Reincarnation Changes Us For Better Or For Worse

"But if there is such a thing as reincarnation then how come people can be so different from how they were in a previous life," asked someone I know.

I guess logically it may seem that if we do reincarnate we would be pretty much similar to how we left our last life. After all reincarnation is often used as an explanation as to why some children are exceptionally talented. Their soul / spirit or whatever carries over knowledge from previous lives. The likes of Mozart, a composer and musician at just five years old, would have learned how to play the violin and keyboard in a previous life.

If I'm truthful I'm not 100% sure what exactly happens following death - and I'm not convinced that very many do, no matter what they may claim. I do believe, however, that we live on and are eternal and that karma plays a role in our lives.

Reincarnation - if combined with karma - does explain why some people have problematic lives right from birth and others have the proverbial golden spoon. Wrongs and rights from previous lives are corrected in current lives - an 'eye for an eye' and all that.

"Yes, but this doesn't answer why a person in two following lives can be so different, does it?"

I'm not sure where it says that people are so different from life to life. But, if we think about it, we are actually many different people in a single life - and not just by way of appearance. Our thoughts and beliefs fluctuate throughout our life. Happenings come about to influence us. Some of these we reject while others we accept as true and so we adjust our beliefs and who we are.

The young boy at junior school (me in the photo) is different to the boy at senior school, to the young man, the married man, to the father and grandfather he became. Life happens: sorrows, happiness, mistakes, lessons, experiences continue to mould us into something slightly different.  It's the Law of Change in action.

So why shouldn't we also change and appear different from life to life.

I saw some statistics, admittedly from the 1990s, which found that 24% of Europeans believe in reincarnation and 33% in the UK. And according to a 2005 Gallup poll 20 percent of U.S adults believe in reincarnation.

There is an opinion that the Bible once contained the reincarnation belief, though many Christians will strongly disagree with this for obvious reasons. But the Bible has been amended going back to the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. Some bits have been omitted - but again many Christians will disagree with this as well. It's interesting though that in another survey by the Pew Forum 24% of American Christians expressed a belief in reincarnation.

If we can believe in a God or a Supreme Power then why would we believe that He/She/It would allow such suffering in the world unless this could one day be corrected at some stage. Reincarnation with karma balances the books between good and evil and it also gives us the freedom to create our own and future lives for the better.

Other Reincarnation Posts:
A Glimpse Of Her Death In A Former Life
The Reincarnation of James Fletcher
Henry Ford And Reincarnation

The Blue Bottle Party Invitation

After 33 Years They Meet At A Bus Stop By Coincidence

Today's coincidence story from Annie appears to have no reason, it's just a reminder of times past - perhaps a sort of a memory jog.

My family emmigrated to Canada from Swansea in Wales in 1977, when I was 9 years old. In 2010, I returned for my fourth visit to Swansea to see family and old friends.

I was standing at a bus stop on a main road, close to where my relatives lived, but not near my old home. A woman, about my mother's age, came down a set of steps close to the bus stop and asked me if I knew if a certain bus had already gone. I told her it had just left.

I asked her if the bus I was waiting for went to a road close to where my old house was, as I was going to visit our old neighbours. The woman said the bus no longer went that route and then explained the route it did travel.

She asked where I was going and I said Glenside Road in Portmead. She said she used to live in a road just off Glenside, called Oakview but moved away years ago.

She asked who I was going to visit and I said the folks’ surname. She said she knew them.

I said maybe you knew my parents and I gave her our surname. Her eyes opened wide and she said "I’m Rena". I looked at her and said, "Georgina," and we both laughed.

This was a woman I had not seen for 33 years and who used to babysit us kids – and whose dog bit me. Rena was a friend of my Mom’s and had two daughters, one whose name was Georgina.

We laughed and I snapped her picture and then my bus came. We had just long enough to have that brief interchange and I left. I continue to shake my head about 'what is the chance this can happen?'

I’m thousands of miles from home, at a bus stop in a city I visited 4 times in 33 years and a woman comes to my bus stop, not planning to take the same bus as I was, we talk and get to the point where we discover we knew each other back when - and in a city of 220,000 people.

What the purpose of the meeting was I do not know – no further contact was made by either of us. I did manage to bring the photo home and show it to my parents. My mom did not recognize Rena from the photo but when I told her about our meeting she did, we all laughed.

Strange but true.

