Synchronicity

[WHKeith]

Here's a new topic for discussion: synchronicity. I was discussing this on another metaphysical board, and thought some here might be interested.

I am coming to the belief that synchronicity may well prove to be the root of all magic, craftwork, divination, and even predictive systems like astrology. My understanding of this hinges on something I call "The Munich Effect."

I have to give some background here. Bear with me!

I am a writer. My very first novel for a New York publisher, written some fifteen years ago, now, was a time-travel action-adventure yarn set in and around the "Beer Hall Putsch," an attempted revolution led by Hitler, Goering, and some of their cronies in Munich, in the year 1923. (After this abortive uprising, Hitler ended up in jail, where he wrote his infamous "Mein Kampf." Goering received the bullet wound that resulted in him becoming a lifelong morphine addict.)

I was well into the writing of the book. I had a few popular accounts available. The most detailed was to be found in William Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich." I was working out the story line based on that account . . . but I was dissatisfied because there was little about the actual skirmish in the streets or the events leading up to it. It's not exactly a popular historical topic like, say, the Battle of Gettysburg.

Then, one day a couple of weeks after I began the writing, I was at a large city library I'd only rarely frequented, searching for some reference material on a completely different topic. I made a wrong turn in the stacks, and found myself at eye-level with a three-inch-thick hardcover tome, in a bright red, orange, and white jacket, bearing the title "Munich: 1923."

That book was incredible. It exhaustively discussed the economic crisis in Germany that led to the putsch, the histories of the people involved, and included a precise timeline of who was where when doing what. It included the complete texts of speeches delivered by Hitler, Goring, and others, allowing my characters to sit in on them and take notes. It had maps showing the route of their march, allowing me to describe it in detail. It had a moment by moment account of the battle. It had photographs of the principles, and of the city at the time. It even had a photograph taken on the day of the uprising of a truck parked on the street along the route of the march, in enough clarity to reveal the license plate number. This last permitted me, in a display of pure, raw bravado, to have my heroes find that truck--mentioning the license number along the way--and hijack it for purposes of their own.

This is an example of what Jung called "synchronicity," or "meaningful coincidence." Now, a skeptic might point out that I was thinking about Munich and 1923 and therefore was primed to notice that title. Maybe. However, I'm a student of history and I submit that I would have noticed that title before I began that project. (If nothing else, the sheer size of that tome, and its brilliant cover, would have attracted my eye and made me wonder how anyone could find so MUCH to write about on such an obscure topic!) I'd never seen or heard of it before. And I've never seen it since. It came into my hands within a four-week window between starting the novel and where I would have been too far along to use the material without starting over--which was not an option under the novel's deadline.

Now, this happened when I was in the atheist phase of my spiritual walk, long before I became a witch. I'd had an interest in Jung before that, and this "coincidence" shook me, let me tell you! It wasn't until much later that I began to see how our lives are constantly shaped by such synchronicities.

A well-known occult writer--sorry, I forget his name or where I read this--told the story of his first and only trip to Los Angeles, where he was scheduled to give a talk to an occult society there on the topic of Melchizedek, an obscure figure mentioned in five verses in the Bible about whom much occult ramblings have been rambled. When he climbed into the cab at the airport, he noticed that his driver's name was "I. Melchizedek."

This coincidence shook HIM. When he got to his hotel room, he pulled out the phone books for Greater Los Angeles and looked up the name. In all of Greater Los Angeles, there was exactly ONE listing for someone named Melchizedek.

What are the chances of that happening? How many cab drivers are there in LA? And what are the chances of it being MEANINGFUL--i.e., tied in with the topic of his address? Now, the coincidence itself was meaningless. The fact that there was a cab driver of that name had nothing to do with the topic of his talk. But . . . GEEZE! The same author tells the story of a friend who was discussing something in a library, waved her hand, knocked a book off the shelf by accident, and had it land open to a passage that supported her contention in the discussion.

The interesting thing is, I've learned to actually depend on the Munich Effect in my writing. Each time I begin a new novel, I know that exactly the right reference material will suddenly and inexplicably come to hand.

I currently believe this is the principle behind magic and divination, or a large part of it. When witches or magicians perform spellwork, in a sense the universe "coincidentally" folds itself around them and their intent. When I read the tarot for someone, the cards "by chance" fall into meaningful patterns that far outstrip the casual explanation that I am simply reading particular meaning into the individual cards, or that the cards mean whatever I want them to mean. Rather than believe that pasteboard rectangles or the planets in the sky are giving off some sort of strange, unmeasurable radiation that somehow affects our lives, I see the intriguing possibility that our lives and these external events are somehow in synch. Both eastern mysticism and quantum physics suggest that in a very real way, we are all one with the universe--with each other, with that rock over there, with this cup of coffee, and even with a cab driver named Melchizedek out in LA. An extreme reading of quantum physics even makes the statement that we create reality moment to mopment, that without us as observers, what we think of as reality would be a jumble of unresolved and unrealized possibilities and mathematical waveform functions.

