Neville has doubled-grandfather and vacant-lot dream

At Christmas 1961, Neville dreamed twice of a grandfather who transformed a vacant lot by vividly describing the desired finished scene; after waking shortly after 3 a.m. to record the first version, he returned to sleep and re-dreamed it from the grandfather's own viewpoint.
Date (happened)
25 December 1961
unresolved
  1. 25 December 1961 estimated · probable · preferred
    Source Incubate the Dream ¶8passage 544116: 'It was a year ago last Christmas' in the 1963-05-10 lecture
    Why The second version followed the first after Neville woke shortly after 03:00, wrote it down, and returned to bed.
    Reasoning From a May 1963 telling, the idiom 'a year ago last Christmas' points to Christmas 1961, the Christmas before the most recent one. Because that idiom can be used loosely, the computed date is probable rather than certain.
  2. c. 1962 estimated · probable
    Source The Friend of Sinners ¶28passage 531764 (lecture nid 1161), 'That was shown me so vividly a couple of years ago...'
    Reasoning Neville dates the vision relatively as 'a couple of years' before the telling. The lecture's own delivery date, 1964-04-24, is certain and corroborated by two independent sources (catalog #225 and the transcript's own chrome dateline), so subtracting roughly two years gives circa 1962. Held to probable rather than certain because 'a couple' is an approximate figure, not an exact interval.
  3. before 1964 bound · possible
    Source The Spirit Gives Life ¶21passage 554365 (lecture nid 2167), 'So many many months ago I had this experience to confirm the 41st chapter of the book of Genesis'
    Reasoning The lecture's best delivery estimate is September 1964 (d1, probable); Neville's doubled 'many many months ago' implies a gap longer than an ordinary 'several months', supporting a bound of before 1964 rather than merely before the telling date itself. The phrase gives no way to fix a more specific cutoff.
  4. before 1965 bound · possible
    Source Law, Story-Telling, Picture-Taking ¶68qualifying source passages 532754; telling lecture nids 1194
    Reasoning Qualifying passage ids [532754] belong to telling lecture nids [1194]. Each listed lecture contributes the selected safe envelope year 1965 (MAX of its non-refuted delivery years); 1965 is the MIN across telling lectures.
  5. before 16 February 1965 bound · probable
    Source Law, Story-Telling, Picture-Takingdelivery claims on nid 1194 (Law, Story-Telling, Picture-Taking), converging on 1965-02-16
    Why The two delivery claims behind 1965-02-16 are both catalogue backfill (legacy_event_backfill from historical events 260 and 1235) and are not independent of each other; treated as one source, not corroboration.
    Reasoning Passage 532754 places the double dream and its absorption strictly before 'I told the story', and the telling is this same lecture, dated 1965-02-16 (probable, the ceiling this bound inherits). This sharpens the existing year-level envelope bound ('before 1965') to day precision using the lecture's own known delivery date; the dream itself carries no internal date and remains otherwise unbounded below.
Place
Los Angeles
Persons
Neville Goddard
Told / reported
  1. 10 May 1963 estimated
    Source Incubate the Dreamcatalogue and independent chrome dateline on lecture 1780
    Reasoning Passage 544116 is the telling in lecture 1780, independently established as delivered 1963-05-10. Derived told claim, therefore estimated.
  2. 24 April 1964 estimated
    Source The Friend of Sinnersdelivery claim on lecture nid 1161, 1964-04-24, certain, corroborated by catalog #225 and chrome dateline
    Reasoning The vision is recounted from the platform, so the telling date equals the lecture's delivery date, which two independent sources agree on: the legacy catalog entry and the transcript's own '4/24/64' chrome dateline. No inheritance discount is needed since the delivery claim itself is certain.
  3. September 1964 estimated · probable
    Source The Spirit Gives Lifedelivery claim d1 on lecture nid 2167, phase4 delivery inference (record July/larger August letter sequence, post-Barbados return)
    Reasoning The vision is recounted within lecture 'The Spirit Gives Life' (nid 2167). Its most credible delivery estimate is d1 (1964-09, probable); the catalog's 1970 (d0, doubtful) is explicitly contradicted by the transcript's own repeated 1964 framing per the processing notes and cannot be used despite carrying the preferred flag.
  4. 16 February 1965 stated · probable
    Source Law, Story-Telling, Picture-TakingLaw, Story-Telling, Picture-Taking (nid 1194), telling 1194-6, told 1965-02-16
Sources

Source

4 tellings, oldest first. A date in brackets shows how it is known; "circa", "after" and "possible" dates are rough.
Date Lecture or book Telling Passage
1963-05-10 [exact/certain/final] Incubate the Dream Well now, let me share with you my doubled dream. I’ve told it before, and maybe everyone present heard it. Well, this is the technique by which you can induce a dream and make it something that is intentional. It was a year ago last Christmas, when I found myself in a mansion. There were three generations present but one invisible. The invisible one dominated the visible state. He was called grandfather. They were telling the story of grandfather: The grandfather would stand on a vacant lot and grandfather would say, “I remember when this was a vacant lot,” and then he would paint a word… 544116
1964-04-24 [exact/certain/final] The Friend of Sinners That was shown me so vividly a couple of years ago where I saw this fantastic story. I was taken in Spirit into this palatial home, and here I saw this family, two generations and a third, they spoke of a third, but the third was the oldest, unseen by the eye of man. He had gone from the world, but he left a fortune that they now enjoyed. It was well invested, and they lived on this fortune. They would speak of this one who had made the fortune and they called him Grandfather. They said, “Grandfather used to say while standing on an empty lot, ‘I remember when,’ and then he would paint a word… 531764
1964-09 [exact/probable/final] The Spirit Gives Life So here if you are not with us when I tell my vision They’ve disapproved. They don’t want me to bring you Christ this life. But I have found him. Having found him, I figured whether they approve or disapprove. So many many months ago I had this experience to confirm the 41st chapter of the book of Genesis. For in the book of Genesis, we are turned. If a dream doubles itself, but then the thing has been fixed by God and God will shortly bring it back. And this is what happened to me again. I felt myself move in the spirit and move back in time. Not that far back 200 years, but only say to the… 554365
1965-02-16 [exact/certain/final] Law, Story-Telling, Picture-Taking I absorbed the message. The message was that while standing on an empty lot, I painted a word picture for my lot as I desired it to be, not as it appeared to be; I denied appearances. Yes, I was learning a lesson. The lesson is that wise grandfather used to say while standing on an empty lot, “I remember when this was an empty lot.” Then, while still standing on it, he would paint a reality as though it were true. Then I woke, wrote it out, went back to sleep, and re-dreamed it. But I had absorbed the lesson so I told the story. So you can stand on an empty lot for anyone. 532754