~ Annie

More coincidence story posts:
The Red Balloon Coincidence
The Lowestoft Picture Postcard Coincidence
Synchronicity Of A Beatles Song Sealed Their Romance

The Druid Secret Alphabet Perhaps Used In Atlantis

Book of Ballymote - 1390AD - showing Ogham Language

There are occultists who claim that the alphabet of Ogham or Ogam may have been the written language of Atlantis. It is also said to be the secret language of the Druids. But is any of this true?

As far as I have seen there is no real connection between Ogham and Atlantis but there are connections with the Druids.

Ogam has been described as the Tree Language of the Druids. Each of the twenty-five letters (as seen on the left)  is associated with a specific tree. B with birch, L with rowan, F with alder, S with willow and so on.

The term Druid can be translated as 'forest sage' or 'magician' but the most likely meaning is 'wise person of the oak'. So a link there with Ogham.

What we can say for sure is that the alphabet was embraced in the Celtic culture of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England (Cornwall) and the Isle of Man dating from between the 4th and 7th centuries AD. There are said to be 300-500 Ogham inscriptions on stone monuments throughout Ireland and western Britain.

The Druids sometimes carve Ogham letters onto their wands.

The photo below shows an example of the alphabet used on a stone from Armagh, Ireland - known as the Drumconwell Ogham Stone, probably from about the year 400AD.

To encode a message or secret words in Ogham is quite easy.  Simply draw a vertical line and transpose letters into Ogham strokes.  There is one problem to this though as in the alphabet there are missing letters: J, K, P, W, X, Y and Z. So have to be careful as to what words are used.

Forgot to say that Ogham is believed to be named after the Gaulish god of Speech, Ogamus or Ogma.

Ogham Book of Ballymote 1390

Other Posts:
In Search Of Celtic Crosses At St.Winnow In Cornwall
The Mystery Of The Three Hurlers Stone Circles
The Cornish Mystery Of Trevethy Quoit Stones

Laughing Uncontrollably Coincidence Story

A coincidence story from Jerry today, sourced for me by JC - thanks.

"Back about ten years ago, I went on a first date with someone I met online. I live in the Philadelphia suburbs, she in the city.

I drove into the city for your typical  movie and then dinner. We enjoyed the movie and while we were talking and walking to dinner afterwards, I told her what I did for a living, which was writing software for a small company she'd likely never heard of.

She paused and asked, "You don't by any chance know John T----, do you?"

"Why yes, yes I do," I answered.

It turns out she knows him through some online forum having to do with singing, and they'd actually met before at some event. We reflect about the unlikelihood of this.

But that is not the main coincidence I am writing about.

We continue to the restaurant, having a great conversation, hitting it off. About halfway through dinner, I feel comfortable enough to tell her about having gone through colon cancer the year before, and the long recovery after having had my colon removed. Not your typical first date conversation perhaps, but she was interested.

Anyway, after I mentioned the surgery, she asked where I had it done. "Penn," I say.

She pauses. "Who was your oncologist," she asks.

Okay, I think, not the question I would have expected, but I tell her. She pauses even longer. Then she says, in fact demands, "Who was your oncology nurse?" 

I tell her. At this point she gets the most amazed expression I'd ever seen and says "You're... you're... that Jerry!!!" And starts laughing uncontrollably.

I'm like, what? What?? What?!? But every time the laughter starts to die down, says says, "You're that Jerry!!!" again, which sets off another fit of laughter.

She literally couldn't get out anything coherent for at least five minutes, she's laughing too hard. The suspense is killing me.

I'm finally able to piece together that about a year before, she was sharing an apartment at Penn with my oncology nurse (she's not in medicine herself).

The nurse used to tell her, "I have this one patient who would be perfect for you, if only he wasn't recovering from surgery and going through chemo". She even told her the name of this patient.

Of course the patient was me, and she and I ended up dating for a year or so and are still good friends to this day."

~ Jerry

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Posts:
Van Gives The Answer To A Crossword Clue
Married Couple In The Same Photo As Children
Finding A £10 Note Coincidence

There are also over 100 coincidence and synchronicity stories and examples on my other blog Coincidence and Synchronicity

The Probability Of Coincidences And Synchronicity

I'm on a wander today, subject wise. Coincidences are often said to be pure chance or that they are all down to probability. I don't believe this myself. Okay, I'll change my mind: some are but synchronicity isn't. But that's the trouble when you change your mind the odds or probability of being correct alter as well.

