The concurrence of logically detached details, in dream, and in waking thought, preceding actual events, is a curious combination in an experience sent to me by Mr. Frank Whitaker. He is not, as he remarks, "a psychic sort of person"; as he does not remark, he has an uncommonly alert mind and is a busy man of affairs whose interests include a responsible editorial post. Here, just as he wrote it, is his letter (dated February 1, 1935):

You asked me the other day to give you the details of the 'dreaming forward' experience about which I spoke to you. Here they are.

I was dining at a friend's house recently when a discussion arose about holiday resorts in the Adriatic. I wanted to say something about the island of Brioni, which I visited a few years ago, but try as I would, I could not recall its name. I therefore said nothing, but felt annoyed at my own forgetfulness.

That night I had a vivid dream. I dreamt that a motor car that I was driving crashed through the wall of a high bridge and stopped with one wheel on the very edge of the drop.

In the dream I carefully considered all the mechanical processes involved in getting the car back on to the road without over-balancing, and I distinctly remembered all these details when I awoke.

As I was dressing the next morning the thought suddenly came into my head that I had not heard for at least a year from an acquaintance in British Columbia. I don't think I had thought of him during the whole of that time.

Now for the sequel. On going down to breakfast I opened my morning paper and the first word that met my eye was 'Brioni.' It was printed in capitals at the head of a message in the middle of the main news page of the Daily Telegraph (the message described a visit by Prince Michael of Roumania).

A few minutes later I turned to the picture page of the same paper, to find a large photograph showing a motor car which had broken through the wall of the Devil's Bridge at Kendal and had come to rest in exactly the same position as the car I had dreamed of.

When I arrived at the office that morning I found at the top of my pile of letters one from my friend in British Columbia.

I am not, as you know, a psychic sort of person, and am not often troubled by dreams. I should not have thought twice about this particular experience if the three incidents had occurred singly. But one instance of 'dreaming forward,' one instance of 'thinking forward,' and an instance of what we will call simply 'coincidence,' all happening within fourteen hours or so, make an interesting field for speculation. How do you account for it? You may take it that the dinner had nothing to do with it!"

SOURCE: The Dream World by Rodolphe L. Megroz, p.268-9.

World Dream Bank homepage - Art gallery - New stuff - Introductory sampler, best dreams, best art - On dreamwork - Books
Indexes: Subject - Author - Date - Names - Places - Art media/styles
Titles: A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - IJ - KL - M - NO - PQ - R - Sa-Sh - Si-Sz - T - UV - WXYZ
Email: wdreamb@yahoo.com - Catalog of art, books, CDs - Behind the Curtain: FAQs, bio, site map - Kindred sites