The Symbolism Of Biscuits And Wages In A Glass Barrel

Okay, the above is the third image of my taking a photo every day exercise. I know I said I wouldn't publish every photo I take but I justified this one because of a coincidence story I found on The Inquirer website, though the story originated from the Orlando Sentinal.

My photo is of a biscuit barrel - or a cookie jar as it would probably be called in the USA. I'll say why I took this picture after the coincidence story, which follows:

"Two brothers have been re-united after 48 years after the purchase of a biscuit barrel on eBay.

According to the Orlando Sentinal, Bob Kunath saw a similar cookie jar in a local flea market, tried to buy it but thought $150 was too steep.

Instead he did a search on the auction site eBay and discovered a similar jar was on sale for $35. When he bought it and looked at the receipt, he noticed the name of the seller was Harry Saylor. Bob knew from his own adoption papers his father's surname was Saylor.

So he emailed the vendor and discovered that Harry was his long lost brother. Now they're back in touch with each other."

As for my biscuit barrel it usually sits on a shelf in our hall and belonged to my parents, who received it as a wedding present. It's of no real monetary value but means a lot to me. As a small child I remember the barrel being on the sideboard in our living room.

My favourite biscuits

In those days, as with most working people, dad was paid weekly on a Friday. When he arrived home in the evening he would take out his wage packet and put the housekeeping money for my mum into the biscuit barrel. It was a routine that always happened, other than when dad had a holiday away from work. I can still picture this today.

As with symbols of any kind this doesn't mean that every time I walk into our hall I consciously think of my mum and dad. Seeing the barrel though could well work on an unconscious level and so keeps me feeling close to my parents, now that they have moved on - as do other items we have around the house.

Symbols (even biscuit barrels!) can be meaningful, though we don't always realise the effect they may be having on us.

Other Symbolic Posts:
Distinguishing Between False And True Signs
Chinese Jade The Plant That Attracts Money
Mark Master Masons Symbolism And Why This Year Is 6012

The Subliminal Persuaders And The Letter P

It's always fascinating when answers to a question come about all by themselves.

Last night Karin was watching a soap on television she quite likes. As it started she noticed the letter 'P' at the bottom of the screen. She asked me what it meant.

I'd noticed this myself several times prior to the start of programmes, but had never made any effort to find out what it signified. "Must find out," I muttered and immediately forgot all about it.

Today I bought a newspaper and, when I got home, opened it up at random to page 60 and found the answer to the question!

It seems that the 'P' has been around (in the UK) since 2011, though surveys have shown that very few people know what it means: Product Placement.

This is something I believe originated in the USA, and to me it's a form of brainwashing - though that's probably a little over the top. As the letter in the Daily Mail newspaper (21 Jan 2014) explained:

"Product Placement ... that means some companies are advertising their products discreetly in that programme. For instance in Coronation Street it is advertising the National Building Society, so if you watch the programme you will see a National cash machine in Dev's corner shop."

So, as well as having obvious commercial breaks full of ads, there are now hidden persuaders within the actual programmes themselves.

There are rules about product placement - see the Ofcom website - but, whatever is said, it's surely a form of subliminal advertising, which was once banned.

These hidden persuaders are difficult to avoid wherever we look. Did we really want to buy or drink that can of Coke or consider a National Building Society account? How many of our thoughts are really our own? Or maybe Big Brother is at work?

A Parliament Of Rooks, A Cornish Pasty And A Celtic Legend

I've been publishing this blog since December 2009 and to the best of my knowledge there have only been three days when a post wasn't published. But today, for the first time, I'm struggling what to write!

Karin and I have had a day out and I took the two photos while we were parked up, overlooking the Truro River, to have our lunch - Cornish Pasties (one traditional and for me a vegetarian) followed by an apple pastry and, of course, cups of tea - we travel with hot water in a flask, tea bags and milk.

We were parked at a place called Malpas in Cornwall overlooking the river. In the wing mirror you can see that behind us was a small hut where people can pay to play tennis. There's lots of space to the rear of our car with football and cricket pitches, a children's play area, fields and gardens - and there's a walk alongside the river.

