Bruce Siegel's 'Dreaming the Future'

Regular readers know Bruce Siegel, who’s often commented here and in other forums. He guest posted here a few years back, about how he shifted from being a militant skeptic to a belief in psi and afterlife. Now he’s written a book about precognitive dreaming, which he’s kindly sent me, Dreaming the Future: How Our Dreams Prove Psychic Ability is Real, And Why It Matters. It’s written in the chatty accessible style that’s more common with ‘how-to’ teaching books than paranormal topics, but works rather well here. I was expecting something like Andrew Paquette’s Dreamer, containing lots of descriptions of odd dreams and startling matches with real life events and observations, and actually to some extent that’s what this is too. But what makes this book especially interesting is the forensic analysis, with a commentary aimed at persuading us that – as Bruce has come to understand it – this is a process that is going on all the time. If we start to pay attention to it, we’ll see it for ourselves. As a one-time militant skeptic, he understands the rejection mindset better than most, and confronts it head on. He wants to persuade us that there really is something going on here, ‘to help you prove the unbelievable to yourself’. He’s ‘into logic, numbers, repeatability, and controls’ and has ‘a passion for looking at the facts, however odd or unpopular, to see where they lead’.

And where many years’ worth of facts have led me is this: precognition is real. Such a large percentage of my dreams (and I’ll bet yours) point clearly and inexplicably to future events, that insisting coincidence works as an explanation is silly. How such a momentous truth can remain hidden from so many of us is one of the most compelling parts of the story, and a main theme of this book.

Having once aggressively rejected claims of psi phenomena, Bruce underwent something of a mid-life transformation, among other things paying attention to the fact that some of his dreams seemed to correlate with later events in ways that were difficult to explain. He’d seen hints of this before, but always dismissed it as the effect of coincidence. Following JW Dunne, author of An Experiment With Time, he began to record every dream he could remember, documenting those that contained unusual imagery and plot lines. Of a total of 241 recorded dreams he reckons that one in four ‘came true’, usually within hours. More specifically, 39% came true within an hour, and six took just a few minutes. This, he argues, counts against the ‘law of large numbers’ theory – that dream matches are bound to occur by pure coincidence from time to time. Typically, the match is with something he sees in the media the following day (something Dunne also experienced, for instance a dream containing details described in next day’s newspaper headlines.) In one example, he’s watching a TV news item that documents an unusual approach to the maintenance of high-voltage power lines, the engineer being lifted up to them sitting on the skids of a helicopter. This instantly made him think of a dream he’d documented earlier in the day:

It’s 7:10 AM. I just woke up from a dream with an unusual image in it. It’s this small flying machine that consists of kind of like helicopter-type blades… There’s not really much to this contraption – the blades spinning overhead and you sitting below them.. I was amazed at how close the blades were coming to like telephone poles on the side[s]… I was thinking how can he maneuver this down the center of the street without touching occasionally?’

