I was born at dawn under the Persid Meteor shower, August 12, 1951. I was raised by two pediatricians to be a scientist first and a humanitarian with my science. I was educated by the Quakers, and studied Psychology at Princeton University under Dr. Henry Reed. We worked in the dream laboratory; beneath the stairs of the psychology building. I wanted to know how crazy people think; the logic of madness. Did visionaries get locked up for ideas that people would understand later on. What could I learn about creativity by studying the biographies of the insane? My lab fellows were mostly doing work with electrodes and REM sleep. I created a radio show on the experience of being insane using the own words.

I took two Master's degrees and a Doctoral degree at Columbia University where I studied under Dr. Margaret Mead. I was her last tutorial graduate student. Her grasp encompassed the whole world and the whole mind. I became a Columbia University Fellow and performed my Doctorial studies under her direction. She was very strict about keeping records and field notes on any research trip.

I began a journal like hers - a personal research log. I have maintained that log and its continuous stream of day and night data from 1973 to the present. Under her tuteledge I met and studied with some of the greatest minds... Buckminster Fuller, Gregory Bateson, Jean Houston and others in Margaret's circle of friends.

She said I was studying General Systems Research. I said I was studying the evolution of human consciousness. We both agreed that I was on a path of learning that did not fit traditional academia.

I got interested in how small groups of people work together. How does a small circle of friends communicate more effectively. How do they get past normal talk. I wanted to understand "group mind." So she sent me to do my doctoral research as a participant/observer at two different month-long residential conferences where small groups were working on the farther reaches of the mind. "And don't forget. Take notes on everything, you'll never know what will fit into your research," Said Dr Mead. "Don't forget your lineage."

"Take Notes on Everything!" Margaret Mead

The first conference was in May 1976 at Esalen Institute. The topic was Schizophrenia and Shamanism led by Dr. Stanislov Grof. Stan was interested in how people transform after death/rebirth experiences. The second conference was in June 1976 under the auspices of the Atlantic University, a residential setting where skilled dreamers met for a month to develop their dreams. The theme was Dreams and the Shaman and one leader was Henry Reed from Princeton's Dream Lab.

As a participant/observer at the Esalen conference on schizophrenia, I broke down. I had a near-death experience. I was reduced to a speck of light and was reborn. I awoke and my teachers introduced me to remarkable secrets of the mind. I was given specialized tools for exploring the psyche. I felt armed with eternal verities.

"Research? Me Search."Julian Silverman

At the second conference, on Dreams and the Shaman, we shared dreams and worked with our dreams. We experimented with dream telepathy, dream incubation and group dreaming. Toward the end, I fasted, purified myself and climbed the mountain top on a classic vision quest. The dreams from that night turned out to be the plan of my life. The island, building the interstate highway, crossing the bridge, that symbol...

I am a scientist, fascinated by things that do not lend themselves well to the traditional model of science. I am on a life long quest to explore the dream realm, as best a dream scientist can. I am a one man longitudinal study of dreaming. There is only one subject. Me. There are no control groups, no statistical sampling. No gadgets or machines to make me wake when my eyes move.

I am a cultural anthropologists working in a primitive region of the mind. The best I could do was develop ways to visit the dream world and return with full recall of the material from the other side. If I could discover the ways and means of the dreaming mind, or find useful tools, I would have something of value to share.

My mission:

 

• Chart my dream universe.

   

• Bring back useful information.

   

• Share it with others.

I read everything on the subject of dreaming for my doctoral thesis; Freud, Jung, Adler, Reich, Perls, the Gestaltists, all the shrinks. I read classical literature on dream work. I studied the chemistry of sleep, psychopharmacology, neurology, and sleep disorders. I traced down dreams in history, and dreams in literature. Dr. Mead led me literature on how primitive people manage their dreams and what that means to their cultures.

I wanted to see how every traditional academic discipline looked at the topic of dreams.

I wrote a doctoral thesis on dream telepathy among skilled dreamers in a natural setting. It was academic, and stiff so I resolved to translate my research into other forms that would make it useful to people. For several years, I taught college classes to US Armed Forces personnel all over the world. Every few months; a new country. I taught dreamers, and moved on. Four years in an overnight bag. That job let me research dreams all over the globe. I've taught thousands of people how to find their dreams. I have taught dream seminars and workshops in colleges, prisons and in luxury hotels, I've led dream sharing groups, and appeared on television and radio.

I am not just a dreamer, however. A close family friend was J. Preser Eckert, the inventor of ENIAC, the first functional all-electronic computer. I was steeped in computer technology and electronics. I was an early adoptor of the personal computer. The personal computer is another tool in the evolution of human consciousness. I also resolved to do whatever I could to get them into people's hands. For many years, my day job was running a non-profit foundation that recycled computers and distributed them around the world. At night, I'd pursued my dream research and my quest for useful dream tools. Here, I have fused them together. My dream quest and my computers now are Dream Pages on the World Wide Web.

My dreams brought me to my Dream Spa in Paradise.

Now, I live on a secluded island in the Caribbean, surrounded by paradise. I live in a place I saw on the Mountain top... years ago. I tend my dream temples; on the web, on my island. Dreams are respected and nurtured here.

Nota Bene:

 

• I have found some secrets of the mind.

   

• I can share them with you.

   

• I only work by the rules of this web site.

   

• I only work with serious seekers.

"If you don't know what you are looking for, watch out, you may find it."