Our own subconscious minds are very much a part of this process, which is why training the subconscious is so important in magic, and why spellwork relies so heavily on "props" to reach down and tickle the subconscious, to tell it to get ready to go to work--things like ritual baths, particular clothing (or the lack of it!), particular tools, particular magical correspondences such as the cardinal directions with the classical elements. The above-mentioned occult author suggests that we have a kind of inner librarian at the gateway to our unconscious. A request comes down from the conscious mind--"I need everything I can find on the topic of Melchizedek.'" The librarian isn't too bright, and reaches out almost at random (unless he's been carefully trained!) and drags in EVERYTHING connected with that name, whether it has a bearing on the actual need or not. Sometimes this is incredibly useful, as with my need for a reference on the Munich uprising. Sometimes it's just weird, like a cab driver named Melchizedek.

Either way, it's a fascinating window onto how our minds actually work, and how intimately we are connected with the universe.

[WiccanWade]

Originally Posted by WHKeith

Here's a new topic for discussion: synchronicity. I was discussing this on another metaphysical board, and thought some here might be interested.

I am coming to the belief that synchronicity may well prove to be the root of all magic, craftwork, divination, and even predictive systems like astrology. My understanding of this hinges on something I call "The Munich Effect."

Physicist, F. David Peat, asserts in his book Synchronicity: The Bridge Between Matt & Mind defines "synchronicity", thusly: Coincidences that are so unusual and so psychologically meaningful they don't seem to be the result of chance alone. He also believes that such "soincidences" are flaws in the fabric of reality.

Originally Posted by WHKeith

Then, one day a couple of weeks after I began the writing, I was at a large city library I'd only rarely frequented, searching for some reference material on a completely different topic. I made a wrong turn in the stacks, and found myself at eye-level with a three-inch-thick hardcover tome, in a bright red, orange, and white jacket, bearing the title "Munich: 1923."

However, maybe on a different level, and on a subconscious level, your psychic senses were attracted to it. After all, the mind can pull in information from most anywhere, which I like to call "infused knowledge", which may have even been on a subconscious level

Originally Posted by WHKeith

This is an example of what Jung called "synchronicity," or "meaningful coincidence."

Yup, Jung also believed in synchronicity. However, one'a these days, when I can spare the time, I'll have to take Peat's book from off my shelves, and read it! I feel bad having not done so, yet. However, Michael Talbot's The Holographic Universe is a good book, and have found some other good titles, recently, which I'm just dying to check out!

[I, Brian]

I spent a large part of 1997 being directed by synchronicity. Every minor action was driven by it. I'd specifically watch for any clue that may be part of the process of synchronicty, and spent a lot of time doing sometime pointless seeming things, on the grounds that the meaning may be lost on myself, but relevant to someone elsewhere.

Of course, I also had a great run of mind-bending experiences, to the degree that so many things that people find "spooky" are now utterly normal to myself.

The example of your friend in the cab I'd take as an opportunity to work with - ask him about the name, learn as much as possible. After all, that's perhaps why he was there.

Although the unconscious is being implied in the original message, I would personally suggest that it's more of a sign of Divine Will - though I'm going to have to compose a new thread to address that issue, rather than distract one major topic into diverting into another.

But synchronicity is good - it is like noticing that the universe is on your side.

[sachetm]

Originally Posted by I, Brian

But synchronicity is good - it is like noticing that the universe is on your side.

I just finished reading a book on this very same thing! The title doesn't sound like it but it is, "I'm Rich Beyond my Wildest Dreams."

The book contends that if you ask the universe (God, Goddess, creation, whatever) to provide and tell it what you want, it will. (I wrote a review of it on my blog: http://lifejourney.typepad.com)

I would expect that these occasions of synchronicity occur more when we're pursuing a specific direction, one in line with our truest goals and desires. When we're not, I doubt we notice, much less take advantage of them.

It's like the story (I think it may be in the book, but forget) where a religious man's home is flooding. People come to rescue him in a boat. He refuses saying, "My God will protect me." Then when the water is up to his roof where he sits, a helicopter comes along and offers to rescue him. Once again he declines saying, "My God will protect me."

After that he drowns. When he arrives in heaven he asks for and is granted an interview with God, to whom he says, "I've been your faithful servant lo these many years. Why did you forsake me?" God replies, "I sent you a boat and a helicopter to rescue you, what more do you want?"

You have to be willing to see these little road signs (what I call them) when they appear, and be willing (the free will) to follow them.

My conclusion about the whole thing: the truth is true, no matter its source.