The space constraints caused by the power lines on either side of the helicopter are represented in the dream by telegraph poles in a street. This match seems pretty convincing to him, and to me too. But he dwells heavily on the reasons we might reject such things as coincidence. By way of a ‘control’ experiment, each morning for a week he reviewed seven dreams that all came true between one and three weeks earlier, and looked out for potentially matching events. Of 49 opportunities for dreams to come true (7 dreams multiplied by 7 days) only one produced a match. For him, the phenomenon hides in plain sight. If we dream of the future night after night, why are most of us unaware of it? Obviously, we forget nearly all our dreams instantly. Bruce says that when he’s recording his dreams regularly, he may average a psychic dream per day, but when he’s not, he can go months without noticing a single one. He also points out that psychic dreams feels pretty much the same as ordinary ones. In his skeptic days, he’d assumed that psychic experiences, if real, would have a certain ‘aura’, something that made them unusually vivid and stand-out. Not all the matches are that obvious, and in some of his ‘garden-variety’ examples finding them involves effort and discussion – potentially slippery ground. If you have to go looking for them, the skeptic in all of us asks, aren’t we trying to give artificial substance to something we believe to be true – an active form of confirmation bias? On the other hand, unless we apply that sort of focused examination, it’s something we may never notice. And none of this will sway someone for whom it’s vitally important that it isn’t true. A book like this is for people who are interested and curious, and prepared to experiment, for whom its insights provide essential information. I particularly liked the chapter on what Bruce calls ‘lead-up’ dreams, a phenomenon that I’m vaguely aware of, in fact may even have experienced myself, but haven’t seen discussed head on. A famous example was described by Louis Ferdinand Alfred Maury, a nineteenth century French scholar, who dreamed a series of events set in the French revolution: he’s arrested and tried by Robespierre and other villainous prosecutors, argues with them in vain, is condemned to death, led to the scaffold in front of a huge crowd, bound to the guillotine by the executioner, then the knife falls. He wakes to find that a rod from the canopy of his bed (an old-fashioned type, obviously) has come loose and fallen onto his throat. So the physical sensation matched the dream image of being guillotined. But according to his mother, who happened to be in the room at the time, this accidental occurrence is what woke him. In that case, how could all the earlier imagery, an absolutely coherent introduction to the event, be explained? Either it was dreamed in an instant – and the events only appeared to him to be extended over time – or the dream precognised an event that was about to occur. I grew up believing – I suppose having heard expert opinion somewhere – that dreams do actually happen in a flash, not in real time according to our perception of it. Later, I understood that this idea was a myth, and dreams do run in real time. I’m actually rather hazy about the current thinking on this. But as Bruce points out, it fits with our observation of people (and dogs, for that matter) who are obviously dreaming – it appears extended over a period of minutes. So this could be a rather intriguing class of precognitive dream – one in which the precognised event occurs immediately on awakening. In sum, a rather satisfying book, and well worth getting, for anyone who wants to know more about this strange phenomenon. There's also quite a bit about it in the Psi Encyclopedia, for instance this piece by David Saunders, which includes mention of the Maimonides research in the 1960s and 70s.

Comments

[Bruce Siegel]

Robert, thanks for introducing my book to your readers! You’ve neatly covered some of its key points and messages, and I really appreciate that.

One thing that’s hard to capture in such a short post is the precision with which my dreams correspond to their subsequent matching events. As you say, some of the correlations may be less than obvious at first, but it’s important to stress that on taking a closer look, the evidence becomes devastatingly clear. (Devastating to the skeptical position, that is.)

Adding to the strength of these cases, is that for each of the dreams, I provide photos and/or text of the later matching event, made possible by the fact that I often dream about things I will soon see on TV or online.

I also include the full text of my recorded dreams in the appendices.

With respect to the dream you mentioned: the photos in the book, as well as the dream transcript, make clear that all these are true for both dream and waking event:

• A man is positioned beneath spinning helicopter blades,
• sitting out in the open, exposed to the elements.
• He is flying down a street-like corridor,
• precariously threading the narrow passage between power lines that surround him on both sides.

What are the odds of having such a dream, and later the same day, seeing a real-life event that includes all four items?

But such correlations would have much less meaning if it were not for the most important statistic arising from my experiment: this is the sort of synchronicity I encounter in one out of four dreams I document.

Something else that weakens the skeptic’s position is that, as you also said, 39% of my dreams came true within an hour.

For example, here are the correlations from another case in the book. It involves my documenting a dream, and then, about five minutes later, receiving an email. Both dream and email contain all these:

• I am participating in an activity that resembles bowling.
• The lane I face is not surrounded by other lanes.
• This is a constructive act that requires courage,
• a spiritual undertaking.
• A couple of people are participating with me.
• They are helpful and more experienced.
• I am about to proceed down the lane.
• As I do so, I will encounter a blade-like object,
• whose edges are pointing up and down.
• I will hit the blade headfirst.
• Reincarnation enters the picture.

To have such a dream, and 5 minutes later to receive an email that includes all those details—not bad, huh? And again, the book contains the complete dream transcript, and a screenshot of the predicted email with its matching photo.

Thanks again, Robert, for the great post!

