Providence Dream Group Tragedy - What Really Happened?

I was a member of Somniaforum before it went down. Not inner circle, but I participated in some of their dream trials.

I don't know the details of what happened, but the vibe of that group had gotten increasingly strange in the last few months. There was talk about "breaking through," "migration," "becoming the dream." It sounded like typical psychonaut stuff at first but it got darker.

The last few posts from Anastasia (who seemed to be a leader) were... not okay. Very messianic. Very "I've found the truth and I need to share it with you."

I'm not surprised something bad happened. I'm surprised it happened so completely and quietly.

LucidPhilosopher - Do you remember the names of anyone else in the group? I'm trying to cross-reference with obituary records but finding nothing.

I only knew their forum handles mostly. Anastasia was real name I think. There was Harlan (an artist?), Oscar (funded the operation?), someone named Martin, a woman named Lily.

A guy called Noel ran the technical side of the forum but I don't think he lived there full-time.

I really don't want to speculate about who died. It feels disrespectful.

Lily Marchetti. I found an obituary in the Boston Globe, February 3rd. 25 years old, "died unexpectedly." No details on cause of death or location.

That's ONE name out of four or five people who supposedly died. Where are the others?

I found the same obituary. "Died unexpectedly" with no further details is... unusual. Normally there's something - "after a long illness," "in an accident," something.

The fact that it doesn't mention the others is even stranger. If four people died in the same incident, wouldn't the obituaries mention that?

I think you're all jumping to conclusions. Maybe:

• The deaths happened at different times and you're conflating
• Some of the people are still alive and have just gone quiet
• There was no "incident" - just normal attrition from a dissolving community

Not everything is a conspiracy. Sometimes communities fall apart and people die of unrelated causes.

@rationalist_dreamer - I would believe that if the forum hadn't been taken down so suddenly and completely. The domain is gone. The Internet Archive versions have gaps. The Reddit discussions about them have been heavily moderated.

Someone is actively suppressing information about this group. That's not normal community dissolution.

I was closer to this than most of you.

Four people died. Lily, Martin, Oscar, Harlan. All in one night, though not at exactly the same time. The circumstances were different for each.

Anastasia survived but disappeared immediately after. Nobody knows where she is.

The building was owned by Oscar. His family wanted to avoid publicity. They have lawyers. They made problems go away.

I'm not going to say more than that. Some of us who were adjacent to this group have been contacted and asked not to talk about it. But people deserve to know SOMETHING happened, even if the details stay private.

Please respect the dead. Please don't dig into the families. Just know: the dream research was real, it went somewhere dangerous, and people paid the price.

@deep_dream_witness - Thank you for the information. I understand wanting to protect privacy.

Can you at least tell us: was this suicide? An accident? Foul play?

I'm not trying to sensationalize. I'm trying to understand whether dream research itself is dangerous or whether this was a unique tragic situation.

I can't give a clean answer because there isn't one.

Some of them believed they could "migrate" permanently to the dream realm by dying in specific ways. Whether that counts as suicide or something else... I don't know.

Harlan tried to stop it. He didn't survive either.

The dream research itself isn't inherently dangerous. What's dangerous is going too deep, believing too hard, and losing your tether to physical reality.

I'm sorry I can't say more.

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This is deeply disturbing. I've been fascinated by shared dreaming research and was considering reaching out to this community.

Can anyone recommend safer resources for exploring these ideas? Ideally from people who maintain appropriate skepticism and safety practices?

@philosophy_student_2008 - Stay away from anyone who talks about "migration," "becoming the dream," or "breaking through." Those are red flags.

Standard lucid dreaming is safe and well-documented. Shared dreaming is more speculative but can be explored cautiously. Just keep your feet firmly in physical reality and don't let anyone convince you that death is a doorway.

I'm starting a new community focused on rigorous, safe exploration. DM me if interested.

I'm going to let this thread stay up because the discussion has been mostly respectful.

But I want to be clear: we don't have verified information about what happened. @deep_dream_witness's account sounds credible but is unverified.

Please don't harass the families. Please don't spread unverified claims as fact. If you have genuine information, consider reaching out to local journalists rather than posting here.

The philosophy of consciousness is fascinating. But real people may have died. Please treat this with appropriate gravity.

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