The rook/crow was in the tree next to our parked car. After I had snapped the photo, out of the car window, about twenty or thirty rooks flew overhead.

Ah! A group of rooks is known as a parliament, due to their habit of forming large assemblies during which one bird will seem to 'speak' or orate at length.

I'm writing this on a Wednesday (though it'll be published on a different day) and today is when the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, is questioned on anything by MP's in Parliament. So that's the only synchro or coincidence I can find today. The crows will have no doubt talked more sense than Mr Cameron.

As for Malpas itself, the village is said to be part of the love story of Tristan and Iseult. This tells how Iseult crossed the Truro River at La Mal Pas, the early name for today's Malpas (pronounced Mopus). A ferry crossing which was to reunite her with her lover as she travelled from the ancient Moresk to Kea.

Oh well, looks like I've ended up with a post of sorts after all!

Other Posts On Cornwall:
The Mystery Of The Cornish Roche Rock And Hermitage (also has more on Tristan and Iseult)
The Cornish Mystery Of Trevethy Quoit Stones
The Holy Well Of St Sampson At Golant In Cornwall

The Visit Of A White Dove Following A Death

The following story about a white dove seen following a relative's death was left as a comment on one of my other posts about white doves. I thought it may be of interest to general readers.

"My mother-in-law came to live with us in May 2013 when she was diagnosed with brain cancer. She passed away on 7/23/13.

"Every day since she passed, there is a white dove who comes at about 5:00 to 5:30 p.m. and lands on the neighbours roof, which overlooks the window of the bedroom where my mother-in-law passed. She leaves at about 7:30 every morning but is always there when I get home from work.

"This is still going on today, although I am a little nervous as 30 days could be significant? [This was written 30 days after the writer's mother-in-law died - Mike]

"This is especially odd as I live on a salt water canal and there are several ospreys (bird of prey, similar to a hawk) that live nearby.

"My wife is totally convinced that the bird is her mother's spirit and talks to it every day. I on the other hand am very skeptical of symbolism like this, but I do have to admit I am baffled that it is happening. My only problem with this is I am not sure how my wife will handle it when the dove doesn't return one day.

"Just thought I would share that with you and we will see what happens with the white dove!"

Further Reading:
10 White Feather Story Posts As Examples Of Messages From The Dead
The White Dove As A Messenger Of The Dead
White Doves As Messengers From The Dead
... or try using the search option at the top of the blog.

Chinese Jade The Plant That Attracts Money

I'm not obsessed by money but accept that it is necessary to keep sufficient flowing in so that we can do the things that my wife and I want to do. This is the reason why we have a money plant in our porch where we live.

I believe the proper name is a Jade Plant but I've always called it a money plant. You'll often see them in Chinese restaurants and homes where they follow Feng Shui.

Our plant has been with us since my son was only about six years old. He and I bought it when my wife had to travel to Germany, while her mother was seriously ill. Karin's mother got better and the plant has flourished ever since.

Our plant sometimes flowers and I have read that, 'Jade plants are not usually grown for their blooms, but should they begin to flower, it is the result of great care given to the plant, and therefore the friendship. Blooming jade plants reflect positively on the owner, his or her friends and family symbolizing great friendship, luck or prosperity.'

We associate our plant with money so it triggers a thought, often unconsciously, every time we leave the house or arrive home. It jogs our memories to remain alive to attracting money. It's a living wealth symbol in other words.

I believe in such symbols. We also have a small urn type vase full of coins in our hall so, after seeing the plant, we then go through our front door and see the vase - another mind jog for money.

It is, of course, the power behind symbols which works but it is also an attitude of mind. The Chinese New Year greeting is Kung Hei Fatt Choy or 'congratulations and may you become prosperous'. Cards they send are printed in red, to signify an auspicious occasion, or in gold to signify wealth.

If we have symbols of money, and think positively about it, we may well attract money. But if we claim that money doesn't make us happy or talk about dirty money and so on then the flow may be severed.

Anyway, that's what I think.