Lets look at the three doors above. You have to guess which one hides a big prize. You choose a door, say red, where you think the prize is behind. I then open one of empty doors, say yellow.

If I now ask you if you want to stick with your red chosen door or switch to the blue door what should you do?

The question is: Should you switch doors?

Here's a photo of three horses I saw yesterday also ruminating the problem:

The Answer: Yes, you should switch doors.

Most people will say it makes no difference to the odds but ...

If you swap, you win when your initial guess was wrong, probability 2/3.
If you stick, you only win when your initial guess was correct, probability 1/3.

The Cambridge University + Plus Magazine writes the following about this probability puzzle.

"This problem has been around for many years. A similar problem was published in Scientific American about 40 years ago. The author, Martin Gardner, went on to say that 'in no other branch of mathematics is it so easy for experts to blunder as in probability theory'.

This observation couldn't have been closer to the truth. Although the problem was picked up in 1975 and published in the American Statistician it did not become famous until 1990 when Marilyn vos Savant, reputedly the most intelligent person in the world, wrote about it in the American Parade Magazine.

In her column she described an American TV game show called Let's Make a Deal in which the compère, Monty Hall, presents the contestant with three doors. Behind one of them is a car, behind the others a goat. Once the contestant has chosen a door Monty Hall opens one of the other two doors to reveal a goat and then offers the switch.

Marilyn was inundated with thousands of letters, many from professional mathematicians, disputing her solution. Feelings ran so high that eventually Monty Hall himself became involved. It turns out that in the real show he wasn't obliged to offer the switch at all. If the contestant chose a door with a goat he might open it straight away - too bad! Even if he did offer the switch, he would use bribes to trick the contestant into taking the goat. "They'd think the odds on their door had now gone up to 1 in 2, so they hated to give up the door no matter how much money I offered." he said.

Still, if these ambiguities seem like an excuse then think again. People still get the problem wrong, even when it is stated carefully. The problem has spread from one discussion forum to another, it has appeared in numerous places on the Internet and has recently been discussed in the British magazine New Scientist.

Does all of this actually help us understand coincidences or synchronicity any better. Well, not really but it does no harm to give the mind a work out. Being switched on makes us more aware of coincidences and synchronicity in our lives - probably!

So what are the odds of these coincidences happening?
Married Couple In The Same Photo As Children
Synchronicity Of A Beatles Song Sealed Their Romance
The Red Balloon Coincidence

P.S. There is also another similar puzzle: A shopkeeper says she has two new baby beagles to show you, but she doesn't know whether they're male, female, or a pair. You tell her that you want only a male, and she telephones the fellow who's giving them a bath. "Is at least one a male?" she asks him. "Yes!" she informs you with a smile. What is the probability that the other one is a male?

Golf Hole In One Coincidences

Seen it, done it! That's what the Fargo Davies golf team coach was probably thinking. But he's changing his mind now. This is what he said, "In all my 22 years of coaching, I don’t know if I’ve heard anything like that happening."

So what happened that impressed the experienced coach so much? Well a coincidence of course, and this is it.

Two of his young golfers, by the names of Colin Larson and Brandon Winter, both hit holes-in-one on hole number 4 at the Rose Creek Golf Course. It's a par 3 hole seemingly and Colin and Brandon were in a qualifying round of team try-outs.

Okay but lets look at the coincidences - yes, there's more than one:

~ As I've said, both players had a hole-in-one on the same hole.

~ They both used 9 irons.

~ Both players had identical shots: Their shots were short but bounced off the cart path, onto the green and plop into the cup.

It appears that this sort of thing doesn't happen too often in the world of golf. The Golf Pro, Matt Cook, at the course says there are an average of 15 holes-in-one every year at Rose Creek but only once has there been two holes-in-one on the same day. He went on to say, "To have it happen on the same hole and basically in the same team of golfers is pretty unique. I wish I would have been out at the course to see their reaction."

As for coach Steve Kennedy he commented, "I can’t recall any of my players ever hitting a hole-in-one in practice or during a tournament. I know some of them had holes-in-one but to have two in one day on the same hole, it was exciting."

I'll apologise in advance if I haven't used the right golfing terms but golf does nothing for me - the old saying rings true as far as I'm concerned: It's a good walk spoiled.

I also think it's a little funny, golf that is:

I've asked my friend to seek psychological help as he treats golf as if it were a game!

After a long day on the course, an exasperated golfer turned to his caddie and said, "You must be the worst caddie in the world." "I don't think so," replied the caddie, "That would be too much of a coincidence."