[Stuart Certain]

We are doomed!!!....all of us! Yes, its true. For, however much sceptics try to pin us to this dimension; a dimension in which everything can be explained by known science, and where we are in control...masters of our own fate; the fact remains that evidence of precognitive dreaming proves otherwise. We are not in control. Nor are we the masters of our fate. If it were otherwise, then the only dreams that we would experience, would be those made up of a jumbled assortment of memories, mostly forgotten. The truth of precognative dreaming, however, shows otherwise. To argue against this phenomena, is really a pointless exercise. The fact is; everyone gets these dreams. Whether they remember them or not, is of no consequence. In fact, it could be argued that all dreams are precognative!
What they show, is how the processes of interdimensional interplay interact with our own DNA. Of how we are destined to climb that spiral ladder, as though it were the stairway to heaven. Of course, some of us take longer in reaching the top, than others do. Some appear to sprint to the top, whilst many of us seem to flounder upon the lower rungs. The ramifications of this are clear; if you want to be successful and have a mostly carefree life, then you must find a way of becoming in-tune with your DNA. Its no good looking for an elevator. I've tried that. I pressed the button and found the lift heading downwards, faster than I could blink. All my laboured footsteps were undone and I found myself in a position, lower than which I had started out from.
It could be argued; that those who experience these dreams on a regular basis, are more likely to be in tune with their fate, than others. After all, is it not true that, if we can see the future, then it is likely to have already happened? What else can a precognition be, except a preview of that which is to come?
What I am suggesting, is that if you have a dream and that dream comes true, then that shows that you are on the correct path. Something within your thought processes is in tune with the path laid out before you. I used to have many such dreams myself, before I decided to try the elevator. Now, i'm lucky if I get one showing me an upcoming TV advert. Woe is me. Its a long life.

[Stuart Certain]

'Precognitive', ...even

[Bruce Siegel]

Hi Stuart. I'm glad you agree that precognition is real. But with regard to this:

"We are not in control. Nor are we the masters of our fate."

As I see it, reality is a complicated, many-layered affair. We come here from the spirit world, and while in that realm (or state of consciousness) we lay out the rough outlines of our earthly adventure.

So in many respects, our lives are indeed pre-determined.

But there's another part of the equation: within the framework we've set up, there's room for improvising, for making choices that impact mightily on our lives both physical and spiritual.

That's important!

How freedom of choice can coexist with precognition is not easy to explain, but it's an observable fact. Many precognitive dreamers report clear instances of their ability to alter the course of events, and thereby avoid accidents or other catastrophes. I present one such case in my book (not my dream, but an acquaintance's).

Andy Pacquette begins "Dreamer" with another such example.

[Alan]

I've had these same dreams where a sound has occurred outside which woke me but the sound is from an event at the *end* from a series of causal events in the dream. I could be just dozing too to have these. The only way it made sense to me was the sound got registered in the brain before my mind noticed it, the mind quickly invented a dream, and I woke up. A bit of a wonky explanation because the dream was really causal and certainly could be complex. As Robert says, since dreams occur in real time my explanation doesn't work. But the precog. explanation seems a possibility.
I write my dreams too but haven't noticed a precog. effect as my dreams often are adventures with running, climbing mountains, wonderful sceneries (oddly I was in the mind of, or kind of was, a Border Collie last night, running to find my master, going down tracks in the country, through gates). Perhaps I haven't looked but will try to notice now.
Off topic but I had one where I'm on a moving train with many people, I can see right through the carriages to the track far ahead and see lights from another train. I suddenly realize it's a single track! There's a noiseless spectacular collision with lots of movement and colours as the trains pass through each other. Now all the passengers are in a car park and we must find each of our cars and buses assigned to each person. We're all going somewhere and I guessed later we were all killed. I find my car with a girl lying in the back sleeping and the driver missing (a small jolly fellow) who's taking a few of us. He turns up. Finally, there's a small boy who seems to have drowned in a ditch nearby. I pick him up and he turns into an insect in my hand, which flies away. Symbol of transformation? I call these dreams my "big dreams" - rich in meaning. Have to say I'm very interested in NDEs (e.g. I've read Sam Parnia's Erasing Death) so this maybe played a part. But I also cannot help feeling I was shown something, personally for me. How about this could actually be a message for my future?

