Psi Dreams:
Scientific, Perceptual, Emotional Bridges to the Universal Field
Mena E. Potts, PhD,
is a University of Pittsburgh Competency program trainer. She is a
co-developer with Ullman, Krippner, & Moustakas of the first
doctoral degree program in the psychology of dreams and dreaming,
and founder of the Dream Center for education and research. She is
an IASD Board member.
Dominic Potts
Montague Ullman, MD, is
clinical professor of psychiatry emeritus, Albert Einstein College
of Medicine, Bronx, New York. He has written on dreams from
neurophysiological, clinical, sociological, and parapsychological
points of view. He co-authored Dream Telepathy with S.
Krippner and A. Vaughan, and authored Appreciating Dreams
and The Variety of Dream Experience.
Stanley Krippner, PhD, USA,
is professor of psychology at Saybrook Graduate School, a former
IASD president, and co-author of Dream Telepathy and
Extraordinary Dreams and How to Work with Them. In 2002 he
received the American Psychological Association’s award for
Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of
Psychology, and in 2003 the Ashley Montagu Peace Award.
Rita Dwyer, BS,CPS, is a
former research chemist, co-author of papers and patents in the
aerospace field, IASD Founding Life Member, Past President
(1992‑93), Executive Officer (1993‑99). She is also a founder of
the Metro DC Dream Community, a writer, lecturer, workshop/retreat
leader and certified pastoral counselor.
Goshengolly, MS, has been
studying dreams since her first vivid dreams in early childhood at
least since the age of five. She has been a Licensed Medical
Social Worker serving the elderly and disabled for the past 17
years. Her chief interests are in Psi, or Paranormal Dreaming, due
to her numerous personal experiences.
Beverly K.H. D'Urso, PhD,
a lucid dreamer all her life, has done research on lucid dreaming
since the 1970's with Dr. Stephen LaBerge. Numerous media specials
have featured her work. She has led workshops, has over 30 dream
publications, and has presented at IASD conferences since 1985.
Abstracts:
Krippner:
Electrical Storms and Psychic Dreams
In the Maimonides Studies of
dream telepathy, a provocative association was noted between close
correspondences with the pictorial target and the level of
geomagnetic activity during the experimental night. The calmer the
night and the fewer the electrical storms, the closer the
correspondence between the target and the dream report. This data
emerged from three studies, and suggestions will be made as to
brain mechanisms that might be implicated in this phenomenon.
Goshengolly: Psi/Paranormal
Dreaming: A Natural Bridge Between Sleeping and Waking Reality.
This presentation is intended to
highlight the complexities of psi/paranormal dreaming, and its
impact on the individual dreamer and the collective community. It
will examine types of psi/paranormal dreams, as well as the
presenter’s personal belief in the function and purpose of
psi/paranormal dreams, and the natural bridge they offer between
sleeping and waking reality. The presenter will offer examples of
how they have attempted to discern psi/paranormal dreams from
ordinary dreams, highlighting both pre- and post-hoc analyses by
past observations/experiences. Successes/failures and issues of
uncertainty will be discussed. Successful linkages between
sleeping and waking reality will be presented. In addition, the
presenter will discuss some of the impediments which currently
exist to the acceptance of psi/paranormal dreams as a veridical
source of wisdom, and propose some solutions to validating psi
information, in order to utilize this timeless/ageless ‘knowledge
and wisdom’.
Montague Ullman:
Transcendence, Connectivity, and Dreaming
In this presentation I wish to
explore the relevance of David Bohm’s concept of a new order in
science. Just as quantum theory created an order that was beyond
the classical order of Newton, Bohm felt a new order was needed to
better address the limitations of quantum theory. His development
of that new order led to his concept of a fundamental order, the
implicate order, and a derivative order, the explicate order. The
former is an order of wholeness and interconnectedness. It is a
generative order of all that exists in a dynamically holographic
fashion which he refers to as the holomovement. An explicate or
unfolded order arises out of this implicate order in the form of
matter that is perceptually experienced. Put another way, all that
exists in the world as we know it, including consciousness, is
both unfolded from or sustained by the implicate order that gives
rise to it.