A man came home from a game of golf to be greeted by his young son. "Daddy, daddy!" he cried, "Did you win?" "Well," explained the father, "in golf it doesn't matter so much if you win. But I'll tell you one thing - I got to hit the ball more times than anybody else."

My golf is definitely improving. I'm missing the ball much closer than I used to.

What's the difference between a golf ball and a woman's G-spot? A man will spend an hour looking for a golf ball. Just included this one in case you were falling asleep!

Well, caddie, how do you like my game? It's terrific. sir. Mind you I still prefer golf.

Golf is a game in which you you yell 'fore', shoot six and write down five.

Golf was once a rich man's sport, but now it has millions of poor players.

A golfer has one advantage over a fisherman. He doesn't have to produce anything to prove his story.

... and so on and so on zzz zzz zzz ...

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Posts:
A Proud Dad Thanks To A Coincidence
Titanic Coincidences
Coincidence and Synchronicity - Example 5

The Unbelievable Big Lorry Crash Coincidence

Look at the two photos on this post, above and below. You'll no doubt be thinking they were taken at the same time, one a bit nearer the camera than the other. But, oh no, you'd be wrong!

I guess the years of 2011 and 2012, which I have put on the photos, will give the game away. This is one mighty big vehicle coincidence.

This is the same lorry (Reg: NK05 CYE) - one year apart - which turned over in exactly the same place with a same style crash. This was on the B4069 road at Lyneham Banks, Wiltshire (UK) - as per the year before.

In 2011 there were slightly more leaves on the trees, if you look top left of the photos, but otherwise the waste disposal lorry is in exactly the same spot.

According to the owners of the lorry, EW Gardner and Grandson, both drivers - the one in 2011 and now 2012 - have been sacked. Their spokesperson said, "The drivers were going too fast for the road. We do not wish to comment any further."

So there we go, quite a coincidence!

A Seagull Shows Us The Way To Fly

I snapped a photo yesterday of a seagull against a blue sky with white clouds. This led me to thinking about the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull which in turn got me to thinking about a quote from the book - so I combined it all together.

Van Gives The Answer To A Crossword Clue

A frugal coincidence story today by Alwyn Hall.

"Not infrequently I walk a mile to the village pub and, while enjoying a glass of beer, do the quick crossword on the back page of the Daily Mail.

I usually manage to complete it, but a little while ago I was stuck on 24 across: 'Economical or frugal'

I wrote the letters and spaces in the margin at the bottom of the page T_R_F_Y, but nothing gelled.

As I walked home along a country road, I pictured these letters in my mind and recalled the clue. I do not like to be defeated and, after all, there were only 26 cubed possibilities, so I was confident I'd soon have the answer.

At that moment, a van passed me with a company name in large letters on the rear doors. The graphic style, together with the speed of the vehicle, made it awkward to read but, before it disappeared from sight I had it figured - and also the answer to 24 across: THRIFTY (as in Thrifty Car and Van Hire)"

Other Coincidence Posts:
WW2 Code Names Found In Crosswords By Coincidence
67 Not Out Readers Coincidence Stories - 10
10 Coincidence Or Synchronicity Examples

Magic Which Brings Coincidence And Synchronicity

As I see it the answers and creations found by practising some forms of magic or visualisation techniques are often brought about by synchronicity or coincidences. Here's an example of what I mean about a Druid called Adrian. He needed a solution to a problem and, after performing a ritual, the answer came about by 'coincidence'.

"Working magical rituals is incredibly powerful. One of the most striking experiences I've ever had using this kind of magic involved trying to sell my grocery shop.

After years of working there, I had enough of it, but could not sell it to anyone. Finally I decided to try magic.

I arrived at the shop early one morning and performed a Druid ceremony, which began with casting a circle amongst the cabbages and cauliflowers, sprinkling the circle with water from the sacred island of Iona in Scotland and burning sage as an incense.

I then opened my heart and begged the spirits to set me free. The ritual done, I cleared up and got on with the day.

Lo and behold, the following morning at 6 am, I arrived at the fruit market to purchase the day's produce and was accosted by a salesman who had just been made redundant. He told me he wanted to buy a grocery shop, and I offered him mine. Ten days later contracts were signed and I stood in the shop for the last time.

Magic or coincidence? I believe it was magic. I was finally free, and felt fantastic."