[Stuart Certain]

Alan, I think that the dreams that you describe are difficult to interpret as being of a future event. Lucid as they are, I would not say that they are a portent of a future disaster (as in your haunted train crash.) There seems to be an element of anxiety in all parts of your dream. A feeling of not being in control. You have to find your car; an unexpected hindrance in the form of a girl asleep in the back; the driver, missing. These are all evidence of anxiety. The drowned boy could be an expression of yourself. You are finding it difficult to cope; a part of you is searching for answers; in doing so, your mind is trying to iron out the difficulties by returning to your youth, to seek out a clearer path. The transformation into an insect can be viewed as an inner acceptance and realisation that your anxiety is not based upon events related to to your youth, but rather to more recent events. The insect flying away, would signal that acceptance.

[Alan]

Stuart, are you a psychologist? I found that reply particularly patronizing. As to the train dream, more I would say it corresponds with the journey after death that may await many of us - as opposed to something that will *actually* happen to me, i.e. that I'm going to die in a train crash. Ta anyway.

[Stuart Certain]

Alan, you sound hurt? I don't believe that I was being patronising. You put your dream out there; I offered an explanation as to what your dream may reveal. And, of course, you asked the question. Don't be so touchy.

[Bruce Siegel]

Alan said:

"I've had these same dreams where a sound has occurred outside which woke me but the sound is from an event at the *end* from a series of causal events in the dream. I could be just dozing too to have these. The only way it made sense to me was the sound got registered in the brain before my mind noticed it, the mind quickly invented a dream, and I woke up."

Thanks for sharing this, Alan! It's a perfect example of what (as Robert mentions) I call a lead-up dream: one whose events lead up to, and create an imaginary explanation for, a stimulus that will soon wake up the dreamer.

Like you, I once had such a dream, and I too rationalized it away. In my case, I did so because at that period of my life I was certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there was no such thing as the paranormal.

As I point out in the chapter on lead-up dreams, it's hard to prove that they're psychic, because one can always invent explanations like the ones we've been mentioning, as weak as such explanations might be.

But the next chapter is devoted to what I call leadup-*like* dreams—ones in which the waking event occurs just moments *after* waking up. I have these often, and describe several in the book. In such cases, since there's no way the matching event could have tipped off the dreamer, it's impossible to deny that psychic functioning is at work.

Lead-up dreams are a fascinating, persuasive, type of precognitive experience, so I'm delighted that Robert mentions them. Because they're so familiar, and form such a distinctive category all to themselves, I was surprised, in writing and researching, to find that no one had come up with a name for them before. Maybe mine will stick!

[Stuart Certain]

Hi, Bruce. Like Alan, I too used to get dreams of wandering in open spaces. I used to put these down to personal anxieties. A wish to escape from my present situation. I'm pleased that Alan mentioned these, as it reminds me of such.
One such dream I had, way back in the 1970's: I was running, alone, across an open moorland. The land was similar to Dartmoor, or Exmoor, or any such moor, in fact. That is; it was wild, windswept; no sign of habitation. After some length, I became tired and thirsty and made my way to a brook that I could see before me. Upon reaching the brook, I look at the flowing stream and thought; 'how clear, how refreshing the water looked.' I got down beside the brook and prepared to scoop water into my hands to drink. At that moment, an inner voice spoke to me. It urged caution. I became mindful of the need to check the source of the stream, before I drank. I had to be sure that the water was pure. However, it became apparent that the source could be miles away. How was I to quench my thirst? I decided I would leave the stream and explore a bit further, beyond a small hill, further ahead. I approached the hill, and as I began to walk up it, the outline of a dome appeared just beyond. Reaching the top of the hill, I was beset with an amazing sight. There before me, I could see other, smaller domes. They were gathered together as in a community. Leading into these domes and connecting them together, was a series of tubes. The tubes were transparent and after a while, I could discern movement of people and vehicles within them. What I had come across, was a futuristic city! I then reasoned that, here lay salvation. Here, I could quench my thirst. I began to walk towards the domes, but was once again cautioned by my inner voice. It advised me that, yes indeed, I could quench my thirst there. Also, I would be fed and accommodated. However, I became aware of a sense that, once there; I would not be allowed to leave. Further to that, my voice revealed that I would not be able to live beyond the age of thirty! That I would have to take a pill, which would terminate my life at that point!.
That was the dream. This dream had such an effect upon me, that I mentioned it, in detail, whilst in discussion with some friends of mine. They thought it.... 'way out there!'
About 18 months later, a film was released. The name of the film was; 'Logan's Run.' Looking at the trailer to the film, upon the BBCs film review program, the similarities to my dream were astonishing! Not only were the buildings, including the domes and the tubes, the same as in my dream; the plot scenario was of a place where people were not allowed to live beyond the age of thirty! I don't know what you will make of this. To me, it would seem to be as clear a case of a precognitive dream, as you could ask for?
What do you think?