Other Random 67 Not Out Posts:
Finding Money By Walking Into The Magic
How To Find Success With Self Hypnosis
Married Couple In The Same Photo As Children
Her Boyfriend's Ghost Interferes With Her Love Life

Sometimes Things Happen Because They Are Meant To Happen

I was looking through some of my old posts from 2010 and I came across the one from when my wife was trapped in Germany because air flights had been stopped due to Icelandic volcanic ash.

About Karin not being able to get home to England I wrote:

"... I went for a walk. Outside of my front door was a pure white feather. I have mentioned white feathers in previous posts and how, for my wife and I, they are a symbolic positive sign.

I placed the feather on the red chair inside the front porch of our house.

I walked up the valley where I live and saw a piece of wood in the road (see photo above). It was a cross section of a tree which must have been cut down, though I couldn't see from where.

For some reason I picked up this piece of wood (it looked like it had a happy smile!) and put it into my coat pocket. I had no idea what use it would be.

When I returned home the feather was still on the red chair and I looked at the wood. I laughed to myself that it was a bit like Iceland, where the volcano that was causing all of the problems was situated.

Then I noticed something else - there looked to be the shape of a volcano spouting ash or something on the wood."

All in all Karin was unexpectedly in Germany, where she was visiting her brother, for nearly a month. Her intention had been to visit for just one week.

Looking back on all of this with hindsight it turned out to be right that Karin should stay with her brother for a longer than expected. A few months later he died.

Karin and her brother weren't extra close, mainly because of a nine year age difference and her choosing to live in England. I remember though that when she finally got home she told me how her brother had tears running down his cheeks when she left, which was completely out of character.

To get to the point of what I'm trying to say, it does seem that sometimes things do happen because they are meant to happen - almost fate.

By being in Germany for so long Karin spent a lot of one-to-one time with her brother and they got on really well with lots of talks and walks. It was if her brother knew this would be the last time they would see each other.

I'm not saying one minute that the volcanic ash blew up to keep Karin in Germany. But the time she chose for her German visit may have been influenced by - well I'm not sure what. Maybe precognition or pre-programmed fate ... who knows.

It does seem, though, that outside influences can cause things to happen in certain ways, often for the best - but not always so.

As for the white feather and the piece of wood I found, perhaps these were symbols or indicators that the situation was under control and was happening for a reason. In this case so that a brother and sister could be together for one last time.

And going back to my 2010 post. I ended it by saying how I finally picked up Karin after her flight back to England, "The only odd thing was that, when we arrived home in the early hours of the morning (3am), the feather was no longer on the red chair. It had disappeared."

Other Fate Stories:
Tragic Deaths Illustrate How Fate Has Us At It's Beck And Call
Chance And Coincidence Don't Happen By Chance And Coincidence
It Was Written In The Stars That They Would Meet

Signs And Meaning To The Moon And Jupiter

Symbols, signs, synchronicity: they all depend on what is meaningful to us personally and how we interpret them. It's not something that can be found in books - though they can be a guide - instead, it's what we feel deep inside.

Others may laugh and mock at our interpretations, but that's okay, people will often ridicule what they don't understand or don't want to understand. The fact is that - if we think we've had some sort of message or guidance via symbols, signs or synchronicity - then we probably have.

If it's good news enjoy it, if it's not so good go careful.

On Christmas eve Karin and I were talking about people we had lost over the years, and how they had been involved with our enjoyment of the festive time: my dad and mum, Janice, Karin's mother and so on.

As Karin made her way upstairs to bed I said something about how good it would be if there was some sort of sign that they were watching down on us. Not sure why 'down', when there is no right way up or down, but there we go.

I went to lock our front door and for some reason stepped outside into the damp, cold air. I looked up and the moon looked so different from usual, it almost had a halo and I smiled to myself that our lost family were looking down on us.

There was also a star to the left of the moon that was extra bright. I took a few snaps with my camera, they weren't too good without a strong zoom but they did show an orb in a couple of the photos - well, maybe.

Moon On Christmas Eve - Is that an orb below the moon?

