Last year, Robert Perry came to our blog and offered an interesting synchronicity in which an idea manifested in a short period of time into a physical experience that mimicked the idea. Perry was working with an organization called Circle of Atonement, which was following the guidance in The Course of Miracles. They were holding a meeting to discus how to streamline the organization when one of the members came up with an image of people working together in a chain to improve efficiency. Perry remarked that she was describing a ‘bucket brigade,’ where a team fighting a fire forms a chain passing along buckets of water.
Astonishingly, minutes after making this remark, a plumbing accident flooded a nearby room, and the group formed a chain and passing buckets to clear the water from the room. A great synchronicity, that. Perry calls such incidents signs, as the title of his book above indicates. Here, we would be a bit more specific and call it a trickster synchro.
Robert Perry has written a book called, SIGNS: A New Approach to Coincidence, Synchronicity, Guidance, Life Purpose, and God’s Plan. Here’s another story of a sign from Perry’s book, and again it sounds like the trickster to us.
Feeling guilty at having neglected his family, Perry went out with his 13-year old son to play Frisbee. At one point the boy lay down on the ground to rest, and Perry amused himself by trying to get the Frisbee to land on him. That evening they watched a Simpsons episode in which Krusty the Clown discovers he has a daughter and takes her to play Frisbee. He lies down and asks her to throw it on him.
The matching incidents drew attention to an underlying theme. Krusty is in despair at being a useless father, and for Perry this underlined his own feeling that he hadn’t spent enough time with his kids. The fact that he was being likened to a degenerate clown, who first didn’t know he was a father and then discovers he is a terrible father, was not exactly inspirational. But it was a good example of how the trickster works. It’s the sense that It’s the absurd coincidences that make you think that someone is out there making a joke at your expense.
Perry offers three possibilities about three possibilities how synchronicity works. He suggests that similar events cluster in time and space according to some unknown law that one day might be explained by quantum physics. Another possibility: it’s a physical manifestation of some wise element in our unconscious. The third explanation is one that Perry has come to adhere to more than the others. The signs or synchros emanate from God.
He writes: “It is a feeling that grows in one through long and repeated contact, a feeling that doesn’t need the support of religious belief systems, a feeling that one may never even articulate to oneself, but that is simply an innate response to the presence of a greater mind.”
Our take: if God is behind these stories then She is a master trickster.
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Today is the 2nd anniversary of our blog and we just want to thank all of you who have contributed so much to our collective knowledge about synchros!
Thanks for the review, brizdaz. I haven't read it, ut I like that last line you included!
– Trish
Hi Guys,I just finished reading this book and have to say,it is definitely worth a read from the synchronicity angle.
I'm not into…or can't get into the "A Course in Miracles" stuff for some reason…but if it helps followers and it doesn't hurt others…I say great…but it's still not my approach.
Having said that,there's not really that much about ACIM itself in this book anyway.It's more about the author's personal syncs and how he tries to make sense of them through a rational examination,in a scientific type way,which can become a bit tedious at times,but it is worth wading through.
And if you're worried about the "God" stuff,then there's not much to fear in the preaching sense of the word,
and I tend to agree on his conclusions,as far as my own syncs are concerned,when he writes: "It is a feeling that grows in one through long and repeated contact, a feeling that doesn't need the support of religious belief systems, a feeling that one may never even articulate to oneself, but that is simply an innate response to the presence of a greater mind."
I have had far too little time to read your blog, for a while, but then there's just more to read when I do have some time to spare. And happy anniversary 🙂
I was a Christian once but became more spiritual and like Sansego synchroncity pulled me closer to God, but not back to Christianity, in my case.
But I do toss alot with where the synchro's come from, and in my case the question is if it came from a divine soure or what you call the triskcster but what may in fact be something more sinister and evil. Maybe, our syncrho's just reflect what we deep down believe in and accelerate and magnify our beliefs but I have had some pretty magnificent synchro's that I could not believe could come from any other source than God. On the other hand, I have had some just as incredible synchro's but they were so mean and misleading I would say it must have been a very dark, dark trickster playing his/her games with me.
I have often asked myself the question, how do you tell the diffrence because in my case, evil seemed to be disguised as good. As a true 'synchroholic', the answer came to me had to come through a discussion with a Christian where I was trying to convince him that synchronicity was just as valid as Jesus walking on water and angels appearing to God know who 🙂 I found a website where a minister of a Christian church mentions all the synchro's you find in the Bible. I am pretty sure my friend never read it but I did and in the Bible God promises that a sign can be recognized by a the presence of a witness, meaning that you will either not be alone when you recive it of you will get a confirmation. Well, that is how I interpreted it anyway.
