We have three cats. Two of them, the females, are pretty old for cats– 12 and 15. The third cat, Simba, a male, is about five. They have a peculiar language that they speak among themselves – meows, squeaks, hisses, a kind of keening, and the pitches of their voices always communicate nuance.
This evening Rob and I were in our respective offices and I heard a slightly elevated meow from one of the cats, that sound that usually means, Hey, look what I caught!
I walked out of my office and Powder, the pure white cat who is 12, was huddled over a dead mouse. She looked very pleased with herself.
The other two cats and the dogs immediately crowded around for a look and a sniff. Rob came out of his office and told the dogs to back off and I hurried into the kitchen to find a garbage bag.
When an animal appears in your midst like this, dead or alive, it’s a messenger. I’m sure our cats have this whole secret life where they catch mice and rats and lizards we never know about. But when they bring one of their catches into the house, we’ve learned to pay attention.
On an esoteric level, mice indicate details. These creatures fit into impossibly small spaces and because of their size, the world is up close and very personal. So the details this mouse symbolizes seem to be obvious. As soon as I started refreshing my memory this evening about mice as messengers, I suspected the context of the message.
For the pasts few weeks, we’ve been working on a law of attraction oracle. The system grew out of something I developed for a creative writing workshop some years ago, a way for writers to evaluate their manuscripts. Our editor for the synchronicity books helped us to develop and expand the idea – then got laid off!
So while she’s looking for a job, we have continued to perfect the oracle. When the mouse appeared this evening I realized we now had a time frame. The gestation period for mice is between 19 and 21 days. So let’s call it three weeks, give or take. I figure we’ve got about three weeks to turn this idea into something solid.
The oracle doesn’t involve cards, dice, or any tool other than what you create for yourself. It’s consists of words – language –colors, numbers and elements, and each facet tells you something about your ability to attract what you desire. As Carl Jung explained in his introduction to the Richard Wilhelm edition of the I Ching,
Synchronicity is the basis for any divination system. In the moment you ask your question, draw the cards, toss the coins or the runes, erect an horary astrology chart, consult a psychic, you are freezing a moment in time. And that moment is intrinsic to your question and usually answers it.
I think mouse also pertains to our daughter’s move to Orlando, and to such details as: what do an empty bedroom, kitchen, and living room need? You know, details. The electric can opener, the microwave, the glasses and plates, the bed, the chair and desk…
Well, you get the picture. I suspect that for the next 19-21 days, our lives will coalesce around such details. And in the meantime, we’ll be here, experimenting with our oracle. I mean, honestly, how many times can you ask how your daughter will do in her new life?
