More posts on this subject:
The Secret Answer To Problems And Questions
How To Get A Car Parking Space Using The Power Of Coincidence
Ask And By Coincidence You Might Just Get It

The Cat Is Crying So Whose Died?

Two or more cats were howling horribly nearby as I tried to get to sleep last night. "Wonder whose died?" I thought.

It's strange the garbage that can flow through the mind when we are half asleep, but  it came to me that a lot of these thoughts have a source, often going back many years. We are made up of all the information that has been thrown at us since we were born - and not only by the media at large.

When I was a child my mother told me that when a cat or cats cry outside of a house it means there has been a death in the family. I don't know where she got this from but it's become a part of what is me. The idea or thought still lingers after all those years have gone flown by.

But it's not only other people's thoughts or stories that infiltrate our minds so do our own.

I remember when I was sixteen there was a girl I fancied. From somewhere I had heard that if you wish for something while under a bridge, especially a train bridge, then this would come true. Fortunately there was such a bridge near to where I then lived! So I made many detours on my bike wishing that I would go out with this particular girl. Not sure why I didn't simply ask her out!

The peculiar thing is that sometimes, when I drive under a bridge in the car, I'll still think of that girl as she was then. I no longer wish to go out with her, of course. She could well be a grandmother now - just imagine. Okay, I know I've now got a grandson - but who would have thought such a thing possible back then.

I guess what I'm getting round to saying is that words have a remarkable power to stay with us and influence our lives and beliefs. We have to, therefore, be a bit careful what we say to others - especially children - and also what words we allow as seeds to germinate in our own minds.

The fact that crying cats make me think that someone may have died isn't too much of a hassle and remembering a teenage girlfriend is actually quite pleasant. But what about all of the other words and ideas I've gathered over the years. Hopefully most of them are positive but in reality they will be mixed.

If our own words can stay with us and influence us it might be as well to take care what we repeat to ourselves. Positive auto-suggestion, as it used to be called in the 1970s, is a useful tool.

We are a bit like sponges and at times we perhaps need to squeeze out all of the dirty water and top up with something pure and sparkling. That's surely what the Law of Change is all about.

We want to make sure that our words and thoughts create a good future for ourselves.

Photo by Diego Grez via Wikimedia Commons

A Message From The Dead Via A White Feather

My wife and I were walking around Par Sands, a holiday park where we used to own two holiday caravans which we rented out.

It was a while back when we owned the caravans and inevitably as we walked round the park we got to talking about the 'good old days' when our children were little and my mum and dad and Karin's mother were alive.

There was one occasion we remembered in particular when Karin's mother was over from Germany and my mum and dad were visiting us as well from London. As it was out of the holiday season, along with the children, we all went to one of our caravans.

"Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could do that one more time," said Karin, "I hope they are all thinking of us still."

At that moment a big fluffy white feather - the one in the photo above - floated down in front of us. It's nearly six inches long so we couldn't really miss it.

As regular readers will know I've mentioned white feathers in several posts, and how they seem to appear as messages or symbols from our loved ones who are no longer with us. So when we saw this particular feather we thought it must be from one of the relatives we had been talking about. They are thinking of us still!

I know many mock such things and that's fine, but we found it comforting to see the feather float down before us.

Other White Feather Posts:
White Feathers Comfort The Bereaved
The Meaning Of White Feathers As Messages From The Dead
Receiving White Feathers From The Dead

See all White Feather posts

History Helped Defeat Hitler

John Churchill First Duke of Marlborough

David Starkey is a historian often seen on UK television. He's not everyone's cup of tea but he does have definite opinions, which he sticks to, and certainly knows his subject.

He recently wrote, "Today our politicians are schooled in the social sciences, with their pseudo-scientific generalisations about human behaviour. They would do better to be guided by history, which deals with people as they are, not as we would like them to be. I fear that until we have politicians who are formed in the same way as Churchill, we will continue in our wilderness."

So why does he hold Winston Churchill in high regard? Because he believes it was Churchill's knowledge of history that helped him play his part in defeating Hitler in World War II.

While in opposition of the British government, in the mid 1930s, Churchill wrote a massive work of over one million words about one of his ancestors: John Churchill the Duke of Marlborough (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722). The six volumes were called Marlborough His Life And Times.

Starkey describes parallels between the John and Winston Churchill: "Studying his ancestor's struggle against Louis XIV turned out to be the best possible preparation for Winston's duel with Hitler. Like Hitler Louis XIV was territorially aggressive, constantly striving to extend the borders of France, through conquest. And also like Hitler, Louis waged a brutal internal war against a religious minority: not Jews, but French Protestants, the Huguenots."