In
all I have read of Bohm’s work he has never mentioned the word
“dream”, although he very specifically notes that consciousness is
unfolded from the implicate order as is everything else. There are
features of this dynamic interplay between these two orders that
suggest an analogy to the unconscious as developed by Freud and
Jung. Freud focused on the role the individual unconscious played
in our lives. Jung elaborated on this in his reference to both an
individual unconscious and a collective unconscious manifested as
genetically derived archetypal imagery. Bohm’s implicate order can
be viewed as a universal unconscious influencing inorganic,
organic, and the various levels of sentient matter. The dream can
then be viewed as a relay station in a transitional unfoldment
from the implicate order to, in turn, become explicate in its
application to waking life. The specific features of dreaming
consciousness then unfold as the metaphorical imagery comes to
life.
Rita Dwyer: Psi Dreams: A Bridge
to Better Health and Healing
Our panel will explore the
phenomenon of psi dreaming, a topic which merits a holistic
body/mind/spirit approach. Historically, on a large scale, world
literature contains numerous examples of "big" dreams which
foretold the future, dreams which were acted upon by the dreamers,
often times saving lives, as with the dream of Pharaoh in the
Bible, who stockpiled grain for the years of famine that visited
his country, by military leaders who won battles following dream
advice, or by spiritual seekers who found guidance from divine
sources. On a smaller scale, anyone who regularly journals dreams
will discover hints of the future contained in them, as well as
examples of other psi phenomena such telepathy, clairvoyance, déja
vu, synchronicity, etc.
This
information can be used in ways that help us to change our own
futures for the better, here and now, if we are attentive and
responsive to the messages that these dreams bring. Some psi
dreams provide warnings and advice about health concerns, as
described in The Healing Power of Dreams by Patricia Garfield,
PhD, Our Dreaming Mind by Robert Van de Castle, PhD, and She Who
Dreams: A Journey into Healing Through Dreamwork by Wanda Burch.
Other
authors, medical professionals, such as Drs. Bernie Siegel and
Judith Orloff have used dreams in the treatment of their patients’
ills. Some of these cases will be discussed, as well as emphasis
placed upon the importance of prodromal dreams which predict
illness before physical symptoms appear. Forewarned is forearmed
in the correction of medical problems before they become severe or
untreatable.
One
need not be a medical professional to bring healing through
dreams. Edward W. Kellogg, III, PhD, has researched cases of
healings occurring during lucid dreaming. Psi dreamers have proved
that dreams are a solid bridge to better health and healing. Come
and explore the path!
Mena E. Potts, Ph D:
The Life Altering
Monet-Monte Cathedral of Learning Psi Dream
My interest in psi
dreams began with my first psi dream at age 9, which my mother
honored. Its impact on me was transpersonal, highlighting
connections and stimulating my later research on the impact of
first recalled psi dreams. My research showed a high frequency of
transpersonal impact and heightened connection to others. My first
and subsequent psi dreams left me wondering how I could know
something before my physical senses perceived it. Inquiring
further, I read the literature, completed courses, did a
comparative study of analytic dream theories and considered
analytic training but did not want to confine my study to any
particular analytic school. What I really wanted was an eclectic
approach, a doctoral program in the Psychology of Dreams and
Dreaming. I contacted Universities in APA’s school manual and
others but could not find such a program. It looked hopeless; then
my hope was renewed by a life-altering dream which gave me the
name of an analyst I felt might help me realize my aspiration.
In the dream I'm
walking on my way to see an analyst I knew who was encouraging me
to enter an analytic training program. The sidewalk leading to the
analyst's office was icy and my shoes too small, making a sure
footing difficult. Instead of continuing on my way to the analyst
I changed direction and went into The Cathedral of Learning. Now I
was on my way to see an analyst by the name of “Monet or Monte”.
