Dream Sets for Content Analysis
by Nori Muster
I have kept a continuous dream journal since 1979 (summary of the entire collection.*) When I turned sixty in February 2016, I realized I needed to do something with the journal. I searched for the people who study dream journals, and by mid-2016 I found them. First I met Michael Schredl, Ph.D., a researcher at the Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany. He referred me to Prof. G. William Domhoff at UC Santa Cruz. Dr. Domhoff taught me about Quantitative Dream Content Analysis.*
Inspired by the need for long-term dream journals, I drove to UCSB where my journals are stored, and typed a thousand dreams. I typed 250 dreams from each of my decade years - the year I turned 30, the year I turned 40, the year I turned 50, and the year I turned 60.
Around the end of 2016, Prof. Domhoff gave my Decade Years dream collection to Dr. Kelly Bulkeley, another prominent dream researcher. Dr. Bulkeley was interested in my work and wrote a blind study based on my dreams. After that, he encouraged me to join IASD - the International Association for the Study of Dreams.
2017 IASD Presentation
In 2017 I attended the IASD 2017 conference, where I met Dr. Domhoff in person, and sat on a panel with Dr. Bulkeley. On the panel, Dr. Bulkeley presented the statistics he gathered from "Beverly," my pseudonym in the dream studies world. I also shared my findings, including a series of dreams from 1996 about a Buddha Zen garden. Click here to read the presentation.
2018 IASD Presentation
At the Dream Studies conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, July 19, 2018, I presented "Dreams from Ten Years with the Hare Krishnas."
Click here to read the presentation.
Click here to listen to the panel
Introduction by Dr. Kelly Bulkeley
Nori Muster: Dreams with the Hare Krishnas (starts at 01:1)
Dr. Shanee Stepakoff: Dreams of the Divine in a Woman from Young Adulthood to Late Middle Age (starts at 25:10)
Dr. Kelly Bulkeley: Dreams of Lucrecia (starts at 1:02)
Summary of All Notebooks
(1979 to 2020)
Notebook Set 1 My Twenties - ISKCON Years
10 years in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) - 39 notebooks dated February 1979 to January 1989. This covers my ages 23 to 32; I left ISKCON just before my 33rd birthday.
Daytime notations: 2,018
Dreams: 1,367
Dream sketches: 7
Transcript word count: 296,135
Notebook Set 2 My Thirties
7 years - 69 notebooks dated 1989 to 1996, my ages 33 to 39.
Contents: After leaving the temple, I moved to Oregon and earned my master's degree. In 1992 I moved to Arizona and completed my memoir, Betrayal of the Spirit about my years in ISKCON.
Daytime notations: 1,377
Dreams: 3,716
Dream sketches: 110
Transcript word count: 655,604
Notebook Set 3 My Forties
10 years - 53 notebooks covering January 1996 to February 2, 2006, my ages 40-50
Contents: I turned 40 in 1996, then moved back to Los Angeles. At age 43 I quit visiting ISKCON properties, and quit identifying with the organization. At age 44 I got involved with the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) to help others who where harmed in cults.
Daytime notations: 1,629
Dreams: 3,464
Dream sketches: 55
Transcript word count: 775,166
Notebook Set 4 My Fifties
10 years - 65 notebooks dated 2006 to 2016, my ages 50-60
Contents: During these years I lived in Arizona, got my real estate license, worked in real estate, and continued writing.
Daytime notations: 1,658
Dreams: 1,989
Dream sketches: 344
Transcript word count: 733,227
Notebook Set 5 My Sixties
40 notebooks dated 2016 to February 2020, my ages 60 to 64
Contents: During these years I continue to live and work in Arizona.
Daytime notations: 529
Dreams: 840
Dream sketches: 54
Transcript word count: 265,862
Totals
Dates: February 1979 to February 2020 (41 years)
My ages: 23 to 64
Total notebooks: 266
Total daytime notations: 7,211
Total dreams: 11,376
Total dream sketches: 570
Total transcript word count: 2,725,994
Approximate page count (250 words per page): 10,904 pp.
Dreams by Year
1979 - 6
1980 - 4
1981 - 13
1982 - 18
1983 - 118
1984 - 6
1985 - 0
(before 1985 I needed permission from the cult to record my dreams; 1986 on I gave myself permission to all my dreams)
1986 - 295
1987 - 419
1988 - 472
1989 - 557
1990 - 782
1991 - 592
1992 - 596
1993 - 577
1994 - 297
1995 - 325
1996 - 407
1997 - 340
1998 - 350
1999 - 340
(still need to count dreams from 2000 to present)
Journal Typing Timeline
I transcribed my twenties / ISKCON years in the UCSB Special Research Library reading room in early 2018. After that, they allowed me to take the notebooks home to type.
The next decade I tackled was my forties, which I worked on at home from November 24, 2018 to June 15, 2019.
After typing my forties notebooks, I packed up all the boxes of notebooks and drove back to UCSB. I gave them back my forties boxes and picked up my thirties and fifties. This filled up my car!
Working from home, I typed my thirties from July to December 2019. Then I typed my fifties from January to April 2020. On May 10, 2020, I started on my sixties decade, and typed up to February 2020. The rest oF the notebooks, February 2020 to present, remain partially transcribed. (Editor's note 04-03-2025: I have now typed everything up to 2025)
Between each decade, I took time to code the main characters, which are my mother, father, husband, brother, and other friends and relatives.
Also between each decade, I photographed the irregular / non-linear pages and drawings in all the notebooks. Following are examples of pages from the notebooks.
Photos from the Notebooks
These two (above) are typical non-linear, hard to transcribe pages. The rest are easy, typical pages, sketches, and dream sketches.
Dream Index
