Frederik van Eeden was a Dutch writer and psychiatrist born in 1860. He wrote novels, poetry, plays, and essays. Van Eeden established a communal cooperative called Walden, taking inspiration from Thoreau. In his early writings, he was strongly influenced by Hindu ideas of selfhood, by mysticism, and by panpsycism. In his later life, van Eeden became a Roman Catholic. Van Eeden began studying the significance of dreams. He published his findings in the autobiographical novel The Bride of Dreams. He was reluctant to publish his findings in a more conventional manner since his findings were of an unusual character.