Cynthia Pearson

When I began writing in earnest, I started keeping a journal, following the prescribed practice of my college writing classes. I would write about whatever happened to be going on in the news, or domestic life, or the weather. And occasionally, I would recall a dream and write about it. 

This turned out to be intriguing. 

For example, the day after dreaming of my high school history teacher, I was surprised to receive a note from her in the mail. I hadn't seen her in years, so this seemed a remarkable coincidence. One morning a few months later, I wrote down a dream of being on a bridge in my car, stopped in traffic because a plane had crashed. That night on the news, aerial shots of Washington D.C. showed traffic backed up on every bridge, because a plane had crashed into the Potomac River. That did it -- I became a serious student of dreams and precognition, and read everything I could find on the subject.

I found the work of C. G. Jung especially useful, as he had developed the concept of synchronicity, the "meaningful coincidence" that seemed to lace my dreaming -- and waking -- experience. Jung led me to study the I Ching, a means of observing "what likes to happen together," and eventually, I discovered Jane Roberts' Seth books. These were the basis for my hooking up with John Friedlander, who had studied personally with Jane, and our writing The Practical Psychic together. It was published by Samuel Weiser in 1991 and translated into five languages.

But my interest in psychic capacities originated with my dreams, and they seemed to reward and encourage my interest. One featured a glistening net being cast onto waters against a starry night sky, and I awoke in a state of wonder at this affirmation of the special value of harvesting my dreams.

In 1987, I joined the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD), an international organization whose membership includes scholars, writers, psychologists, artists, researchers and physicians. In 1993, I presented a paper on a study I had conducted, "A Public Experiment in Precognitive Dreaming" in which participants sought to program a precognitive dream. This and subsequent studies have consistently yielded results that judges have found to be meaningful. When IASD's PsiberDreaming Conferences began in 2002, I hosted its Precognitive Dream Contests and continued to gather intriguing results.

My other presentations to the IASD conferences have focused on long term journal keeping. For example, my observations of five years of dreaming entered into a database is the subject of my paper to the conference in 1997. Working with the database made me aware of the occurrence of striking and intricate synchronicities. I call these "arabesques," after the complex designs of intertwined lines, and in 1998, I presented a paper to the IASD conference describing their occurrences among members of a dream study group: Earwigs and Arabesques: Dreaming in the Multiverse. Since then, I have chaired a panel on Long Term Journal Keeping at the annual conferences of IASD. The panel's purpose is to explore and share observations and discoveries found in the personal dream journal, a uniquely sensitive instrument that may enlighten not only the individual dreamer but the whole field of dream study.

Since 1990, I have taught classes at local colleges, and community and spiritual centers, and created the Dream Workshop, which meets monthly in Pittsburgh. I have also been a regular visitor on local radio programs.

My second book, Parting Company: Understanding the Loss of a Loved One -- The Caregiver's Journey, which I wrote with my friend Peggy Stubbs, was released in July, 1999 by Seal Press. In the words of former IASD President, Patricia Garfield, "Parting Company tells powerful stories about dying, death, and grief.  These true tales, including portents and dreams, teach caregivers who are helping their own loved ones pass from life--a journey we all must eventually make. Poignant, even painful, they nonetheless offer guidance and hope." In 2000, Peggy and I helped to form a nonprofit organization to help people dealing with end-of-life issues, and in 2003 won a grant to create "Heart2Heart" online "interviews" for families making decisions about care. You can view these now at our website.

From 2002-2004, I served as the secretary of the board of IASD, and then was elected to a three year term on the board. Soon after, I hosted an IASD regional conference, Dreams, Art and Healing. In 2008, I completed my third book, Dreaming the Dead, a mystery that revolves around the study of dreams, and so far the revuiews are great!

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Copyright 2009 Cynthia Pearson