I'm impressed by the gifts of sensitivity some of you guys have btw.
absolutely love the word/meaning of namaste – it was my brother who first introduced me to it – i remember the first time i heard it used by a mideastern family who were neighbors to my daughter when she lived in dc – and each time we passed in the hallway of our building, they held their hands together at their chest and greeted us with this beautiful word – i've never forgotten them for that very reason –
I too send along my best wishes and happy anniversary thoughts to the MacGregors for this wonderful forum of essays and comments. I came to the blog initially because one of the MacG's had left a comment on Hill Country Hippie's blog "Seasonality" where a post about synchronicity/serendipity had triggered the MacG google alert. Anyway, I checked out this blog on 2/24/09 and the post tied right back in to another post I'd read the same day! Thus my own sync diary was born.
So, again, heartfelt thanks to Trish and Rob and opening up another world of related blogs I might never have found. (sidebar blogs)
Lauren – your namaste reference reminded me of something. I have a t-shirt that says, on the front, have a namaste. One day in the grocery store, I think it was, the clerk or person bagging my groceries asked me what it meant. "The divine in me salutes the divine in you," I replied.
The person looked at me blankly for a moment, then brightened up and said. "Wow, I love that."
I second that, Gypsy! This blog is an act of generosity, and generous acts by creative and wise people like the authors should be given the gratitude it deserves.
As far as deity goes, well, I've spent my life dedicated to wondering what other peoples in other times imagined. As mythologist Joseph Campbell pointed out, people have a different experience of the world when they say "She" or "Mother"….or for that matter, they just say "Creator". Or "Nameste", which essentially means "I salute the God/dess in you".
a perception i have shared for many many moons, cousin, on the gender thing –
as to this magnificent MU blog and its hosts – i want only to add that for those who find no solace here no comfort no inspiration no zeal in sharing of self of spirit of knowledge of experiences, then perhaps there are other places more suitable and/or accommodating for them to visit – and i am sure we all wish them well there –
in the meantime, i personally remain grateful to the macgregors for this superb forum of intellectual and spiritual dialogue and exchange of experiences –
neat wv – mouncar – mountain car – take us to the mountain!!!
Sansego, isn't it simply amazing how our spiritual paths seem to be guided by some invisible hand that gently (and sometimes not so gently) prods us in the direction we should take! You were and are open to the wonders of the universe, and that makes you the special person you are! OK, fellas, close your eyes and stop reading now. I'm going off-subject here momentarily. (This is meant to be funny and not offensive and I hope the humor will be evident!) Although I absolutely have the conviction of a non-gendered Diety and of a multiplicity of Dieties,(I'm pagan, essentially, so I actually do embrace the female Creative Goddess as well as the male Hunter God), here's where my feminist argument against a "female" creator originates when my girlfriends and I have a coffee and conversation get-together: I always tell them that that there's no way "God" is a "female" because of the manner in which the female body has been constructed, ie, we come into the world virgins with a hidden little thingie that must be torn and bleeds and causes pain at its initial loss; then comes puberty with periods…..years and years of messy nonsense, cramps, PMS, bloating, all that stuff that occurs every 28 days; then comes pregnancy, with morning sickness, the huge tummy, the swollen ankles,the aching breasts, the emotional roller coaster, etc; then comes LABOR and DELIVERY (need I even go there??) with the excruciating pain no man will ever know; then comes menopause with hot flashes, sweats, hormone surges; etc. Then comes the folds and wrinkles and liver spots, etc. And what happens to the MEN? NADA! Nothing! They come into the world without all this built-in lifetime of glorious experiences. They just go happily along their way without the fringe benefits attached to every woman's body, and as they get older, most men seem to get better with age (consider as an example Sean Connery and Richard Gere and Harrison Ford, girls! Oh yeah! WooWoo!) But we women, age doesn't treat us as well unless we resort to the knife and collagen and botox! As a nurse, I've always said the closest thing a man can know to labor is to try to pass a kidney stone, and every man should have at least ONE kidney stone during his life so he'll understand the female body! Trying to push a boulder through a keyhole, right? So, that's my argument against having a female creator! No "woman" would have created us sister females this way! (I don't really believe that….just wanted to try to begin this new day with a chuckle, misplaced though my humor may be, considering the unholy circumstances on yesterday's post which was informative but, um, crazy?), and to demonstrate that we can come to the Synchro blog and share with friends whatever is in our thoughts and be accepted, warts and all! Again, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, MU group! Find smiles today! WV: "firupear: fire up ear?
