Yuliana's father, Dmitri Feodorovich Glinka, became a general and entered the diplomatic service.
She lived in Rio de Janeiro, and at Petropolis, in the Serra dos Órgãos, home of Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil.
With her father and sisters she traveled with Dom Pedro to Minas Gerais, visiting Ouro Preto and Diamantina, both very old cities with mystical associations.
She also read about the Fox sisters and their encounters with "the Spirit World" in New York, in the United States.
Family connections got Yuliana a position as maid of honour to Tsaritsa Maria Alexandrovna.