Archetypes – the trickster, the wise old man or woman, the hero, the child – are as ancient as the planet. They bubble into the conscious mind from the collective unconscious, a repository of images common to all people. They’re found in mythology, folklore, fairy tales, legends, hallucinations, fantasies, and dreams, and in the tarot. The archetype is so prominent in world mythology that Joseph Campbell called him The Hero with a Thousand Faces, the title of his book on the subject.
Movies and books often feature strong archetypal characters – Indiana Jones and Darth Vader come to mind immediately. And so does the character of Sméagol in Lord of the Rings. The sneaky, lurking Gollum is the classic trickster archetype. He usually had a private agenda of one kind or another that prompted him to mislead the hobbits – or hobbitses, as he called them- on numerous occasions and to trick them into believing he could be trusted.
Trickster synchronicities can be compound or serial, where words, phrases, songs, and numbers are repeated. Sometimes, serial trickster synchronicities happen when you’re least expecting them and in the most unlikely places. One day Rob was waiting for his car to be serviced at an auto dealer. He was surprised to discover a science magazine in the waiting room and even more surprised to find an article on quantum physics in that issue of Scientific American. A bit different from the usual People Magazine affair in waiting rooms. He’d just noticed that the author of the article was David Schumacher, and was wondering why the name was familiar, when a voice on the intercom said, “Schumacher,” the name of the dealer. Of course, that was it.
Rob glanced up and noticed a sign a few yards in front of him that read, Schumacher VW. Perhaps the trickster simply wanted to drive home the point that synchronicities can happen anywhere, at any time, and you can even link quantum physics with a car dealer.
O Kay
No, Simon. It's not. That's like me saying the guy down the street has the same name as me and my sister knows someone else named Rob. So what?
That's cause and effect, not synchronicity. In other words, there are lots of people named Rob and surely I'll run across one now and then and so will people I know.
The Dr. Rob post, on the other hand, was synchronicity because all the Robs were involved in similar situations.
All that said, if it's meaningful to you, then it's a personal synchronicity, and it doesn't matter what I, or anyone else, thinks.
but actualy Rob,, since the boy just came from the gym and his mind is just a touch clearer the real synchrno if you could call it that is in the name of the guy who owned the dealership "Bob Lewis",, see I thought maybe you knew but my given name is not Simon that is my choosen name in order to try and change some things, my real name is much closer towards yours and the guy who owned the sirroco he had the same first name as a certain USA sprinter by the name of Carl had last name…. synchro no???? tell me????
Na Rob just wasn't any VW dealership,, (largest in the country in those years, according to ads, most prolific)and it just wasn't any home or circumstance,,, can ya imagine a guy giving you a set of plans to a 7,000 sq. ft. home, the day the lumber is dropped off and 2 part time employees (at first) and has you hit the ground running, neither him nor the general contractor, me building for the framing contractor, he was off the the islands, they each had me starting the house in the wrong direction,, yes there can be a thought process in something like that…. e-quacke synchro last Thursday though,,, perfect timing,, good thing for time stamp,,,, same location as the the 5.6 only this one was 4.1
Speaking of synchronicity…
Sansego's comment struck a chord with me because I was in a horrible job as well. (I eventually ended up just leaving, and the results have been bad for my pocketbook but good for my soul, so I don't regret it.) Anyway, the very next blog in my reader was this:
https://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/01/the-victim.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fsethsmainblog+%28Seth%27s+Blog%29
Interesting comments the trickster has created! They are all over the spectrum from new awareness to requests for insights!
I love that Gypsy wanted a series but instead got repetition. I totally FEEL for Sansego that the job sucks!
The trickster can write in cement and inspire random memories of VW's and old projects. What I get is The Trickster doesn't care about concrete or numbers or jobs, or words, or anything tangible.
Maybe the beauty of The Trickster is about releasing judgment and personal bias. What would "Lord of The Rings" or "The Hobbit" be without Gollum?
How many of us consider that JRR Tolkien was an adviser for a new version of the The Bible? I think it was the New King James version but it could have been The New Jerusalem version. I remember it was one of the versions…
We all have our own personal experiences on this life journey. The Trickster has played a part in that – or we would not be following this blog about synchronicity.
Thank you, Trish and Rob. This is awesome stuff you bring to us all.
Simple Simon says:
>>almost every day I could throw something like this Rob.
Hey, almost every day you do.
So someone across the street drove a VW and you worked on a house where someone across the street owned a VW dealership. That's more like awareness than synchronicity.
I don't see the impact there unless you've got a VW in your driveway now that you bought from the guy across the street, who bought it from the dealer, who lived across the street from where you worked.
Great story about your friend's name in cement on a Manhattan sidewalk! That would definitely get my attention!
Sometimes the trickster fixes the "coincidence" in cement..like one's own personal walk of stars in Hollywood..a friend, yesterday, told me that she was pondering her place in life itself..received her reassurance by looking down at the sidewalk, and seeing her name spelled out in cement..Olympia..on 35th St. and 6th Av, in NYC. She was sort of startled!
a story about a VW dealership,,, well during this guys last year on the east-coast,, definitely wishes he had stayed there,,,, well lived with the family who I grew up across the street from, they had a son whom him and his good buddy drove "shirrocos" "vw's" however it's spelt,, 23 years later a contractor would toss me a house to frame,, 7,000 sq. ft. speck home (elevator a all) a the corner of 3 afluent towns,, contractor gave me "bozo" 2 guys out of work furlough as help,,, point is the house was right across the street from a guy who owned what I had heard was the largest VW dearlship in the country for some years,, Bob Lewis VW,,, won't go into how the names B L "right's in" but they do write in. almost every day I could throw something like this Rob.
Sansego – just a thought. Do some sort of ritual to honor the trickster. Maybe then something will pop up on the job market. But I know what you mean. The trickster sometimes to get a chuckle at our expense.
I hate tricksters because it was a coincidence that led me to my current job and I never wanted to work here and have been trying for three years to get out of here. I've never been "stuck" in a job before and it has led to some of the darkest despair of my life. The trickster who led me to this job because of the amazing coincidence is EVIL!
Love the 4 series. Interesting eytmology, Toumai. I often wonder: an we make synchros happen? Does our focus attract them?
I need to learn more about the trickster. Maybe Campbell's book.
I love stories of trickster in action. Lots of food for thought.
ah, the tricky trickster!
reminds me of the other day when i was out and about i thought i would check out triple digit license tags on passing cars as i'm prone to do sometimes if i'm not listening to van morrison – anyway, i was trying for a numerical series – the first was 444 so i thought, well, ok, i'll go for 555 then 666, etc or backwards even – however, the next triple digit was another 444, and then another and then a 4th 444 – now, i was on the road just about an hour during which i came across 4 sets of 444 – never did get my series!
neat post – and you're right – i don't remember the last time i found a scientific anything in a dealership waiting area –
oh, and get this, i'm just now seeing the verification for this comment and it is TESIERIS – which unscrambled becomes SERIES IT !
🙂