Lucid Dreaming Lunacy

From the recent press release by the Global Lucid Dreaming Experiment:

What effect does the moon have on our dreams? A team of researchers at the College of Metaphysics are seeking to find the answer in the next two months as the positioning of the earth, moon, and the sun move through a sequence rarely seen in human history. Within 48 days, we will experience a full moon, a new moon on a solar eclipse day, an eclipsed full moon, and a new moon.

“Our task is to receive, tabulate and analyze records of dream activity on each of these days,” says project creator Barbara Condron. “Physical science is just beginning to acknowledge what females have known for millennia ” that the pull of the earth’s moon affects our biological cycles, our emotions, and our attitudes. The data we collect in the next three months will open dialogue on the moon’s effect on the consciousness we call dreaming.”

To participate in the research, email experiment@dreamschool.org. There is no charge.

If you are interested in participating, you need to register by Tuesday Jan 22, 2008. According to a recent article by Ashley Clarke in the Columbia Missourian,

“Participants must register and send in descriptions of their dreams by e-mail on designated dates. The experiment consists of four phases over two months. Participants will e-mail descriptions of dreams once every two weeks. “

I”ve never heard of the Metaphysical School before, but I am intrigued to see some research about lucid dreaming and ecopsychology. My hesitancy is that I”m unclear about their methodology; doesn’t look like there are any controls for expectation in the study. In other words, the study can only report that people will or will not experience changes in their lucid dreams (frequency and content) because they expect (or don’t expect) the moon’s positioning will make a difference.

Unless there is a control in place for this expectation, any other actual bio- (or meta-) physical correlations will be, uh, eclipsed. Then again, maybe they just aren’t reporting their actual methodology to prevent further expectation.

In any case, if you are tracking your lucid dreams anyways, participation in a global experiment could be fun.