I later learned that the bright star was in fact the planet Jupiter. I also read that this would be entering my astrology sign in June of 2013 and that this will bring an 'emotional attachment to home and family.'

The small piece I read on the Internet also said that, 'this might be a good time to start researching the family tree and find out about your roots.' I actually mentioned in a post a few days ago, The Biggest Coincidence There Has Ever Been, that I had just started to do this. I even published a photo an ancestor.

I guess what I'm trying to say, in a roundabout way, is that how the moon and Jupiter looked on Christmas eve was meaningful to me - no matter what others may think. And this is the what I was on about at the beginning of this post about symbols, signs and synchronicity: it's the feeling of their meaningfulness that's important.

Moon with another orb?

Wonder what or who told me step outside on Christmas eve? But, whatever, we had a wonderful Christmas and everything was perfect.

Further Reading:
The Orbs At St Cubys Church Tregony
Distinguishing Between False And True Signs
Position Of The Sun And Moon Caused Titanic To Sink

And Finally ...
Question: What do you get when you take green cheese and divide its circumference by its diameter?
Answer: Moon pi.

Mark Master Masons Symbolism And Why This Year Is 6012

I was walking past this Masonic Hall in Cornwall on Sunday and realised I had never properly looked at the building previously and all of it's outward symbolism.

The hall is of the Mark Master Masons, more of this later.

One of the things I noticed straight away was that the hall was built in 'AL 5900' - see photo below.

AL stands for 'Anno Lucis' and this translated from the Latin means 'Year of Light' and is a calender often used by Freemasons.

As I understand this, the Year of Light refers to Genesis in the Bible where God supposedly said, "Let there be light." Creationists and many old Bibles give this as happening in the year 4004 BC but the Mason's calendar places the 'event' at the year 4000 BC, which ties in with the theory that Jesus was actually born in 3 AD or 4 AD.

Whatever the reason AL is 4000 years different to the calendar popularly used today, so we are now in 6012 AL.

The Mark Master Masons have been on record since 1756 when a 'brother' was first mentioned as being made a Mark Mason at the Newcastle Masonic Lodge.

As with Freemasons the Mark Masons have a degree - for those interested in such things the full ritual for this can be seen here.

So why would anyone want this Mark Master Mason's degree? On literature I have seen they give three reasons.

"Firstly, it greatly enhances his knowledge of Craft Masonry. Secondly, it teaches, in a delightful way, many important practical lessons about life. Thirdly, it gives a greater appreciation of the Royal Arch and provides an essential qualification to other Orders in Masonry."

For more information go to History of Mark Master Masons.

Above and below are photos of some of the symbolism on the Masonic Hall in Cornwall.

Other Freemason Posts:
Freemasons: The Solemn Obligation Of A Master Mason
A Secret Freemasons View Of Old Age And Death
Freemasonry And Good Stewardship

A Message From The Harry Potter Owls

Yesterday I wrote about Harry Potter and the Rosicrucians. A couple of the images I used for the post were of Harry Potter collectors' cards.

I actually bought the cards - about 250 of them - from a charity shop for 20p (28c) the day before I had decided to write about that particular subject. So just a 'coincidence' that I bought them - don't know why I did, as I'm not a Harry Potter fan or anything like that.

When I looked at the cards the top two were of owls. Strange as Karin and I had been talking about how we had heard an owl each evening recently. He (or she) seems to visit the trees near our house, stay for a while and then disappear for months.

But even stranger was that, while looking out of our upstairs window - in the early afternoon - we saw an owl sitting on a neighbours roof. We've never, ever seen an owl near where we have lived previously, only heard them.

So it seems that owls are the creatures of the moment for me! Especially when, later, we went into out local town and there were owls on display from a Cornish owl sanctuary who were raising money for their work.

The owl sanctuary provides, "care and rehabilitation for sick and injured wild owls in Cornwall. They then ensure their safe release into the wild on recovery or, if permanently disabled, provide a comfortable home in a suitable environment."

So many owls! But what do they mean or symbolise?

The owl is said to be the keeper of spirits who have passed from one plane to another. Often the owl will accompany a spirit to the 'underworld'.