[Dave the Web]

To be said, when we are considering certain problems then those words and events most associated with such an overall concern would therefore have more meaning.
If I were in grief all things related to death and loss may be most visible, later hope and freedom.
If I were in humour I would see far more of the ridiculous.
The same window can be looked at from two different perspectives, only for completely different things to be seen.

[I, Brian]

I still watch out for certain moments of synchronicity. I noticed myself doing it the other day.

Often I will be doing something and focussed on doing that certain something in a certain ay. Then something will go slightly wrong - and I will suddenly realise that it's something of worth outside of my box, so I'll try to use it.

I do this a lot in creative pursuits - writing, or composing music.

Music provides the clearer examples - a wrong note here, or a bad quantisation there - and suddenly I find a new thing, that works, unexpected - almost promoted - so I use it. The result is invariably superior to some uncertain degree than my otherwise bad habit of linear thinking and action.

Also when travelling, if there's a sign or prompting to take an unusual direction - even accidental "wrong turn" - there's often something extraordinary to be discovered in the new route. I'm absolutely positive that a number of people here will especially be able to relate to that instance.

[Tao_Equus]

Well I decided to ressurect an old thread and this seemed like the perfect one somehow.

It is actually because a number of times in recent weeks I have noticed synchronicity manifesting in my googles. Profoundly so infact. Anybody got any particularly good ones??

The ramifications of synchronisity as a fact, if you think it through, are astounding. It means each and every one of us is the center of our own universe. Take the example of the taxi driver in the opening post, his life becomes servant so that he is in the right place at the right time. On his way to pick up his fare he has, even if ever so slightly, influenced the flow of traffic and so the journeys of everyone on the roads. That in turn would have effects on countless others waiting for the road users. Admitedly the effect might be so tiny as to be virtually undetectable, but the fact remains it would be there.
Quantum physics Zero Point Field researchers are discovering there is an explainable scientific basis for such phenomena. But its the implication that each of us is master of our own universe that really blows my mind. Does it mean that like schroedingers cat none of you exist except when you perform a function I require? Are you real? Is anybody out there? Hellllooooo?

Regards

TE

[I, Brian]

I believe that the original poster, WHKeith, has recently had a book published tying in Zero Point Field ideas with religion and spirituality.

[Tao_Equus]

Originally Posted by I, Brian

I believe that the original poster, WHKeith, has recently had a book published tying in Zero Point Field ideas with religion and spirituality.

wow!!......wow!!..........WOW!!

[Tao_Equus]

A qwik googly foond his site but it didny seem tae be updated fir a cuple o years Bri. Yae got any idea o the name o the book......or any other info on the subject u can share I'd appreciate it.

Regards

TE

[I, Brian]

Had to dig through Hotmail - but found it:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080...books&v=glance

[Tao_Equus]

Originally Posted by I, Brian

Had to dig through Hotmail - but found it:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080...books&v=glance

thank you

[_Z_]

Sounds interesting! Anything to do with the ‘quantum matrix’ amongst other things we been writing about these days? ‘Infinite mindscape’ and ‘gaia theaory’ also comes to mind.



The puzzle finds new pieces all the time! What fun

btw, I also look for coincidences, and for mind and destiny interactions generally

[Tao_Equus]

Originally Posted by _Z_

Sounds interesting! Anything to do with the ‘quantum matrix’ amongst other things we been writing about these days? ‘Infinite mindscape’ and ‘gaia theaory’ also comes to mind.



The puzzle finds new pieces all the time! What fun

btw, I also look for coincidences, and for mind and destiny interactions generally

Hiya

Yeh, the quantum matrix is called by physicists the Zero Point Field. Its essentially identical to victorian concepts of 'ether' and from there all things ethereal and spiritual are possible. There have been some astounding double blind remote veiwing experiments carried out using the principles. I keep meaning to dedicate more time to my own attempts but always end up online instead

[sara[h]ng]

I'd like to add something that's a little off of the current topic in this thread but which I'm surprised has not been addressed here.

That idea in one of the early posts here, that you can ask for something and receive it, I don't think that that is God that one is communicating with, but one's spirit guides. Of course, they are called guides for a reason and synchronicity may come from them arranging things to help guide us.

Certain prominent psychics (James van Praagh comes to mind) have 'proved' the existence of spiritual guides - in the sense that if you believe that the psychic is telling the truth, you cannot not believe that spirit guides are real.

I am ever the skeptic, but I have known enough different people with psychic abilities, who are all entirely unaffiliated and who are all aware of these things, and at their direction I have 'experimented'... I believe, as solidly as I do that there is a God, that spirit guides do exist and this is from whence at least part of synchronicity comes.

I do also accept science and believe it and the spiritual world to be at harmony. I'm curious as to how things like quantum physics and spiritual beings fit together. Intriguing. :-)

- Sarah