Starkey feels that, as Hitler rose to power, Winston Churchill was "the only serious (British) politician of the front rank who had thought of war; who had contemplated what has to be done in war; who really understood it." And this was because of his knowledge and study of his ancestor, John Churchill.

There is a 'what if' between Churchill and Hitler.

In 1932 Hitler was becoming the main man in German politics. In the same year Churchill was visiting Munich and at his hotel was introduced to one of Hitler's financial backers Putzi Hanfstaengl a German-American art dealer.

Churchill wrote about this: "Putzi said that Herr Hitler came every day to the hotel at five o'clock, and would be glad to see me. I had no national prejudices at this time."

A meeting was arranged between Churchill and Hitler but Hitler failed to keep the appointment. It appears that Hitler didn't feel that anyone paid attention to what Churchill said and therefore didn't warrant his time. But 'what if' the two had met?

As I mentioned earlier there are parallels between John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, and Winston Churchill. To quote David Starkey again. Marlborough His Life And Times are books "about a man who led a coalition of Allies in a war to prevent the domination of Europe by an aggressive hegemonic power, written by another man who would take up the same role in another global conflict."

There are lessons in history which, unfortunately, we overlook, take Afghanistan at the present time. We've been there before and the outcome will be the same. History tends to repeat itself until we get it right.

Other History Posts:
Is Afghanistan History Repeating Itself?
A Nation Seduced By Symbols And Expectation
Hitler And His Divining Rod For Dark Forces

Synchronicity Of A Beatles Song Sealed Their Romance

I read lots of coincidence and synchronicity stories but I think today's from Susan Stewart is a bit special.

Susan sent me her experience by email and the first time I read the words it sent a tingle down my spine. For some reason I really connected with the story, see what you think.

"Seventeen years ago I had a painful break-up. I hung onto the relationship, emotionally, long after it was over. I was going through the motions of moving on and dating but couldn't shake this person, even though much of the relationship had been unhappy.

During this time I reconnected with an old flame, Michael, because of the book The Artist's Wayby Julia Cameron, which discusses synchronicity. We started seeing each other occasionally.

He lived in Texas, I in New York City. I had a thousand reasons why he wasn't the one for me: he was older, had kids and so on. But I was always happy when I was with him and cared about him. He said he had never stopped being in love with me. (Though it had been some three years since we first dated).

He proposed soon after we got together again. I was very uncertain: I didn't want to stop seeing him, but wasn't sure about marrying him and didn't want to lead him on. I really didn't know what I should do. I finally asked for guidance from the Universe.

I'm a flight attendant and soon after petitioning the Universe I was dead-heading (traveling as a passenger) early in the morning on a flight from Caracas to Miami and listening to the inflight music. I heard a beautiful version of The Beatles' song I Will by Ben Taylor. It was so happy and sweet. I had taken the book The Artist's Way on the trip with me and was flipping through it. I wrote the lyrics to the song on the back jacket and wrote: 'Makes me think of Michael' and a big smiley-face.

When I got to Miami I called Michael at work. He said he was having a tough day because he'd woken up early in the morning and hadn't been able to go back to sleep. I asked what he'd done between waking up and getting ready to go to work. He said he had learned a new song on his guitar.

I said, "Hey, speaking of songs. I just heard an old Beatles' song that made me think of you called 'I Will'."

I asked him if he knew the one I was talking about.

He was quiet for a second, then said, "Call your answering machine in New York."

I thought, "You're kidding me."

"Call your apartment," he said.

I shakily called the number and heard this message:

"Hey Doll. I woke up early and couldn't sleep, so I learned this song. It makes me think of you." And he played the song, I Will.

Some of the synchros about this story:

~ I heard the song soon after take off - and he left the message on the machine at that same time.

~ I knew he liked the Beatles, or maybe assumed he did (because well, who doesn't?) but we'd never listened to any of their music together or talked about them. And of all the bands and all the songs there are - we were both thinking of the same one at the same time.

~ I wrote the lyrics in the back of the book that brought us back together (which mentions synchronicity).

~ We both said: "This makes me think of you."

~ I'd asked for guidance about marrying him. I felt I Will is basically like saying I Do.

The lyrics are such a promise of happiness too: 'Love you forever and forever, love you with all my heart, love you whenever we're together, love you when we're apart...'  The song also has a bit of a mystical edge - about looking for someone you may or may not know already - that you know will be who you've been searching for.