Terri – thanks for the clarification! I remember this incident now.
Daz – wow, the trickster was running things!
Happy Anniversary to this wonderful blog. Two years went by soooo fast!
XOX,
Adele
Happy 2nd anniversary guys.
It's great to have a blog like this to come to and ponder the little WTF moments life throws at us all,at the end of the working day…or any day for that matter.
I have Robert Perry's book SIGNS sitting on my bookshelf,but haven't read it yet…maybe this is my sign to read it next.-)
While we're telling trickster stories,here's one that happened to me just 2 days ago.I placed an order at a fun/novelty shop and saw these cards called "500 Things you have to do once in a lifetime"
https://hartandheim.com.au/product_info.php?products_id=2481&osCsid=284d985784097eff02f051edf462af04
The subtitle read "Reinvent your life".I thought,why not,this will give me some goals to set for myself,when I can get away from the monotony of my day job.
Now,there are 50 double-sided cards with 5 suggestions on each side (hence 500 things).The middle suggestion (No.3) is written in bold ink,so it's where your eye naturally tends to land when you first see the card.Anyway,I shuffle the new deck,and flip a card over,and the first thing my eyes see is "DRIVE A FORKLIFT TRUCK"…which is what my day job has involved for the last 23 years of my life.
I thought,yeah great.I think I'll try that one out tomorrow.-)
I think God would have to be an hermaphrodite,if anything,and would be laughing at all the debates/arguments about whether God is a he or a she.
Just another laugh at our
expense. 😉
Love your entry today! I've been having debates with a fellow I know through my church who now claims to be an atheist and won't accept anything that can't be proven by the scientific method.
As a young man, I was "atheist" for awhile, but it was more a rejection against the illogical nature of evangelical Christianity than anything else. But when I had a series of strange coincidences over the course of a few years as a young man, it sparked an awakening in me that we do live in a spiritual universe after all. Atheism was just an empty materialist philosophy, but coincidences brought me back to God. When I had my "reconciliation of faith", my condition was that I would never be required to believe in ridiculous things that have no bearing on my life (such as whether or not Adam and Eve actually existed). I wanted only spiritual experiences that show the great mystery of our universe.
I can't imagine being a closed-minded non-believer and dismissing every act of synchronicity as "just a coincidence." There has to be something deeper behind it. Its not a delusion, as my friend likes to claim that it is. Life does have meaning and sometimes it rhymes!
wv: jolly (imagine that!!!)
What I refer to as a "trickster cluster" that brought me to this blog… (had to dig deep into my archives!)
I began my blog 1/13/2009 and on 2/20/2009 used the word synchronicity twice on my post. Rob commented that he didn't see the synchronicity in my post. (he had just set up Google alerts to catch posts using the word.)
There followed an exchange of emails and it was Rob's connection with Harrison Ford and Indiana Jones that was the trickster cluster for me.
I posted my HF story on your blog, (on 2/22/2009?) which is a story that spanned 14 years. Of course there are interesting numbers involved too. 😀 This also helped me refine a bit more how I would shape my blog, the topics and tone.
I remember feeling very pleased and relieved that you were doing such a good job with synchronicity I could keep my blog more fun and personal. Two months ago I was told that the theme of my blog is "practical spirituality and how it actually shows up in life events".
Yet (like Dick Cavett) I've chosen not to use the word synchronicity on my blog posts unless I am referring readers to yours.
so sorry to be behind with my own symptoms – but they have increased in terms of my ears – now both – and at one point the pounding was so severe yesterday late that i was concerned – had never had it so severely – put my fingers in my ears to try to lessen the pounding – the palpitations continue but i also noticed while ago that the geomagnetic field indicators shows a storm and for me, i can usually attribute that to my palpitations – the other thing is just an overwhelming sense of total sadness to the point of fighting tears constantly – i've not had regular access to internet as i usually do on this trip so have been out of touch with tracking sources as well – i had attributed some of this sadness to my recent dream experience with the little boy named juliani but i feel as if that is not the case now – i have worked through most of the feelings of the dream and being unable to help now and really do not feel this is related to that – thanks so much for keeping me included in the loop of things!
this is a neat wv – butcarin – and it's true – i may not be on the net as much, BUT i'm CARIN'!!! 😉
OOkkaaaaay. We're all in tandem here. Sunshine has not eaten in more than a week, but her illness seems stable so it isn't that. Last night for the first time in ages she jumped up on the bed and slept right against me. At the moment the vertigo has me holding onto the top of my computer station I have a desktop PC) and typing with one hand, so please excuse typos.
