." As one of the first moderators
of the IASD Discussion Board, Co-Chair of the popular PsiberDreaming Conference,
and creator of the World Dreams Peace Bridge, Jean will recount some of her experiences
with the Internet and dreams. Joan Harthan promises to take us with her on her
journey of exploration and discovery with "This Quest; this Adventure; this Discovery."
What began as a story told in the dead of night became the launch pad for a Dream
Quest that she believes was as important to humanity as it was to her own life.
Cynthia Pearson will offer the "Top 10 Reasons to Write Down Your Dreams." She
will recount examples from over 30 years of journaling that demonstrate the brilliant,
inscrutable, surprising, rich and inexhaustible benefits of writing down one's
dreams. In Curiosity Quests, Gloria Sturzenacker will recount how long-term journal
keeping often involves what she’s come to think of as a “curiosity
quest.” Odd or unfamiliar elements of a dream lead her to explore externally—either
intentionally (often through Google searches) or unintentionally (through synchronistic
encounters). The result is often psi-like connections leading to deeper meaning.
ABSTRACT 2013
Long Term Journal Keeping: Lifetime Learning
Joan Harthan, Cynthia Pearson and Gloria Sturzenacker
Joan Harthan will present her reflections based on the song "Castles in the
Sand" describing how she has played with dream sand to build her castles and
journeyed across the beaches of dreams to see which castles still stand and
which have been washed away by the tides of time.Cynthia Pearson will pose the
question, “Is There an Afterlife—for Dream Journals?” She will ask, "How do
we decide what to do with our collections of magical, puzzling, insightful accounts
of ephemeral experiences?" and then facilitate discussion with audience members
and panelists on their preferences and concerns. Gloria Sturzenacker will update
an earlier narrative with new connections that arose unexpectedly several years
after she first presented it, deepening the meaning.
ABSTRACT 2014
Long Term Journal Keeping: Quandaries, Challenges and
Opportunities
Curt Hoffman, Patricia Garfield, Gloria Sturzenacker,
Bjo Ashwill, Kelly Bulkeley
Curt Hoffman will address his dream alter ego, asking, "Who am I when I’m not
me?" He will use his 22-year dream journal to illustrate instances of dreams
in which he is entirely “other," and present some ideas of what might be going
on in them. Patricia Garfield, whose long-term dream journal is 65 years in
length, comments on dream imagery preceding and following pacemaker surgery,
citing images specifically related to forewarning, crisis, and healing/resolution
phases. For years, Gloria Sturzenacker exercised discipline in recording both
dreams and waking events as the basis of the “extended coherence” between the
two. But when disruptions undermined her journaling, she came to reflect on
practical and philosophical implications, and on ways dreams still have their
say. Bjo Ashwill will discuss our ability to search long term dream journals
over time, using content analysis to measure and notate patterns that ebb and
flow throughout our life time span. We can now track the ups and downs of these
patterns to gain understandings about our own personal growth. Kelly Bulkeley's
presentation will consider the pros and cons of the latest digital technologies
for dream journaling, emphasizing the tremendous benefits of these technologies,
not only for the individual journal keeper but for anyone who studies dreams
and is interested in what they mean.
ABSTRACT 2015
What We Learn about Psi from Dream Journaling
Janet McCall, Cynthia Pearson, Sherry Puricelli, Gloria Sturzenacker, Robert
Waggoner
Janet McCall will describe how maintaining a long-term dream journal practice
enabled her to discover precognitive dreams that were not obvious at the time
they occurred and connect them to waking life events that took place months
or even years later. Cynthia Pearson will review Montague Ullman's paper, “On
the Relevance of Quantum Concepts to Dreaming Consciousness,” a valuable
blueprint for any dream journalist with an interest in psi. Sherry Puricelli's
presentation will describe her 4-pronged approach to journaling and psi, based
on principles learned from grade school science class. Gloria Sturzenacker will
describe her system of graphics and category symbols that she created to record
clusters of connections in dreams and present a visual summary of several "metapattern"
examples, which may be the result of information being received via psi. Robert
Waggoner will delineate the special characteristics of likely precognitive dreams,
based upon his practical study of his dream journals, and discuss the idea of
using lucid dreams to gain insight into likely probabilities.
Dream
Journalist Home Page
Copyright
2017 Cynthia Pearson