I did end up marrying him and, 17 years later, I'm still amazed by how much fun we have together, how perectly matched we are, how much we laugh - we still feel so lucky that we got to be together."

~ Susan

Thank you Susan!



Other Romance Synchronicity and Coincidence Stories:
Dreaming Of A Phone Number Led To Romance
A Romantic Coincidence
The Concentration Camp Romantic Coincidence

Using The Law Of Change To Our Advantage

Ernest Holmes (1887 – 1960) was the founder of the worldwide Religious Science Movement. His magnum opus, The Science of Mind,has been in continuous print since 1926.

Having read a few of his works over the years I agree with some aspects of his teachings, about change for example.

Change is a natural law, everything has to change. I believe that - to a great extent - we create our lives and circumstances so it makes sense that our thoughts, words and actions should be of a positive nature. This way, in theory, our lives will change for the better. It's up to us to make the future we want. This is what Ernest Holmes has said on this subject:

"There are going to be changes in our lives from hour to hour and day by day, and we cannot escape them. It is the nature of the Universe. Let us accept change, make the most of it, and capitalize on it. The action of the Law never changes, but the direction of the action is always up to us. Life can become a glorious adventure, increasingly filled with more of every good thing as we gradually or suddenly come to change our pattern of thinking so that it embraces more of those good things.

Life can become fun, an experience of continual expectancy. For as we change our thought today we can change the undesirable aspects of our health, relationships, and affairs into ones more to our liking tomorrow.

We are going to change, and that is wonderful for who would want things to stay eternally the same regardless of what they are. We would soon become so bored and fed up that we would lose all desire to live. We should be eager for change, look forward to it, but let us be sure the change is for the better. And this we can do with ease by the simple process of maintaining our pattern of thought in conformity with what we know the nature of God must be - the ultimate Good in and as all things."

Cardiff Car Park Astronomical Coincidence

Cardiff Bay Car Park

A coincidence story today from 67 Not Out reader Toby Holmes. If you have an interesting coincidence story you would like published on this blog please use the contact button at the top of the page - thanks.

"I recently bought a new car from my local garage in Middlesex where they took my old car in part exchange. A week later I headed off on holiday to South Wales with my family packed in it, that's two children and my wife.

We drove along the motorway and, after crossing the Severn Bridge into Wales, we decided to make a detour into Cardiff before going on to our holiday destination. We found a posh car park and then went for a walk around the regenerated area of Cardiff Bay. After having something to eat we headed back to the car park to continue with our journey.

As we walked over to where our car was parked our littlest son said, "Look dad it's our car."

I didn't reply so he said the same thing again. I said, "Yes, I know it's our car."

But what he was looking at was the car next to our new car. It was our old car! The one we had part exchanged with the garage.

I couldn't believe it, so I took a photo as I knew our friends wouldn't believe it either. By making a detour and parking in a space we chose, we were able to have another final look at our old car.

Odds of this happening must be astronomical"

~ Toby

Other Coincidence Stories:
The Red Balloon Coincidence
67 Not Out Readers Coincidences - 4
Coincidence and Synchronicity - Example 5

The Great Unknown Link Between God And Man

I have written previously about how How The Ancient Egyptians Sent Letters To The Dead and also how The Magic Of Our Ancestors Can Bring Us Success. On a similar theme I came across the following which was channelled by a medium and are said to be the words of a Dr Lascelles. It illustrates how our loved ones are with us and may also be able to help us with our problems.

I'll say first that I'm an 'undecided' about channelling, mainly because I have never personally witnessed anything convincing. I still have an open mind on the subject. No doubt, when the time is right, I'll get my answer. In the meantime here's what Dr Lascelles has to say:

"... there is a third existence between God and man. It is the great unknown link.

Between God and man there exists a whole universe of life which is active, benevolent, creative and positively real.

The existence of this stratum between God and man has little to do with what people think religion is. It is just a fact, as it is a fact that there is life on earth ... they are there and that is that.

This strata of life which I am referring to is inhabited by beings who were once as concrete in their formation as you are now. Actually they are still concrete and visible to each other. It is only that they have passed out of the wave band of vibration which you can perceive. Those beings have all lived an earth life and have passed through what you like to call death.

