I received only two letters from people who had
decided not to join the project on the basis of their
dreams. One of these wrote that in her dream her face
was slashed, then healed, but a scar remained.
      Perhaps there were others who decided not to join on
the basis of their dreams. But at least we have some
evidence that the pillow letter was effective in
discouraging certain people from joining, people who
perhaps shouldn't have been in the project.
      About 30 letters from people joining the project con-
tained dreams, most of them resulting from the use of
the pillow letter, yet other dreams were sent in from
people who experienced them "spontaneously," or by
using their own personal method of petitioning their
dreams.
      One woman indicated that she thought the pillow
letter was a "silly idea," but for the sake of the
experiment she decided to go ahead with it. "Imagine my
surprise," she wrote, "when I awakened the next
morning to discover I had dreamed that I sign my name
in a book to register for a course that is going to aid in
my spiritual development." She was surprised by such a
direct response from her dreams, and realized that she
had been doubtful that her dreams were responsive to
her at all. This discovery opened her up to the possibility
of a new relationship with her dreams.
      Many dreams referred directly to anticipation of the
project. A few seemed to provide insightful portrayals of
the nature of the proposed project. For example, the
following dream captured the spirit of self-reliance
structured into the project, as well as the sense of
implied, but distant cameraderie: I am in a large
classroom, alone, and I am both student and teacher.
Here is another, the first I received in response to the
project's invitation: "I dreamed that a large group of us
is being asked to write for the 'Beacon Home Journal.' "
At the time, the dreamer thought her dream suggested
that the project might serve as a beacon to others, which
I took to be an encouraging interpretation. Later, as
plans were forming for the Community Dream Journal,

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