Native Americans and Australians are said to view them as keepers of sacred knowledge and witches and wizards are also associated with owls.

I'm not sure what my apparent link with them is at the moment, but I do have two owl ornaments in my office: a paper weight and a vase where I keep scissors, pens and the like.

I looked on Yahoo! answers where someone was asking about the meaning of seeing owls. This is part of the answer given:

"If an owl has visited you, an incredible gift has been bestowed. Also, keep in mind that animals are only called to those who share the same energy. In other words, you hold within you some of the very same symbolic attributes the owl represents.

These owl sightings may be messages for you to develop your education further. Or, the owl may be trying to tell you to develop your intuition further.

Owls also show themselves as a sign of warning (no, not of death). You simply need to pay close attention to people around you - owls are incredibly perceptive - you are probably perceptive too - use your powers of perception around new people you may meet. Not everyone is as nice, or 'cool' as they seem to be."

Mmmmm!

Other Harry Potter Posts:
The Harry Potter and Rosicrucian Coincidences
JK Rowling And Harry Potter Birthday Coincidence
The Dangers Of Harry Potter And Wicca To Mankind

Ephemeral That Makes Up A Life And Is Easy Forgotten

I was remembering my mother this week as her birthday was on June 23rd. I have a case of documents that my mum collected, things that were important to her. Just bits of papers, ephemeral and worthless to anyone else. But many told a story.

The drawing 'Lest We Forget' above was by a friend of hers back in 1932 and 'we' did forget. Below is a letter from The War Organisation informing my mum's sister, Ella, that her fiancé was presumed to have been killed in action in the 1939-45 war. There was no counselling back then. You received a letter and got on with your life. For Ella this meant never having another boyfriend or marriage.

Some of the scans of the documents aren't too clear because of their age but, if interested, click on any photo for larger versions.

My mother's brother was perhaps lucky, as the letter below shows, he didn't have to go to war. He had employment necessary to the 'war effort'.

If we travel back to before the two world wars life wasn't easy. Many children died young or were still born. The next document is relevant to one of the children my grandmother lost - a 'still born male child'. Having a wonderful, healthy young grandson I find this quite heartbreaking.

But my grandmother was strong in spirit and she lived to nearly 104. On her one hundredth birthday she had a telegram from Queen Elizabeth II. I remember she was quite disappointed in what she received. I think she thought the Queen could have put a bit more effort into it!

My grandmother's husband died way before I was born and all my mum got as notification was a telegram. Back then, of course, there weren't many phones and a telegram was the quickest alternative communication.

Amongst the literally hundreds of letters, receipts, death certificates and so on I noticed the following National Savings card belonging to my grandmother from the 1920s. The symbol they used at the time was the Swastika. People wouldn't have realised back then what significance the symbol would have in later years.

Looking back through all of the bits and pieces it makes me appreciate how very lucky we are today in comparison. We have much to be thankful for, despite what we see and read in the media.

Further Reading:
Hitler And His Divining Rod For Dark Forces
67 Years After The D-Day Landings They Meet By Coincidence
The World War 2 Fractured Skull Coincidence

Distinguishing Between False And True Signs

Often on this blog I've talked about signs and symbols. I've mentioned, for example, about how white feathers are meaningful for me and black feathers have indicated bad luck. Coincidences or synchronicity have also been important in my life.

All well and good, but sometimes I feel we can overdo such things. Reading the signs can easily become an obsession so that we end up being 'guided' by all sorts of symbols, signs and happenings. For instance early last week I walked out of my front door and there was a big black feather waiting for me. "Oh, bad luck coming. Wonder what the feather signifies," I immediately thought.

After arriving back home from a walk, just before my house, there was another black feather - was this to reinforce the warning?

By the end of the week nothing had happened, all was well with my world. Phew!

What I'm getting at is that we have to be able to distinguish between genuine and false signs. "But a black feather is a black feather," you may argue.

It is, but my own belief is that any 'true' sign or symbol has an actual power that goes with it. Personally I see the sign and there's an inner feeling that goes with this. It's hard to describe, other to say that it simply 'feels' right. Intuition has perhaps clicked in.