[Alan]

Hi Bruce, it is interesting to me that these lead-up dreams occur, which until I read this today had hardly heard of such similar to my experiences - though I suspected there must be a lot out there. I also think this is something that could be tested under controlled conditions. Good luck with the book.

[Bruce Siegel]

Stuart, I know Logan's Run well, and your dream is certainly intriguing. All those unusual specifics appearing in both dream and waking event are hard to ignore.

I also like the fact that the dream left a strong emotional impact on you, and that you shared it with friends.

My book has several chapters on conducting your own experiment, and one is devoted exclusively to evaluating the evidence for psi in a given dream. I list seven main criteria, and some of them can only be weighed by the dreamer himself.

For example, let's say you had a dream last night about a volcano erupting, and this morning, you read about such an event in a newspaper. Impressive, right?

Well, consider this: suppose you're a scientist who studies volcanoes, someone who thinks about them all day long. Suddenly the case is a lot less convincing, right?

So I never want to be in a position of judging someone else's dreams. Although if you dreamt a lottery-winning number tonight—and it happens—it would certainly be hard to casually dismiss evidence like that.

[Bruce Siegel]

Thanks, Alan!

[Stuart Certain]

Bruce, yes well...dreaming of the lottery numbers tonight would be pretty pointless, as the next draw isn't until Wednesday. And, at what point should I stop investing in my dream, until I realise it is a red herring? Also, that would lead to anxiousness. You can bet your bottom dollar that as soon as I gave up;...in they come! LOL No, if I had a dream like that, then I think the best thing I could do, would to be to ignore it. Dear O dear?.. now what am I going to do? I tell you what; if I dream of the numbers tonight, or soon, then I will put them upon here. I'll let others chase the dream. If they come up, then I expect a sizable reward! Anyone who tries to deceive me over this matter; they shall be accursed! Be warned; I shall cast a spell, before posting them!
I have to say; your book sounds interesting.
Yes, I take your point about the volcanologist. If I had been working in the film industry at the time of my dream, then it would appear less credible, or as a consequence of something I had overheard? Spreading the discussion a bit further; what do you think of my idea that some dreams could be shared? A result of unconscious interplay between disparate entities? We, all of us, tend to think that our thoughts remain contained within ourselves. Yet, how much leaks out into the cosmic collectiveness? The volcanologists thoughts could interact with someone else's sleeping thoughts? Maybe, my sleeping thoughts were interrupted by the thoughts of someone working within the film industry? It could explain a lot of precognitive dreams. Although, I suspect that would mean some coming together, if only in a psychic sense. A sort of crossing-point within different mindsets?

[Ian Wardell]

Bruce Siegel said:
||"Such a large percentage of my dreams (and I’ll bet yours) point clearly and inexplicably to future events"||

From what very little I remember of my dreams they're all just random, nonsensical and meaningless. I think they're just derived from what I've experienced during the day. There's no indication whatsoever of any precognitive element. And I would assume that this will be the case for most people, otherwise we'd hear more about it.