My normal waking time in the am is about 8:30. I thought surely I would have to take a nap today after rising before 5am, but was too edgy. Just waiting for the release, that's all I can say. Gypsy had two very clear daytime UFO sightings and hopefully T & R will post it on the blog. Stunning. WV: stacci
I am sick. Nausea, sore ear (right side in particular) headache. Could be an ear infection ……or not.
Also feel really flat, both fatigue and mood. A bit dizzy too (more than usual). Woke abruptly at 4 a.m with something touching my hand again.Heart was racing and I was too scared to sleep.
cj,
I haven't felt "right" for at least 2 weeks. This includes waking up in the middle of the night and not going back to sleep. The tachycardia is still very active. I have been very on edge, and so have the cats. We were still in the cold Santa Ana conditions until this morning. We had a blackout during the night. I have has several episodes of veritgo today. My ear hasn't had ringing since the 5.9 in the Alaskan Peninsula some days ago.
Hey guys, I posted this comment lower but Rob suggested I put it here on the newest post. Less than an hour ago the DOT had turned from it's earlier green, to yellow, and then while ago was orange-red? That was about, maybe, 5:45pm EST today. It's now almost 6pmEST and DOT is once again yellow. I was wondering how all the empaths are feeling? I checked out the USGS. Nothing out of the ordinary there. My primary symptom right now is being on the very edge of vertigo, and as I mentioned to Trish and Rob in an email this am, I woke up at the un-heard-of hour for me, almost 5am, and couldn't go back to sleep so finally got up and stayed up. Feeling antsy and edgy all day. Debra? Gyps? Vicki? Nats? Report in, girls! What's going on?
Happy Anniversary!
Thank you both for this great blog, I have learned so much and have connected with so many great people here, and I love all of the different takes on all of the subjects.
Thank you.
Congratulations, Guys!
Two years have flown by, and now I really must get up and do some house work. It only felt like I was here for 10 minutes! LOL.
Seriously though, It has been wonderful to know you both. ♥
Congrats on two years. I'm glad to have been along for the ride!
Mike – I didn't know that about Facebook! Thanks for the info. I like that!
Agreed, Lauren. God is often turned into a weapon of mass destruction.
Terri, what was the trickster cluster that brought you here? Did we post it? Refresh us. Thanks.
Oh, Lauren, how I do agree with you! Surely whatever God might be, or whatever any Diety might be, it is NOT human nor are we created in that image! You said it well.
Congratulations on your 2nd anniversary!
I am grateful that you have given us all a place to land in cyberspace.
Yes, what they say………..so happy I discovered this wonderful, ever provocative, blog!
Interesting synchros……..I guess I'd agree with the "Trickster" idea. Sounds like an interesting book, although I have to say, I always get nervous when people talk about "God" doing it, or "God's Plan" or Will, or etc.
All kinds of atrocities have been perpetuated, and continue to be perpetuated, because "God" said so, presumably in special ways to "His chosen one". Diety to me is neither personal nor male, nor even particularly human.
These two years with your blog have been great fun and stimulating. I still smile at the trickster cluster of signs that brought your new blog to my attention in 2009.
And I can play with the word verif letters today and come up with all kinds of fun stuff.
wv: popykedi
CONGRATULATIONS seem all too little an offering from all of us who have so benefited and who continue to benefit from your amazing capacity for sharing/spreading the word and the love through the creation of this mystic underground called synchronicity! namaste'
oh, and yes, if there is a "god" behind such stories, then surely SHE is the mistress trickster, surely!!!
wv – flograt – now, really!!!
You are in 'good(?)' company – Facebook started on February 4th as well (in 2004).
Thank you for all of your excellent posts which have helped to keep my mind ticking over on the right track.
Wishing you continued success.
WooHoo! Happy Anniversary to the great leaders of Mystic Underground, and many many thanks for the wonderful explorations and fun and most of all the LEARNING we've all shared here! The first syncronicity in the above post reminded me of Rob's experience with his wallet….sitting at the table wondering about losing his wallet, then losing it! I do think God, whatever She is, has a terrific sense of humor and plays tricks on us to gauge our responses and reactions.
And I in turn would like to thank you for this blog, I've learned so much from it. Happy anniversary on the second day of the Year of the Rabbit!