BAFES-R-003 is a completed commissioned study of selected American traditions about dreams, omens, dreams of the dead, recurring imagery, memory and the ways people interpret dreams after waking.
Why the research was conducted
Lucifer Heritage commissioned the study as an evidence base for the nonfiction book American Night Visions. BAFES controlled the research independently: the commission did not determine what the sources had to show or what conclusions had to be reached.
What the research examined
The project compared selected regional folklore collections, archival cases, commercial dream books, religious and Spiritualist print, historical newspapers and modern dream and sleep research. Traditions from Appalachia, the American South, the Ozarks, Pennsylvania German communities, African American communities, immigrant traditions and Spiritualism were treated separately rather than merged into a single system.
Research status
Status: Completed
Access: Restricted publication
The full research report is not publicly released at the commissioning client’s request. BAFES retains the research documentation and bibliographic archive of the project.
The public project record therefore provides the research scope, commissioning context and a concise description of the work, while the full research package remains in the BAFES internal archive.