[Stuart Certain]

Ian Wardell:
"From what very little I remember of my dreams they're all just random, nonsensical and meaningless. I think they're just derived from what I've experienced during the day. "

Ian, are you suggesting that your days, like your dreams; are random, nonsensical and meaningless?

[Ian Wardell]

Bruce Siegel said:
||"How freedom of choice can coexist with precognition is not easy to explain, but it's an observable fact"||.

There's no contradiction whatsoever.

Imagine you could travel backwards in time to some famous historical event. Imagine also that you don't reveal your presence to anyone and you have no impact whatsoever on the environment. In this case these historical figures will say and behave as the history books tell us. We will know their future lives in their entirety. And however many times we revisit a specific time and place, these historical figures will say and behave precisely as they did on all previous occasions.

But it would be absurd to suggest that they don't have free will. One's voluntary behaviour is caused by the self or consciousness, and this choice will inevitably be a specific unique one given a particular physical state of the Universe. This is very different from the determinism of materialism where people behave as they do since the rest of the physical Universe constrains them on a unique path of behaviour.

So a specific unique future might exist -- not because we are hapless puppets controlled by physical laws -- but because we do not act randomly but make specific choices in a given situation.

[Ian Wardell]

Stuart Certain. No the dreaming self just jumbles everything that we've experienced of the past day or so into a sequence of meaningless images.

It might well be that some people on occasions have precognitive dreams. But I doubt it's common. I certainly don't have any. However, as a child I might have. My dreams were much more realistic as a child and I never forgot them. I also had a lot of psi experiences as a child whilst they very rarely happen to me now.

[Stuart Certain]

Ian, my own dreams (when I can remember them) rarely have any elements of my experiences during the day. Looking back, over my past, this is probably just as well. I rarely get lucid dreams now. However, when I do; they seem to bear no relation to anything that I have experienced earlier. I can't unpick them and say, "yes, I can see how that belongs to my experience during the day." So, meaningless; yes. I agree, most of them seem to be so. However, I do feel that some of them do relate to anxiety. Recurring dreams, especially. You speak of your childhood dreams. I often used to have recurring dreams as a child. In one, I could observe a small ball; like a billiard ball, rolling towards me. I would step out of the way, only to be presented with another doing the same. Again, I would evade it and then another would take its place; and be larger and roll faster. Again and again I would do this; the rolling balls becoming bigger and faster all the time; until I would literally run from place to place to avoid them. The dream would invariably end with my waking in a sweat, as a ball, the size of a house would come trundling towards me. This became so problematic for me, that the dream would start as soon as my head hit the pillow. I would then awake; afraid to go back to sleep, for fear of the dream repeating itself. This had no bearing upon any memories that I had, but seemed to emanate from a feeling of unreasoned anxiety.

[Bruce Siegel]

Stuart said:

"Maybe, my sleeping thoughts were interrupted by the thoughts of someone working within the film industry? "

Personally, I think it more likely that your dream was preocgnitive. But yes—telepathy in dreams no doubt occurs, and that surely complicates the matter.

[Bruce Siegel]

Ian said:

"From what very little I remember of my dreams . . . "

Ian, this may be the key to your seeing no evidence of precognition.

As I point out in my book, without access to the rich detail in our dreams, we're unlikely to find the sort of evidence I discuss. This has been driven home to me time and again by the fact that when I'm not recording dreams, I can go months without seeing a single hint of precognition. But when I document them nightly, I often encounter several convincing examples in a week—or a day.

"And I would assume that this will be the case for most people, otherwise we'd hear more about it."

I think precognition is pretty common. I was amazed, when I began discussing these things with acquaintances, to find out how many of them had convincing dreams to share. Often, these were people with little interest in the subject, or who may even have been motivated, for one reason or another, to otherwise *deny* the paranormal.

[Stuart Certain]

Bruce:
"But yes—telepathy in dreams no doubt occurs, and that surely complicates the matter."

Indeed. But how does one separate the two? What is it, about my dream that points to precognition, rather than telepathy? It seems that one needs to find a mechanism to separate one from the other. Of course, this represents the flip side of the observation that the dream of the volcanologist would appear less credible. For, if my dream is telepathic, then it is also precognitive. Therefore it is more credible.