The inhabitants are all those whom you tend to think of as dead. They are not dead, of course, far from it, but they have terminated their period of activity on earth. They exist in great numbers and live lives which, in many respects, are not unlike yours. There is one difference they are aware of you, and they are concerned with life as they once knew it on earth, but you are not usually aware of them.

The spirits of the dead do exist and offer constant help. But do not imagine they can be prayed to. They cannot. You must pray to God and God will answer your prayers through the inhabitants of the invisible world ... The spirits or angels receive their power from the source of all power just as you do, and they stand as a bridge between the ultimate power and you.

Their invisibility and their apparent non-existence in the normal way must not blind you to the reality of their presence."

The Doctor admits that many prayers are not answered. The technique, it seems, has to be learnt. He continues by saying:

"The Bible tells us to approach the Lord in calmness and confidence. In such a manner must we approach prayer ... It is not necessary to kneel in a penitent pose of sad commitment. The affectation of a 'religious' voice is of no help nor is one required to adopt a confessional attitude ... Sit comfortably and as far as possible in a relaxed position. Lie down if you feel better that way. Sitting, kneeling and standing expend energy. Power is required and an extra supply may be induced from a state of relaxation."

The doctor adds:

"Remember that we only retreat into the orthodox attitude to God and prayer because we fail to see, hear and feel the presence of angelic beings. Were we convinced that actual angelic beings accompanied us during the day and were at hand through all our sufferings, we should feel no need for formalised religious teachings. We would simply know and, in knowing we would be complete."

 And that's it for today, other than to thank my good friend Colin, who died a few years back, for leaving me this and other information.

Further Reading:
A Message Of Hope From The Angels
The Angels Solution To Our Problems
White Feathers Comfort The Bereaved

Barber College Friends Meet After 48 Years

Two men became very good friends while they attended Flint Barber College in 1963. As happens in life they somehow lost touch with each other and hadn't spoken for about 48 years.

Bob Sisk, 66, who has a barber shop in E Ganson Street in Jackson USA, decided that he and his wife Shiela would spend some time seeing the sights in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Another barber, Dan Needham, 67, who has a barber and beauty shop in West Branch, also decided he and his wife Sandy should also head for the Gulf Shores.

While on their vacation the two men needed to go shopping. It seems that Bob needed potatoes and Dan fancied some bananas.

Dan decided his best bet was to head for Walmart but for some reason pulled into a local grocers instead. Sitting in the car next to him was Bob and, as some men do, they got chatting about their cars.

Dan noticed Bob's University of Michigan shirt and they moved on to the subject of where each of them were from. They established that Bob was from Jackson and Dan from West Branch.

This is how their conversation went according to Bob:

"I told him I only know one person in West Branch. He says, 'Who?' And I say Dan Needham. He says, 'I'm Dan Needham.'"

So yes, as you've obviously guessed, these were the two men who went to Flint Barber College way back in 1963 and hadn't, up until that moment, seen each other since.

Bob said, "You really think something like this is intended by a higher power. Your heart just goes out." And Dan pretty much agrees. He added, "Being a little bit spiritual, quite a bit spiritual, I think I was meant to see Bob again."

Which just goes to show that you never know who you might meet when you go shopping while away from home.

Further Coincidence Stories:
A Proud Dad Thanks To A Coincidence
67 Not Out Readers Coincidence Stories - 12
10 Coincidence Or Synchronicity Examples

Coincidence Of The Bootylicious Spotted Hippo

When my son was little - he's now grown up with a son of his own - we used to call my wife Hippo. How or why this came about has been lost in the mists of time. She's not hippo-like at all! Karin is only 5'3" tall and of slim build.

The nickname, however, stuck and even today I sometimes call her Hips.

Needless to say she was none too pleased with this name, especially when we developed this into a 'spotted hippo' game. She would have to go off and hide while Darren and I hunted the spotted hippo! She detested the game, can't think why.

When our son was small enough to fit into a supermarket trolley he would call out after his mum, if she was out of sight, "Hippy, hippy, hippo where are you?" much to other shoppers amusement.

Because of the name Karin even started to receive hippopotamus ornaments from family and friends, as per the photo above.

The 'spotted hippo' name has hung over her for many, many years but by complete 'accident' (coincidence) I found out what this name means according to the Urban Dictionary and it's good news (I think!) Here's the definition:

Spotted Hippo: An erudite idiom for beauty incarnate i.e. 'That girl over there, she's a spotted hippo!'
It can also mean: beautiful, bootylicious, hot, fine.

Of course, I must have known this all along - not sure if she'll believe me though.