It's also the same with dreams. Some 'feel' as if they are meaningful and may include a message or a warning about something. Other dreams are simply dreams.

As we are individualised parts of the whole, we recognize true signs or dreams in various ways: perhaps a tingle, a feeling in the stomach, heart or somewhere deep inside, maybe what seems like a voice is heard and many other ways. It's up to us to decipher how we sense genuine signs - that black feather could have simply fallen from a passing bird.

If we come to believe that everything is a sign of some sort we'll drive ourselves nutty and will miss out on so much of life. In fact it may have the very opposite effect to what we wish.

Going pack to my personal signs with feathers. If I see a black feather and think immediately 'bad luck' I could well create something bad with my own thought patterns. What we give out, we get back. In other words we see a false sign or symbol and then attract what it is that this sign or symbol means to us. In this case we feed the effect or outcome.

Somehow we have to work out our own personal way of distinguishing the difference between true and false signs.

Our brains seem to be wired to see patterns and to attribute meaning to these. Novice magicians are said to be often led down the garden path because of this, and find delusions everywhere instead of truths. The sorcerer's apprentice needs intelligence and discernment to distinguish between the truly magical and the mere ordinary.

Other Posts:
White Feathers And A Special Beach
Symbols And Signs For Positive Results
Good luck Symbols Really Do Work

Reflections On My Early Life

Sad today as I had a phone call to say that my cousin Tisha had died. She was the same age as me and is really the last link to my original birth family.

Some of my memories of her go way back to when we were very young. I remember being eight years old and my mother took Tisha and I to London Zoo. I can still picture the day in my mind.

The animals impressed us so much that we took it in turns to hide behind a metal seat - that looked a bit like a cage - and fed each other through the 'bars'. I also remember feeling that animals shouldn't really be locked up with very little space to roam. I knew I wouldn't have liked it if I was an animal.

Before I received the phone call my wife and I had been for a walk and we saw lots of white feathers, but also three big black feathers - which I consider can sometimes mean something 'unlucky'. So, perhaps the feathers where in relation to Tisha's death.

And then to take me back to my early days a second time I had a comment left on my blog post Teenage Memories Unlocked By A Coincidence. The post was about a girl, Stephanie, I knew while I was at Senior School and how she had died.

Marian wrote: "Thank you for your moving story, Mike. I remember you at Mellow Lane School. Stephanie was my friend and so I was also shocked and sad to learn of her passing ...." and carried on with quite a long comment.

So that was two reminders of my formative years and quite sad ones at that.

On the post about Stephanie I ended it by saying, "Some coincidences, I feel, come about to make us reflect on life." And that's certainly what I seem to be doing today.

Mysterious Symbolism In Mijas Spain

While in the south of Spain my wife and I went into the mountains to the village of Mijas. It was a lovely place full of tradition, unfortunately one of these being bull fighting, which is something I abhor. It seems very cruel to my eyes.


But, in saying that, I was a little hypocritical as we had the opportunity to see inside the old bull ring - but with no bulls or fights in sight. It is supposedly the only square bullring in Spain.


I'm always interested in traditions from a bygone age. What I did notice was the symbolism of the ring. As we wandered round on our own the symbols were everywhere, though I wasn't able to find out what they actually meant or referred to.



After looking around the bullring we walked through the village. There was a building that looked like a museum so we wandered inside. As we did so a woman came from upstairs and, without saying a word or looking at us, locked the door behind us leaving the key in the lock. It was as if we were invisible to her.

She wandered off and we were left on our own. Not being too sure what to do or where to go we wandered into one of the rooms and then another ... and so on. We ventured upstairs, bizarrely there was no one else about. It was then that we came to the room pictured below.

It was full of symbolism again and people dressed in very strange attire. We left the room, returned downstairs, unlocked the solid door with the big, heavy key. We've still no idea what the building was.


Now the small church we did understand! The symbolism more obvious.


That's the thing about travel you never quite know what you'll find. It's what makes life interesting.