[Amos Oliver Doyle]

Congratulations Bruce. I have ordered your book from Amazon. I look forward to reading it. - AOD

[Stuart Certain]

Amos, once you have read your books, what do you do with them? Do you put them on a shelf, for reference or posterity? Or, do you sell them on, as secondhand?
Just wondering.

[Amos Oliver Doyle]

Stuart,
I keep all of the books I purchase for future reference. I have a bad memory and I need to refer back to them from time to time. I also enjoy reading them over a second or even a third time. - AOD

[Stuart Certain]

Amos; oh well,....its the library, then. For me, I mean.

[Stuart Certain]

Robert's fine introduction to this article includes a mention of a 'Louis Ferdinand Alfred Maury,' and the experience that person had with a falling rod from his canopy bed; coinciding with a dream of being guillotined. Of course, that precognition ended at that point, as the said person never experienced the blade of execution.
I've had a think about this, and I offer the theory that his dream was of such terror and anxiety as to produce an episode of 'Telekinesis.' Could this be an explanation for some other instances of 'lead-up' dreams?

[Bruce Siegel]

"his dream was of such terror and anxiety as to produce an episode of 'Telekinesis.' Could this be an explanation for some other instances of 'lead-up' dreams?"

I tend to doubt that theory, Stuart. Did you notice my earlier mention of what I call leadup-*like* dreams—ones in which the waking event occurs just moments *after* waking up? I have these often, and there's little emotion attached to them.

Furthermore, I doubt that I have the power to cause an email flier to suddenly appear in my mailbox, or a quote to be published in a New York Times movie review. :)

[Bruce Siegel]

Hey, thanks, Amos! I look forward to hearing what you think. And I hope you try the experiment for yourself!

[Bruce Siegel]

Amos, I forgot to ask: did you order the Kindle version (which is not yet released), or the paperback, which is available now? If you get the ebook, please download this free companion:

http://brucesiegel.net/book/

[Stuart Certain]

Bruce, well...not all of them. But some of them, maybe?

[Bruce Siegel]

"What is it, about my dream that points to precognition, rather than telepathy?"

I may not be the right person to ask, Stuart. I may be biased, because I have very little experience with telepathy, but lots with precognition. So I'll just say this: because it reminds of my own dreams, my hunch is that it's precognitive.

[Amos Oliver Doyle]

I ordered the paperback Bruce. I should get it next week.- AOD

[Stuart Certain]

Bruce, well...that's fair enough. Go with your hunches. However, I don't know who else to ask, other than someone who has made a study of dreams?

[Bruce Siegel]

"Bruce, well...not all of them. But some of them, maybe?"

As is the case with telepathy, I have no experience with telekinesis. So I'll just go with what is for me the simpler, more familiar, explanation. And for me, precognition explains the facts of these cases beautifully.

[Bruce Siegel]

Excellent, Amos! The evidence is laid out nicely in the paperback, so you can see what you need to, at a glance. Though if you want to read ahead in the commentary, while staying focused on the evidence, then remember that the companion is available,

[Stuart Certain]

Bruce, maybe you could explore the theory of telepathy and telekinesis, and their relationship to dreams, in your follow-up book?

[Bruce Siegel]

Thanks for the suggestion, Stuart, but I prefer to focus on my own experience, and report back on what I learn first-hand. An early draft of the first chapter of my next book is here:
http://brucesiegel.net/2017/07/06/the-only-story-in-town/

[Stuart Certain]

Bruce, thanks for that link. There appears a lot to read and digest. I shall do so at my leisure. I've also subscribed.

[Stuart Certain]

Another sleepless night! The moon has just passed the 'full' stage and is now in 'waning gibbous.' I shall be pleased when it reaches crescent stage. I may get some sleep, then.
And perchance, to dream?

[Stuart Certain]

Following on from a previous point; I have an inkling that 7's may play a big part soon, in the lottery.

[Bruce Siegel]

Thanks, Stuart!

[Stuart Certain]

Bruce, save your thanks until they come up!