Awake, I felt this analyst by the name of “Monet-Monte” might help
me find a doctoral program. The icy sidewalk and small shoes
contraindicated the analytic program. That was not the path to
take. The Cathedral of Learning dream image was spiritual and
educational. I had earned my masters at the University of
Pittsburgh in the Cathedral of Learning. I felt compelled to find
this analyst, searched through library directories, but could not
locate an analyst with that last name.
Months after the
dream, my husband Dominic suggested Montague Ullman, author of
Dream Telepathy, which we had read years ago, might know of such a
doctoral program. We had never met Dr. Ullman but thereafter
located and met with him. During our meeting with Dr. Ullman I
presented my dream and asked if he knew of any analyst with the
last name of “Monet” or “Monte.” He said no but that his nickname
was Monte. EUREKA! I knew I had found the analyst in my dream. Dr.
Ullman informed me that no graduate doctoral degree programs in
the psychology of dreams and dreaming existed. He then offered to
help develop a program through the Union Institute. We were later
joined in this effort by Doctors Stanley Krippner and Clark
Moustakas. Through them I found what I could not locate within the
walls of a University: the largest collections of known dream
knowledge. I had found “Monet-Monte” and my “Cathedral of
Learning”.
Beverly (Kedzierski Heart) D’Urso,
Ph.D. - Beyond Space and Time: Personal Experiences with Psi
Dreaming
For the first time in public, I plan to share my very personal
experiences with psi dreaming. This includes my precognitive
dreams, my experiences with dream telepathy, and my attempts at
mutual dreaming and dream healing.
I will discuss relevant examples
and talk, in particular, about my feelings in the middle of such
dreams, when I wake up from them, and during their manifestations
in waking physical reality. I also plan to speak about the value
of using and sharing these dreams, as well as what occurred when I
tried to avoid a manifestation.
Although I have had various psi
experiences since childhood, I will go into the details of an
extremely intense, documented, and verified precognitive dream
that I had in 1982. This dream occurred during the time when I was
researching Lucid Dreaming at the Stanford Sleep Laboratory, and
when I found myself at a crossroads in my Ph.D. work. The
experience turned my view of the world upside down. My scientific
training did not prepare me for this ability to personally know a
future event in amazingly rich detail. I had precognitive dreams
and waking experiences almost every day following this dream,
until I finally ignored them to focus on completing my Ph.D.
I still have precognitive dreams
when I pay attention to them. After high placement in many psi
dreaming contests at the annual online IASD PsiberDreaming
conferences, I decided to focus on how to record all of my dreams
so that I could best capture psi information. I record only what
comes easily out of my mouth as I describe certain dreams in the
middle of the night into a digital recorder. I try not to add
words and descriptions to my dream reports after I feel fully
awake because I have noticed how my mind tends to change images
and phrases that may have unrecognized meaning.
At the last three regular IASD
conferences, I participated in the dream telepathy contests with
great results. I dreamed an excellent match to a non-target
picture in 2003. In 2004, I served as the telepathy sender, and we
got an amazing, exact hit of the picture I focused on. Last year,
I won the contest. I paid close attention to my physical reactions
when first seeing the target picture. I felt a rapid tapping
sensation in the center of my chest just above my heart. This
seems similar to how I feel whenever I have a precognitive
experience.
Finally, I will share more about
how psi dreaming works for me, and how I use lucid dreaming to
attempt mutual dreaming and dream healing. I go into detail on
this last topic in my other paper at this conference.
References
"Dream Speak: An
Interview with Beverly (Kedzierski Heart) D’Urso: A Lucid Dreamer
- Part One, Two and Three", The Lucid Dream Exchange, Numbers 29,
30, and 31, 2003 - 2004. Available at:
http://beverly.durso.org/LDE_interview.html
"The Art of Dream Healing",
D'Urso, Beverly (Kedzierski Heart), Presentation at the
International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD)
PsiberDreaming Conference, September, 2005. Available at:
http://beverly.durso.org/IASD05_Dream_Healing.html