[Bruce Siegel]

Stuart, I meant thanks for subscribing to blog. :)

[Bruce Siegel]

to *my* blog, that is.

[Stuart Certain]

Bruce, no problem. Thanks for the welcome.

[Ian Wardell]

No, sorry, I'm certain I never have precognitive dreams.

[Stuart Certain]

Ian, your certainty over this matter, I find intriguing. You mentioned earlier that you had psi experiences as a child. You also intimate that you still have psi experiences, although rarely now?
Could you say what those psi experiences consist of? Are there, for instance; any periods of telepathy or telekinesis, that you can recall?

[LuckyLouie (wikipedia editor)]

Bruce Siegel

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Bruce_Siegel

[Stuart Certain]

LuckyLouie,...I really have difficulty in seeing why you posted this link. Do you feel that we, some of whom are believers in different aspects of paranormalia, need protecting from nefarious schemes; concocted by what you assume to be charlatans?
I visited your link, and found that all your references do not work. Who is to know that those references exist, or indeed, ever existed? Furthermore, your assertion that Bruce shows no evidence of ever being a sceptic, is purely speculation on your part. How on earth could you know the inner workings of someones mindset? Unless, of course, you are claiming to have psychic abilities yourself? That would be a 'turn-up for the book!' LOL
Saying that someone has not shown any evidence, proves nothing. Most sceptics, apart from those who seek to make an income from their 'profession.' usually stay silent upon the matter, anyway. So, your article upon 'rationalwiki,' proves to be nothing more than your own bigoted opinion. Methinks that you should get your own house in order, before criticising others.

[Stuart Certain]

Approaching 30 years ago, I had a dream in which the face of an aunt of mine appeared straight on, as though I was looking in a mirror, and she was my reflection. The thing about this, was the fact that I hadn't seen her for years, and she played no part of any of my thought processes . Nor had she done so, for many a year. The dream puzzled me and I mentioned it to my partner, soon after waking. I felt that the dream had a portent of some kind, and I suspected that it boded ill. Later that day, I spoke to my Mother on the phone. The first thing she mentioned, was that she had some bad news to tell me. My aunt had died in the night. This must surely qualify as an example of telepathy whilst dreaming?

[Bruce Siegel]

Good one, Stuart! This sort of experience frequently occurs in connection with death and dying. Sometimes it seems pretty clear that the loved one is actually paying an out-of-body visit, saying good-bye.

And this is borne out by near-death experiencers who speak of making the rounds to their friends and relatives still on earth, before heading for the great beyond.

[Stuart Certain]

Alan:
"As to the train dream, more I would say it corresponds with the journey after death that may await many of us - as opposed to something that will *actually* happen to me, i.e. that I'm going to die in a train crash."

Alan, I wasn't suggesting that the 'train crash' presaged an event that would actually happen to you in the future. I interpreted it as an anxious expression about where you are going in life. You go on to say that you assume that you died in the crash. Again, I do not suggest that is actually going to happen. More of an anxiety related expression of an (maybe) unwarranted fear that the life course you are on, is leading nowhere. You say that you assume that "we all died." I don't know your circumstances. You may be single? You may have family? If you have close family, then your fears may hint at pressure within. Maybe, a sense of responsibility that is becoming harder to fulfil? If you are single, then it may be a reflection of a feeling of despondency about society in general?
Alan, please don't take offence. My comments are just a suggestion. Only you would know how your dream could relate to your circumstances; if at all?

[Stuart Certain]

Bruce Siegel:
"This sort of experience frequently occurs in connection with death and dying. Sometimes it seems pretty clear that the loved one is actually paying an out-of-body visit, saying good-bye."

Bruce, I feel that I should qualify this experience of mine, a bit more closely. When I say 'dream' what I mean is that it came to me whilst I was asleep. However, it didn't fit in with any dream that I was having at the time. It just suddenly appeared to me, as if from out of nowhere. In that respect, it was startling to me and caused me to awaken. I don't know how this relates to your knowledge upon these 'frequent' occurrences? Does my experience fit in with the general pattern?